Workin' in a coal mine...goin' down down down...

I had a thought today. (Sidebar: I'm working on another, more lengthy post for you on my latest adventures, but I haven't posted in a while and had this thought and it's quick and easy so I have time for it so you're getting this now and the other stuff later. Love it or leave it.)

Does anybody really work 9-5 anymore? Is that even a real shift? Dolly Parton sings about it, people use it as a generic description for a day job (M-F, 8 hours a day: 40 hours a week), but does anyone really go in at 9 and leave at 5?

What got me thinking about this is that I now have a "9 to 5" job. But I work 8 to 4:30. If I came in at 9, I'd have to leave at 5:30 (or leave at 5 but not eat lunch). To leave at 5 I'd have to get in at 8:30 (or get in at 9 and not eat lunch).

Every workplace I've been at has had a "lunch" programmed somewhere into the day - an amount of time, unpaid, where you sit and eat. This time, being programmed in the middle of the day, extends your actual time at work to more than 8 hours. And 9 to 5 is exactly 8 hours, so you'd either get paid 7.5 hours a day or have a paid lunch, or not eat.

So this post is more of a question - a survey, if you will - do y'all get paid for lunch? Do you work more than 8 hours? What the heck is your shift?

(We're keeping in mind that this is your scheduled work hours, not all that time you spend commuting or staying late to fix that error you made at 4:45.)

Just wondering.

What is this, Ticketmaster?!?!?

You may notice when you try to comment now that I've put on word verification for my comments. I didn't really want to do it, but as it turns out I've gotten a string of spam comments - where it looks like the person is commenting (Hey, really like your blog, I've bookmarked it and will continue to follow your progress!) but then they try to sell you something (I've got a blog on all the cheapest cellular phone accessories out there - check it out! *insert web address here*). So, to see if I can stop this, I'm adding word verification. Sorry to make the extra step there for ya, but really...aren't I worth the effort? ;)

I've got a few ideas rolling around in my head...but I'm in the midst of job upheaval so I'll do what I can when I can in the next few weeks. Keep checking in!