Worked a week in the box factory. They put me on a machine and kept me on it. A little more high-intensity than my previous tasks at this place. The person that normally runs the machine was on vacation, so I guess I was his replacement. I hope this didn't knock me out of the inner circle at my cushy position as an order picker.
I'm at the library computers right now. They changed where the Internet section is, so it's near the printer and photo copier, which I guess is an improvement. They swapped out the cushioned chairs for these lawn-chair type ones, though. They also reformatted the system so that I have to go through an additional agreement and a number of things have been renamed.
Mali's got a female candidate for the Presidency. Her name is Haidara Aichatta Cisse, she's 54, native to the North of Mali, and she's angling for the women's vote. Since the women are pretty unified out there, and because there are 27 candidates, with 26 males, even if she doesn't get a single male vote, the male vote will be so divided that I say she's got a real chance. I worry about ballot stuffing, assassination etc., though. It would be such a significant change, it's hard to believe it will occur. She's got my tentative support, although I don't know her policies well enough to make a definite decision. Not like my standpoint really makes a difference, anyway.
My sunflower has a flower bud now. I guess it's maybe four feet tall. Probably would have grown taller if I hadn't broken it's stem and torn it's root system, and maybe the hail and wind storms weren't that healthy for it, either. Still the tallest sunflower in the yard. I'll definitely try the sunflower bit again next year, hopefully with seeds from this one this year.
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Work, Storms, Garden, Books
Well, I've had two four day work weeks followed by my first five day this summer, and I'm finally pulling a profit financially instead of just breaking even. After the Toronto flooding and the decrease in orders, I got put back into the box factory for two days. While I was there, I met someone who managed to get hired on at my order picking place. After my two days were done, I went back to being an order picker for a full week and I got to drop the name of the guy I'd met to my supervisor, saying that he'd said hi. Next Monday I'm back at the box factory for one day due to a drop in orders, and then I'll either keep going to the box factory or return to order picking depending on demand.
Technically I can't take credit for a full five day work week. We got let out an hour early one day because of a powerout, and we got let out an hour and a half early another day because we completed our orders.
I chose a place to live next year. It's right across the street from the campus, even closer than the Residence. It's somewhere between $500 and $550 a month, although I can't remember the exact price, which is a good cry better than the Residence. High speed Internet included, hydro and electricity included, washing and drying machine, stove and microwave included. I got to talk to the guy who's moving out because he graduated, and he gave me a picture of the community living there. Should be an okay place to live.
My sunflower gave me a serious scare. It was looking real stable, so I cut the string I'd tied around it to keep it balanced after I'd broken it's stem. It was standing fine, so I pulled out the stake that the string was tied to. This caused it to shift balance so I returned the stake to the ground and retied it. Next day, the sunflower's totally wilted. I can only guess that even if it was strong enough to stand, I might have torn it's root system when I pulled out the stake. It looked dead, but the next day it was standing right back up again. Then we got hit by that hail storm and I think that delayed my flower from getting back to it's original self, but it was back to full health in three days or so.
During the hailstorm I was inside a bank. I'd read an article about this storm that had all these tornadoes, and some people ran for shelter in a bank. But the bank people locked them out, even though there was a tornado closing in, because of legal reasons. Yeah, well, it turns out that they do do that. I was in the area with the bank machines and the power got knocked out. As soon as that happened, someone ran over and locked us out of the main section. There was a customer on the inside of the main section, and they didn't kick him out, though.
We had another huge storm, and I got caught in it when I was walking home from the bus stop, about fifteen minutes either way to shelter. Mom and my brother make fun of me for avoiding going outside in the rain, so they thought it was funny that I got caught in the storm. However, I don't think it was that funny since tree branches were being ripped from their stalk and while I was plowing through, falling branches were literally barricading streets. If I was in a car, I would not have made it. I was soaked to the bone by the time I got home. My cell phone was fine, though. I guess those are built to be pretty water resistant.
My mother's garden has some incredible zucchinis. Other than my sunflower, they're the only plant to really flourish. My neighbour's sunflowers are all coming up to, and the new neighbours planted some tomato plants, but I'm worried that they planted late enough in the season that we might not see a harvest. Our poor-looking cherry tomato plants, three of our Jalepenos, and even an eggplant have flowered and are now developing vegetables. They will all likely be small harvests, but at least it's something. Our only good harvest will be the zucchinis.
