Buses

I think I'm getting fat again. I dropped two pants sizes in Katimavik, and now the smaller sizes are getting uncomfortable. Oh well.

I think I'm getting stupider, too. I think that guy in the last post rubbed off on me. When I came home, at one point I actually said this,

"Wouldn't it be cool if Santa came down and totally just messed shit up? Just like, ripping people's heads off and shit."

I actually thought I was leading up to something witty when I was saying that. Oh well.

On the buses around here, every one of them has a different seating arrangement. I can see why you'd want to mix it up from the standard rows a bit. There are ones laid flat against the wall at the front and point to the centre of the bus. These are good for elderly people and people with a physical disability. They fold up or down to make room for wheelchairs or baby strollers. Then you've got your standard seats. These are good because it allows a greater quantity of total seats in the bus. Then some buses have a part at the back which is at an elevated height. Seems pointless, but it's kind of cool. Back there, there are seats that face toward each other. These are good for if you want to have a conversation with someone. Gets a little awkward if the bus fills up and those are the only seats left, so you wind up facing a stranger. It's less personal to squash in next to someone than it is to look at them. Looking is more invasive than touching, I guess. That's weird.

But then there's sometimes this little setup, where there's two chairs, one facing to the inside of the bus, and one facing forward. That means someone is staring at someone who is turned to the side. I don't see what situation this would be useful in. It's like, if you're at a restaurant, and someone at the table next to you is staring at you, and you can see them out of your peripheral, but you don't want to look back. I think that's the situation the bus is trying to recreate.

Guelph bus drivers are pretty friendly. They will sometimes try to draw the attention of the bus. Usually they have a circle of friends who travel this way regularly.

But for some reason, they can never draw the attention of the entire bus. In another situation where a lot of people find themselves lumped together for some random reason, it's not difficult for one person to draw attention to themselves. On a bus, though, people seem to just want to keep to themselves.

I've been using a bus pass this month. It's the first time I ever have, but it's not worth mentioning. You just flash your pass, wait for the driver to give you a nod, and go to your seat. I don't have any... bus pass anecdotes.

Yo... I'm doing pretty awesome financially. Mom's Disability gives something like $500 a month more than Welfare did, and with me working, they do something like, they cut out half the pay from my weekly 40 hours out from the Disability cheque, but nothing is deducted for overtime pay. Then, I pay $500 month to household expenses.

End result is, the only thing that comes out of me is that $500. That's only about one quarter of my monthly wage. I'll definitely take that.

We're not rich, but you don't need to be rich to be happy. If you've got a solid financial footing, that's a beautiful thing. I don't even know what I'd buy if I had more money than this. Okay, well, maybe a car, a Kindle, a cell phone, an iPod, a new chromatic harmonica....

...Yeah, okay. Whatever.

I think I know why the agencies liked my resume so much after coming back... I worked two jobs for the duration of what would be the length of a temp contract. I also was working, like, 16 hours a day, for $3 a day. That tells them you're willing to work long hours, get paid little, and you can complete contracts.

Although, when I was working, a guy was explaining something business-related to someone else, and he said,

"That's because last year was recession. Everyone was poor. This year, everyone have money."

That would explain why all my friends are working. So it didn't have anything to do with my credentials, the world just turned in my favour outside of my control. Great.

Well, I guess I'll be happy for my country, but a bad part of me would rather think I just got really cool.

Science Centre, Some Guy

We went to the science centre in Toronto on the weekend, and I found out that I am capable of folding my tongue, which only one in 500 people can do (not to be confused with tongue curling, which two in three people can do). In the behaviour patterns section, everything was made to be unsettling. There was one point where there was a sign in front of a door, which said that, due to the nature of the exhibit, they needed you to stand in front of this camera and let it take a picture of you. Then it asked you to slowly turn around until you faced the camera again. When you went through, in giant letters written on the wall, there was this:

THINK ABOUT WHAT JUST HAPPENED
YOU WERE SORTED
WAS IT SCIENTIFIC?
WAS IT FAIR?

There was another section where there was a black-and-white checked floor strip. A sign asked us to walk only on the white tiles. When you reached the end, another sign asked if you really only stepped on the white tiles, asked why you would do that, since there's no reward, but chances are, you did it anyway. Wanted you to look back and see if other people were walking only on the white tiles, which people are obeying the sign's commands.

Okay, sign, you want to know why I only stepped on the white tiles? Because it's the science centre and I thought I'd learn something cool if I did, like a neat little mind-screw, but apparently not. Apparently the science centre's just a bully.

Toronto's science centre's worlds better than Montreal's. In Katimavik, me and three other people got stranded in Montreal for a day, so we went around trying to find free stuff to do. We watched a street performer, climbed a clock tower, and went to the science centre. The science centre there was basically just entrance attractions that would normally be meant to lure you into the area you have to pay for,but we couldn't find any indicator there was anywhere different. Basically, it had some facts, a black hole simulator, some paintings, and a water fountain. It was actually closer to being an art exhibit. At least it was free, unlike Toronto, but saying the two are even comparable is a joke.

Two people have passed out in my work station in the past two days, and today I had to work with one of the most annoying people I have ever met. All day it was,
"You like banging prostitutes, buddy? I do. I banged like, fifty of 'em."
"You smoke weed, buddy? Did you smoke weed before coming in today? Why not?"
"You see that guy? That guy's a fucking bobble-headed bastard. That guy's a fucking billy goat from Narnia. HEY YOU! Yeah, you fucking billy goat."
"You think you're better than me? Fuck you, buddy."
"You like whores, buddy? Everyone likes whores."
"You see that guy? That guy's a fucking Jack-o-lantern. He's a fucking pumpkin-headed bastard."
"You see that guy? That guy's a crazy fuck. He's like, hardcore Christian. Like, I'm Christian. Like, Catholic, you know? But that guy... He's the bad kind of Christian. The kind that doesn't look at porn."
"See that chick? I need you to bang her for me, buddy. I will pay you, buddy. I work with her, and she pisses me off. She just needs to get laid."
"There's this guy who just totally harasses all the girls. He just stands there, hardcore staring at them, saying which one's he'd bang. This one girl got really scared and started trying to avoid him. You'd be scared too if you were a little girl and this big guy came over to your work, just staring and licking his chops. Man, I love that guy."
"I love porn. Those girls are such whores, it just makes me laugh."
"I think a lot of people around here hate me. It's because I embarrass them by being so much better than them at their jobs."
"I like you, man. You're a good guy. We make a good team."

He ditched us for a half hour to take a nap and look at the lunar eclipse, insisted he do the harder of the two jobs, even though he's inexperienced at this and wound up getting swamped and begged for mercy inside fifteeen minutes, said he didn't want a chair when I offered to get him one, then, when I got up, stole mine...

I got my chair back and put him on the easiest job.

One of the guys I work with regularly is not going to come back after Christmas break. He got a new job. He's the insane worker, who's been doing two full-time jobs, with one 22-hour shift per week. I'll be sad to see him leave, but his new job is part of his other job, so he'll be working way less, and really, that's for the best.

Tim Hortens

Aw, man. I stopped at Time Hortens on the way to work today, which, if you non-Canadians don't know, is a coffee and donut shop we're obsessed with. There are literally more Time Hortens' in Canada than there are Starbucks and McDonalds in the US combined. Seriously, I read it in a book of statistics.

I don't know why. I mean, it's not a bad chain, but it's nothing all that special either...

Anyway, people at my work get coffee there and bring it in. I always envied this, but my bank only gives out money in $20 bills, and I never buy anything except cab service, and I always give the remainder of my $20 as a tip, so I never have change. I didn't want to be all, "Yo, I want coffee. Here's $20. Give me change"... I don't know why. My understanding is I'm the only person who feels pressure to hand in an amount similar to what you're purchasing.

Anyway, so I get there, and three people from my work stop as well. When we get in, one of them asks me what I take in my coffee, and he buys it for me, along with the other two guys.

Afterward, two of the guys sit down. There are four of us, they're sitting at a two person table. I don't know if I'm obliged to hang out with them, I don't know if I do, I'll be stealing the other guy's seat, I don't know if he'll sit with them or not once he gets his order, and can't stand around like a moron until I find out.

So I say seeya and head off to work.

But now I don't know whether or not to stop at Timmies again today. I don't know if the guy who buys only felt obliged to buy me coffee because he buys it for the others, and if I show up, I'll sort of be taking advantage of his services by taking and leaving without hanging out with them, but then there's the chair problem...

I know! I'll go, and I'll sit at a nearby table! That way, I'm neither being intrusive nor antisocial. I'll try to angle myself so they won't feel obliged to include me, but I can still contribute without having to raise my voice.

A friend that I hung out with every day in high school, and one of the people who I was hanging out with every Tuesday to play Dungeons and Dragons works at that Timmies, doing that shift. When I got in, he saw me, waved at me, and shouted "Hey, Gryphon!" from the other side of the store.

Well, I would've settled for the hand wave, but since he went thatfar for me, I wasn't about to leave him hanging, so I shout "Hey, Danny!"

So a guy from my workplace turns to me. It takes me a little while to realize that HIS name is Danny too!

With the inclusion of high school Danny, that's FOUR Dannys I communicate with on a daily basis! Too many Dannys!

There was so much to think about just from Tim Hortens that day, I was so busy thinking, I was barely bored all day!

