New woman got fired. Yikes. Two female workers, and both of them get fired within a week. Please tell me I'm imagining things.
There are six jobs at my assembly position:
-Install rockers into clutches
-Install springs into clutches
-Build Clutches
-Install rockers into axles
-Install springs into axles
-Build axles
I am trusted with five of these six positions. I recently failed at building axles. My coworker showed me how to do it... My supervisor came over and saw I wasn't doing it right... So he taught me. He came over later, saw I was still doing it incorrectly, and instructed me to stand by and watch while he talked me through the process. Later, I screwed up again, and he taught someone else, who replaced me. He surpassed me in a day, while I'd been practicing for much longer.
I think this supervisor thinks I have good hands, but a bad brain. I can't really complain that this is a bad mode of reasoning. I'm pretty quiet, and when I do speak,it's when I screw up: not being able to find the entrance to the factory, not being able to tell between two different types of parts, not being able to tell the difference between a complete axle and an incomplete one, etc.
Whenever I speak to him, he refers to me in overly-cordial honourifics, like, "my friend", "sir", "boss", or, "my main man".
Whenever something needs to be explained, he pulls me aside afterward and explains it to me individually.
My plan is to wait until the more powerful supervisor is switched to this shift. Then, I'll move to being builder for axles, and he won't know to tell me otherwise. I've been practicing behind this supervisor's back...and I'm pretty good at this point, if I do say so myself.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Time Perception
Of the fifteen temps who started at the same time, only three remain. Two from my original night shift team, and that guy who got shifted from days. They have the machine that's supposed to do the job up-and-running, and the only shift that can beat it is the night shift. So I guess they sent the one guy they wanted to keep to our shift, and they fired everyone on days and afternoons.
Apparently my brother's flute lessons are being payed for by the government. The government wants to encourage the younger generation to appreciate classical music, so anyone inside a certain age group get free lessons on a classical instrument. In my brother's school, he's the only one to take up this offer.
I blame blog posts like this: http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/10/every-time-i-write-something-new-feel.html#links for making me think drunk blogging is cool.
But wow, eh? I guess that's what my brain looks like when it's short-circuited. Never knew that. I'm still kind of dwelling on it. I can think of a few explanations. My... uh... grandmother gave me some ideas, too (awkward talking about the type of relationships I share with the people who read this, and who got my drunk broadcast. She thinks "everrisen" could be my attempt at "ever arisen", which makes a lot of sense, considering I used the word "arisen" later in the post, so I clearly felt like using that word.
Otherwise, I think that, because I remembered thinking I should blog about a couple of things (though I didn't actually go through with it), and those points came earlier in the post, I wrote the first part when I was "less blacked out" and came back to write the really unclear part at a different time.
I'm a little proud that I remembered to use the literary technique of using a "hook" even in that state, though the implementation was poor at best ("That reminds me" (says something completely unrelated)).
But I also think technology was working against me. That weird linebreak? Blogger does that to me when I'm sober, too. Sometimes it takes a random segment of a paragraph and inserts it somewhere randomly. And sometimes it splits a paragraph. It did it to me today. It's so frustrating. But if I was that drunk, I probably wouldn't have done as good a job at editing s I usually do.
But still, it was an interesting read. I thought I never reached the "depressed drunk" phase. Apparently I only hit it when I stop remembering.
I can't believe it's been six months since I graduated from Katimavik. Feels like two weeks. Everyone in the factory tries to manipulate their time perception so the work day goes by faster. Thing is, let's say you want to divide your day into three: working, sleeping, and free time. If your working time goes quickly, and your sleeping time goes quickly, you've only got one third of your day to live for. Minus travel time. But if you don't speed up time, your time-perception easily gravitates toward elongating work. That creates a feeling that you're always working.
And people wonder why time feels like it flies, and life feels short! That's what happens if you make it your goal to erase more than half your waking life!
And it goes beyond that. Say you fix your brain to make time perception go faster. It takes a while to adapt it that way. Do you think you can just turn it off for free time? NO! Your mental pattern gets set: it's rare for someone to be able to manipulate their perception that intricately, especially when they have no conception of these principles.
I hate this. I had before made it a goal to elongate my life by manipulating time perception. And it was working. It's even one of the principles of this blog: to highlight events in my mind for this end. And don't tell me it's all in my head, because that's the entire point!
But this job... made it my survival reflex to accelerate my perception, and now my lifespan is melting away at mach speed!
Apparently my brother's flute lessons are being payed for by the government. The government wants to encourage the younger generation to appreciate classical music, so anyone inside a certain age group get free lessons on a classical instrument. In my brother's school, he's the only one to take up this offer.
I blame blog posts like this: http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/10/every-time-i-write-something-new-feel.html#links for making me think drunk blogging is cool.
But wow, eh? I guess that's what my brain looks like when it's short-circuited. Never knew that. I'm still kind of dwelling on it. I can think of a few explanations. My... uh... grandmother gave me some ideas, too (awkward talking about the type of relationships I share with the people who read this, and who got my drunk broadcast. She thinks "everrisen" could be my attempt at "ever arisen", which makes a lot of sense, considering I used the word "arisen" later in the post, so I clearly felt like using that word.
Otherwise, I think that, because I remembered thinking I should blog about a couple of things (though I didn't actually go through with it), and those points came earlier in the post, I wrote the first part when I was "less blacked out" and came back to write the really unclear part at a different time.
I'm a little proud that I remembered to use the literary technique of using a "hook" even in that state, though the implementation was poor at best ("That reminds me" (says something completely unrelated)).
But I also think technology was working against me. That weird linebreak? Blogger does that to me when I'm sober, too. Sometimes it takes a random segment of a paragraph and inserts it somewhere randomly. And sometimes it splits a paragraph. It did it to me today. It's so frustrating. But if I was that drunk, I probably wouldn't have done as good a job at editing s I usually do.
But still, it was an interesting read. I thought I never reached the "depressed drunk" phase. Apparently I only hit it when I stop remembering.
I can't believe it's been six months since I graduated from Katimavik. Feels like two weeks. Everyone in the factory tries to manipulate their time perception so the work day goes by faster. Thing is, let's say you want to divide your day into three: working, sleeping, and free time. If your working time goes quickly, and your sleeping time goes quickly, you've only got one third of your day to live for. Minus travel time. But if you don't speed up time, your time-perception easily gravitates toward elongating work. That creates a feeling that you're always working.
And people wonder why time feels like it flies, and life feels short! That's what happens if you make it your goal to erase more than half your waking life!
And it goes beyond that. Say you fix your brain to make time perception go faster. It takes a while to adapt it that way. Do you think you can just turn it off for free time? NO! Your mental pattern gets set: it's rare for someone to be able to manipulate their perception that intricately, especially when they have no conception of these principles.
