Mixed Blessings

"Daddy works too hard. He's never home."
That's what Renee told someone at the auto body repair shop when I was getting an estimate recently. (More about WHY I was getting the estimate in a minute.)

That statement of Renee's really hit hard. It's true, though. This new job is working him to death. Here is a typical work day: he gets up around 5:30 a.m., goes to the gym to work out, comes back home, showers, dresses and eats breakfast, drives and fights traffic about 1.5 hours to get to the job site, works for 8, 10, 12, 15 hours, drives back that 1.5 hours home, relaxes for an hour or so, goes to bed and then starts the whole process over again. He never knows when he will be home. It all depends upon the software bugs and when they are fixed. He is working for a company that doesn't seem to think their employees have a life...other than work, that is.

While I am grateful that Bill is working now and for the added income the extra hours provides (he is still at a contractor hourly rate), the commute and lifestyle are not ones he will be able to keep up indefinitely. This schedule would tire even the young, and Bill is not quite in that category any more. ;) We're hoping that the company will realize they need to have a more reasonable expectation of their employee's availability, or they will end up with a burned out staff.

Now, back to why I was in the auto body repair shop. Sigh. While I was dropping off the boys at a coop class, one of the students (with a learner's permit) backed into my van. :o( It wasn't THAT much damage, so I was a little shocked at the quote I was given to restore it....$718! I was thinking maybe a couple hundred dollars. Boy, was I off. While I was there, I decided to see what it would cost to get the other scratches and dents we've put in the back end (a 15 passenger van is really loooooooooong!)....another $600, IF we did them all at once. Hmmmm...we'll have to think about that one. Especially since we've put a LOT of money into our third vehicle. We bought a used car that is quickly becoming a money pit. We keep hearing, "Well, after you get THIS repaired, you shouldn't have anything else for awhile." Only problem is that we have had it repaired several times and keep hearing that! lol It's a good thing Bill is working all those extra hours!

We're on the verge of Nathan and Micah being teen drivers, so it made me a little nervous to find out it was a teen driver in the car that hit mine. While you're saying your prayers, be sure to mention a few for them to keep safe, ok?