Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Another Point of Adjustment - Time

If you have worked on salary in the past, then working as a legislative aide won't be a big change. I am informed that most of the legislative aides in Austin are in their 20s, i.e. very young. Therefore, given the age range and the possible jobs you can have, it's likely that you have punched in and out on a time card at other jobs. Even my best jobs had me on a time card. In those instances, it was good as I earned more than my salaried friends when you included overtime.

In my case, being on a monthly salary is a bit strange. I feel wierd just picking up and leaving or simply showing up and going right to work. When working as a teacher, I learned the value of transitions for getting children to follow what's going on. Transitions are basically activities that you do that require participation, but signal that you are about to change activities. For example, when things were getting messy, we'd sing the clean up song while picking up our toys. We also had a song prior to eating. Then, there are general transitions you do for whatever activity you want to do. It really works! Back to the point, the whole punching in and out routine is like a transition activity, it seems. Maybe I can sing a song in lieu of a punch card.

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