So now I've been keeping this unrelentingly negative journal for a month.

I'm not a negative person by nature. I am starting to find this journal a little bit depressing.

Nevertheless, I think it is serving a purpose. It provides a focal point for me to articulate and catalog my concerns about Kronos. Perhaps some day I will be able to take all of this information, condense and revise it, and submit it to our human resources department.

For a change of pace, though, I thought today I would say something positive about Kronos.

But I can't think of one damn thing.

Kronos has many aspects. I have glimpsed but one. I only use the telephone interface to punch in and out.

There is also a Web interface to Kronos. I haven't seen it; I don't believe I have sufficient administrative privileges. But I've heard about it.

The Web interface is what my boss uses to approve my recorded punches.

What does he see, I wonder, when he gazes into this face of Kronos, a face which I may never behold?

This morning I got to wirk extra early, in part because I wanted to return a piece of equipment to the Media Center, on the floor below my office.

So I stopped by the Media Center on my way up, dropped off the equipment, and talked shop with Melvin Claverie for ten or twenty minutes.

When I got up to my office, I clocked into Kronos, and then it hit me: I didn't get any credit for the time I spent talking to Melvin!

Of course, I could have clocked in using the Media Center's telephone, or any phone on campus. But what if I'd run into Melvin in the middle of the quad? Should I refuse to talk to him until I clock in?

Of course not. But Kronos encourages you to think like that. I'm disappointed with myself for such mental pettiness.

I vowed not to let Kronos diminish my pride, yet it has.

My coworker Ed Huffman writes in to give another perspective on Kronos:

"Those of us that are hourly are continually reminded that we MUST take a full hour lunch regardless of workload or other circumstances."

Complaining about a longer lunch? Has Ed gone mad?

But Ed further explains that our employer "doesn’t like to pay overtime." All overtime must now be approved in advance, and often that approval is not forthcoming.

And so, Kronos "punishes those of us who used to work during lunch or extra time to get the job done."

Another good work ethic, frustrated by the machinations of Kronos!

My friend Mike Davis says he doesn't mind using a timekeeping system at the naval base where he works. But his reason is very revealing...

"Since we get paid overtime or comptime, it's nice, actually. If I work a couple hours extra today, I don't have to worry about calling or e-mailing anyone. The system keeps track of it."

This is further evidence that Kronos is more appealing to people who get paid on an hourly basis, or at least are eligible for overtime.

(Since I'm exempt from overtime, I don't enjoy these benefits.)

But this is starting to make it sound like Kronos is loved and worshipped by all hourly wage-earners. Perhaps it is, but I'm skeptical.