Last week in general

Last week I called up Elwood Staffing to see if they had any work available.  While the job that popped up was  for a company that will need people soon, it wasn't actually a job available at this time.  Elwood needs to get some people ready for a distributor of homegoods products.  I won't mention the name of the company, but it's located in Portage Indiana and is a local company, with corporate office in Lynwood Illinois.  The pay won't be as good since it's for only $8.00 a hour, but there's a possibility of overtime with this job.  My last job was $8.50 a hour and was forced into a pay freeze last year, and learned if I were still at Ashland, that I would have gone a 2nd year without a pay increase.  I would either work in the shipping/receiving area, or work as an order picker/packer.  At least this job is near I-94 and will deal with few traffic lights.  I believe if I get this job, that it won't be permanent.  I believe something else will come my way that will be better than this job.  It's a wait & see.  Even though I don't have this job yet, Elwood has me on a waiting list, and I'm to keep calling back every week.  Anytime Elwood gets a call from this distribution center for a certain number of people, the people who called in earlier in the week that get called will have first shot at the place.  I made sure I gave them my cellphone number & carry it with me at all times.  I will still get around to getting an application in with Labor Ready in Griffith.  I wouldn't mind getting a little work with them.  Main reason is that they pay workers daily & I would make a little money so I would have gas money, in case Elwood calls me for the distribution job.  Maybe if Labor Ready has a job that lasts a while, then I'll have to make a few trips to the bank to deposit cash, since Labor Ready does payroll the minute you turn in your timecard, gives you your payroll notice, then go to their ATM to enter in a code# on the notice to get your money.  With Elwood, they're like most other employment agencies with doing payroll weekly, and they're following many of them on how they pay.  Most agencies no longer issue checks.  If you want your money in your account, then you have to have direct deposit.  Otherwise, you get either a Visa or Mastercard debit card. 

Then on Wednesday & the rest of the week, I did a lot of resting, playing pchgames.com, & taking walks to try & lose enough weight to get back into my big ass pants.  I need to lose a bit of weight since I put on weight after being out of work for nearly 8 months now.  It's been difficult to stay optimistic, but I'm trying to not be negative about this.  I'll eventually get back to work somehow.  If certain dreams I've been having lately are what my future is holding, then this job is just a small bridge to what will be happening sometime this summer.  I'll believe it when I see it.  For now, I just want to be back to work.  I forgot to mention that the distribution job will either be a 1st or 2nd shift job.  First shift would be 7am - 3:30pm & I believe second shift will be 3:30pm - 12am.  It's a wait & see for that, but I was told that I would most likely be on first shift..

I've also watched a lot of TV as well, including watching on PBS (WTTW & WTTW Prime) a show called POV (Point Of View).  POV was airing the movie documentary called Food, Inc.  The TV version showed some of the stuff big name food companies don't want people to know about the food we eat.  What I saw all showed me reasons as to why we're having a lot of contaminated food.  Animals grazed the old fashioned way are a lot healthier than the manufactured shit we get from the so-called experts who run these big corporations.  I have yet to watch all of it, but I did watch what was aired on WTTW & WTTW Prime.  The extra content is available on the PBS.org website & it's also available on DVD & Blu-Ray that didn't air on TV.  Once I'm back to work, I intend to buy Food, Inc. on DVD.  I also want to get the DVD called, The End of Suburbia As We Know It (have to look up actual title).  When I didn't watch TV, I was watching my Family Guy DVD's.  I plan to get Family Guy Volume 8 once I'm back to work and released (tentative release June 15th, 2010).  While I don't watch cable or satellite, I've done alright watching over the air TV, which is making a comeback, because people are complaining that the cost of cable & satellite going up too much, and little can be done to control the costs.  So I'm like many people who are now using a broadband connection to watch select episodes of shows online.  So I can watch what I will actually watch.  I probably won't go back to satellite anytime soon, and Comcast for cable service is shitty in my neighborhood, since it goes out a lot, & when it works, digital cable is as bad as satellite.  Internet thru the cable is slow too when it works, but tends to be out more than on.  I just need to get a couple of new antennas and especially need a separate UHF only antenna pointed toward Cedar Lake for WYIN to get a steady signal of that station.  All other Chicago area stations are on the Sears Tower & John Hancock & I have 1 antenna pointed toward Chicago for those stations. 