Sickness, Misc

Last Sunday/Monday (my first day of the week), I was feeling horrible. I felt like I could sense every one of my organs not quite working up to par. I had zero energy, my shoulders ached, and I had a throbbing headache. The day previous, I had slept for eight hours, stayed awake for eight hours, slept another four hours, and was awake for four hours. So sleeping half the time. I still went to work, but I wasn't worth the $12 an hour the company pays me. I was passing out at my work station, and My mind drifted across all the major events of my life, like my life was slowly flashing before my eyes, or at least drifting. When my workmates goaded me about passing out or looking at the clock, I just growled at them and they didn't keep at it long. I felt like I was perceiving things through a filter. It became difficult to imagine ever feeling better. When I got home, I slept for ten and a half hours straight. I got up, played a handheld videogame. After a bit, the stress of concentration caused my shoulders to hurt, then my headache came back, then I lost all my energy and had to take a nap.

I went to work again, this time feeling slightly better than the previous night. By the end of the workday I was feeling kind of stable. Next night, I was better. Sometimes, you just need to give your body the options of "heal or die" and you will heal faster.

Did I tell you guys that the "spinning" job at my work, which I learned on my third day when I was on Days, I avoided telling people on Nights that I knew how to do it, because it's a job you have to do standing up? Well, I got retrained. Today, our spinner kept alternating between spinning and machining as needed, and we had an extra worker on our team, so we were falling behind, and eventually I felt obliged to step up.

It wasn't bad. It gave me the adrenalin rush I had for my first assignments when I was on the job. I was so obsessed with keeping pace and doing everything right, I forgot to be dying from monotony.

Also, spinners get stools now. They had to stand before, because you need to be at an elevated height, but now there are tall stools.

I swear, this job has helped my Karate. On endurance holds, I'm far superior than I used to be. I can easily do a round without breaking. Why? Because, when we're doing large parts, everyone at work has to stand, and while it's not as excruciating or intense a test, standing for eight hours a day with nothing to think about certainly gives you time and reason to be figuring out pain-distraction methods. Almost feels like cheating, though. Like, in Karate, I should embrace and find my way through the pain, not distract myself from it. Whatever. Sensei's always said to find distractions.

Also, doing a task over and over an over, learning how to execute it as fast and as accurately as possible, teaches you how to execute that kind of learning for any movement, which also translates to Karate. It's like Karate Kid!

When I was on the bus, some lady was like "Christopher?" to me. I said, "Gryphon". Apparently, she knows someone named Christopher, who looks exactly like me, talks exactly like me, and acts exactly like me. She told me he was 21 and asked me how old I was. I had to admit I was 21. He lives in Waterloo, a nearby city.

Funny... I've been mistaken for a "Christopher" before... But in PEI!

The cab I last used was being driven by a guy I'd lived in the same building with for like, 16 years! I did not bring this up, but I wish I had.

I made bread again. I thought my bread-making days were gone when our oven broke, but Mom's found some weird method of getting it done.

I'll probably be gone this weekend to visit my Dad in Toronto. Then it's three days next week and then.... Christmas vacation!

Christmas Stuff

Last Friday, we had a Christmas dinner at work. They called us up early. The whole breakroom was decked out with decorations. All the tables had tablecloths and poinsettias, there were wreathes, and a decorated Christmas tree. There was a long table, with turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, vegetables, pasta, and salad. All the higher-ups served us. There was our supervisor, the head of HR, the plant manager, and the head of Guelph's Linamar! They served themselves lst, and afterwrd, ate among us. We usually get a ten minute break, and a twenty minute break down the line, but they gave us a 45 minute break! They offered everyone a second serving, which I took them up on. I was so stuffed, I felt like dying! I worked for an hour, and was hungry again!

The food was good. It wasn't like, cafeteria food or anything. They gave us our regular twenty minute break, too, and with it, cake for everyone in the factory.

I came home, and found that I had received a package... A Christmas package from some old Katimavik friends! They'd sent me a couple of Christmas gifts!

I deposited my cheque, found that my chequebook had come, and I got put on direct deposit at my agency.

Everything's pretty good right now! I feel the Christmas spirit and I feel like I am in love with the world!

Work Team, White Stripe

I don't sit alone through break and lunch anymore. All the temps plus one regular worker have assembled at my table as the regular hangout. It's like in high school. I'm quiet, don't want to get too personable with people, choose a place to sit where I don't have to look at anyone, and next thing I know, everyone's sitting around me.

I hope I don't get greedy for power again, and vie for leadership in a situation that doesn't particularly need it. That's a habit I'd like to break.

I don't think I mentioned that, on overtime shift, there were only three of our usual six, which means that we only had enough for one team. So they brought in three other workers from a different area and made them a team doing what we do. By the end of the day, our team had produced three times as much as the replacement team.

I got my white stripe in Karate yesterday. I failed the test for this stripe twice previously, the only stripe test I'd ever failed, and spent three regular kata classes specifically training for this s tripe, the only time I'd ever specifically trained for a stripe that wasn't kata or self-defense.

The group of moves you need for this stripe are: middle block, cross body block, reinforced cross body block, hammer fist, and knife strike.

Both times my main failing was the cross body block. The first time, I didn't really know what it even was. Second time, I'd been practicing it almost exclusively and had some confidence in it's execution, but this happened:

Teacher: Interesting. I've never seen this before. That was a good, powerful move... Uh... have you ever attended another school?
Me: No, never.
Teacher: How many kung fu movies have you watched? Haha, well, anyway, your move was an effective cross body block, but you modified it to fit the curriculum of another school!

Yeah, so I had to relearn what the move was in our curriculum. I haven't watched many Kung Fu movies, if you were wondering.

But when I finally got it, I actually felt like I was at the level I should be, and wasn't just getting it out of pity.

Back Online

So the problem with the computer was that the one that was working was a laptop, and the charger stopped giving juice. That's how I managed to make my farewells. It wasn't the COMPUTER, it was the charger, and it would keep working, but only as long as it's batteries held. When I was using it to say goodbye, I noticed the percentages were acting crazy... I started out with 20 minutes remaining, then 31, then 14, etc. It just kept bouncing! When I told the rest of my family about this, my brother inspected, and, turns out, the charger just decided to randomly just come fully back to life.

Today, I was in work for overtime. Remember how I once accidentally didn't show up for work when I was supposed to? Well, yesterday, I came to work when I wasn't supposed to. And, like before, I was the only one who made this mistake.

Well, my supervisor was far more surprised to see this mistake then the last one, and by today, it had been spread over the entire factory, which couldn't have been easy, since these are overtime days, with one being very exclusive. Apparently, the mistake of showing up to do work is far rarer than the mistake of not showing up. It wasn't a negative thing, but it was confusing exactly how astonishing it was to them. The higher-ups who let me into the building (Apparently just getting into the building was an impressive feat) apparently automatically assumed that I had been exclusively requested to come in that day, and until my direct supervisor saw me, I'd made my way all the way to my work station unquestioned. I guess that is kind of funny...

There's a meeting tomorrow, an hour long, and everyone who shows up gets paid for it. It's a little depressing that, since that's the day buses don't run, the extra hour's pay wouldn't cover the cab fare to get there.

They've had a meeting once before since I've worked here... That was a really trippy morning. First my bus went down a different route than it usually does, which made me feel suspicious but I didn't feel concrete in my decision that it was wrong, and I confirmed I was on the right bus, so I held tight, knowing that, at that point, the fact I could be wrong was my only hope to get to work. When we neared my workplace, I got off, and walked for a bit, only to realize that I was walking in the opposite direction than I usually do to get to work. I turned to go in the opposite direction, but as I turned, I saw that I was in front of my factory.

I walked through the parking lot, seeing no one, which is definitely weird I worried that the different bus route had caused me to take a longer time, but I usually arrive 20 minutes early, and I couldn't conceive that I was 20 minutes past the time I usually show up.

So I ring the buzzer, and some guy lets me in. He gives me a crazy look. When I go up to walk through the area to my normal station, I see him looking over his shoulder at me. I move along, and the factory is completely dead. Never seen it like this before. I open the door to go into the breakroom, and everyone in the plant is staring at me at once.

This is because there was a meeting, supposedly mandatory, that was never reported to the temps. It was held in the breakroom, and I appeared right behind the woman who was speaking.

I just moved to the nearest empty seat without saying a word and listened to the remainder of the presentation (I actually showed up ten minutes earlier than I usually do).

After the meeting, immediately, one of m temp friends came in. I asked him how he managed to dodge the meeting and he said "WHAT MEETING?!"

Almost immediately after, two more temps came in. Nobody knew about the meeting.

Despite strong encouragement frm my fellow temps to put the extra half-hour on my timesheat, I didn't. I felt like it would be saying "I showed up whenever I felt like it and interrupted your meeting. Pay me for it!"

At least no one could depute that I was there, since I drew attention to myself.

Yo, there's this guy I'm working with, who went to the same highschool as me, while I was attending, and for several years, he hung out in the same area that I did, and we saw each other on a daily basis, and he remembers my group, but neither of us remember each other, because we both looked completely different back then, and neither of us know anyone that the other person does, outside of teachers. I know he's not bluffing, because I told him a bit about where I used to sit, and he described my group in detail.

Can't Update

Sorry, both computers busted, no time to get access anywhere else because of the schedule. In a hurry now... Will post when I can!!!

Today I submitted my article for Secondchance's newsletter. You guys were a completely relevant aspect to it. In fact, I was requested the link to this blog, which I dodged. Probably, they'll get the link, see the blog, see me say I dodged their seeing it, and my dodging technique will only come back and bite me.

That's okay. I only dodged speaking on this blog to avoid the knowledge that, while I aim to update everyday, I actually don't.

So today I figured out what the high-tech people's slang-name is. They're "spinners". We have rockers, springers and spinners. Isn't that fun?

Spinners have the toughest job. I always make sure not to take a chair when we're doing small parts, because there isn't enough chairs for everyone, and I always seem to get one. I feel obligated to give everyone their proper chance. And spinners never take chairs.