I hate this. I had before made it a goal to elongate my life by manipulating time perception. And it was working. It's even one of the principles of this blog: to highlight events in my mind for this end. And don't tell me it's all in my head, because that's the entire point!
But this job... made it my survival reflex to accelerate my perception, and now my lifespan is melting away at mach speed!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Cat and Rabbit
My pet rabbit doesn't like hard tiles. We thought that he was reclusive at first, always promptly returning to his cage when we took him out, and never leaving his cage if we gave him the option. By coincidence, we changed his cage to a carpeted surface, and he began coming out. It took us a while before we made the connection, but eventually we did. While I was gone in Katimavik, my family completely did away with his cage and put down a section of carpet with a few boxes on it. The carpet was laid on an otherwise hard surface and so my rabbit had an area easily three or four times the size of his cage, and wouldn't roam around chewing on things, either. They even got him litter trained.
Our cat has always been scared of the rabbit. My rabbit would run up to him, and he'd dart away. At first, the cat seemed to have some interest in him, but after while, he seemed to give up.
But recently, there's been a development in their relationship. The cat became competitive, trying to mark his territory by using the rabbit's litter box, spending time on his carpet, and getting in little scuffs. Nerve-racking for me, since a rabbit is lower on the food chain than a cat, but the cat always was the one to back down, and this is basic back-and-forth when cats are becoming accustomed to one another.
Well, now the cat will go over to the rabbit, and roll on his side or his back, which is a symbol of trust for them, and he no longer tries to mark his territory. The rabbit goes up to the cat, and the cat doesn't try to run away.
How random. I gave up hope on them developing a relationship long ago. I wonder what triggered the cat's change in heart.
I wrote this blog post in bits and pieces over two days. No time for anything else.
Our cat has always been scared of the rabbit. My rabbit would run up to him, and he'd dart away. At first, the cat seemed to have some interest in him, but after while, he seemed to give up.
But recently, there's been a development in their relationship. The cat became competitive, trying to mark his territory by using the rabbit's litter box, spending time on his carpet, and getting in little scuffs. Nerve-racking for me, since a rabbit is lower on the food chain than a cat, but the cat always was the one to back down, and this is basic back-and-forth when cats are becoming accustomed to one another.
Well, now the cat will go over to the rabbit, and roll on his side or his back, which is a symbol of trust for them, and he no longer tries to mark his territory. The rabbit goes up to the cat, and the cat doesn't try to run away.
How random. I gave up hope on them developing a relationship long ago. I wonder what triggered the cat's change in heart.
I wrote this blog post in bits and pieces over two days. No time for anything else.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Happy 200th!
This is our 200th post! I know I put off writing it, but I actually couldn't think of anything special to do for it!!!
I just watched two episodes of Mr. T's "I Pity The Fool", so I'm feelin' tough as nails, with a heart of gold! I'm about as jacked on positivity as I'm going to get at this point in my life, so let's do this!!
The last week, our last two shifts got canceled. Well, our last three shifts, but I somehow managed to work one. I got a message saying that my shift was canceled, but I didn't believe them, since they didn't say a date or shift, and I know they don't know what shift I work, and that they've screwed this up before. It was too late too call them and confirm, so I decided to risk having to walk home again.
On the way, I ran into a couple people who work in my section of the factory, but I didn't run into the two temps that I usually come across. I was sure I'd be sent home.
When I got to work, there were two other temps. In total, we were three out of six. When I popped the fact that I got a message saying our shift was canceled, it turned out neither of them had checked their messages.
But when we hit the floor, our boss just put us to work. Didn't flinch, didn't hesitate, but also didn't comment that three temps were gone, when he'd normally complain about one absentee.
So I worked the shift, got home with two new messages and an email from the agency being very specific, saying what shifts were canceled, for how long, why they were canceled, left their phone number, and asked me to call if I had any questions.
So I guess our supervisor just took pity on us or something, but still complained to the agency.
What the agency said about why we had our shifts canceled was wrong, though. They said that there was no parts. Sure there were. There were so many parts, we worked on them all day and they even pulled in a team to replace the one that didn't show up.
I called one of the temps that didn't show up, and apparently, when he received the first message, he called the company. It's not that they're out of parts, it's that several lines are down, and the people who would work those lines got transferred to our section, making parts.
A little while ago, I got that Confirmation of Interest email from CWY that asked me to complete a questionnaire by January 19th, 2011. It's the exact same email I got before, telling me to complete it by November 25th, 2010. Despite this, they are still applications for the same departure date.
They sent me my medical file request. I'd already sent, and had my medical file approved when I might have been put on as back-up. It seems they kept one section of my file, but that's all. It's the section I would have needed to have filled by a doctor. If they were going to keep anything, I'm glad it was that, since it took me 11 weeks to get Katimavik's form filled, and they didn't exactly give me 11 weeks. Still, it's kind of random they part of my file, but not all of it.
I've been kind of blue lately, but I think that's acceptable. Last Monday was "Blue Monday", the scientifically determined, generally saddest day of the year. It's around this time that people start getting low on vitamin D as the winter weather drags on, and I guess for Night Shift, that's just inevitably going to be more of an issue.
I think I can start getting two more people to buy my bread, meaning I've got three customers! Maybe I should quit my job and just open a bakery stand on the factory floor!
I just watched two episodes of Mr. T's "I Pity The Fool", so I'm feelin' tough as nails, with a heart of gold! I'm about as jacked on positivity as I'm going to get at this point in my life, so let's do this!!
The last week, our last two shifts got canceled. Well, our last three shifts, but I somehow managed to work one. I got a message saying that my shift was canceled, but I didn't believe them, since they didn't say a date or shift, and I know they don't know what shift I work, and that they've screwed this up before. It was too late too call them and confirm, so I decided to risk having to walk home again.
On the way, I ran into a couple people who work in my section of the factory, but I didn't run into the two temps that I usually come across. I was sure I'd be sent home.
When I got to work, there were two other temps. In total, we were three out of six. When I popped the fact that I got a message saying our shift was canceled, it turned out neither of them had checked their messages.
But when we hit the floor, our boss just put us to work. Didn't flinch, didn't hesitate, but also didn't comment that three temps were gone, when he'd normally complain about one absentee.
So I worked the shift, got home with two new messages and an email from the agency being very specific, saying what shifts were canceled, for how long, why they were canceled, left their phone number, and asked me to call if I had any questions.
So I guess our supervisor just took pity on us or something, but still complained to the agency.
What the agency said about why we had our shifts canceled was wrong, though. They said that there was no parts. Sure there were. There were so many parts, we worked on them all day and they even pulled in a team to replace the one that didn't show up.
I called one of the temps that didn't show up, and apparently, when he received the first message, he called the company. It's not that they're out of parts, it's that several lines are down, and the people who would work those lines got transferred to our section, making parts.