I'll keep you all updated on my job search.

My 2009 in Review

This is my 3 year of doing an overall year in review on what's happened in my life (1st year on Blogger). I am highlighting some of what happened in some of my bloggs first, and what wasn't blogged about toward the end of this blog.

I made my first resolution list for what I'd like to do in 2009. I never got that bike that I wanted to get. So I never accomplished that one. I did visit my Maternal Grandma a bit more this year than I did in 2008. She just celebrated her 86th Birthday on Christmas Day. I did make some of my own meals later in the year. While I didn't lose any weight. At least I didn't gain any weight either. I also felt more full on my own meals than my mom's meals. I did stay away from drag shows until early July, and went to 2 shows this year. I will cover that part later in my blog.

I blogged about losing my favorite pizza buffet, Cici's Pizza. I got a comment from someone who bought the Cici's location in Portage Indiana. This owner is also planning to open a second location, and this one will be in Schererville Indiana. This one will be closer to my home. The only clue I have is that the second location will somewhere around US 30 & US 41. For now, I'm just glad that Cici's is back in business in Portage Indiana. That location wouldn't have closed had Jamison Burrick not been running his drug operations within the restaurant. I believe that was why Ruben left before. He's managing the location again.

I copied this from another site about the rules of the baths. I won't go too much into detail, but you can checkout this blog from my myspace page at this link.

On January 26th, Ashland Hardware switched everone over to 8 hour shifts. That didn't affect me, as I was already on 8 hour shifts. Richard was constantly bitching that he wasn't getting overtime. I was bitching too, but I was thankful at the time I did have a job. I also wasn't happy that corporate, Newell Rubbermaid froze our wages. So I got stuck staying at $8.50 an hour, instead of going up to $8.76 an hour. Business eventually did pickup, due to production was slowed down too much, that production had to be run at full capacity. So overtime returned for us. In March, Chris Hayes got fired, due to continuously showing up to work drunk. It was unfortunate that it happened, but he refused to get help. I only hope he has gotten help by now. So when his position opened up, I put in for it, though I originally wasn't goona put in for it. I really wanted the same job I had on afternoons on days. That wasn't gonna happen, since the ladies that work in shipping on days aren't leaving anytime soon. I put in for it partially because it was a day job. I also put in for it because Dick Pedersen always bitched at us (me, Richard, Bryce, & Joe) for not receiving shipments in properly. For everyone who put in for the receiving clerk job, I was the only one not interviewed for the job, and he gave it to me. The only reason I got the job was because he didn't like the people from production who put in for it, and Don, the temp, took a pass on the job. He decided to focus on getting back into truck driving once his CDL endorsements were reinstated.

