What a week it has been!

So the new job is turning out alright. I still need to be faster but the stress and physical levels are much reduced and that's a good thing. So I'm pretty happy overall. I do have another job interview next week that I am very hopeful about that, if I get it, will pay at least 50% more than my current work. It's also in Ogden so it's much closer to home than the current job.

The BSU is back in Oregon as word got sent down that her sister is in critical condition. The sis has been ill for oaver a year but now she has had a turn for the worse and the family was called in. I don't know how long the BSU might be away so I'm playing bachelor (and housekeeper) until her return.

After putting a pot roast into the crock pot this afternoon and reconfiguring our bedroom so that the BSU can sleep on the other side of the bed- how's that going to work anyway?, I took the best motorcycle ride of the year. I left home, headed out Ogden Canyon, past Pineview Reservoir and Huntsville, out South Fork Canyon, over Monte Cristo and all the way out to Woodruff, supposedly the coldest place in Utah. Theere's no place to buy gas or coffee in Woodruff and it turned out my intended route into Logan was an additional 80 miles plus the 50 miles from Logan to home. So I turned around and retraced my trip for a total of 120 miles of beautiful, fall motorcycle riding. The weather was perfect, the leaves are turning yellow, orange and scarlet and the road was smooth and clean for the entire ride.

When I got home, the pot roast was perfect!

So the bedroom's clean, I had a great motorcycle ride, a tasty dinner and have a job interview on Tuesday! And we should have the house refinanced this week to put almost $500 more into our pockets and to pay bills with. Ya gotta love it!

One final note- we passed the 12th anniversary of living in the Wasted Electrons World Headquarters earlier this month! I've never lived 12 years in any house in my entire life, so this being settled in feeling is mighty nice.

I got thrown under the bus at work-

and ended up landing in daisies! Yesterday I was told that when I got to work, I'd be transfered to a new department and job. Seems my boss where I had been building gas bottles didn't think I was up working up to speed and expectations so I was out. I was kinda butt hurt about the situation because I thought I was getting competant and, if not being the the fastest bottle builder, that I was at least pulling my own weight.

So I went to work expecting to be dumped into some crappy job that would be worse than the last job. Turns out, I was transferred over to the Pyro section and now my job is to circulate between 2 1/2 iinflator manufacture cells and keep the raw materials stocked up going into the machines. I pull small parts out of boxes and put them into hoppers or small conveyor belts at 1 station then move to the next cell, do the same thing again and around and around, keeping the machines full of parts.

Much easier. Much less stressful. Cleaner, less noisy and generally far more pleasant than bottle fabrication. There are operators running each machine and they seem far more friendly and relaxed than the people I used to work with. They're helpful and pleasant and seem to be glad to be at their job instead of sullen amd morose like the last folks I worked with.

So for once in my life, I think I got the better deal! I'm still looking for work outside of production but for right now, I'm happier than I was last week.

Working for a living...

Larry stinks!

In the cell ( how's that for a description of a workplace?) where I spend 8 hours every work day, there are fans blowing the air in every direction. There's a big floor fan at the back of the cell that moves most of the air towards the front but 2 more smaller fans mixing things up.

And there is a pool of "Floaters" who are assigned to a different cell each night to make up for missing people. My cell has been down 1 guy for a couple weeks due to an injury and in his place, on 2 occasions, we've gotten Larry.

Larry needs an intervention that includes a couple of king sized bars of Lifebouy soap wrapped in a gym sock and applied vigorously about his head and shoulders. The man reeks of BO! I've worked with him 2 nights and if he is upwind or within 3 feet of me, the air is offensive and noxious.

It's a little hard to believe that with all the air currents blasting around in multiple directions that a little BO could be offensive. But Larry's BO isn't little, it's aweful!

My boss says he's going to contact Larry's boss to see if he can't be told to hit the shower and the laundromat a little more often.

The new furnace-

that I mentioned as being required for domestic tranquility in the upcoming winter months- is being installed on Wednesday. I couldn't pony up for the really good 95% efficient model that I wanted but I expect that a modern 80% model will be much more effective than the broken down, 20 year old unit currently in place.

It's taking a mortgage modification through the credit union to get everything accomplished but due to my reduced income in spite of my job, it's neccesary. So my monthly note will be coming down significantly as well as my interest rate. I'm just going to have many more months to pay on the palatial Wasted Electrons World Headquarters building.

I have been busy, hence the dirth of posting here lately. I have pressure washed what feels like miles of cedar fence but it is really only many feet of fence that hasn't been clened or stained in the nearly 12 years we have lived here. But the washing is finished and over the weekend I'll be breaking out the spray gun and the stain and making it all pretty again. If you didn't know, pressure washing fence is hard work!

The job building side impact airbag inflator bottle continues. After 6 weeks I'm getting to the confident stage and holding up my corner of the nightly tasks. I'm worn out when I get home but no longer feeling like I've been beated for an 8 hour shift, so that's a good thing. I'm still not as fast as the guys that have been doing the job for years but I'm meeting the goals and not feeling completely inadequate like I was the first few weeks.

So things are good. Summertime is truly upoon us and I love it. The cats love being outside after dark and seem to enjoy the long summer evenings. I haven't been fishing enough but I did get out last night for a little while with the spousal unit. I didn't catch any fish but we saw a bunch and had a pleasant boat ride together before it got too dark.

Two weekends ago I went on a motorscooter rally ride with a bunch of new friends, got to meet in the flesh somebody I have corresponded with online for several years and this weekend there is vintage motorcycle racing to attend.

Life is pretty good here folks!

I found what I want for Christmas!

An armed, home defence, garden gnome! I'd probably have to hide this guy out by my shop but I still want one!

Hat tip to Say Uncle for the link.

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!