In the Labor Hole

It's kind of scary for me to write about, which is why I'm writing about it. I'm in the labor hole, and will go further in before heading out. The "labor hole" is how many labor credits I owe to Twin Oaks. Each week, we're "charged" whatever the labor quota is (this week it's 44.8 hours), and each week the number of hours of work we did is entered into our balance. Whoops, I'm way behind, and am planning on making a contract in December with the labor manager, who's a housemate and friend of mine.

It's scary, not in a very big way -- no phone calls or harrassments, and it doesn't affect my credit rating! The terms of the labor contract is set by policy. I must work an extra 15 hours per month, in labor creditable areas, until I'm out of the hole. If I violate this policy, by not meeting it for two months (not sure if those have to be consecutive or not), there's a list of consequences, the most painful of which is a non-binding membership poll. That means everybody at Twin Oaks has the opportunity in the form of a ballot, to say, "accept," "reject" or "feedback." I'm not entirely sure what the choices are, because it's so rarely ever used.

I hate the idea of everyone in the community having this opportunity, although it would be interesting to find out what people would think, and it would be better than paranoid wondering (which I indulge in all too frequently).

So, I gotta find some work and some motivation. The latter is more important (hence the whole policy). Fortunately my buddy Keith is needing help on a project of his, involving solar panels. I have no experience at all, although I do know the names and uses of some basic tools... Can an old dog learn new tricks? This one has to.

How did I get in this fix? I'll let that be tomorrow's exciting installment.
much love,
Kelpie