I started in early May on days, and it initially went well. However, I was already having problems trying to work with Delfina Alvarado. I had the impression that she didn't want me knowing her job, since Chris was trying to get her fired, so he could take over her job. That didn't work out for him. I wasn't interested in taking her job, as I wasn't looking at being at Ashland Hardware long-term, like she has. I only wanted to learn her job just as a backup, and not to actually be Chris. I personally think Delfina was threatened by my presence in the job. I also believe that she had a problem with me being gay. People usually don't have a problem if a woman is a lesbian, but if a man is gay, then it's not ok. I hate the double standard. Not learning the entire job, Dick overworking me with other jobs that had nothing to do with receiving or shipping, and worse yet, I was still expected at times to work afternoons. All that, and eventually, my desk was trashed to the point that I didn't feel that it was worth keeping the job. If I stayed, I wanted back on afternoons. Dick allowed me to go back to afternoons, but he was pissed off at me for it. He never gave any reasons as to why I should stay on afternoons. I thought it was for the best. Besides, Delfina & I had some problems working with each other, I didn't get along with Gina Robison's husband, Greg Robison (arrogant stuckup ASSHOLE), Tony Peronis's FAT ASS with sitting on his FAT ASS in front of a pc, and not physically working, and if there were other problems, I would be so stressed out that I snap at people. I originally thought that Donald Ford trashed my desk, but I really believe that Steve Castady trashed my desk. He was nothing, but trouble. He never listened to anything that people told him to do, or how to do, came & went as he pleased (along with lying on his time card about his hours), and Dick refusing to do shit about troublemakers. Dick even signed off on forged timecards. He has the nerve to think that I'm nothing but a whiner. He may know how to do shipping, but he doesn't know shit about management. He is that bad of a manager that people can get away with anything. He doesn't fire people. Had Dick been at work the day that Chris got sent home, and later fired, Chris would still be there today. Dick would have made sure Chris still had a job. I eventually had to walk away from the job since Dick created too much trouble for me. He hated me for going back to afternoons, and was looking for a way to have me leave. He got his wish, and now, his department is suffering. He never replaced me, which has put a lot of stress on Richard, Bryce, & Joe, that they work a lot of overtime (sometimes until 6am). That pushed Joe over the edge too, that on December 22nd, he went back into retirement. He retired back in 2002, but the person who took over his job was in a car accident, and he was asked to return to work. He came back, and worked part-time. He went full-time in January, but only wanted to work 40 hours a week. That happened until around the time I went to days. Then he stayed over. That continued even after I returned to afternoons. He stayed even longer after I was gone. Since he'll be turning 70 in April, he decided that the job wasn't worth it anymore. So he's now in retirement again. I don't believe Dick will replace him either, since Dick doesn't consider Joe's job of handling boxes a priority. He doesn't have Terri handling the boxes from production on 3rd shift either. So he's leaving it to Arnold Patrick to handle on days. Dick better not blame this one on me. He did this to himself. When I'm done with this blog, I plan to e-mail the HR manager as to why I'm not working there anymore. I had hoped to transfer to another Newell Rubbermaid company (particularly Shurline in St. Francis, WI, a Milwaukee suburb). Now, I don't care if I never work for any Newell Rubbermaid company again.

I covered work in 2 paragraphs (even if I didn't type up proper paragraphs or proper English). Onto other stuff. I went t Touché on Valentine's Day for their dungeon master night, and their twisted romantic version of Valentine's day. He showed candles, oil, chocolates, Instead of massaging oil, there was a bottle of Wesson cooking oil for body rubs (more like light fires to the oil (OUCH). For chocolate, there was chocolate syrup for pouring into your mouth then swap spit with it (yuck). For candles, the candles for those into BDSM are letting melted wax be poured onto the slave. That was for the most part, all I did there was watch the demo. I'm not that cheap. If I want to be roamntic, I will spend the extra money for chocolate candies, massage oils that I find worth putting on me, and have a candlelight dinner (maybe let candlewax be poured onto me, or the other guy. That would be as far as I would go with that. Earlier in the day, I took my mom out for breakfast. Valentine's Day happens to be my mom's birthday, and she wanted to go to Old Country Buffet for breakfast. I wasn't gonna question it. She enjoyed herself.

