Quote Originally Posted by Lady's Human View Post
Let's see.....things outside of my control:

equipment operators

machine programming/design

quality of the parts

the mail being run through the machines.

Extra time spent outside of work: about 2 years training (so far) in Oklahoma away from home, in addition to the training and experience that got me the job in the first place, and occasionally fielding calls to help other techs when things really get screwed up.

I still get paid if I can't fix a machine or a network system, but if it happens too many times I'll have issues.

We all deal with issues in our jobs which are outside of our direct control. No one profession has a corner on the work done behind the scenes.
LH, I see where you are coming from but I don’t agree. Whenever you work with people, things are not as cut and dried as fixing a broken machine. Think about this scenario (I’m not entirely clear how things run at the postal service, so forgive me if this is a clumsy analogy).

Let’s pretend each employee at the PO is expected to process 500 pieces of mail per week. No exceptions. If you fail to meet your goal, you will have your pay docked. At your PO, 75% of your mail takes more time to process than standard mail. You do not have the option to work later/longer in order to get your work done. Your average is typically 400 pieces of mail/week, because it would not do to have different standards for different post offices. Assuming you want don’t want your pay docked, what are your options? Cut corners (so you get it done faster, but maybe not as well), quit, or find an easier post office to work at.