I always assumed this was an aspect of machismo. People who can handle the toughest job aren't going to deprive any weaklings of their precious chairs. I always thought that I had nothing to prove... That if they insisted on standing, after I gave them their proper chance to sit, it was their problem. But today, I wasput with two people who don't use chairs. I explained to them my philosophy, and they encouraged me to take one.

A spinner complained that he was the only one who wasn't sitting. I offered my seat, and he denied, saying that to do his job, he required an elevated level. Well, that explained a lot. Those spinners aren't standing because they want to, they're standing because they have to!

Want to know a secret? Today someone was required to learn how to spin because the regular spinner wasn't there. I know how to sin, because someone who wasn't a suervisor trained me on my third or fourth day!

I didn't want to stand all day, so I didn't mention my proficiency,while someone else on my team had to be trained and production was ultimately slowed. Is this a bad thing?

I Got Money

Yo, I got both my cheques deposited! I am now a man with almost $900!!! Turns out, my first cheque DID go through... I just misunderstood the machine and thought the bar saying how much I wanted to withdraw was how much money was in my account, which is by default nothing. I also got my second cheque deposited... and I ordered cheques so that I can do direct deposit with my agency.

I took a taxi today, since it's the day buses don't run. It cost me, like $20. And I thought the $2.75 for bus fare was a ripoff. It actually cost me $16.30, but I knew I was supposed to tip, and that a tip is usually 15%, and I'm not too quick with math, and I'm not going to ask for $1.70 back or something like that, so I just told her to keep the change.

I guess two hours of my work week go into that ride. I've spent $140 so far, between that ride and living expenses.

There was a lot of things I wanted to do today. I particularly wanted to write my article for 2ndchance, but I slept until 6:00, which halves my day.

Long Weekend

There was no overtime this weekend and we got a day off. Also, my agency called me and told me that night shift was canceled last Tuesday, but it wasn't, and I'm the only one they screwed up with. So I wound up missing a day, without calling in. I explained it to my supervisor and he was really chill about it. I told him I'd work twice as hard that day to make up for lost time and he thought I was being hilarious. The other people were surprised he was so cool about it, because apparently he was real pissed about it the day of. I don't blame him. Last Sunday night, I was late for work, because no buses run that day, as I've said, and my ride forgot to pick me up. Also, I screwed up my timesheet when I was filling it out... Turns out Sunday night/Monday morning, the first day of the week, is put into the last day of the week on the timesheet, Tuesday is the first slot, and builds from there until Sunday. The hours were still right so he signed it anyway. It was also a day late, because I gave two timesheets away, thinking I had more.

That's three screw-ups in three days. Take into account the day I couldn't get into the building near the beginning, and that's four screw-ups in ten working days. That's like, a screw-up every other day. Honestly, I wonder why I'm still around.

I've been neglecting my emails and Facebook, as well as this blog. I haven't checked in like, four days and I'm nervous about it. Here I go...

Okay, so I missed out on seeing Dad this weekend and a few people asked me where I was working over Facebook.

I still don't have any money! I've worked three weeks and I haven't made a penny! I've spent buttloads on bus fare, though. I guess the bank decided not to process my first cheque and then never notify me. I got my second paycheque today. My first one was worth $260. This one hs the first two numbers reversed: $620. Too bad I only did three days this week, so it'll be another $260.

Second Wind

So, after being told that laptops create infertility risk, I hit up a search for "laptop sperm" (using Mamma, though, not Google, so it doesn't reach their archives) and I found out that... it's true: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/17664.php

Well, that's horrifying.

Anyway, here's a couple of pics of my new beard and suit: http://gryphonsgallery.blogspot.com/2010/11/suited-me.html

So, yesterday I kind of hit the wall regarding work. Today I got my second wind, and it just flew by. Everything all of a sudden seems tolerable.

Although I entered my last cheque into a machine because I didn't want to wait until the bank opened after I already waited for the temp agency to open to get my cheque, and it was Friday and I wanted it to clear before the weekend, but now I realize it will probably take like, a week for it to clear because I didn't just see a teller on the coming Monday, and it probably won't even clear, because I forgot to sign it!

And not only that, but I thought I had four timecards. I used one last week, then I gave two away to people who forgot their timecards, but now I can't find my last one, and I need one tonight!

It feels like actually receiving money for my work is out of reach right now...

Although I'm still not in as bad shape today as I was yesterday. Yesterday I really hit the wall, but today I got my second wind.

Turns out, the reason we keep being put on these parts is because we broke a company record! Turns out, we're the company's team of elites! For Night Shift, there is no Mission Impossible!

I don't think I need to worry about getting fired. They'd put me on Afternoons, with the semi-hardcore if I couldn't cut it with Nights, and then they'd stick me on the wimpy Days before they fired me.

There's one guy on my team who works two full-time jobs. He worked 22 hours in a row and got three hours sleep last I talked to him. He makes the 12-hour people look like slackers.

There's another guy on my team who sticks two springs in one shot. I'm fast enough to make a person cry for mercy if I wanted, but this guy's almost twice my speed!

After I learned how we broke a record, I volunteered for the tougher job. It's not financial stimuli that motivates me. Greed isn't very high up on my list of Sins. But Pride is.

One thing I hate about my job is, there's clocks everywhere. You keep looking at them, and it makes the time crawl! You count it down by percentage... half a day left, one quarter, one eighth, one sixteenth, one thirty-secondth...

I think that guy found out my name's not Jason. He didn't refer to me by name all day, even though we talked... Awkward.

Work work work...

Hey, so on night shift, Saturday morning and Sunday night shift is mandatory... Thurs-Fri and Fri-Sat are overtime days... There are no buses on Sundays. So, we'll see how this turns out.

I got my first paycheque today. Just for three days last week... $260.01. I'm not on direct deposit, because I didn't have a cheque, and I couldn't order some, because I'm broke. So I needed to collect my cheque and deposit it, which meant I needed to wait outside the temp agency for 45 minutes until it opened after I finished my shift.

My left foot has one blister on the middle toe, and my right has two on the middle toe and one on the pinkie. Is my right foot weaker than my left?

The factory is about 50% male and 50% female. Factory work seems to not by any means be a male-exclusive trade. It's interesting, how, in some areas, the glass ceiling stays intact, while in others, it has broken.

Oftentimes in factories, they put males on tasks requiring heavy lifting, while they put females on work that requires repetition and dexterity. In my opinion, the females have it rougher. Since our tasks are dexterity and repetition, I guess this is a kind of feminine job.

Today was considered overtime, and while on days, very few people came in, on nights, there was only one person on our team who didn't come, and I didn't really notice a difference in the general population size.

There's a guy at work who thinks my name is Jason, and I let him think it too long, and now it would be too awkward to tell him that's not my name.

I got some ties from Secondchance! Now my suit is full.

I have this pocketwatch that got disconnected from it's chain, so it still works, but I can't open it. In Katimavik, I was always playing with it, and managed to open it only twice, never finding a consistent solution. The other day, Mom found a solution: she pulled the cotton swab off a Q-tip and stuck it through where the chain was! I can't believe it, all this effort, and a Q-tip shaft was all it took! The shaft stays in place when it's in my pocket, and it doesn't even take any effort more than that of pressing a button to make it open and close! And if it breaks, what does it matter? It's just a Q-tip!

I have pocketwatch because somebody got one for me for Christmas, because I told that person I don't wear a watch, because having something on my wrist bugs me, and I always wind up carrying it in my pocket, and then it breaks.

I got my blue stripe in Karate the other day! There's a Saturday class at 8 AM that I thought I would never attend. I was like "There's no place I will ever be on a Saturday at 8 AM other than in bed!" But now I'm working Saturdays, I get off at 7 AM, and my bus goes right by the dojo...

My batteries are running low... 6 hours sleep today, 5 the day before, 5 the day before that. Having difficulty adjusting, and I don't have any free days to catch up. At least one more week I have to do... Every day is cumulatively more difficult. It feels like I haven't stopped working since the day I started. Time off feels like little more than my 20-minute lunch break.

It's difficult to say what's so hard... I'm in there, and I wonder if it's my legs hurting, but they're relatively okay. They hurt, but not more than I'm used to putting them through. I wonder if it's sleep deprivation, but it's the same way for that.

And when I get off... Waiting for my cheque felt only slightly better than working, and when I got home, even sleeping felt like a chore, even though I was tired... Food doesn't taste good anymore...

First Night Shift Experience

Night shift wasn't so bad... I think it might become my favourite shift. You're awake and free while the world is working, so you've got the best options for activity, you have you're largest meal (everyone else's dinner) when you wake up, which is healthiest, and for lunch, you can just pack dinner leftovers, which is better than me gorging dinner and scraping some cruddy thing for lunch when I'm tired in the morning, having procrastinated packing it the night before. There are a lot fewer people on nights, and the pace is more relaxed, but it has a reputation for being for people made of sterner stuff. See? All positivity.

I hope the fact that there are less people on nights doesn't mean there's a lower percentage time each individual spends on nights as opposed to the other shifts.

Again, I was the only person to be transferred. When I was doing inspection today, they gave me gloves. We always have gloves on, but usually, they're these thin, blue, disposable gloves you throw out every break and lunch. The ones I got today are black, reusable, and you can use them for everything, and the people who have them do use them for everything. It's like a status symbol. I'm not some scrub newbie that uses disposable gloves. I've moved up in the world.

They call the break we get at 4:30 AM "lunch break". Well, I guess it's lunch according to our biological systems, but it doesn't fit the clock system, so it's funny.

I haven't been reading my book at free time. I'm still feeling out the environment. The people who aren't talking generally fold their arms and stare into the distance, so I've been doing that, too. I'll probably do more reading once I feel my presence has been better established. Right now, I've just been keeping my eyes and ears open at all times.