Since I don't have cable TV or satellite TV, I receive my TV with an outdoor antenna. As we all know, people like me had to get prepared for the digital TV transition. For those with cable or satellite weren't affected at all. Since I can't afford a new TV set, I had to get a DTV box. I bought mine in 2008 when I got the coupons from the government. I got what was available at the time, which was the Magnavox DTV box, Model# TB100MW9. I wasn't able to get them hooked up until this year in April (June 11th for my mom, as she kept stalling me on hooking it up). When I worked lateone day in April, she left for the grocery store early, and I used that time (when I woke up) to hookup the outdoor antenna. I got my box hooked up, and scanned for channels. The pre-transition wasn't all that great, but I did get most stations. For Pre-transition, WBBM-DT was on channel 3 (the only DTV station on VHF), WGBO-DT was on 53, and WYCC was on 21, and all 3 of these stations were on the John Hancock. All other stations, except for WYIN-DT were on the Sears Tower. For pre-transition, the only channel that gave me problems was WLS-TV on channel 52. Most people complained that they couldn't get WBBM-DT on channel 3. For most people, they were either using rabbit ears, which are overall ineffective with DTV, or using an outdoor antenna that wasn't optimized for 2-6 (worse yet, most people I came across with outdoor antennas had UHF only antennas). I was one of a few who did get WBBM-DT on channel 3, and had little trouble with it. On June 12th, stations slowly started shutting off analog, and all hell broke loose for most stations. 4 stations were changing channels. WLS-TV had their digital channel on 52, and it was out of core, as the TV dial is now 2-51. They didn't put in for another channel early on, so they had to return to channel 7. That one went smooth for me. Other people complained that they couldn't get WLS-TV once they went to channel 7. Even after a power increase, most people couldn't get them. So they resorted to getting another channel, and they now use channel 44 for their main channel, but channel 7 is now a full market translator. WBBM-TV worked out a deal with WTTW to acquire their antenna that they used for analog, and use that for DTV. WTTW remained on channel 47, and WBBM-TV was gonna move to channel 11 after june 12th, but changed their mind after they learned that they wouldn't have been able to keep the original signal contour that WTTW originally had. That was due to WGVU in Grand Rapids Michigan & WLFI Lafayette Indiana also being on channel 11, and had to protect those stations. There was also WWTO LaSalle Illinois on channel 10, and they chose to stay on that channel. That resulted in that station reducing the coverage of the original channel 11. So when WISN in Milwaukee decided to vacate channel 12, and remain on channel 34, WBBM-TV took over channel 12, and kept their original coverage. It was cheaper for WBBM-TV to acquire WTTW's old antenna instead of spending money to put a new antenna on the John Hancock for channel 12. Not as many people are complaining that they can't receive WBBM-TV on channel 12. WXFT was on 59/60 & WGBO was on 53/66 (for WGBO & WXFT, digital channel first, then analog channel) had to turn in both licenses as both channel were out of core. So WGBO-DT acquired WCPX's old channel of 38, since WCPX stayed on 43, and WXFT acquired WPWR-TV's old channel of 50, since WPWR-TV stayed on channel 51. Everyone else stayed on their pre-transition channel. I have a full blog on the topic. WCIU 27(Ind), WMAQ-TV 29(NBC), WJYS 36 (Ind religious), WCPX 43(Ion), WSNS (Telemundo), WTTW (PBS), and WXFT 50 (Telefutura) were the stations that gave me problems on reception. All of these stations broadcast from the Sears Tower. WYIN-DT 17 was another station that's had problems too (continues to do so today), but they can't afford to relocate their transmitter to a Chicago skyscraper, but the channel spacing does allow it today than it did prior to digital. Their tower is in Cedar Lake Indiana, and the digital antenna is on the side of the tower, and not on top, like the old antenna is, which is optimized for 56, and the new antenna is optimized for channel 17. Despite operating on new channels in most cases, the FCC mandated for DTV with the ATSC standard (digital TV) that there be PSIP, which maps the actual channel to a channel that the system tells it to call itself. For WBBM-TV, they're physically broadcasting on channel 12, but PSIP tells it to call them channel 2.1. WLS-TV has been the only one that has been on the channel that the PSIP system tell it it is. WLS-TV is physical channel 7, and the PSIP tells it that it's channel 7.1. Since WLS-TV is also on channel 44, that also maps to 7.1. So for some TV's & converter boxes, there's 7.1, 7.2, & 7.3 twice.

