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.