I didn't go to Karate and instead took a nap before work because I'm a pansy. Now I'm going to Karate. I have to walk all the way there, because I don't want to waste bus fare, now that I'm working and I use so much of it. Won't be a problem with time, because I should make enough money to be pulling in profit in comparison with my bus fare output, but right now, I haven't yet gotten paid, and we've been struggling to keep me in bus fare.

It's an hour walk both ways to and from Karate. That's two hours of walking for an hour and a half of work. I'll have half an hour before I have to take the bus to work, which is about 40 minutes. So I'll be able to have a cup of coffee before I leave.

There's a guy that commutes from another city to work, and it takes him half an hour. It takes me 40 minutes by bus.

Our stupid oven broke. Me and Mom managed to bake bread, but it takes greater improvisation than it did before. I hope my baking days aren't done. I may be a working man, but I'm not too macho to have a love for baking.

Also, I lost like, five shirts and a belt, and nobody can find them. That is so annoying.

My old W2W counselor got me some ties to go with the free suit they gave me, but when I got downtown after work, it would still have been 45 minutes of waiting in the rain before they opened, and I wussed out. I'll do it today.

Switched to Night Shift

So I worked for three hours today and then I got switched to night shift. He said I had two options: either go home now, get some sleep, come back at 11:00, or do my shift and come back the next day at 11:00. He phrased it like, "Come in at 11:00 tonight... if you think you can handle it", so of course I was like "WROOARGH! I can handle it!"

Today they put me on a new task. I check parts, mark them if they have the right stuff, take them off a conveyor belt and put them on a platform, and put another part from another platform on the conveyor belt to replace the part I took off. I don't know what these parts are. It's more challenging than springing and rocking. Is it a good sign that I was the one selected to do this? Or is it a bad sign that they keep rotating me? It could have been any of the springer/rockers.

Anyway, he said to get some sleep, but here's my plan:
-Bake bread
-Go to Karate
-Go to work without having slept at all

11 hours in one day... That's coming in on 12. I'm a little like those 12-a-day workers I was talking about.

Car Clutch: Whole Process

So, it looks like the organic restaurant wasn't ready to aim that part-time. Looks like I'm not a vegetarian again! Hey, I know that makes me sound like I have no integrity and like I'm whoring my values based on environment but... Hey! That's.... Not a nice thing to say....

Today I learned how to do the more high-tech job. You know how I said there were three jobs: rocking, springing, and high-tech? Well, today things were pretty slow, to the point where, people were producing at a rate that was just making things congested. So, the woman I was working with decided to train me on the third job, because we basically had some time to kill.

It goes: Put on metal ring. Put big cog over little cog. Spin. Pop out different kind of metal ring. Mark. Put on a third kind of metal ring. Mark, mark, mark.

There you go. A little more complex than the other two jobs. Now I can do the whole process by myself.

We have to wear earplugs, but there isn't all that much noise. I feel it just makes it more difficult to communicate.

I wonder if my steel-toed boots are too small. They're the same size as my regular shoes, but maybe the steel takes away some space, so you should go a size larger. The first day I wore them, they blistered up my feet pretty bad, but I kept wearing them anyway, because I didn't have much else in the way of options. I've been doing okay recently. I don't know if that's because of the shoe getting worn in (is it likely to wear in steel?) or because my foot got tougher. Also, these stupid shoes wear in my socks at the heels.

Today, my boss and the person I was working with complained that I was too quite. Aw, man. It's my fourth day. I'm feeling out the environment. I don't know how to communicate with you guys.

...Now I have to concentrate on not just being a good worker, but also a good companion. What a pain...

At lest that means they want more of me, not less, which is kind of positive.

There was another two temps today. They seem to be flowing in two per day. One of them asked me to get more material, then asked me for advice with springing, then she asked my name, then she asked how long I'd been working there.

I told her three-and-a-half days. I wonder if this can be interpreted positively, meaning I seem at home in the environment, or competent. Probably over-analyzing.

Overtime Work

So today I installed both gears AND rockers! Yeah yeah,I know it's Saturday, but I went in for overtime. Apparently they have overtime on weekends every week. I'd make more money doing the one job plus overtime than doing two jobs, but I'm still going to aim for two.

There was only like, eight people who came in out of my estimated sixty-five employees. I was the only member of the Temp Five who came in. I can come in on Saturdays, but I can't do Sundays, because I rely on bus. I think I'm the only employee there that buses.

There are a couple of people there that work 12 hours a day, seven days a week. Think about that. 12 hours is half a day, and if you're doing that every day, minus the amount of time you spend sleeping, and then travel time, you have less than a quarter of your life to yourself. You'd probably make mad cash, but what's the point if you can't spend it on anything you'll spend any significant time on?

And how is it even possible to do those hours? In the three days I've worked there, I've been offered an extra two hours of overtime once. I don't have the option of doing twelve, even if I wanted!

We had these big gizmos that had a sort of structure that we built off. Still the same job, but we had to share the construction structures, so this time, how fast we went actually did effect how fast each of us could go. Still went pretty smoothly. Plus, because the structures were tall, it didn't strain our backs and shoulders. Normally, you spend about an hour thinking how easy this is, you can't believe you're getting paid so much to do it, before you start getting angry. Today it took about five hours to get to that stage.

It was a pretty good day, even though I don't get overtime pay, because I only started working halfway through the week.

This is shift work. So I spend two weeks on days, two weeks evenings, and two weeks nights. I will only not be able to do Karate during evening shifts.

It'll be fun doing nights, going in after Karate, all beat up.

If anything, this job only motivates me for Karate. I mean, it's true, you're exhausted after a day's work, but you spend a full day with your heart bleeding, thinking "I WAS MADE FOR BETTER THINGS!!!" plus you're aggravating your body, using it continually for such minor things, you just want to let your body and mind have the chance to go all out!!!

You know how your brain actually moves slower when watching TV than it would if you were doing absolutely nothing? I think it's the same for my job.

The only thing that's a little disappointing about getting work is that, I've been in the job-searching business for so long... getting to know all the job-searching people, figuring out all the resources, the techniques... It almost seemed like a career. So it feels like ditching a former lifestyle, a little bit.

Someone at Secondchance got me a tie. Gonna drop in next week to collect. Gonna treat you guys to a new pic of me and my new, suited up with my new trimmed beard!

Springers and Rockers

Today I put in springs instead of rockers. Springs are harder than rockers, so I guess I'm really going up in the world.

One of the three guys I signed up with at the temp agency that I hit it off with got a job at the same place as me today, and we got placed in the same group. It's funny that that little scenario turned out to have some kind of significance.

Turns out we're making clutches for cars. It's a task that would normally be done by a machine, bu their machine won't work, so I guess they hired temps.

There's not too many temps. There's probably about sixty workers and five temps.

We won't be doing clutches forever. Our other work is... Something about car differentials.

But here's how the job works right now: somebody places rockers (metal pegs) into these gear things. Each gear has ten slots for rockers. After the rockers are placed, somebody puts springs under each rocker. Then somebody does something more high-tech. It's a three or four person job. A rocker can usually move about 1.5 times as fast as a springer, so it's awkward. If there's one rocker and one springer, the rockered cogs build up, if there's one rocker and two springers, the springers end up rocking, and if there's one springer and two rockers, the rockers end up springing. So it's like there's never a time when there isn't somebody that needs to branch out. But it doesn't matter, because the springing and rocking is so accessible to everyone, that nobody holds anyone back.

Today there was one rocker and two springers. I watched my fellow springer. For ever ten springs he did, I did eight. That's not too bad.

There was one guy, though, who just thrashed both of us on springs. He was a spring maniac! Yesterday, there was a guy like that on rockers. He was some surfer-looking guy who surfed on in and rocked our world with rockers.

When I toured Hydro Quebec, our tour lady was something of a comedian. She told us that they used to have someone working for their cafeteria who's sole job it was to crack eggs. She asked us to imagine what it would be like to tell someone that their job was cracking eggs for Hydro Quebec.

That joke falls kind of lamely on me now. My job is not any more complex than cracking eggs. I can tell people my job is "Putting springs in things".

...Wait. That actually sounds pretty fun. I should have used an example that didn't make such a fun rhyme. Both the words "springers" and "rockers" are just fun to say, actually.

At least it's not as bad as when my job was to construct boxes at RFDA... Followed by the job of deconstructing them. It's times like those that you feel your life has no meaning.

Augh... I didn't know how to get inside the building today. I checked around outside, but couldn't find my way in. There was nobody in reception, and it took me half an hour to get somebody's attention. My boss was kind of peeved. Apparently he told me yesterday... He still paid me for the half-hour I missed.

Plus, he usually lets us off half an hour early, and pays us for that, too.

Today he gave us chairs when workers complained about the strain on their backs and necks. Apparently it's very unusual for bosses to do that.

I probably hit the jackpot in terms of temp work... Relaxed environment, friendly people, good wages... The worst you can say is it's monotonous.

First Day Of Work

Okay, so the new job is a factory job I got through a temp agency. It's eight hours a day, five days a week, pays $12 an hour. It's a three month contract.

It's a pretty relaxed atmosphere. The people are friendly. I did one task for the entire day. I was only criticized once, and that was for moving too fast. That's not bad. It's easier to slow down than speed up.

You could burn your life away doing this. Making fairly rightous cash, feeling like an asset to society, and never having to move out of your comfort zone. But not a lot of cool stuff would happen to you.

I hope I don't have to discontinue the blog because cool stuff stops happening to me. "Today I installed more rockers into gears. Still don't know what I'm making."

I ALSO landed the organic restaurant job. But that's only part-time and pays minimum wage. She said that most of the action right now is happening on weekends, so that's when she'd usually call on me. Well, guess what times I'm free! I'm going to see if I can get weekend work. She also said she expects business to pick up eventually, when they get their liquor license and the construction on the street ends. My contract ends in three months. It's possible I'd need more work when they need me more.