I also went to a psychic fair in August. Since Melody Joy ended the J&M Enterprises Psychic Fair in June or July of 2008, I hadn't been to a psychic fair. melody Joy even stopped doing readings at Hunters Nightclub. Anyway, I found True Psychic Fair on the internet, and it's held every other month at the Best Western in Kenosha Wisconsin (usually the 3rd Sunday of every even number month). I saw a numerologist named Lily. It was the first numerologist since seeing Rosemary Fletcher in 2000. Lily asked me for my date of birth. All I will say is that I'm a Scorpio. She was saying that she's seeing another job coming up, but said that she sees a possible job transfer. I never thought it would be within Newell Rubbermaid, as the Shurline division gave me the impression that they wanted me to quit my job, and go thru a temp service they use before getting hired into their company. Since I'm no longer a Rubermaid employee, that's not the employer. I believe if anyone is getting a job transfer, I believe it's my sister. She wants to transfer departments within Purdue University West Lafayette. I don't know what my next job will be, but I believe it'll be something that'll last for a while. I don't see my next job being long-term. If this is a job that'll be long-term, then it has to be a job in the distant future. My number is a 4 calculated from my date of birth. I never asked about love, as it's not a priority. Even if I had asked, I would have been told that I would be with a blonde haired blue eyed person. I know that the person would be a Virgo and lives in Milwaukee Wisocnsin. I already have an idea of that person. I came across 3 Michael's online. One who went my mikegm68 on yahoo had the name, Mikhail Girgis. It turns out that it isn't him, though he has resided in Waukesha Wisconsin, and had numerous addresses in Illinois, included Zion, Crystal Lake, Rockford, & Roscoe Illinois (not Roscoe Village in Chicago). I then came across on facebook a guy named Michael McGavock from a school search of Waukesha South High School. He is listed as having to lived in Waukesha, Elm Grove, Oconomowoc, Milwaukee, and Dousman, Wisconsin. It's hard to say if this is the Michael I'm looking for. I hope not. I only know that he was born in September 1968. What has me concerned if this is the Michael I had previous contact with, is that this Michael is married to a woman named Yvonne McGavock. There is no way I want to be involved with anyone who's married, and worse, have children. I then came across another Michael by the name of Michael Mahoney. I found him in a listing on the Waukesha South High School website. He also was born in September 1968, and I know he's a Virgo. Michael McGavock might be a Virgo too. For Michael Mahoney, he's listed as living in Waukesha & current place, Milwaukee Wisconsin, but also lived in San Francisco, Berkley, & El Cerrito, California. I believe the California cities were probably for college. This Michael is single, and is blonde. I don't know about the other Michael. I will only say that regardless of which Michael, there's some issues I have with one of them. I don't know which Michael is the one I had contact with on match.com, but I didn't like it that he wanted someone who had a college degree before he would date that person. I don't know if he changed his mind on that one, but that was why I didn't contact him before. He also wants kids, but I don't, and would like it if I'm not involved with someone who has kids. He's insisting that the person already live with the Milwaukee area. That there is something I don't like, as I haven't had any help with relocation there. So if I ever Meet either one of those Michaels, I will throw that in his face.

I also got around to reviewing a polish buffet in Chicago by the name of Czerwone Jabłuszko (Red Apple), though I dined there on Memorial Day. I was so busy that I didn't put in my review sooner. For my first time eating polish food, it was good. I will one day get around to trying out other polish buffets, and as I get used to polish food, then I want to go to a polish restaurant and order from the menu. Here's the full review.


My last blog I did was Thanksgiving Day. I went to a church for a charity Thanksgiving dinner. While we weren't really hurting for money, I felt ashamed to be at the church for a charity dinner. Some of the people there were worse off than we were. At the table I ate at with my mom, one lady has to rely on various churches for survival. She lives in a housing project near Downtown Hammond. She got a ride to St James Church in Highland Indiana for their dinner. It was an all you can eat dinner. I just grabbed a plate, and people on the other side of the food scooped it out for people. I made 2 trips, and ate everything, while a black couple wasted food, and seemed unappreciative. The lady in the housing project was thankful for the meal, as she wouldn't have had dinner otherwise.



Now here's a few things I didn't get a chance to blog about. When I went to work on days, I thought I was gonna get a chance to see Fierce Cabaret at Spin Nightclub, hosted by then Lady Vera Parker. Everytime I thought I would have a chance to see the show, Dick mandated me to work on afternoons, and would work for 12-14 hours that night. By the time I would get off work, I was too tired to see the show. The one time I did get a chance to see the show on July 3rd, I find out that there was no show. There was supposed to be a show that night, but it turned out that Thomas Flanagan (a.k.a. Lady Vera Parker) was arrested for fraud. Only Chicago Pride & other gay media covered the story. I cna't understand why the regular media didn't cover it. Even ABC7 didn't cover it. Was it because they didn't want to admit that they were surprised by what happened, since ABC7 interviewed Lady Vera Parker. Who knows what's gonna happen with Lady Vera Parker, but I doubt I'll even trust the bitch again, after learning that she was charged with fraud in Massachusetts as well.