At the order picking place, we have a "Take a book, give a book" system. I checke dout what they had, and there were a couple that I thought were interesting. One was Things Fall Apart, a story of the people of a Nigerian village and the transition from Tribalism to a Cristian system, and another one was a collaboration between Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchet. I took those two and gave four books in return, two of mine and Mom donated two as well. Mom gave a Steven King book which was taken and replaced with a book by the guy who wrote the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Oh, that reminds me. Neil Gaiman did a public interview and the question was posed to him what his favourite and least favourite works were of the stuff that he'd written. He said that Neverwhere was his favourite and his least favourite was American Gods. I haven't read all his stuff, but this was my opinion as well. I did a comparison review on those two books specifically, although it's on my old blog I think. I used to debate with people who had the reverse opinion. Anyway, it's gratifying to hear the author agrees with me.
This summer I read a Dean Koontz book, I've read Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., and now I'm about two thirds through Things Fall Apart. About a book per month.
Technically I can't take credit for a full five day work week. We got let out an hour early one day because of a powerout, and we got let out an hour and a half early another day because we completed our orders.
I chose a place to live next year. It's right across the street from the campus, even closer than the Residence. It's somewhere between $500 and $550 a month, although I can't remember the exact price, which is a good cry better than the Residence. High speed Internet included, hydro and electricity included, washing and drying machine, stove and microwave included. I got to talk to the guy who's moving out because he graduated, and he gave me a picture of the community living there. Should be an okay place to live.
My sunflower gave me a serious scare. It was looking real stable, so I cut the string I'd tied around it to keep it balanced after I'd broken it's stem. It was standing fine, so I pulled out the stake that the string was tied to. This caused it to shift balance so I returned the stake to the ground and retied it. Next day, the sunflower's totally wilted. I can only guess that even if it was strong enough to stand, I might have torn it's root system when I pulled out the stake. It looked dead, but the next day it was standing right back up again. Then we got hit by that hail storm and I think that delayed my flower from getting back to it's original self, but it was back to full health in three days or so.
During the hailstorm I was inside a bank. I'd read an article about this storm that had all these tornadoes, and some people ran for shelter in a bank. But the bank people locked them out, even though there was a tornado closing in, because of legal reasons. Yeah, well, it turns out that they do do that. I was in the area with the bank machines and the power got knocked out. As soon as that happened, someone ran over and locked us out of the main section. There was a customer on the inside of the main section, and they didn't kick him out, though.
We had another huge storm, and I got caught in it when I was walking home from the bus stop, about fifteen minutes either way to shelter. Mom and my brother make fun of me for avoiding going outside in the rain, so they thought it was funny that I got caught in the storm. However, I don't think it was that funny since tree branches were being ripped from their stalk and while I was plowing through, falling branches were literally barricading streets. If I was in a car, I would not have made it. I was soaked to the bone by the time I got home. My cell phone was fine, though. I guess those are built to be pretty water resistant.
My mother's garden has some incredible zucchinis. Other than my sunflower, they're the only plant to really flourish. My neighbour's sunflowers are all coming up to, and the new neighbours planted some tomato plants, but I'm worried that they planted late enough in the season that we might not see a harvest. Our poor-looking cherry tomato plants, three of our Jalepenos, and even an eggplant have flowered and are now developing vegetables. They will all likely be small harvests, but at least it's something. Our only good harvest will be the zucchinis.
At the order picking place, we have a "Take a book, give a book" system. I checke dout what they had, and there were a couple that I thought were interesting. One was Things Fall Apart, a story of the people of a Nigerian village and the transition from Tribalism to a Cristian system, and another one was a collaboration between Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchet. I took those two and gave four books in return, two of mine and Mom donated two as well. Mom gave a Steven King book which was taken and replaced with a book by the guy who wrote the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Oh, that reminds me. Neil Gaiman did a public interview and the question was posed to him what his favourite and least favourite works were of the stuff that he'd written. He said that Neverwhere was his favourite and his least favourite was American Gods. I haven't read all his stuff, but this was my opinion as well. I did a comparison review on those two books specifically, although it's on my old blog I think. I used to debate with people who had the reverse opinion. Anyway, it's gratifying to hear the author agrees with me.
This summer I read a Dean Koontz book, I've read Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., and now I'm about two thirds through Things Fall Apart. About a book per month.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Toronto Flooding
The weather has been crazy! Toronto flooded and a large chunk of the city lost it's power. People were being rescued by boat. Mom got to see the grocery store's parking lot flooded knee-high and some of the inside of the store as well. She said everyone was panicking and the workers were trying to get rid of all the water. We have a severe thunderstorm watch today with risk of hail.