I went to Karate on top of work. I'm really exhausted. If I wanted eight hours of sleep, I would have gone to bed an hour ago. Wish I could post more, but I need to hit the hay.

I Don't Get It

What. Happened.

I got another job callback, bumping my callbacks to nine, and having been called back by every major temp agency. Plus, it looks like I won't make my interview tomorrow, because I have a full time job starting tomorrow.

:O

More Interview Stuff

Aw, man, now I have a job trial today at that organic place for 6:00. I've got a phone interview today for 1:00, and tomorrow, I have another interview at 8:00 AM. Sheez... The nerves are beginning to get to me.

Do you know how many callbacks I've had now? Eight. EIGHT!

Let's count how many interviews I've done in my life.

There was Short Stop, way back when I was in high school. There was Burger King, the only interview I landed within the four-week funding requirement span after W2W. I did two temp agency interviews, but I'm not sure if they count, since they don't necessarily determine whether or not you get a job. There was the W2W interview, which I'll count, because that was actually a competitive interview. Then there was the seven Summerside interviews and the five Thunder Bay interviews, but those were done like speed-dating, and I don't think they counted, since Katimavik required to place you. I had an interview with Maypole and a job trial with Foxy Foods.

That's not very impressive, is it? At this rate, I'll quickly double my life's number of interviews.

The interview at the temp agency was kind of tedious. I wasn't sure how long it would take me to get there/didn't know what bus to take/didn't know if I remembered correctly where they were or if they relocated, so I headed out right after my first interview. I showed up an hour and a half early, so I sat under a tree for an hour and a half. Then I went in and went through the application process and WHMIS testing. Me and two other guys came in at approximately the same time and finished almost exactly the same time. We were all under 25, so we were all considered vulnerable workers. We all had to watch an additional video together. Then, there was only half an hour left in the day, and they didn't know whether or not to get us to schedule for tomorrow, or to do the interviews speed-style. They decided to do speed-round interviews, and mine was only a little over five minutes.

I don'tthink they were taking me in for a specific position, even though they cited my application for a specific position. They just wanted me on their list. That's what all these temp agencies do. They put out a bunch of specific positions, but if you apply, you're applying for the agency, not the position.

So that's not quite as promising. They have a system now where you need to go in every Tuesday and report that you're still looking for work, or they'll take you off their list.

Me and the two other guys who came in around the same time kind of hit it off. Usually in situations like that, you don't really communicate on a personal level, especially since you're not required to, even on a professional level, but somehow, coming in at the same time, completing our tests at the same time, frequently being referenced by name by the employees in reference to each other, and being grouped together, and, possibly, being under a sort of tense situation you don't really want to be alone throughout, us three started throwing down jokes, and referring to eachother on friendly terms. It was one of those moment sof surprising and sudden camaraderie. Those don't come along very often, and they're pretty pointless, but still nice.

The receptionist asked the other two guys if they were under 25 and assumed I wasn't. Also, when we dropped by my brother's school the other day to pick him up to get the flu shot, I met one of his teachers and a few schoolmates. One of his schoolmates assumed I was his dad...

Aw, man, I should be getting that phone interview soon... I don't know how best to prepare...

Job Interviews

Remember howe I said that I had two callbacks, both temp agencies, and one in a city outside my own? Well, yesterday, I got two more. I got interviews from both, scheduled for today. I'm at the library right now, coming out from an interview at an organic restaurant and juice bar.

I think I did okay. This place is vegan, and, I'm not sure, but I think it might also be raw foodist. They put down that being a vegetarian or vegan is a plus, but that being generally health conscious and interested in the environment was also okay.

Unfortunately, I can't say that my experience in Katimavik contributed to me landing this position. I got it through a 2ndchance job search person. She didn't have my post-Katimavik resume at the time, so she sent my old one. The employer even tried to contact me by our old line, with no success. So my old resume was strong enough to land me this position.

If I get a job here, I'm going to rock the vegi-lifestyle again so hard. I tried to incorporate my vegetarian stance into the interview, but I don't know if I managed it smoothly. When she asked me to tell her about myself, I said that I had difficulty defining myself in such a short timeframe, but that one thing about me that would be relevant to the position is that I'm vegetarian. I'm new to it though, only about four months. I'm just coming out of a program where I traveled around Canada in a group of people, doing volunteer work, and in my group there was a person who had been vegetarian since she was six. It was difficult coming back to Guelph, being the only person I knew who was doing this, and that I think working in this place would be a good opportunity for me to learn, and it would be good to not be the only person with this lifestyle.

I should have said "I'm not vegan, but that is a step I'm interested in taking in the future" but I forgot.

See, that's not exactly a self-descriptive, and it may have been obvious I was looking for an opportunity to dump that. Also, if they get a lot of vegans, it might hurt that I made the admission that I'm merely vegetarian.

And yeah, I relapsed from the lifestyle and didn't put in the effort to point that out in the interview. Hey, there's no meat in me now!

Otherwise, she seemed pretty interested in my writing experience. I should have gone further into it than I did. I just basically recited what was on my resume. "Yeah, haha, that's kind of an odd thing about me that crops up every once in a while. It's true, I was a movie reviewer for an acting school in Vancouver, and the editor for a Sociology textbook for a University professor. Also, I've been asked to write an article for a newsletter for 2ndchance on an experience I had in Katimavik."

I should have said something about getting eleven writing course scholarships from that acting school. They may be invalid for now, and the school may have gone under somewhat, but I wouldn't need to point that out. I could have talked about blogging, or being the journalist for my Katimavik group, but I didn't think of that.

When she asked me to tell her my three greatest strengths, and when she asked me to say what was the biggest thing I learned about myself in Katimavik, I sort of waffled and said "Uh..." and "Um..." quite a bit. I'm not too proud of those sections of the interview, but at least I never failed to give a full answer.

When she asked if I had any questions, I couldn't think of any. That's bad, apparently.

She wants reference letters. I keep hearing that no employers care about reference letters anymore. I didn't even think to bring any. She said that's fine, I can just email them to her. I wonder what that says. Maybe that I'm not unconsiderable, but I haven't won out just yet, either. Also, maybe she's checking in on whether or not I'm legit. Maybe I'm an early applicant and she doesn't have a lot to weigh against me, so she's finding a way to weigh me against myself, but she'll fall into more comparitive methods once more applicants come around.

The positions I'm applied for are waiter and dishwasher. There was a food prep position I couldn't apply for because I don't have a full license. I should've fielded that in the interview, too. I think I'm applied for all three positions, so if she filled the other two and put me on food prep, I might be in trouble.

I didn't know how to dress. I considered wearing my full suit, but instead I decided just to take the pants, then wear a dress shirt and this sort of dress jacket. In the end, I looked as dressed up as if I were wearing the suit. I figured it was better to dress up than dress down, just to show that I was taking this seriously.

I'm wondering if I should go home and change for my second interview. That's for a factory job. I'll be being interviewed by office people, so maybe not quite as rough as if I were applying for people hiring direct from a position like that, but maybe a smidge more casual than I am right now.

This morning I got two more callbacks. I have another interview tomorrow at 1:00 PM. That's for another factory job, and it's a phone interview.

So, taking the first two callbacks, and then the two I have today, and the two I got this morning, that's six callbacks total. Very, very nice. I'm using the same method I used before, but instead of, like, two responses every year, I'm getting six per sendoff. But, as I said before, aty least three of these responses aren't all that impressive. Two of the agencies that called back have called me back before, and I got little out of them those times, and this interview I just came out of was based on my old resume, so it's more luck than any newly acquired credential.

I also got a flu shot yesterday, and I got my Karate uniform back with embroidery. It was almost the perfect day, but I failed to get my white stripe. I'm not allowed to have absolutely perfect days, but that came close enough.

Homework, Blushing

I'm helping my brother do an assignment for school. He needs to teach someone about healthy active living, so I'm supposed to record everything I eat, and my activities, for one week. Then he'll analyze and critique me. I also need to do a test. It's been awhile since I've done homework.

Hey, have you guys ever seen anyone blush? Because I don't think I have. Ever. I was thinking about this the other day, and it was quite the weird realization. I've felt like I was blushing, I've been told I was blushing, I've seen people hide their faces with their hands and assumed they were blushing under there, but I don't think I've seen anyone actually blush. And it doesn't just extend to maybe seeing someone blushing a little, just not to the cartoonish extents you see in illustrated media. I don't think I've ever seen anyone in real life blush at all. Even a little.

I learned how to tie my Karate belt. All this time and I never knew how! I got taught twice at the beginning, but I guess it never really sunk in. It always looked a little off, and I never knew why. Nobody ever took notice until last week, when one of the senseis harshed on me. So I looked it up online, and, I was treated to a 14-step process. How could anyone have expected me to figure out a 14-step process without being taught? I practiced it all morning yesterday. Maybe I'm just not talented with knots. I got it down, but I could have taken an entire lessen on just tying my belt.

I was asked to write an article on my sweatlodge experience for a 2ndchance newsletter that apparently is only sent through the company. I'm pretty pumped. This will be my third volunteer action that I've done for them.

Job Callbacks

Okay, so I found out why the fax exists, and it makes sense. Yesterday, when I was faxing, I wound up talking to three people, each of whom I told that it was only my second time faxing. Each one said passionately that the fax should be obsolete, other than when sending your signature.

Apparently, you can't send your signature by email... I don't know, isn't scanning and sending an image via email even the same basic procedure as faxing? Oh, I don't know...