I got a chance to see Regina Upright perform on July 8th at the newest gay bar in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago, called Cattle Call (or as they're wanting to be called, The Call). It's a Country/Western bar, which indirectly competes with Charlies. I say indirectly, because they're not in the same neighborhood. Charlies is in Lakeview (a.k.a. Boystown), while Cattle Call is in Andersonville. Every Wednesday at 9:30pm, there a drag show hosted by Angelique Munrow, and there a regular cast, and a guest each week. Regina Upright is a featured guest, and is typically scheduled every other Wednesday. I like Ashley Morgan along with Angelique Munrow. That's all I'll say who I like for drag queens & tranny. It's a place I'd like to go to more often, but I'm not working at the moment, and would need money to go there. I would also need a day job to go back. I hope to go back there soon.


I decided to reactivate my facebook account (though I really didn't want to, as I don't like facebook) in order to be back in contact with Rick & Bryan of Wheaton Illinois. I have Rick & Bryan, Cattle Call, Chazonator, Red & Nater, & a Jeremy Andrews in my facebook friends list. I don't know who else I'll add, but my brother & sister are NOT allowed to be in my friends list. Neither are any of my former classmates from Calumet High School or Merrillville High School.


I never got around to finding time to blog about being pissed off with Russ Conte of Kelly Services. He didn't like before when he was the recruiter at Hidden Valley, but couldn't easily get rid of me, since Tammie Matthews wanted me to be there. My job was filled by someone off the street, and resulted in me being moved to manual packing line, but Star Staffing called me up for a job, and gave Russ his wish to be removed from the Hidden Valley job. He transferred to their office in Frankfort Illinois, and decided he wasn't gonna help me out at all. He held it against me on the Hidden Valley job that he didn't want to work with me this time around. Had I not been rejected, I would have been back to work in October. I still wish I could get out of the Chicago market, as too many employers want me to move out of Indiana, and live in the expensive communities that the jobs are located in. The jobs don't pay enough for me to live near the job sites, and my own mother refuses to move out of Gary Indiana. With that, I'm stuck where I'm at. While Kelly Services normally doesn't require a person to live in certain communities or a certain radius of the job site, I'm not happy that Kelly Services isn't willing to help out this time around. The office near my home deals more with office jobs, and for the 2 warehouse jobs they do have, they can't send me to either job. So if I wanna work for Kelly Services, I have to go thru another office, but the next nearest Kelly office has me on ineligible status, which pisses me off. I keep wishing to get out of Chicagoland, but for some reason, people don't want me to leave.


I visited my Grandma on Christmas Day, and she turned 86 on Christmas Day. Out of my family, I didn't see my Aunt Dawn, since she's always late for family gatherings. I was surprised that my Aunt Nancy gave me $50. I never got that much cash for my birthday, or Christmas. For being 36 years old, I'm surprised I'm still getting gifts from my Aunt Nancy.


With the new year being an hour away, I hope that sometime in January, I'll be back to work. I plan to let my former employer know how I feel about them, and don't care if I never work for Rubbermaid again.


Have a Happy New Year everyone.

My First Week on Days

This has been a rough week at work, due to a lack of time to prepare myself for readjusting my sleep to be asleep by latest, 10pm. I've made it. I feel that I work a lot harder on days than on afternoons. Other than labeling stock & putting it away, I'm also given a hot list of part #'s that need to be pulled for orders to go out that day. That means I have to get Gina & Denise from QA to check those parts right away. I also have to check the box count that the vendors provide everyday that it matches up with the manifest, and sign off on it. We currently have 3 outside vendors that put parts together, and they also do some rework too (whether problems at the plant, or parts that come back from Mexico that require rework). Besides that, there's unloading trailers that come in from various carriers, as well as a truck that brings us our shipments from Mexico (I hate that one).

Delfina still has to show me more of the job, as I'm her backup for when she's gone for a day, or a week. It's gonna take me time, but I'll eventually get the hang of the job, even if I preferred to work in shipping. Tony also has to show me how to pull & process Pella, as I'm his backup on that. Don is a big help too. I don't know why Chris didn't like Don. Chris was trying to get Don fired by taking all credit for the work, where Don was doing all the work, while Chris sat on the forklift most of the day, and sat at his desk checking & sending e-mail (including checking & sending porn through the company e-mail). Since I came onto days, work is getting put away a lot faster than it did when Chris was there. Besides sitting on the forklift & being at his now former desk, he was also drunk everyday, which got him fired. I am definitely an asset to the shift.