A little while ago, I got that Confirmation of Interest email from CWY that asked me to complete a questionnaire by January 19th, 2011. It's the exact same email I got before, telling me to complete it by November 25th, 2010. Despite this, they are still applications for the same departure date.
They sent me my medical file request. I'd already sent, and had my medical file approved when I might have been put on as back-up. It seems they kept one section of my file, but that's all. It's the section I would have needed to have filled by a doctor. If they were going to keep anything, I'm glad it was that, since it took me 11 weeks to get Katimavik's form filled, and they didn't exactly give me 11 weeks. Still, it's kind of random they part of my file, but not all of it.
I've been kind of blue lately, but I think that's acceptable. Last Monday was "Blue Monday", the scientifically determined, generally saddest day of the year. It's around this time that people start getting low on vitamin D as the winter weather drags on, and I guess for Night Shift, that's just inevitably going to be more of an issue.
I think I can start getting two more people to buy my bread, meaning I've got three customers! Maybe I should quit my job and just open a bakery stand on the factory floor!
Monday, January 17, 2011
Public Apology
Okay, so I made a weird post last Saturday night... Go and read it, it's called "Depression..." Sorry, "Depressiion...". Here's an excerpt:
"So if this person epitomizes the original event, they likely want to shut out
the cure, because there can be no cure if there dying in my apartment has everrisen isn't a condition to begin with."
What. The. Fuck.
What does "everrisen" mean? Dying in my apartment?! HUH?!
I also reference having friends to whom it would be a betrayal if I spoke about alcohol. No I don't!
Okay, I'm going to explain this: I was drunk. Really, really drunk. I don't remember posting that.
But seriously, that doesn't sound drunk. I wasn't making enough spelling, punctuation or grammar errors. Instead, it sounded intellectual and intentional, but followed an insensible path of logic. I sounded out of my mind.
"So if this person epitomizes the original event, they likely want to shut out
the cure, because there can be no cure if there dying in my apartment has everrisen isn't a condition to begin with."
What. The. Fuck.
What does "everrisen" mean? Dying in my apartment?! HUH?!
I also reference having friends to whom it would be a betrayal if I spoke about alcohol. No I don't!
Okay, I'm going to explain this: I was drunk. Really, really drunk. I don't remember posting that.
But seriously, that doesn't sound drunk. I wasn't making enough spelling, punctuation or grammar errors. Instead, it sounded intellectual and intentional, but followed an insensible path of logic. I sounded out of my mind.
Music Taste
I don't really have any taste in music. In this society, that's kind of like not having one of the five senses. Someone that doesn't have musical sense will say they "listen to everything" because it's safer than saying they don't listen. Of course, people who are super into music sometimes actually listen to everything.
Here's the kind of conversations I have to endure:
"Yo, Gryph, what music you listen to?"
"I don't listen to music very often."
"But when you do, what do you listen to?"
"I don't listen to music."
"Name one song or artist that you like."
"None of them."
"If you could be listening to any song in the world right now, what would it be?"
"Nothing."
"That's terrible."
"Hey, what kind of music do you listen to?"
"I don't really listen to music."
"WHAT THE FUCK!"
"I know, it's like missing one of the five senses, isn't it?"
"Well, no, but... Yeah. I'm sorry, but... yeah, that's what it's like. Nobody's ever told me they didn't listen to music before."
I need to shape up. I can't live my whole life like this.
We got another new temp today. Now we have seven assemblers, and we only use six. Usually, the one remaining guy that I started at the same time as gets put on different job. It's probably a promotion. They might send that guy they shifted from Days back to his old shift, if this new woman turns out to be reliable. He was only supposed to be on Nights temporarily.
I'm failing hard at Scrabble. That one woman who surprised me by reading my blog is my online Scrabble partner. It's our main mode of communication (there's a chat box). When I stopped playing we fell out of communication. But going back, I remember why I've been procrastinating. I'm just getting beat so bad, and there seems to be no move I can make that wouldn't set her up for a good move and at the same time give me almost nothing. I'm going to just bite the bullet, forfeit, and start a new game.
Here's the kind of conversations I have to endure:
"Yo, Gryph, what music you listen to?"
"I don't listen to music very often."
"But when you do, what do you listen to?"
"I don't listen to music."
"Name one song or artist that you like."
"None of them."
"If you could be listening to any song in the world right now, what would it be?"
"Nothing."
"That's terrible."
"Hey, what kind of music do you listen to?"
"I don't really listen to music."
"WHAT THE FUCK!"
"I know, it's like missing one of the five senses, isn't it?"
"Well, no, but... Yeah. I'm sorry, but... yeah, that's what it's like. Nobody's ever told me they didn't listen to music before."
I need to shape up. I can't live my whole life like this.
We got another new temp today. Now we have seven assemblers, and we only use six. Usually, the one remaining guy that I started at the same time as gets put on different job. It's probably a promotion. They might send that guy they shifted from Days back to his old shift, if this new woman turns out to be reliable. He was only supposed to be on Nights temporarily.
I'm failing hard at Scrabble. That one woman who surprised me by reading my blog is my online Scrabble partner. It's our main mode of communication (there's a chat box). When I stopped playing we fell out of communication. But going back, I remember why I've been procrastinating. I'm just getting beat so bad, and there seems to be no move I can make that wouldn't set her up for a good move and at the same time give me almost nothing. I'm going to just bite the bullet, forfeit, and start a new game.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Depressiion...
I'm depressed... I don't think I want to do this job for the rest of my life... As long as you keep a positive attitude and view it as a game... your coworkers as the players... it's not too bad, but... After awhile... you feel like you're playing yourself down...
Yo... Am I allowed to write about alcohol? I'm legal age, no matter where I am in the world, but while my mother's still on medication that requires her not to drink,I feel guilty...
Okay, I won't, for now. I have several other friends whom it would be a betrayal to to speak on this topic.
And this reminds me... You know the real reason I don't so easily lapse back into my old life philosophies? It's because I have a certain responsibility. I realized recently that EVERYONE I spend time with has a significant disability and dependency in me.
It makes sense. When somebody experiences something ugly, their savior becomes a symbol in their eyes, linked with tragedy. People might attempt to return the favour out of obligation, but it's never good enough. In their eyes, their savior becomes a symbol of the original tragedy. So if this person epitomizes the original event, they likely want to shut out
the cure, because there can be no cure if there dying in my apartment has everrisen isn't a condition to begin with.
Love is determined by the efforts of a person when they're at their most challenged, Nobody in my family has ever risen to the occasion.
Yo... Am I allowed to write about alcohol? I'm legal age, no matter where I am in the world, but while my mother's still on medication that requires her not to drink,I feel guilty...
Okay, I won't, for now. I have several other friends whom it would be a betrayal to to speak on this topic.