Anyway, I actually did get two callbacks from my 40-application sendoff. Both were from temp agencies, though, and one of them I landed an interview with before leaving for Katimavik... When temp agencies call, it's not quite as good as a direct call from a company, not just because it means you have to operate through a middle-man, but mainly because they'll often call in response for a position they don't think you're qualified for, but they want you on their list, anyway. That happened to me twice before leaving.

I hear it's good not to be on too many lists, because an employer might reject you if you're associated with the same agencies he is, and you both have them connected with the same opportunity, because that would mean he would have to pay two agency fees.

On the other end of things, it is good to be associated with multiple agencies because each agencies pulls in different opportunities, and it's good to widen your net.

I'm associated with two temp agencies right now, but I should update my files.

One of the agencies that called back called back from a different city. They've got opportunities in Guelph but they want to meet over there. Well, we'll see if I can arrange that or not.

The Big Three

Today I applied for 37 jobs via email. This is the quantity method of application. Yesterday I went to the big mall of my city, where the second Secondchance is located. I went to see the other guy who ran my old program. I've probably said, maybe multiple times, that he transferred to this location, and I didn't want to go all the way out there just to see him without knowing whether or not he'd be there, because that'd make me look desperate. But yesterday, my old employment counselor told me he works all day, every day there, so I decided to go for it.

I'd never been in that office before, but they have the same job binders, so I burned through both of them, recorded every opportunity I was qualified for, and threw them down today. There's 9 more I can only apply for via fax, so I'm going to hit my local Secondchance tomorrow to send those off.

That reminds me... What's the point of fax? It seems to me to be exactly like email, except you can't respond to it or know if they've received it. It seems like the method company's use when they want to have complete control over the process, except oftentimes it's given as an additional means of application. Why would I choose to use fax when there are other options?

As a general rule, in-person applications are best, then phone, then email. The more personal the encounter, theory is, the more likely the employer will consider you dedicated, the more of yourself you can display, and the more memorable your application will be.

On the other hand, the less personal, the more quantity of applications you can shell out at a time. It's higher convenience. This is the quality vs quantity conflict.

But a fax is just as impersonal as email, and fax machines are harder to come by then computers, and it gives you less control.

Anyway, yesterday, I did manage to see the guy I was trying to see, but I also met the third member of the Big Three. The two guys who ran W2W are the first two... Partway through my program, a third person with a position akin to there's was introduced. My impression was that it was a pretty big deal. As I understand it, usually two are stationed at the location near me, and the third stays at the big mall.

The program was still new at the time, so it used to be that one stayed at the mall and one over here, but once the program started, it took two to manage it. So this guy I went to see today transferred over to where W2W was, and that left the mall with no one of that caliber. So they had to introduce a new guy.

He's been on the team for over a year now, and I'd met him before, but I never made the connection. I should have, though. The way he speaks, the way he holds himself, how he responds... It's obvious that he's greater than a normal human being.

Not in any kind of arrogant way, mind you. It's not like these people are trying to stand over you. Just the opposite, in fact. They're always getting on your level. But they are truly great beings.

Of course, I don't have the connection with him that I do with the other two, since I don't have a history, but I can see from meeting with him, that he is worthy of his position.

I don't even know exactly what their position is. Apparently they get paid pretty bad, have to worry about getting laid off, they aren't employment counselors, they aren't job-finders, they're not secretaries, and the program is a branch thing that came late in the game... They don't seem to be in any position of authority over their peers, either. They can and will do any and all of the tasks I listed, but they seem to have no official title.

I had a teacher like that. Except she wasn't really a teacher. I respected her a lot, and I owe a lot to her, too. Maybe these are just people that ascended their official position and became something greater.

Anyway, this guy I went to visit, he seems to be doing well. It's sad that he can't do the program now, but he looks like he's where he should be. This office was where he started, and it's the place he looks most at home in. This is his "turf".

He said that my beard was "character defining". All three of them like my beard.

My goal is to be as cool as these Three by the time I'm their age, or the age they were when I did my program. I've got about a decade. No way I'll manage it.

When I was there, a person with a developmental disability and a small child came in. That's right, why should there be some kind of segregating place for intellectually disabled people, when there is a cool, open-minded place like this? And screw Kids Can Play, or Fun Zone, or whatever it's called. If I was a kid, 2ndchance would be where I'd want to be, too!

At one point, they stepped out, and said I was in charge. I don't know how true that really was. I felt enough in charge that if someone came in, looked confused, and started to walk out, I would have told that person that they would be back shortly. Maybe not in charge enough to pick up a phone...

Despite the passionate urgings of the other members of my circle of wisdom that I should have taken the CWY opportunity, these three were much more open-minded to the idea of me sticking around for my family.

Misc Stuff

Yesterday, I got the update on my bloodwork. B12 is normal, but I'm still low on D. They suggested I go down to two supplements for B12 a week, instead of one every day.

I got work boots, Mom got new glasses, and we got a new answering machine!

I also have a new winter coat and hat.

It's not a "cool hat", though. Just a "functional hat".

To wear a "cool hat" is to challenge the world. If someone takes your cool hat, and you can't take it back, then they have complete control over you. However, an assailant who attempts to take the hat and fails suffers dire shame. To wear a cool hat is to constantly be demonstrating one's power.

The more painful it is to wear your hat, the cooler it is. The more out-of-context it is, the cooler it is.

The hat is the only article of clothing that should reflect your spirit, not your body. An intimate bond should be forged between hat and wearer.

These were the philosophies we believed in regarding hats in my Katimavik group. Most of us guys wore pretty flambuoyant hats.

Thinking on it, most of our hat philosophies reflected the philosophies of the luchador mask...

Anyway, this new hat's base design is more interesting than my last one, excluding all the pins, but I can't so easily build a "lifespan" pin collection on one hat, the way I did for Katimavik, and while Katimavik had a short enough span that I could count on my pins to last that long, I know now that pins suffer the the effects of the elements moreso than the hat they are set upon.

I'm still wearing this hat like crazy. Been too long.

I went to 2ndchance. The receptionist was someone I hadn't seen for a very long time, the one I knew best, and the main one when I was using their resources most. I thought she wasn't working there anymore... 2ndchance tends to breeze through their receptionists relatively quickly. I get the impression that they're students.

I also saw my old, official employment counselor... Not the counselors that ran my pre-employment program. Turns out, she's not gone, it's just that our contract ran out, and now I need to reapply. I still saw her, though, and she's going to look over my resume.

She says I'm still the posterboy for 2ndchance. Take THAT "new Gryphon"! You'll see. The next "Gryphon" that comes along will be another "new Gryphon" and they'll say my name, while yours will be forgotten!!!!

I learned that Dungeons and Dragons is not fun if you reach actual combat. I miss the day when we could talk our way through our problems... Fighting is just a lot of repetition and dice-rolling, seems like.

That's how I spent Halloween. Still better than not doing anything.

Food Bank, Halloween

Today my brother got his glasses (looks sharp), and Mom got to choose the frames for the glasses she's going to get. Bro also did his OW employability interview. His only obligation is to graduate for now. I tagged along and asked about my job application sheets. She says she doesn't care, she trusts me, she knows I saw their employment specialist, and after our meeting in three months, if I still don't have work, then she might decide to employ that obligation.

We went to the food bank today, too. I know they just give what they get, and it's free food, so we should be thankful for whatever we get, but if I was going to complain, I'd complain about getting bottled water. First of all, that's not exactly a necessity, since we've got tap water, and secondly, it's not even any better than tap water, because it's Nestle. Guelph tap water is Nestle bottled water. And that's not just an opinion. Guelph produces Nestle water, and it flows from our taps.

Plus, we have so much cookies. It's kind of reassuring to know that I'll never be without Yogurt, Dill & Green Onion Naan Bites, but it's hard to attribute them to keeping the household afloat. Mom still gets cookie privileges. The lady asked Mom if she had children, and she said kind of, and told he that I was her child, and the woman still gave us an extra pack of cookies!

Mom decided that today was the day she could start pestering me about grandchildren. Fat chance, Mom! If you wanted that, you shouldn't have raised me to be such a loser. In fact, there was a client at the food bank who was flirting with anything that moved. The one exception was me, and it was kind of bad, because we wound up pushing our carts at the same time, and had a conversation, and she kept referring to me with maternal terms of endearment.

I'm not saying that was an opportunity I would have wanted to pursue, I'm just saying, the last thing any woman thinks about in my presence is pro-creation, even if that's usually all she thinks about.

At least we got another squash. We got a squash as a bonus last round at the food bank, and I considered it some kind of symbol of prosperity and good fortune. This squash isn't as nice, and it wasn't a bonus, but it's still a squash.

I think any time a family member funds a shopping trip, it lasts longer than the food bank donation.

At least I've got plans this Halloween. I don't know what I'm doing, but I know who I'm doing it with, at least.

I went to 2ndchance again, and I didn't get another free suit, but I have the chance to win a jar of candy! I had to guess how many were in a jar. I feel pretty confident about my guess. Everyone else was shooting way too low. I don't know what they were thinking.

I think I might sign up for another 2ndchance counselor. Just because, why not? I enjoy going there, it's where I do a lot of my job-searching, so I'll be there anyway, and it will keep me focused. I think my old official counselor is gone. I haven't seen her since I got back. Initially, when I asked where she was, they said she was on vacation, but she's still not back, and it's been recommended I sign up with a new person. Mysterious.

While I was gone, there was a guy marketed as "The new Gryphon" at Secondchance, and he actually worked for my former employers. I haven't met him, because he moved on to bigger and better things, but I imagine he was a real smooth customer. All style and no substance. Had the gimmicks, but not my depths!!!! I can't be replicated so easily!!!!

For instance, he moved on to bigger and better things. How is that like me at all?!