My likes about the job:

It's a day job.

I'm usually keeping busy with my new job.

I have my own desk with a computer by it (even if I can't use internet most of the time).

I'm now included in birthday & anniversary parties the shift holds.

The day shift is never dull, as it's unpredictable.

I'm home in the evening hours.

I can even go out to Chicago once in a while during the week.

My Dislikes about the job:

I had to take a job in the receiving department to get a day job. Not that it's bad, but I like

pulling orders the best, and wanted to process them as well.

I now have a company e-mail address. I don't like having that, as I'm now gonna be scrutinized for any e-mails I might send that aren't good. For as long as I've been there, I've been ok w/o e-mail. Now I have it :(.

I have to hear from Bryce about Richard's b.s. Richard has become an even bigger asshole since I left the shift. Richard even tattles on Cindy's son, Brian. Brian is only part-time, and for the time he's there, he gets more done than what Richard gets done in the same time frame. I expected problems to arise when I switched to days. I was holding up the shift in overall work.

I have to deal with the head honchos (including my boss, Dick), but I knew that, or I wouldn't have put in for the job.

My mom makes me drive the P.O.S. (piece of shit) car to work, since she needs her car for her doctor's appointments. She's got the nicer looking car.

I no longer get to go to any buffets for lunch on Fridays, now that I work days. I'm gonna especially miss going to Old Country Buffet for their very cheap lunch, where one location charged $6.99 for lunch, and another one for 20¢ less from 11am - 3pm Monday - Friday. Regular price is $8.29. Even Golden Corral is now out of the question, as well as any chinese buffet.

For places I can go for lunch, the selection is limited in Lowell. All there is is: Burger King (not crazy about their food), McDonalds (gross), Subway (too expensive), Athens Grill (ok, but I've had better), McVey's (excellent food, but expensive. Only went there once because the company treated us to mark 1Million hours w/o a lost time accident). There's George's (ok, but don't have a lot of time to wait for food, and not sure if they allow advance orders, and carryout). Aurelios (pizza too greasy), Pizza Hut (also too greasy), Italian Outpost (expensive, and pizza is greasy), No. 1 Chinese (overall nasty food, but affordable), Dairy Queen (ok food, but portion sizes are too small), Schoops (good food, but unless money isn't an issue, then this place is expensive, as they don't have lunch & dinner combos). There are a few other places, but I don't remember them all. I heard Pizza House is good, but they're only open for dinner, and closed Mondays. Since I never been there, No comment. At least I'm near some restaurants, unlike when I worked in Wheeling at Hidden Valley Mfg. thru Kelly Services. Most resturants were either in neighboring Mount Prospect, Prospect Heights, or Northbrook.

So while I don't like everything about my job, or things I would do at lunch time, the fact that I'm on days is overall good enough, and once I'm well adjusted in my work hours & sleep, I should be able to get some stuff done at home.

Got the Receiving job.

I was surprised when I showed up at work yesterday, May 1st, that I got the receiving job. Dick said that he was gonna interview me after interviewing 1 other person. He never interviewed me for the receiving job. I believe the reason he picked me over the other 2 was because of experience. I've been in the department for 5 1/2 years (2 years 2 months as an employee), and know parts of the job. I took the job to get on days, but would have preferred to be in Shipping on days. That won't happen anytime soon, due to 4 ladies not planning to leave anytime soon (Beth, Eva, Deb, & Dawn).

My job will be involving receiving deliveries from freight carriers, and from our Mexico plant. I'll also be pulling orders for parts to be assembled for our Mexico plant too. I'll even be putting away stock that comes in from Mexico & from deliveries made by freight carriers. I get trained Monday morning by my co-worker, Delfina. I just hope I can deal with her on a regular basis.

Even though I got the job, I still believe something else will be happening for me outside of the company that will be good for me. I still can't pinpoint it, but whatever it is, it isn't where I work at.