And this reminds me... You know the real reason I don't so easily lapse back into my old life philosophies? It's because I have a certain responsibility. I realized recently that EVERYONE I spend time with has a significant disability and dependency in me.
It makes sense. When somebody experiences something ugly, their savior becomes a symbol in their eyes, linked with tragedy. People might attempt to return the favour out of obligation, but it's never good enough. In their eyes, their savior becomes a symbol of the original tragedy. So if this person epitomizes the original event, they likely want to shut out
the cure, because there can be no cure if there dying in my apartment has everrisen isn't a condition to begin with.
Love is determined by the efforts of a person when they're at their most challenged, Nobody in my family has ever risen to the occasion.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Firings
...That guy... who I had known in high school without knowing it... got fired the other day. That stung. I guess I shouldn't go into why, although it's not bad. It's understandable from my friend's perspective why he would sacrifice his job, and it's understandable why my supervisor just had to fire him. This means there are only two of the original five of my group who started at the same time.
It looks like that guy I signed up with at my agency, who wound up in the same job placement, and then in the same team, who I would then be separated from, being switched to Night Shift, has been switched to not only my shift, but my team ONCE AGAIN!
The coworker I gave bread to, and who gave me chili in return, gave me pickled eggs today. Also, he wants to buy a loaf of bread off of me once every two weeks. Apparently his roommates loves my bread as well. I told him it'd be no problem to give him a loaf every couple weeks, but he insisted.
In my factory, there are candy machines. I'm not talking about chocolate bar and chip machines, but those machines you find in grocery stores, where you can crank a knob and receive a handfull of gum or fruit-flavoured candy. And they're not on the breakroom floor. They're on the workplace's floor. One time, there was a tool box filled with lolipops when we went in, and we each got offered one.
In the bathrooms, we have two kinds of soap, "Light" and "Heavy". They're not labeled "soaps" either, but rather, "cleansers". That kind of threw me when I started working. I thought that, if I used the "heavy" cleanser, people might think "What kind of mess did he make at the urinal?!" and if I used the light, they might think, "Oh, he doesn't want to wash up fully". I use the "light cleanser" now, because I think it's average-strength, whereas the "heavy" stuff is for people with an especially messy job. This is evidenced by the fact that some people go to the bathroom just to wash their hands, but the "Light" cleanser is used up the fastest over time.
This tells me the majority uses the "Light", and the "Heavy" is reserved for more specified purposes.
My backpack is almost dead. I've had to duct-tape it, and the material is so thin, I can see through the bottom. I don't trust it with anything heavy! Me and this back-pack have been together for many years, through good times and bad, but I think it might be time to get a new one...
Canada World Youth sent me an email today, asking me to fill out a form confirming my interest... The same form I've done twice. I don't know what to do with this.
Yesterday, I was chilling with an old friend. I told her something, and she told me that she'd read it on my blog. What! I'd better be more careful with my content. My current audience now consists of a confirmed three people. Maybe significantly more, since this blog comes up s the third hit on Google for "Katimavik Thunder Bay".
It looks like that guy I signed up with at my agency, who wound up in the same job placement, and then in the same team, who I would then be separated from, being switched to Night Shift, has been switched to not only my shift, but my team ONCE AGAIN!
The coworker I gave bread to, and who gave me chili in return, gave me pickled eggs today. Also, he wants to buy a loaf of bread off of me once every two weeks. Apparently his roommates loves my bread as well. I told him it'd be no problem to give him a loaf every couple weeks, but he insisted.
In my factory, there are candy machines. I'm not talking about chocolate bar and chip machines, but those machines you find in grocery stores, where you can crank a knob and receive a handfull of gum or fruit-flavoured candy. And they're not on the breakroom floor. They're on the workplace's floor. One time, there was a tool box filled with lolipops when we went in, and we each got offered one.
In the bathrooms, we have two kinds of soap, "Light" and "Heavy". They're not labeled "soaps" either, but rather, "cleansers". That kind of threw me when I started working. I thought that, if I used the "heavy" cleanser, people might think "What kind of mess did he make at the urinal?!" and if I used the light, they might think, "Oh, he doesn't want to wash up fully". I use the "light cleanser" now, because I think it's average-strength, whereas the "heavy" stuff is for people with an especially messy job. This is evidenced by the fact that some people go to the bathroom just to wash their hands, but the "Light" cleanser is used up the fastest over time.
This tells me the majority uses the "Light", and the "Heavy" is reserved for more specified purposes.
My backpack is almost dead. I've had to duct-tape it, and the material is so thin, I can see through the bottom. I don't trust it with anything heavy! Me and this back-pack have been together for many years, through good times and bad, but I think it might be time to get a new one...
Canada World Youth sent me an email today, asking me to fill out a form confirming my interest... The same form I've done twice. I don't know what to do with this.
Yesterday, I was chilling with an old friend. I told her something, and she told me that she'd read it on my blog. What! I'd better be more careful with my content. My current audience now consists of a confirmed three people. Maybe significantly more, since this blog comes up s the third hit on Google for "Katimavik Thunder Bay".
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Wow. I haven't posted since New Girl. I've been doing a lot of Karate! I told you, that takes my whole day away. I should be sleeping now, and I'm only updating because I'm procrastinating doing something else.
Okay, I did what I was procrastinating... Now I'll tell you... New Girl got fired! She said she'd do overtime, changed her mind, and got fired after her first shift!
There's a new guy, and he seems to be a keeper. Two whole days, and he hasn't been fired!
I brought in a loaf of bread for a coworker today, and now he's going to give me some homemade chili. It's a food trade!
My brother is going to start flute lessons.
I'm going to see a friend I haven't seen since Katimavik tomorrow, and I got a message from someone wanting to get together who I haven't seen in over a year.
Okay, I did what I was procrastinating... Now I'll tell you... New Girl got fired! She said she'd do overtime, changed her mind, and got fired after her first shift!
There's a new guy, and he seems to be a keeper. Two whole days, and he hasn't been fired!
I brought in a loaf of bread for a coworker today, and now he's going to give me some homemade chili. It's a food trade!
My brother is going to start flute lessons.
I'm going to see a friend I haven't seen since Katimavik tomorrow, and I got a message from someone wanting to get together who I haven't seen in over a year.
Friday, January 7, 2011
A Wise Old Owl
There's a new girl at work today. Not shifted, brand new. They put her on rockers and sent one of our workers to do his secondary job. What we have now is an abnormal number. We've got seven people doing a six-person job. They might keep our other guy doing his secondary job. That's an upgrade, our's is probably the most low-class job, and they'll probably hire him on. Got about a month left on the contract, and workers are asking if we've been hired yet.
I offered that guy I quoted a fresh-baked loaf of bread. I told him I baked it, and the secret ingredient is love. I want to leave him a loaf in his locker, and leave a tag on it that says,
"With love,
Gryphon
XOXOXO"
Or maybe,
"From,
Your secret admirer"
And obviously he'd know who it was since I'd just talked to him about bread.