Convenience Store, Free Suit

So the other day, I went into a convenience store to buy my Mom cigarettes. The clerk asks me for ID. I start to take it out, but I'm intercepted by another person who runs the store. It went like this:

Man: I believe him! That beard is big! I believe in that beard! Put that ID away!

I start to take it back, but then...

Woman: Oh no! When I'm at the counter, I am in charge! Take it back out!

Man: Sir, if you are worrying that you are looking young, do not worry!

I hand over my ID. The woman looks at it.

Woman: 1989. Well, he is not that old.

Man: He is 21.

Woman: Yeah, but it's not unreasonable that I asked.

Man: He looks older than 19!!!!

The man takes out a pack of cigarettes, walks around the counter, and hands them to me personally.

Man: Sir, I am sorry that you had to put up with this SHIT from my wife!

Wow, that was dramatic! An interesting side-note is, this is only the second time I've purchased cigarettes in my life, and both times happened in the span of one week. Both times, I was purchasing for someone else.I've never even tried smoking.

What I'm taking from this is, I need to trim my beard again. When it starts to incite random, fanatical respect, that means it doesn't look as sophisticated.

Yikes! I forgot to say that, when talking to my grandfather about beard growth over Thanksgiving, he said it took awhile to grow one, and that, if he shaved, it would probably take him a couple weeks to grow a full one.

What! It took me seven weeks before I considered what I had to be a full beard! And I won a beard-growing competition and was considered to have the fastest facial hair in my Katimavik cluster!

And I know a guy in his sixties who has a beard that I go to Karate with. He shaved his beard once and had it grown back the next week! Because of him, I had a total misconception of how fast facial hair grows!

Maybe it's a gene that's weakening by generation. Another theory I've heard is that, as you get older, your facial hair speeds up. Another is that your facial hair tends to grow to the length it's used to. That would explain how I can have a 5:00 shadow, and speed to my three-day growth, then not seem to grow for six weeks, then hit a facial hair "breakthrough" and blast out to full beard, and defeat my competitor. He, who used to have a beard, grew consistently throughout the competition. I wonder if I shaved, if my body would try to revert to what it now considers it's norm.

Anyway, yesterday, I saw the OW job consultant. He doesn't know why I didn't get a job-searching sheet, and he gave me one. But it's only good for one month, and my employment counselor has scheduled to see me in three months. It didn't feel like part two of a normal process, like I thought it might, and he wasn't the guy I'd seen before, like I thought he'd be.

I got a free suit! I was at my youth employment centre, and they all randomly were like, "Hey, do you want a free suit?" It's a full suit, 100% pure virgin wool, from Moores. Apparently they got a bunch of suits donated.

Seeing Old Friends, Nightmares

Yesterday, I saw someone from my old pre-employment program that I haven't seen since near the end of the program, which was about a year and a half ago. She was speeding by in a car, so it was just for a second, but I know it was her! and I don't know if she recognized me, but she saw me, and I saw her. She gave me a look like "8O" (that's the emoticon for a surprised face, if you don't know), but I don't know if that was because she recognized me, or because I was making the "8O" face at her.

CWY sent me another message, saying "Are you sure you don't want to join this month? There are still openings! Don't respond unless you're ready to leave RIGHT NOW!!!"

Dang, missed opportunity. Oh well, if I go next year, I'll have done Ways2Work in 2009, Katimavik 2010, and CWY 2011. That's like, a pattern. If I do three programs, that elevates me to "program junkie" level.

I saw an old friend from elementary and middle school, who I've stayed in touch with, today. He's the guy who was friends with one of my high school friends, which I was freaking out over. He won't let up with the scary coincidences! He moved while I was gone, as did my family, and both moved to the same general area. He's almost a neighbour! He's in easy walking distance, but my family and him have never seen each other in the area. Not only that, but he's neighbours with a guy who lived in the place where I lived when I left, who I used to talk to! This old neighbour was like, the first guy I ran into when I went over to my friend's place!

I feel like I know too many people, now. Maybe it's not coincidence. Maybe I keep running into people I know because I'm actually pretty familiarized with my city at this point in time....

I also spoke with a guy I knew from elementary school, today, who found me on Facebook while I was in Katimavik, but who I otherwise haven't had contact with in almost a decade.

I've had bad insomnia lately. Probably due to all my nightmares. It must be because Halloween is coming up. These are pretty Halloween-related dreams.

In one dream, I'm a skeleton, and I'm hanging out with these other two guys, who are bossing me around, which they can get away with, because I'm a skeleton. Then, this big shroud of smoke appears, and in it are ghouls and creepers of all kinds. They charge us, causing us indescribable terror. We run away,and manage to evade them for some time, but after awhile, Zombie Mr. T shows up, pulls a gun, and says, "Join the Monster Mash, Foo!" or something like that. So we surrender ourselves and become consumed and assimilated by the horde. We go around spooking people, then go back to the house and throw a party. I pine that "I'd like to think I'm doing this for the Monster Party privileges, but in my heart, I know I'm just too scared to defy Zombie Mr. T".

In another one, I'm playing with my pet rabbit, and he hops off the fifth floor balcony, where we lived before the last place we lived. I think he must be wounded or dead, and I'm terrified. I want to reach him, but I can't without the Superintendent's permission, since he fell into his backyard. After some searching, which causes me anxiety since I know that, if my rabbit is alive, but wounded, he could die or become incurable if I'm too slow. I find the superintendent,and he lets me get to my rabbit. Everything is alright, because instead or dying or becoming wounded, my rabbit... became a giant slug. I don't care, because he's still got the same soul.

I'm a bit or a dream analyst, but I don't think I'll be doing that in this environment. Go to town if you want, though.

I don't know why I felt so guilty in the first dream. I mean, it's not like spooking people is nice, but the guilt I feel for it is really disproportionate. I'm not murdering anyone! I'm basically just going, "Boo!"

OW Employability Interview, Technology Issues

Right now I'm using the library computer. It's the first time I've used it since I got back. I'm coming back from sending another thing via post. I like sending and receiving things by snail-mail. It feels like an ancient method that has managed to survive against all odds.

Just like before, this is going to be a rushed post, because of the library's time restriction.

Yesterday, I went in to do my OW employability interview. It seemed pretty standard, and was finished before the expected time. Probably in part because my brother had to reschedule, because he had something else going on that day, so his time didn't count in, but I also thought she was going to give me job sheets and go over the job-search requirements of being an OW recipient. Since she didn't, does that mean I have no requirement to look for work? Doesn't matter, because I will anyway... The requirements they put down aren't especially harsh, and I'm sure I'd meet their expectations regardless of whether or not I have to fill out some sheets, but still...

She gave me the card for the OW employment specialist. I think he's the guy who was selected to be our worker last time. The name is familiar, and our last guy mentioned he was a big-shot around their. I think what happened is, we got the employment specialist last time by coincidence, and he put me through the employment bit, just because I was already there, so why not.

I think I may also have agreed to contact this guy, but I'm not sure. Didn't feel like it, actually, but I'll give him a call nonetheless. I don't feel safe as-is.

I should get my resume worked over by a professional, anyway. I think I'm pretty good at it now, and I use the advice given to me by the 2ndchance counselors, but I haven't actually had my resume checked over by someone paid to give advice on it, since I started doing it myself.

I tried studying for my G2 driver's license yesterday. I know someone with a car, who is willing to teach me, but I'm also supposed to study on my own. Absolutely none of it is sticking. I couldn't study effectively in high school and I can't do it now.

You know how I said that it takes like, an hour to walk from where I lived now to where I used to live? Well, guess how long it takes to bus it? About the same time. If we were following the old bus schedule, which we do in evenings, where they came every half-hour instead of every 20 minutes like they do now, then it would take even longer.

I should really start using our bike. I was never a huge cyclist, but yeesh. I might start.

I hope none of you guys are calling and leaving messages on our machine. We got one used, and it's really bad. It switches between static and clarity, so that you can't always understand the message, but you usually get enough human voice that you can decipher who made the call. Recently, I checked the messages and it was full-on static. I thought it was just the phone, which is always kind of static, but then I realized there was a small, muted voice. I held it up to my ear, risking having the voice suddenly go full-throttle straight into my ear, but I couldn't make out any words. Just a fair certainty that someone was talking, and that I couldn't make it out.

I don't know if I said our desktop computer is broken, to. We've had it for a few years now, and in that time, it has spent more time broken than not. Apparently, it was working the whole of when I was gone. Me and it just don't get along, I guess. Mom and Bro keep trying to convince me that it's a good and reliable computer, and these are all stupid little things that should be easily fixed, but we just have bad luck with it, as well as being flukes, but I just don't like it's track record.

Also, while I was gone, the space bar on my laptop broke. That's one reason it's difficult to update this blog. You'll notice this update is substantially longer, despite my having less time to complete it. This is partly because it's so difficult to type without a space bar. There's a little circle in the centre of where the space bar used to be, that you can use to make a space, but you have to push harder, and it takes longer to make your finger travel across the keyboard for it. That sounds petty, but it adds up when you consider it's probably the most comonly used key, and I'm used to having a giant bar. Also, even with the added effort of hitting dead-on and pushing down, there always some commands it doesn't register. You have to develop a system where you look over the last paragraph, go back, and add all the space-commands that didn't take the first time.

YEAH!!! I'm enjoying the library atmosphere. Didn't realize I missed this place until I came back. I used to think that the computer setup was not cool. I guess I still do, but it doesn't bother me so much anymore.

It's been about two months since I returned from Katimavik. I wonder if I've gone from my status as "returning, conquering adventurer" to "unemployed loser" yet.

I kind of hope it has. There are a few people I'd prefer to see me as an unemployed loser, than as some kind of hero.

