Archives 2023

That’s right … The Factory Floor is a BUSY place and there just isn’t a lot of room for monkey business like the dreaded “time off” …

Oh, sure, sure – the benevolent Factory Management has granted at least one paid Holiday (generally Christmas Day) every year and has very generously allowed the staff an extra five (5) minutes of ‘off time’ – generally tacked on to the state-mandated mid-morning 10-minute coffee break, thereby giving our joyous Factory Workers a full FIFTEEN (15) MINUTE break to enjoy some of the standard American holidays that are sprinkled throughout the year.

Why, as clearly evidenced in last month’s post, February yielded four (4) of these ‘extended’ coffee breaks to coincide with the four ‘official’ (to some companies) February Holidays.

March, on the other hand, has never been a big Holiday month – but, there is, of course, March 17th – otherwise known as St. Patrick’s Day – and that day seems to be a big one upstairs, amongst the ranks of Senior Management … so, once again, the true Employee-First spirit, at the very heart of Factory Optic, comes through as the “upstairs team” has (once again) granted one and all an extra five (5) minutes to the state-mandated 10-minute afternoon break – just enough time to get to The Pub and back – and, as the saying goes, “May you be at the gates of heaven an hour before the devil knows your dead!” – it’s a mad rush out the door, to The Pub and back to work, before Freddy The Foreman (with “Ernie The Attorney” standing right behind him ‘Enforcing the Rules’) locks you out for being late!

We’ve posted some photos from St. Patrick’s Days Past – you can just feel the excitement … and tension in the air – and 2023 promises to be even more exciting and more tense because we’ve missed out on this wonderful annual Factory ritual for the last two years!

So, get ready to bolt out the Factory door …

Just as soon as that break whistle blows …

All you Lads and Lasses on The Factory Floor …

Will ‘ya make it back in time?

Only St. Paddy knows for sure!

Oh, and don’t forget to wear your Factory-issued Green Triangle so’s you don’t get pinched! Remember: ‘Pinchin’ slows down yer Drinkin’!

Bottoms Up!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY 2023 … direct from The Factory to YOU!

Well, well, well … there you have it!

Yup, it’s true … February seemed like one big month of HOLIDAYS and, you’ll be pleased to note that, even though absolutely ZERO ‘time off’ was granted for any of the wonderful Holiday days that fell within the calendar month of February 2023 (“Time off? You gotta be kidding!” snorted the BIG BOSS from his cushy upstairs office … “Heck, we gave them all 15 minutes off for Thanksgiving … what more do they want!??!”) …

Yes … thanks for that … now, where were we? Oh yeah … ‘Upper Management’ was able to graciously grant and ‘extra’ FIVE (5) MINUTES to the morning break … tacked on to the State-Mandated 15-minute AM break time, creating an unprecedented TWENTY (20) MINUTE break for each and every joyous Factory Worker, on EACH of the February Holidays mentioned below:

February 02, 2023: Groundhog Day

February 14, 2023: Valentine’s Day

February 20, 2023: Presidents’ Day

February 28, 2023: Holi – India’s Festival of Color*

*This year, “Holi” actually occurs on March 08, but, feeling particularly generous and wanting to allow each employee to have that ‘extra’ 5-minute break FOUR times in the same month – or, once a week for the entire month – Upper Management (for once) did the right thing and allowed the team to celebrate Holi a week early … for 5 minutes, anyway.

What a wonderful, thoughtful and employee-friendly Management Team we have here at The Factory! Keep up the good work, all!

Until next time …

Or, perhaps we should say: “HAPPY FACTORY NEW YEAR” !?!

Well, no matter how we say it, it doesn’t change the fact that the new year of 2023 is upon us and … you know … it is AOK to say “Happy New Year” right up to February 1st … we looked it up! See, the entire month of January is usually spent prepping for a new year’s worth of new activities and innovation … so, during that first 30 (or so) days, it is AOK to wish everyone around you a “Happy New Year” – as many times as you’d like. Heck, we’ve already said it FOUR times, right?

Well, no exception to the rule here, on the Factory Floor! We are busy – Busy – BUSY getting ready for our biggest and best year – ever!

So, WATCH THIS SPACE (as we like to say) … we’ll keep you posted as to the very latest happenings and announcements … beginning with ‘the return of QUICKTC, our super-cool Time Code evaluation device – a tool that you really need to have in your production tool box! By popular demand, we are bringing back a new batch of “QTC” units – with **REDUCED PRICING** as our ‘Happy Factory New Year’ special!

Stand by … Watch this Space for more details in the weeks to come!

Oh, and if you are planning to go out on your bike at night … wear white!