I was talking like a motormouth until break today, and put my coworker in shock. I'm usually so quiet. New girl couldn't imagine me being quiet, she told us. After break, I was dead silent for the rest of the night. When questioned on it, I said,
A wise old owl sat in an oak,
The more he saw the less he spoke,
The less he spoke the more he heard,
Why can't we be like that old bird?
I was glad I got it right. Half the time I screw up and say, "The more he saw the more he spoke".
Baked six loves today, but I don't know if that guy will be at work today, since it's overtime, so I'll wait until the next regular shift.
I offered that guy I quoted a fresh-baked loaf of bread. I told him I baked it, and the secret ingredient is love. I want to leave him a loaf in his locker, and leave a tag on it that says,
"With love,
Gryphon
XOXOXO"
Or maybe,
"From,
Your secret admirer"
And obviously he'd know who it was since I'd just talked to him about bread.
I was talking like a motormouth until break today, and put my coworker in shock. I'm usually so quiet. New girl couldn't imagine me being quiet, she told us. After break, I was dead silent for the rest of the night. When questioned on it, I said,
A wise old owl sat in an oak,
The more he saw the less he spoke,
The less he spoke the more he heard,
Why can't we be like that old bird?
I was glad I got it right. Half the time I screw up and say, "The more he saw the more he spoke".
Baked six loves today, but I don't know if that guy will be at work today, since it's overtime, so I'll wait until the next regular shift.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
New Recruits
We got the new Night Shift recruits today. They just transferred them from Days, they didn't hire new people. They might have hired some people for Days for the position the new guys used to have, since Days is sort of like the starting point.
The new guys are my old team from when I just started! And one of them is that guy I signed up at the temp agency with. Now it's time to see who got better in this time! I'm gonna show him that Nights beats Days!
We got two more bread pans! Before, there would always be two loaves that needed to be baked separately, but now I can do them all at once! Our oven is working again, too. I keep wanting people at my work to notice the bread, and ask if my mom bakes bread. Then I'd say "I BAKED IT!"
This is as much of a post as I can do today!
The new guys are my old team from when I just started! And one of them is that guy I signed up at the temp agency with. Now it's time to see who got better in this time! I'm gonna show him that Nights beats Days!
We got two more bread pans! Before, there would always be two loaves that needed to be baked separately, but now I can do them all at once! Our oven is working again, too. I keep wanting people at my work to notice the bread, and ask if my mom bakes bread. Then I'd say "I BAKED IT!"
This is as much of a post as I can do today!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Record-Breaking Team!
Hey, here's a better urinal test than the one I gave yesterday: http://drinknation.com/fun/urinaltest It gives a final interpretation of your score, and it was the one I was trying to find yesterday. If you must know, the first time I took it several years ago, I got 40/60. Coming back, I got 50/60. I guess I've gotten better at peeing.
Hey, just so you guys know, if I'm doing Karate, I won't be able to update this blog, probably. I think Ive said this, but Karate takes five hours out of my schedule. So how it works is, I get home, sleep for eight hours, have three hours to my myself, travel and do Karate for five hours, get home, go to work almost immediately. So all I have is that three hour window, and it just so happens to usually be a bad time for my chances of getting on the computer. Karate is open six days a week, but classes are only convenient to my schedule four days a week. I try to make all four, but I usually only make two or three. Two is the expectation, so I'm in the good right there.
I found out what the big parts that we do are. They're axles. We make clutches and axles. I need to find out what I'm inspecting at pack-out.
Today we lost another member of our group. He got fired. He was a good worker, but he missed at least a day a week. Another member of our group called in sick... It's his first time doing that, so he's in the good, but that meant that today, there was only three of us. Half our usual team.
Now, it's expected that 3000 parts are made in a day. That's 1000 per shift. 500 per team. My original group had the company record of 1200 in a shift. 200 more than average. We usually break 1000, but don't meet 1200. Today we were expected to make 1000 parts, with only one group. That's hard, because even with our record-breaking score, it was 600 parts per team. Now, we worked really hard. Really, really hard. Last hour, we wanted to know how much we'd made 800 parts on the dot. My team was all depressed about not being able to do the standard 1000! I told them that this was a day to be proud of, not ashamed. If there had been two teams with workers of our quality, we would've made 1600 parts, that would have broken our previous record by 400, and we'd still have an hour left in the day! Even if, officially, we're counted by shift, as a team, we must have broken another record.
But they were still kind of sullen, with comments like "Yeah, for three people, we didn't do bad", and, "We did our best, and that's all that can be asked of us."
By the end of the shift, we had built 936 parts.
That's GOOD! The company will have their standard 3000 by the end of the day! And it couldn't have been done without our effort! Our team exceeded expectation by 436 parts, and if each team after us can exceed expectation by 16, the company has their 3000!
I'm applying for a few jobs... Support Worker positions for people with developmental disabilities. Jobs like I did back at Community Connections in Katimavik, my favourite work placement. Turns out, my old employment counselor from Ways2Work, after moving to Canada and working factories for a few years, went straight into that, and has given me the contact info. I wouldn't have even tried applying for something suited to my interests or even credentials pre-Katimavik, but I had enough success on my initial applications that I'm actually thinking it might be worth a shot.
They want a cover letter. I wrote one out and it felt like it fit the requisites of what a cover letter should be perfectly. But I only looked up online guides. I should get my employment counselor friend to look at it. I'm a little suspicious because I didn't really have to edit it, and I usually edit a lot. I guess I worked hard enough at it... I thought about it lot and wrote it over the course of three days, but still...
Hey, just so you guys know, if I'm doing Karate, I won't be able to update this blog, probably. I think Ive said this, but Karate takes five hours out of my schedule. So how it works is, I get home, sleep for eight hours, have three hours to my myself, travel and do Karate for five hours, get home, go to work almost immediately. So all I have is that three hour window, and it just so happens to usually be a bad time for my chances of getting on the computer. Karate is open six days a week, but classes are only convenient to my schedule four days a week. I try to make all four, but I usually only make two or three. Two is the expectation, so I'm in the good right there.
I found out what the big parts that we do are. They're axles. We make clutches and axles. I need to find out what I'm inspecting at pack-out.
Today we lost another member of our group. He got fired. He was a good worker, but he missed at least a day a week. Another member of our group called in sick... It's his first time doing that, so he's in the good, but that meant that today, there was only three of us. Half our usual team.
