This working for a living is hard!

But you already knew that. I did too, I'd simply forgotten during my unemployed period. And doing production line work is hard work- that I suppose I knew academically but now, from 2 weeks experience, I know it from the soles of my feet to my aching arms.

But it's not bad work, just different from what I've done before. In spite of the work being repetitive and very fast paced, there is also a ton of technical stuff to learn and know. Each of the machines has to be calibrated when models change over a couple times each shift and knowing the names of the calibration equipment and how it is used is a challenge. Seeing the Kaiban parts ordering system in operation, (and beginning to understand it) is interesting and challenging too. So I'm starting to feel at least competant on the job and that feels good. I'm not fast enough and I don't have the machines all figured out but I'm working on it.

I also got in close to 6 hours of overtime on Saturday so even more bills can get paid this week!

Got my first paycheck in the mail today-

It's significantly smaller than the unemployment checks I was receiving and I had to bust my butt for 40 hours to earn it. But- it's a paycheck. And I'll have another one just like it next week and the week after that if I don't screw up.

The job- assembling automotive side curtain airbag inflator bottles, isn't actually too bad except for the production line aspect of it. Ther is actually a great deal of technical stuff to know and understand to prepare the machines to make the bottles correctly. Everything has to be tested and calibrated and adjusted to ensure the bottles come out right. I'm learning something new every night.

I just wish the check was twice as big as it really is!

Did I mention that Wasted Electrons World Headquarters needs a new furnace?

Well it does. The furnace in the house is condemmed due to a cracked heat exhanger. A new furnace installation is right out due to cost due to our present circumstances.

I thought I had solved the problem, sort of, a few weeks ago when I purchased a once installed but never used, 95% efficient furnace for just $200 at a yard sale. All I needed was someone to install it.

Except that the furnace I bought is a downdraft model and I need an updraft model... Hooverdam!

So now I need to find someone to either buy this furnace or find someone that can swap this one for the right type. I've been too busy to actively chase down the HVAC dealers to see if a swap might be arranged but I'll be working on that effort in the coming weeks.

Well ain't this a kick?

I've got a job! I start tomorrow afternoon, assembling widgets that will become part of nearly every automotive airbag screwed into every new car no matter the brand of car.

It's only been 18 months since I was laid off and went out of work. My unemployment payments ended 2 weeks ago and the BSU and I have been getting pretty desperate about how the blls were going to get paid but I start tomorrow and get paid weekly so by next week I'll be getting paid. The job is through a staffing agency and if I do a good job and stick at it for a few months, I should get picked up permanently by the company. When that happens, I may be able to work a transfer from the Brigham City plant 20 miles away to the Ogden plant just 4 miles from Wasted Electrons World Headquarters. In the mean time, I'll just make the drive everyday.

It is swing shift and that will be a huge adjustment for the household. I'm not used to being out of the house evenings nor is the spousal unit used to having me out late but I guess we will have to adjust. I'll have to learn to pack and carry a lunch bag but once again, we will adjust.

Most importantly, this means I am employable! I have read any number of reports that employers much prefer to hire new employees that are already working somewhere else instead of people out of work, especially long term out of work people like yours truly. There's lots of reasons but it boils down to people that are already working are presumed to be in the habit of getting to work on time and to have current skills. So while I'm not going to complain about this current work, I am going to keep looking for work more similar to my latest employment. And when I update my resume to show my current employment and send it out in the future, possible employers will know that I'm working and employable.

So a new chapter in this saga begins tomorrow. I'm nervous and anxious and excited.

Conceited? Maybe the most conceited act ever

My local tv news just showed multiple YouTube videos of people who thought it would be cool to videotape themselves watching the reading of the verdict in the Casey Anthony trial yesterday. Somehow they thought it would be smart to set up the camera recording their reactions to the verdict.

Then they put these videos on the internet...

I can't think of a single more conceited act. Horrifying.

Red foreman had a name for people like this, you know what it is- dumbasses!