The grocery store is being upgraded, with lots of exposed construction. I'm hoping that's why they were vulnerable to flooding, and that they will have some preventative measure against flooding for the finished project. But I guess where we live, we're just not equipped for weather like this.
We live in a basement apartment, but we haven't had any trouble. We live on a hill, so I guess water's not going to collect around here.
I worked for four days last week. I was hoping to work for five this week, but I got called off because they need fewer workers than they thought. The agency person said she thought it was because of the flooding in Toronto.
The grocery store is being upgraded, with lots of exposed construction. I'm hoping that's why they were vulnerable to flooding, and that they will have some preventative measure against flooding for the finished project. But I guess where we live, we're just not equipped for weather like this.
We live in a basement apartment, but we haven't had any trouble. We live on a hill, so I guess water's not going to collect around here.
I worked for four days last week. I was hoping to work for five this week, but I got called off because they need fewer workers than they thought. The agency person said she thought it was because of the flooding in Toronto.
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Stove and Fridge
Well, I've been working at the order picker place for the past three days now, and I'm going in again tomorrow. Going on a four-day run for the first time this summer. They changed the order of one of the lines and they added a new one.
We got a new fridge and stove courtesy of the new renovations being made on the house. We're also getting our roof examined and we got all our overhead light fixtures done up proper. Seems like this is going to be a pretty thorough, all-inclusive makeover for the house.
Canada passed a little while ago. Canada Day was my first day of Canada World Youth, my two year anniversary since it's beginning, and a year and a half since it's completion. Because of that experience, every Canada Day, I think of Mali. Today is the Fourth of July, and since I didn't spend Canada Day thinking about Canada, I'm using today to do that. What else would I use today for?
Since my sunflower got so big, my neighbour is telling me to mound up the dirt around the stem over the place it got split, so it's got a foundation to stand on it's own, and I can stop staking it. He says that the place it was split will grow roots. But I'm afraid of suffocating the plant, since when I was a horticulturalist, it was always important not to bury the stem. My brother says this is because plants breathe through their stems. Anyone know if there's any truth to this "rooting out" theory or this "suffocation" theory? I want to either know if there's any benefit to mounding up to the snapping point, or if there's any risk in trying. The gash in it's side happened very early on in it's development, but as the plant grew, the gash grew a bit as well, so now it's a little higher on the plant, although still somewhat near the base.
We got a new fridge and stove courtesy of the new renovations being made on the house. We're also getting our roof examined and we got all our overhead light fixtures done up proper. Seems like this is going to be a pretty thorough, all-inclusive makeover for the house.
Canada passed a little while ago. Canada Day was my first day of Canada World Youth, my two year anniversary since it's beginning, and a year and a half since it's completion. Because of that experience, every Canada Day, I think of Mali. Today is the Fourth of July, and since I didn't spend Canada Day thinking about Canada, I'm using today to do that. What else would I use today for?
Since my sunflower got so big, my neighbour is telling me to mound up the dirt around the stem over the place it got split, so it's got a foundation to stand on it's own, and I can stop staking it. He says that the place it was split will grow roots. But I'm afraid of suffocating the plant, since when I was a horticulturalist, it was always important not to bury the stem. My brother says this is because plants breathe through their stems. Anyone know if there's any truth to this "rooting out" theory or this "suffocation" theory? I want to either know if there's any benefit to mounding up to the snapping point, or if there's any risk in trying. The gash in it's side happened very early on in it's development, but as the plant grew, the gash grew a bit as well, so now it's a little higher on the plant, although still somewhat near the base.
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Cookie Factory
Yeah, so the cookie factory position didn't pan out. I worked for three days, and then I got a call from the agency congratulating me on completing my assignment. Kinda mystified, since it had an estimated length of one month, and I was told that I should keep working past that estimate unless told otherwise. I didn't have a fallout with anyone, and I didn't receive any criticism.
A brief description of my life in the cookie factory. I was worried because my job title was Oven Room Worker and since we just hit seriously hot weather here in Guelph, I was concerned about temperature. Still, I was on night shift, which is the best shift for it, and since I've done manual labour in sub-Saharan Africa while taking medication that made me sensitive to sunlight, I figured that if anyone could tough it out, it would be me.