Now, it's expected that 3000 parts are made in a day. That's 1000 per shift. 500 per team. My original group had the company record of 1200 in a shift. 200 more than average. We usually break 1000, but don't meet 1200. Today we were expected to make 1000 parts, with only one group. That's hard, because even with our record-breaking score, it was 600 parts per team. Now, we worked really hard. Really, really hard. Last hour, we wanted to know how much we'd made 800 parts on the dot. My team was all depressed about not being able to do the standard 1000! I told them that this was a day to be proud of, not ashamed. If there had been two teams with workers of our quality, we would've made 1600 parts, that would have broken our previous record by 400, and we'd still have an hour left in the day! Even if, officially, we're counted by shift, as a team, we must have broken another record.
But they were still kind of sullen, with comments like "Yeah, for three people, we didn't do bad", and, "We did our best, and that's all that can be asked of us."
By the end of the shift, we had built 936 parts.
That's GOOD! The company will have their standard 3000 by the end of the day! And it couldn't have been done without our effort! Our team exceeded expectation by 436 parts, and if each team after us can exceed expectation by 16, the company has their 3000!
I'm applying for a few jobs... Support Worker positions for people with developmental disabilities. Jobs like I did back at Community Connections in Katimavik, my favourite work placement. Turns out, my old employment counselor from Ways2Work, after moving to Canada and working factories for a few years, went straight into that, and has given me the contact info. I wouldn't have even tried applying for something suited to my interests or even credentials pre-Katimavik, but I had enough success on my initial applications that I'm actually thinking it might be worth a shot.
They want a cover letter. I wrote one out and it felt like it fit the requisites of what a cover letter should be perfectly. But I only looked up online guides. I should get my employment counselor friend to look at it. I'm a little suspicious because I didn't really have to edit it, and I usually edit a lot. I guess I worked hard enough at it... I thought about it lot and wrote it over the course of three days, but still...
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Random Stuff
You know how bathrooms usually have stick figure indicators to show which one is for men, and which for women? The women's will have a skirt and the men's without. Well, at my work, we have those, but the figures are a bit fuller. They make a point of illustrating the man's shirt by putting a protrusion on either side of his hips. End result is, both figures are wearing skirts, and the only difference is the size. Apparently it's not uncommon for newish people to make a mistake and walk into the wrong bathroom.
There are five urinals in the bathroom, and there's one guy who seriously needs to play the urinal game: http://gamescene.com/The_Urinal_Game_game.html
If you go on the one to the furthest right, he'll probably take the centre, and probably talk to you. Hmmm...
There's another guy, who I don't have anything in common with, except that we share a lunchroom. We're not in the same generation, and we're not from the same culture, too. He would semi-frequently say hi to me and ask how I was doing. Not odd, except that I'm the only one who got that treatment. Recently, he engaged me in a full conversation about work, with no lead-in. That's something I couldn't do. Engage a conversation with someone you have no connection to, with no reason for doing it. Just like, "I like the cut of your jib, let's talk." Now I'm obligated to smile and nod when I see him.
There's this guy who wears a shirt that says, "Same shirt, different day". I thought to myself "Pretty clever, but it fails because I've never seen him wear that shirt before." The next day, he was wearing it again, fulfilling the requirements of the shirt. I thought, "Not bad. I see this guy has follow-through". Then he wore it again, and again, and again. I forget how many times, but he finally stopped. I was like, "Aw, man!"
There's this guy I worked with on Days for one day. Now that I'm on Nights, I only see him sometimes in the mornings after I get off. We say hi to each other. One time, he raised his fist to pound it. Obviously, I don't leave him hanging. Then he moves in for the bro bump. I thought to myself that's kind of weird... Only know a guy for a day, not have a conversation with him in over a month... and now the bro bump? But yeah, we clasp hands bump shoulders and pat each other's back. I immediately fall into casual stance because I know that a bro bump is followed by a bros moment. And sure enough, it was. Recently, he made a point of calling out to me, not only when we ran into each other, but even while I was a ways off, and didn't see him.
You full-time employees shouldn't be getting too attached to a temp. We temps just come and go...
This is what I come up with when I have nothing to write about, but am determined to update!
There are five urinals in the bathroom, and there's one guy who seriously needs to play the urinal game: http://gamescene.com/The_Urinal_Game_game.html
If you go on the one to the furthest right, he'll probably take the centre, and probably talk to you. Hmmm...
There's another guy, who I don't have anything in common with, except that we share a lunchroom. We're not in the same generation, and we're not from the same culture, too. He would semi-frequently say hi to me and ask how I was doing. Not odd, except that I'm the only one who got that treatment. Recently, he engaged me in a full conversation about work, with no lead-in. That's something I couldn't do. Engage a conversation with someone you have no connection to, with no reason for doing it. Just like, "I like the cut of your jib, let's talk." Now I'm obligated to smile and nod when I see him.
There's this guy who wears a shirt that says, "Same shirt, different day". I thought to myself "Pretty clever, but it fails because I've never seen him wear that shirt before." The next day, he was wearing it again, fulfilling the requirements of the shirt. I thought, "Not bad. I see this guy has follow-through". Then he wore it again, and again, and again. I forget how many times, but he finally stopped. I was like, "Aw, man!"
There's this guy I worked with on Days for one day. Now that I'm on Nights, I only see him sometimes in the mornings after I get off. We say hi to each other. One time, he raised his fist to pound it. Obviously, I don't leave him hanging. Then he moves in for the bro bump. I thought to myself that's kind of weird... Only know a guy for a day, not have a conversation with him in over a month... and now the bro bump? But yeah, we clasp hands bump shoulders and pat each other's back. I immediately fall into casual stance because I know that a bro bump is followed by a bros moment. And sure enough, it was. Recently, he made a point of calling out to me, not only when we ran into each other, but even while I was a ways off, and didn't see him.
You full-time employees shouldn't be getting too attached to a temp. We temps just come and go...
This is what I come up with when I have nothing to write about, but am determined to update!
Monday, January 3, 2011
Cab Drivers
So the clocks are back. I don't know why they got rid of them for the holidays. Both of the people who weren't there yesterday were back today, too. Although for one guy's case, just to collect his holiday pay. Apparently you only have to show up for your first shift that was originally scheduled. He's a manager now at the other place he works! He brought in a ton of timesheets and passed them out to the temps. Only me and one other guy took, so we split them, and now I've got enough that I'll never have to go to the agency again!
They put me on a different line today. You know that guy I gave all the quotes for? Yeah, he was my trainer and supervisor. The work wasn't so great, either. It's like spinning, but you're standing up, and you're alone most of the time. On the plus side, you might get kind of buff doing that. Lifting heavy car parts and putting them on platforms, shoveling metal gears...
There are two taxi companies in Guelph: Red Top and Canadian Cab. You non-Canadians might be familiar with Red Top, but probably not Canadian Cab. I started off with Red Top, and moved into Canadian the past two days. I can't tell any difference in the amount they charge, the wait until they get here, how long it takes them to get to the company, or the quality of the drivers. I wonder if people have a preference. It seems to me, when two companies are too similar to one another, one chokes the other out. It might come down to something as trivial as which name comes up first in the yellow pages, but it seems weird that two exactly identical services come from two different thriving companies.