Eye Test

I got my eyesight checked today. First time I got it checked in over a decade, probably. I almost didn't go, because I was fine with my eyes, and if I was told I needed glasses, that would only make me feel bad, without aiding me in life in any discernible way. But the test was free, and I can't turn down free things...

But it turned out I have perfect vision. My brother's a little near-sighted. Strangely enough, she put some kind of sticky liquid in my eyes, and not him...

The appointment went a lot faster than they estimated for me. I guess that's because I never had to deal with a second line of letters, since I always got the bottom one right, and also, it turns out, I didn't have to go through a more extensive lens-testing segment, both of which my brother went through.

There was this one point where she stuck some light right up against my eyeball, to scan it for health reasons, I think. She asked me not to blink, but I couldn't help it. Eventually she had to pry my eyelid open while she examined. Apparently you get a better scan if the person can just keep their eye open. I'm sorry! My brother beat me in this category. He didn't have any trouble.

At one point, she asked me to tell her when the row of letters, "second from the bottom" got blurry. I remember I thought my chances for 20/20 were ruined, that I had been demoted from the bottom row (most difficult) to second-from-the-bottom. But it was a lens-test, and I guess somewhat different.

I also thought my ADD might cause them to think I had bad eyesight, when they asked me to focus on one point, while they waved lights and sticks in front of my eyes.

I made bread last night. This batch included a garlic-and-cheese loaf. I know that, in pizzeria terms, that's just garlic bread, but since we've had both cheese-only bread, and garlic-only bread, this is new for us! It was by far my Greatest Creation!

I think I already said my recipe makes five loaves, but we only have four pans. Thing is, I think even four is too much. Usually, by the time we finish, the last loaf is just beginning to harden and mould. I might tamper with the recipe.

So, the Chilean miners who were so cool made a contract with each other not to talk to anyone about what happened in the first 17 days they were trapped, when they didn't know if they would be rescued. Someone spilled the beans. Know who it was? #2. The guy I complimented so much, for his trendsetting and showmanship. With this new development, I'd say he went from "showman" to "attention whore". His reasoning? He needed to talk, because people were saying they had sex!

Well, if you're going to be baited out of your promise on a cheap goad like that, couldn't you simply make the denial that that specific thing ever happened? You don't have to tell everything!

Of course, it doesn't sound like there was much TOO tell. In fact, the fact that this was how they acted in their darkest moment, and something they considered too shameful to tell anyone about, is simply yet another testimony to their toughness!

Bloodwork, Post Office, Haircut

Today I had some blood taken for B12 testing, mailed some stuff, and got my hair cut.

I'm pretty confident in my bloodwork. I've been keeping up with my supplements perfectly, and if ever the results should show, they should show now.

It wasn't the roster of blood-takers I'm used to. Remember, my doctor has had me tested for so many things, I know all the lab people (I don't know if they're doctors or nurses or what, so I'm waffling around the title) and their varying levels of skill. This time, however, it was two new people! Person who took my blood was pretty good. I barely felt it, although there was some stinging for a short period afterward if I flexed my arm. She didn't ask me if I was doing alright, though. I think it's policy that they do, because they usually do, and when she didn't, her senior worker came over and asked me. She did, however, speak to me instead on a casual and informal level. Going there was so chill, it felt more like ordering a slice of pizza than getting a medical procedure done. She probably thought I seemed cool as a cucumber, so she didn't need to check up on me. I should seem that way, after I've taken so many.

She wasn't the legendary blood worker I used to get sometimes, where you wouldn't feel the shot, and there'd be no after effect... WHAT! When I say it like that, it makes it sound like I never had the shot taken! Maybe she just swapped in a fake vial of blood when I wasn't looking, and then put me down as Vitamin B12 deficient to prank me?!?!?!?!

Or, she was the real deal, and has now climbed the ladder to truly great heights...

Anyway, I went to the post office next. I met a guy I was acquainted with from high school, who works there. We were in the same year together and had some classes in common, but we never spoke. I've also spoken with him on a professional level, going to the post office in the past, but not on a personal one. I tried initiating conversation with him based on our common ground this time, with mixed results. He shot down the high school topic pretty quick, and initially I thought that meant he wasn't interested in speaking with me, but then he became much more casual and informal, and initiated some level of conversation himself.

I forgot the most important thing that I wanted to mail, though... That was a failure. I still mailed one thing, though.

I left the haircut for last, because I don't like changing my hair quantity. After my first haircut, after having it grown out for four years, which was quite the self-identity crisis, my fear of haircuts stayed with me for some time. I still feel like it will be a real challenge, but this time it wasn't. I don't think my dream self-image will alter based on this.

Anyway, my old haircut place is gone now, so I went to First Choice, because I was under the impression it's like the McDonald's for hair. They're the most common chain around here, and people complain about them... which is just fine by me! I don't want to give the impression that I'm too vain about my hair.

Well, a haircut there costs like, $20. The last place I got my hair cut was in Summerside, and there it cost $11. Almost half price. The place I used to go to around here was $14.

The lady who worked on my hair was pretty pro. She kept asking me how I wanted my hair cut. I never knew what to say. Nobody had ever asked me anything about how I wanted my hair, outside from length. One time, I got a pretty stylish cut sort of by accident, but I didn't ask for it.

She analyzed my previous haircut, asked who did it, gave recommendations... With the price and quality of service increase... I felt like this place was actually for people going there as their first choice.

Anyway, that was weird, but the cut came out nice.

Chilean Miners, Mostly

Aw, man, time's slipping through my hands. Like I suspected, my time perception since leaving Katima-life is out of whack. I feel like I post daily, but I really don't.

It's times like this that I fight over whether or not to have a good sleep schedule, or update the blog. If I sleep through my alarm tomorrow, I'm blaming you guys!!!

Today, on the street, I saw two guys speaking in French, and one of them had a pin in his hat that I also have and put in my hat, which I got at the Franco-festival.

I finally lost the pain in my ankle, apparently. I just noticed today. For awhile, it didn't hurt with use, but it would hurt if I wrenched it at an improbable ankle. That sounds logical, but my other ankle wouldn't hurt if I put it at the same ankle, and my right ankle is the measuring stick I use against my left. Maybe the forgetting to wrench my ankle around, and it's healing, is not just a coincidence? Hmmm....

I met the god of my dojo, and this time, I'm sure it's the guy. All those other guys I thought was the guy, weren't. He shared with us the source of his power: "In this room there are people who are faster then me, stronger then me, even smarter then me... There is no one sneakier." He asked me to perform a combo we'd learned that day in front of the class. That's really high praise, and my sensei was excited. Because he knows what I was like at the beginning, and now I've come far enough that I'm acknowledged by this guy, who doesn't know what I used to be like, so he's not saying that I'm good in comparison to my former self, but just that I'm good for my belt rank.

Unfortunately, I got nervous and wound up eating his roundhouse in front of the class... We tried again, and I got it...

Otherwise... Oh, hey, what about those Chilean miners? Hardcore, am I right? I was analyzing their personalities based on their profile images, and it was surprising how often they matched.

Watching them come up was watching 33 people, all of whom knew they were getting their 15 minutes of fame, and each one having enough time to prepare what they would do, in a row.

What about that Chilean pres? Not bad for a politician, eh? He was a bit of a ham, what with his, "Let the world watch!" attitude toward the rescue, and his little segment where he spoke in English to address, not just Chile, but to the whole world, but I'm not sure that's a bad thing. He talked the talk, but he also walked the walk, staying up all day and all night, to welcome each and every miner.

And freakin' thorough with his speech! He said that changes had to be made, not just in the mining industry, but also in *names a bunch of other industries*, and he called out, not just the names of neighbouring countries, but also the names of their presidents, as for places that need to change!

He told the last guy that came out that, that if the country turned in a better direction, that he was the inspiration.

That rescue broke a lot of records. It would have broken them if they'd saved only one miner, but instead, they saved every single person! A complete success for random climactic moments like that, in real life, are really rare.

The second last guy to come out started a ton of traditions. After him, everyone would shout up the shaft once they neared the surface, and they would always shout "CHI-CHI-CHI-LE-LE-LE!" once they got up.

He brought up rocks and gave them to the rescuers, he told the president things in the mining industry needed to change, to his face, in front of the whole world... He was a real showman. Could not be contained.

So many of the loved ones waiting on the miners were so filled with joy to see them back... You don't see that in movies... You don't even really see it in real life, around here. I don't think anyone would spazz that hard for me if I came out of the centre of the Earth, after 70 days.

It's probably why they all lived. The last guy spoke of their unbreakable faith coming from their confidence in their president, in the Chile government, and in the ambition they had for seeing their families again.

If I was stuck in a mine, I'd probably be like, "Canada's probably forgotten about us... And everyone's probably already gotten over me..."

But seriously, they stretched two days of food rations over 14 days without knowing how long they'd have to conserve it... They were down their seventy days... Moses had fourty days. Not saying Moses couldn't have done seventy. Just saying he was supposed to be almost superhero-level, and that was supposed to be a real show of his awesome. So if a bunch of random miners who barely know each other can all pull through like that for seventy.... That's a huge show of strength.

Yeesh, they find them, not only having all of them survive with like, no resources, but they're playing FREAKING DOMINOES! And they fight over who's going to have the privilege of being the LAST to leave!

They looked like a cast of superheroes, too. Their donated sunglasses only helped. And the guy working the camera... I felt like I was watching a movie. Couldn't believe it was live. That cameraman should get an award.

I think, if there were strong-willed people around me, I could probably survive the 14 possibly hopeless days, or even if there were panicking people and they needed my strength, but if I was alone... If they found me, I'd probably be a writhing lump who'd ran down all his supplies, and had taken more than a few mental breakdowns.

So... I gotta give it to those miners, and to the rescue team, the cameraman, the president, and the miner's families. Everyone pulled through perfectly.