First day, I was working in the oven, and I was assigned to watch large sheets of wafer cookies come down through a machine. I was asked to remove and dispose of any defective sheets. They provided unlimited free water as well as something similar to Gatorade. They suggested that I alternate between the two for maximum hydration.
Second day, they put me in Packaging. Other than the supervisor, I was the only male in that line. Kind of like when I was being trained to be a Machine Operator, and I was put on the Ladies Line. It was doing their only heavy lifting position though. I took boxes of wafer cookies off a conveyor belt, stacked them on skids, labeled them, wrapped them in saran wrap, and wheeled them out to a place where they were picked up by a forklift. It was less hot on that line, but I didn't get any free Gatorade. Third day, I was asked to go on Packaging again, and since it seemed like my job was pretty necessary and consistent, I was wondering if they were going to shift me there permanently, but then I got a call from the agency telling me not to return.
Oh well, I got three full days in, which is tied with the Order Picker position and the box factory position for my longest stints of work this summer, and that's combined with the $13.40 an hour, the highest wage I've ever worked for, so next paycheque should feel pretty good regardless.
And I'm working again next week as an Order Picker at the same place. I've only been asked back for a day, but that's what they do there. A number of temps have been working there full-time, at first being called back on a day-by-day basis, and later on a weekly basis. I ran into someone who had his first day on the same day as myself, and he's been working consistently like that. So hopefully I can fall into a similar routine.
I'm going to Kitchener to look at a house tomorrow that I might be living in next year.
A brief description of my life in the cookie factory. I was worried because my job title was Oven Room Worker and since we just hit seriously hot weather here in Guelph, I was concerned about temperature. Still, I was on night shift, which is the best shift for it, and since I've done manual labour in sub-Saharan Africa while taking medication that made me sensitive to sunlight, I figured that if anyone could tough it out, it would be me.
First day, I was working in the oven, and I was assigned to watch large sheets of wafer cookies come down through a machine. I was asked to remove and dispose of any defective sheets. They provided unlimited free water as well as something similar to Gatorade. They suggested that I alternate between the two for maximum hydration.
Second day, they put me in Packaging. Other than the supervisor, I was the only male in that line. Kind of like when I was being trained to be a Machine Operator, and I was put on the Ladies Line. It was doing their only heavy lifting position though. I took boxes of wafer cookies off a conveyor belt, stacked them on skids, labeled them, wrapped them in saran wrap, and wheeled them out to a place where they were picked up by a forklift. It was less hot on that line, but I didn't get any free Gatorade. Third day, I was asked to go on Packaging again, and since it seemed like my job was pretty necessary and consistent, I was wondering if they were going to shift me there permanently, but then I got a call from the agency telling me not to return.
Oh well, I got three full days in, which is tied with the Order Picker position and the box factory position for my longest stints of work this summer, and that's combined with the $13.40 an hour, the highest wage I've ever worked for, so next paycheque should feel pretty good regardless.
And I'm working again next week as an Order Picker at the same place. I've only been asked back for a day, but that's what they do there. A number of temps have been working there full-time, at first being called back on a day-by-day basis, and later on a weekly basis. I ran into someone who had his first day on the same day as myself, and he's been working consistently like that. So hopefully I can fall into a similar routine.
I'm going to Kitchener to look at a house tomorrow that I might be living in next year.
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Brother Graduated High School
My brother graduated from high school, and he had his ceremony and got his diploma last Friday. He didn't get a graduation cap, and he didn't get a liripipe either, but he did get his diploma handed to him on-stage, instead of trading it for his robes after-the-fact like I did. Also, since his high school is small, each of the graduating class got to have a small piece said about them. They said of my brother that he was clear-thinking and a deep person, or something like that.
There were sandwiches, pizza, cookies, cake, and punch, among other things, available after-the-fact. The graduating class got to share in the cutting of the cake. It was a more personal but less formal ceremony than mine.
His diploma has his name spelled correctly on it. Somehow, my certificate has me put down as "Gryphon S. Sibbald". My middle names are "Walter" and "Barent" there is no S in either.
...And now this will be the post that shows up when you Google my name, since I just said my first and last names in succession. Well, I guess I haven't said anything too weird for awhile, so I guess that's alright.
We made an extension to the garden a little while ago, for zucchini, onions, and some more flowers. We got some kind of bug problem, though. The only plant that's really looking healthy at this point is my sunflower, which is looking better every day.