The two cabs that got to my company the fastest were driven by people who weren't sure where they were going. At first I thought this was strange, but then I thought of something: the people who aren't sure are in a rush, because things might get bad if they make a wrong turn, they'd have to make up for it, whereas the people who are confident know they can milk a couple extra dollars.
The guy driving the Canadian Cab was the same person both times, while I've never had the same person twice through Red Top.
I guess cab drivers never get a vacation. That's what one lady basically said. No weekends, either. I have to take cabs when everything else is a no-go, which means they're the last people working.
Yo, let me tell you about Tim Hortons (I misspelled it "Hortens" last time). Yeah, so I went in a second time. This time there's three of us instead of four. I'm standing behind them in line, the one guy who buys goes up front, makes a bunch of orders. I don't know if he ordered for me like he did last time. The other guy goes to the place to collect his coffee, so I know it's routine he orders for him. I'm up, and I don't know if I'm ordering or waiting. So I lean over, say, "Hey, did you..." motion over my shoulder. Hesays "Oh no, I didn't get one for you!I'm sorry!" I say "Nononono, no worries." and order.
Terribly awkward. A kind action makes something as simple as going to Tim Hortons stressful.
Also, interestingly enough, I stuck around this time, and, they don't hang out together after the coffee has been distributed.
They put me on a different line today. You know that guy I gave all the quotes for? Yeah, he was my trainer and supervisor. The work wasn't so great, either. It's like spinning, but you're standing up, and you're alone most of the time. On the plus side, you might get kind of buff doing that. Lifting heavy car parts and putting them on platforms, shoveling metal gears...
There are two taxi companies in Guelph: Red Top and Canadian Cab. You non-Canadians might be familiar with Red Top, but probably not Canadian Cab. I started off with Red Top, and moved into Canadian the past two days. I can't tell any difference in the amount they charge, the wait until they get here, how long it takes them to get to the company, or the quality of the drivers. I wonder if people have a preference. It seems to me, when two companies are too similar to one another, one chokes the other out. It might come down to something as trivial as which name comes up first in the yellow pages, but it seems weird that two exactly identical services come from two different thriving companies.
The two cabs that got to my company the fastest were driven by people who weren't sure where they were going. At first I thought this was strange, but then I thought of something: the people who aren't sure are in a rush, because things might get bad if they make a wrong turn, they'd have to make up for it, whereas the people who are confident know they can milk a couple extra dollars.
The guy driving the Canadian Cab was the same person both times, while I've never had the same person twice through Red Top.
I guess cab drivers never get a vacation. That's what one lady basically said. No weekends, either. I have to take cabs when everything else is a no-go, which means they're the last people working.
Yo, let me tell you about Tim Hortons (I misspelled it "Hortens" last time). Yeah, so I went in a second time. This time there's three of us instead of four. I'm standing behind them in line, the one guy who buys goes up front, makes a bunch of orders. I don't know if he ordered for me like he did last time. The other guy goes to the place to collect his coffee, so I know it's routine he orders for him. I'm up, and I don't know if I'm ordering or waiting. So I lean over, say, "Hey, did you..." motion over my shoulder. Hesays "Oh no, I didn't get one for you!I'm sorry!" I say "Nononono, no worries." and order.
Terribly awkward. A kind action makes something as simple as going to Tim Hortons stressful.
Also, interestingly enough, I stuck around this time, and, they don't hang out together after the coffee has been distributed.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Clock Block, Lost Wallet
I showed up to work, and there was only two people standing outside. There were no cars in the parking lot, and the factory was locked up. One of the two people outside was the higher up guy who let me in the building that one time I showed up when I wasn't needed, assuming I had been asked there exclusively. The guy with him was around the same status. When they saw me, they were surprised, and told me only five people had been asked to come in. I told them that this time I confirmed what the agency had asked of me three times, and while I bet the agency was wrong, I was sure someone had asked me to come. So we waited for awhile and eventually the supervisor shows up. I ask him if I was really asked to come in, and he says that I was. Well, well. I feel like a big shot. Last time I thought I was asked in exclusively but was mistaken in front of these guys, and now they get to see me genuinely having been asked in exclusively.
But then three of my fellow temps show up.
Turns out, they called some people in at the last minute. Outside the seven people I just mentioned, there was two more, making nine people in the factory. Another temp was supposed to show up, excluding the guy who quit before Christmas, but for some reason, he didn't show. That means he doesn't get his three days holiday pay.
That reminds me... We were supposed to be paid for New Year's Day! So, if we worked on it, does that mean we essentially worked a day for free?
Oh, and we really did need to have a timesheet signed for a single day.
They took away all our clocks! It seems very, very intentional. I remember complaining about the temptation of looking at the clock, and how it makes time go slower, but I'm not sure if I told you the clock situation.
Well, next to our workplace, we had this big clock that was pretty hard to avoid looking at, and every station I'd ever been in in the plant had some kind of clock readily available. In our back-up stations, where they put us when there's no more parts... I inspect tone wheels, which I hate, because when you're doing the other work, you can let your mind wander, but when you're inspecting, you need to be alert and thinking about work all the time... Company wasn't satisfied with just controlling my body, it needed to control my mind, too!
Anyway, next to it is this big screen which has a digital clock that bounces around and changes colour! And it doesn't just count hours and minutes, it counts seconds, too! Did someone purposely invent that clock just to be as annoying as possible? The only way I could think of to make it more annoying is to have it sound a whistle every fifteen minutes.
Well, anyway, they took away our clocks, and it seems like they went directly from a "clocks everywhere" policy to a "no clocks anywhere" policy. All of the little digital clocks that even serve as side-functions on the machines have all been dismantled. We found one of the clocks behind a garbage can, but it was telling the wrong time...
We got clock blocked!
Two days ago, Mom lost her wallet. We didn't even know she had until I got a Facebook message from a guy saying he found it. Apparently he messaged some other people Mom'd listed as her relatives, because we got a message from someone else he'd sent to, letting us know the same information.
Not only did he find it, but he offered to drop it off for us, and not only did he not take the money in the wallet, but he found a cigarette pack nearby that had fallen out and returned that as well... AND there was a lottery ticket in Mom's wallet she never bought.
Wouldn'tit be funny if Mom losing her wallet won her the lottery? But she's said multiple times that if she wins, she's not going to keep the money.
He also made sure I had his cell phone number, and said that if we ever needed help, we should call.
Strangely enough, he lives just down the road from us.
Wow... What a guy, eh?
He didn't recognize my face because I had a Facebook profile image of my "Kiss Santa" pin hat up at the time. That is actually a very classy image with a plethora of in-massages that only my Katimavik people, and especially the ones who gifted it to me, will understand, but from an outsider's perspective, it must have just looked vulgar. Back to my suit pic!
But then three of my fellow temps show up.
Turns out, they called some people in at the last minute. Outside the seven people I just mentioned, there was two more, making nine people in the factory. Another temp was supposed to show up, excluding the guy who quit before Christmas, but for some reason, he didn't show. That means he doesn't get his three days holiday pay.
That reminds me... We were supposed to be paid for New Year's Day! So, if we worked on it, does that mean we essentially worked a day for free?
Oh, and we really did need to have a timesheet signed for a single day.
They took away all our clocks! It seems very, very intentional. I remember complaining about the temptation of looking at the clock, and how it makes time go slower, but I'm not sure if I told you the clock situation.
Well, next to our workplace, we had this big clock that was pretty hard to avoid looking at, and every station I'd ever been in in the plant had some kind of clock readily available. In our back-up stations, where they put us when there's no more parts... I inspect tone wheels, which I hate, because when you're doing the other work, you can let your mind wander, but when you're inspecting, you need to be alert and thinking about work all the time... Company wasn't satisfied with just controlling my body, it needed to control my mind, too!
Anyway, next to it is this big screen which has a digital clock that bounces around and changes colour! And it doesn't just count hours and minutes, it counts seconds, too! Did someone purposely invent that clock just to be as annoying as possible? The only way I could think of to make it more annoying is to have it sound a whistle every fifteen minutes.
Well, anyway, they took away our clocks, and it seems like they went directly from a "clocks everywhere" policy to a "no clocks anywhere" policy. All of the little digital clocks that even serve as side-functions on the machines have all been dismantled. We found one of the clocks behind a garbage can, but it was telling the wrong time...
We got clock blocked!
Two days ago, Mom lost her wallet. We didn't even know she had until I got a Facebook message from a guy saying he found it. Apparently he messaged some other people Mom'd listed as her relatives, because we got a message from someone else he'd sent to, letting us know the same information.
Not only did he find it, but he offered to drop it off for us, and not only did he not take the money in the wallet, but he found a cigarette pack nearby that had fallen out and returned that as well... AND there was a lottery ticket in Mom's wallet she never bought.
Wouldn'tit be funny if Mom losing her wallet won her the lottery? But she's said multiple times that if she wins, she's not going to keep the money.
He also made sure I had his cell phone number, and said that if we ever needed help, we should call.
Strangely enough, he lives just down the road from us.
Wow... What a guy, eh?
He didn't recognize my face because I had a Facebook profile image of my "Kiss Santa" pin hat up at the time. That is actually a very classy image with a plethora of in-massages that only my Katimavik people, and especially the ones who gifted it to me, will understand, but from an outsider's perspective, it must have just looked vulgar. Back to my suit pic!
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Happy New Years
Oh wow, this is the first update since before Christmas.
I must have gotten too used to working. I never knew what to do with all the time! I'd be sitting around, doing nothing, and think, "What did I do with myself for the two years I was unemployed?!"
I saw all the people I was trying to see... Christmas was okay. It was sort of anticlimactic, but that's fine. It was quirky and funny.
This was a pretty eventful year. I worked for an ice cream factory, completed an online writing course, worked at a place for developmentally handicapped people in Prince Edward Island, worked at the food bank for food banks in Thunder Bay, lived with the Cree, grew a beard, spent two months as a vegetarian, saw the ocean for the first time in my life, climbed a mountain, did a sweatlodge, lost almost all my possessions, blacked out for the first time in my life, saw six bears in the wild at once, and got full-time employment.
I hope next year is as exciting!!!
It's not just the end of a year, but also the end of a decade! We're saying good bye to the naughties (I can't believe that's the name people are using) and moving into the... teens? The first two decades of the century are awkward.
I'm going into work this New Years day. The agency called me pretty early inside the break after canceling my last shift, telling me I'd go in January 1st. That made sense to me at first, assuming New Years was Sunday. But it turned out it was Saturday. I thought they made another mistake, but they recently called to confirm I knew I was going in Saturday at 11:00. I didn't realize they could just up and tell you that you were coming in on a Saturday, but I guess they can. I wonder if I have to bring in a whole timesheet, just for the one day, since it'll be considered the first day of the week the shift after this one.
They canceled the last shift before break, meaning nobody got their timesheets signed, and they had to call all of us individually, confirm our hours, then message the company.
I don't remember if I said that one person in my group's not coming back. He was the guy who worked those crazy hours, having two jobs. He got a new position at the other place he works, so he'll still kindof be working two jobs, but it's way fewer hours than he's doing now. It's too bad he's gone... We always sat together at breaks because we're the only non-smoking temps. The others go outside. And we were usually on the same team, but it's good he'll be working less hours now. He was killing himself!
My New Year resolution is to update this blog daily!
I must have gotten too used to working. I never knew what to do with all the time! I'd be sitting around, doing nothing, and think, "What did I do with myself for the two years I was unemployed?!"
I saw all the people I was trying to see... Christmas was okay. It was sort of anticlimactic, but that's fine. It was quirky and funny.
This was a pretty eventful year. I worked for an ice cream factory, completed an online writing course, worked at a place for developmentally handicapped people in Prince Edward Island, worked at the food bank for food banks in Thunder Bay, lived with the Cree, grew a beard, spent two months as a vegetarian, saw the ocean for the first time in my life, climbed a mountain, did a sweatlodge, lost almost all my possessions, blacked out for the first time in my life, saw six bears in the wild at once, and got full-time employment.
I hope next year is as exciting!!!
It's not just the end of a year, but also the end of a decade! We're saying good bye to the naughties (I can't believe that's the name people are using) and moving into the... teens? The first two decades of the century are awkward.
I'm going into work this New Years day. The agency called me pretty early inside the break after canceling my last shift, telling me I'd go in January 1st. That made sense to me at first, assuming New Years was Sunday. But it turned out it was Saturday. I thought they made another mistake, but they recently called to confirm I knew I was going in Saturday at 11:00. I didn't realize they could just up and tell you that you were coming in on a Saturday, but I guess they can. I wonder if I have to bring in a whole timesheet, just for the one day, since it'll be considered the first day of the week the shift after this one.
They canceled the last shift before break, meaning nobody got their timesheets signed, and they had to call all of us individually, confirm our hours, then message the company.
I don't remember if I said that one person in my group's not coming back. He was the guy who worked those crazy hours, having two jobs. He got a new position at the other place he works, so he'll still kindof be working two jobs, but it's way fewer hours than he's doing now. It's too bad he's gone... We always sat together at breaks because we're the only non-smoking temps. The others go outside. And we were usually on the same team, but it's good he'll be working less hours now. He was killing himself!
My New Year resolution is to update this blog daily!
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