I didn't get called back to the order picking place, but I scored a full-time, ongoing position at a cookie factory. Pays over $13 an hour, it's night shift, and it starts next Tuesday night. Apparently it will require heavy lifting. I had to go through an additional training session at the agency, and they requested references.
There were sandwiches, pizza, cookies, cake, and punch, among other things, available after-the-fact. The graduating class got to share in the cutting of the cake. It was a more personal but less formal ceremony than mine.
His diploma has his name spelled correctly on it. Somehow, my certificate has me put down as "Gryphon S. Sibbald". My middle names are "Walter" and "Barent" there is no S in either.
...And now this will be the post that shows up when you Google my name, since I just said my first and last names in succession. Well, I guess I haven't said anything too weird for awhile, so I guess that's alright.
We made an extension to the garden a little while ago, for zucchini, onions, and some more flowers. We got some kind of bug problem, though. The only plant that's really looking healthy at this point is my sunflower, which is looking better every day.
I didn't get called back to the order picking place, but I scored a full-time, ongoing position at a cookie factory. Pays over $13 an hour, it's night shift, and it starts next Tuesday night. Apparently it will require heavy lifting. I had to go through an additional training session at the agency, and they requested references.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
More Grad and Work Stuff
Expanding on my graduation post from yesterday, here are some stats I observed.
HSF started with 100 members, was left with 77 after first semester, and wound up with 49 grads. Of those 49, 28 showed up for the ceremony. I noticed that SSW, the program I'm going into, had 33 grads of the about 60 that they started with. So my previous program and the program I'm going into wound up with about 50% of their class graduating, although with SSW, it's stretched out over a longer time period.
I remember there was a class called "Rec and Leisure for Older Adults" that was called after the regular Rec and Leisure class was through. Just like the other classes, they were brought in with "It is my pleasure to present the graduates from the Rec and Leisure for Older Adults program". But the class only had three graduates and only one of them showed up. So they probably shouldn't have said "graduates" in the plural.
Today, the place that I'm working at filled its millionth package, so they gave everyone free cake. When they gave me my slice, they said "Thank you for all your doing". Felt kind of bad being involved in the celebrations when it was only my second day. Today they played music during work, which was nice. I'm going in tomorrow, too.
They have unorthodox shifts. They go 10 AM-6 PM, 9 AM-5 PM, and 12 AM-8 PM. 9-5 is a standard office day, but 10-6 and 12-6 are unique. In the factory world, there are usually three shifts, 7 AM-3 PM (Mornings) 3 PM-11 PM (Afternoons) and 11 PM-7 AM (Nights). I kind of like these new shift ideas, though.
The place that I'm working at is in a really new location. This is only it's third week in the building I'm at right now, although it was pretty well established at it's old location.
I used to apply at this company, and for this position, all the time. I almost laughed when the agency sent me here.
HSF started with 100 members, was left with 77 after first semester, and wound up with 49 grads. Of those 49, 28 showed up for the ceremony. I noticed that SSW, the program I'm going into, had 33 grads of the about 60 that they started with. So my previous program and the program I'm going into wound up with about 50% of their class graduating, although with SSW, it's stretched out over a longer time period.
I remember there was a class called "Rec and Leisure for Older Adults" that was called after the regular Rec and Leisure class was through. Just like the other classes, they were brought in with "It is my pleasure to present the graduates from the Rec and Leisure for Older Adults program". But the class only had three graduates and only one of them showed up. So they probably shouldn't have said "graduates" in the plural.
Today, the place that I'm working at filled its millionth package, so they gave everyone free cake. When they gave me my slice, they said "Thank you for all your doing". Felt kind of bad being involved in the celebrations when it was only my second day. Today they played music during work, which was nice. I'm going in tomorrow, too.
They have unorthodox shifts. They go 10 AM-6 PM, 9 AM-5 PM, and 12 AM-8 PM. 9-5 is a standard office day, but 10-6 and 12-6 are unique. In the factory world, there are usually three shifts, 7 AM-3 PM (Mornings) 3 PM-11 PM (Afternoons) and 11 PM-7 AM (Nights). I kind of like these new shift ideas, though.
The place that I'm working at is in a really new location. This is only it's third week in the building I'm at right now, although it was pretty well established at it's old location.
I used to apply at this company, and for this position, all the time. I almost laughed when the agency sent me here.
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