It's sad that my new found luck came at the expense of my former drunk co-worker, named Chris. He refused to seek help for his alcoholism, that he lost his job after being with the company for nearly 9 years. He has the nerve to even call up to get info on who's got the job. He doesn't know yet, but will sometime soon, and be pissed. At least I'll do a better job than he did. At least I'm sober.

Wish me luck.

A Quick Update On The Job

I thought I would add a quick update on the job. So far, nothing new has been heard from about who got the job. A lot of women put in for the job, and many learned what the job consisted of, and backed out. My co-worker, Terri, was one of the ladies that backed out. When she learned what the job consisted of, she didn't want the job. She doesn't do her current job that well on nights.The only reason she is in my department, had to do with cutting back the number of team leaders per shift. She is still paid team leader rate, just in case a team leader position opened up, to where she could go back to being a team leader. Had she pursued the warehouse job further, and was offered the job, then she would have had to take a 50¢ an hour pay cut to be a warehouse associate again (by choice).

Then a lady named Linda put in for the job. Patrick (a material handler) told me that she couldn't handle being in pack & label, due to her health problems. I would only hope Dick doesn't consider her, just for the fact that the job requires lifting as much as 60lbs. at a time. She has trouble with 30lbs.

Another lady named Cindy T. (not to get confused with Cindy M. in my dept.) also put in for the job. I don't think she could do the job either, just because she doesn't like to lift a lot either.

Then there's Patrick, the material handler. He works as a material handler, and lifts 50lb bags from time to time, and wheel over barrels of material. He also has prior shipping & receiving experience from another company in Lowell, that this position would go in his favor. He would also get a 25¢ an hour pay increase if he gets it, since his job is just below mine.

Then there's a temp in my dept., named Don. I don't know if Dick is considering him, but he is the most experienced out of anyone at the job (including myself). He already knows how to do the job, whereas everyone else would need some training (including myself, who only knows bits of the job). So if Dick offered it to anyone other than Patrick or me, then Don should get the job.

I heard a couple of other ladies put in for it, named Kim (pack & label) & Nelly (that's her real name, and is a processor). Kim could deal with weight issue, but her attitude wouldn't be tolerated, that I believe is held against her. Nelly would be crazy to take the job, as her current job pays a lot more than mine does. She makes at least $13.00 an hour. If she ever did put in for the job, Dick interviewed her, and got the job, then she would be taking a serious pay cut. Her position is on a different pay scale, and the possible pay cut would be a lot bigger.

I have yet to be interviewed for the job, and not sure if Dick will interview me. I won't be totally disappointed if I'm not offered the job, because I really would prefer to work in shipping pulling orders. I put in for it to try & get onto 1st shift. I'm thinking that something else might be happening for me. I don't know what it could be, but I keep having these weird dreams about living somewhere else, but not working either. I don't know, and I don't want to speculate on that one. I just know that if anyone really deserves the job; it would be Don. I would be a hypocrite if I thought I should get the job, just because I'm an employee. Dick had the rules bent in order to get me hired in over any employee there in 2007. If Don wants the job if offered to him, then I'd be alright with it. Like I said, I'd rather be in shipping. I believe something else will happen for me outside of the company.

May change jobs & shift

An opening for a receiving job opened up in my department this week. My drunk ass fuckin co-worker, Chris, got his drunk, smelly, shitty ass fired for continuously coming to work drunk. He has been warned enough times that the company fired his ass. So there's now an opening. I decided to put in for the job, mainly because I want to get onto 1st shift. The position doesn't involve a pay increase, due to the company's grade level pay scale having receiving lumped into warehouse, which is a grade 4. Since I'm already a Grade 4, there's no pay increase. Just more work & more responsibilities. I also would get my own e-mail account with the company, and that's not what I'd like, but my potential job would require it.

My job would involve labeling stock that comes to us from our Mexico plant, handle consignment, pull orders for parts to be assembled at our Mexico plant, load & unload (mainly unload trucks) trucks that come in with stock of some sort. I would be a backup for pulling orders for Pella Windows and handling the receiving papers that another co-worker handles. My hours would be 6:45am - 3:15pm Monday - Friday. I currently work from 2:45pm - 11:15pm Monday - Friday pulling shipping orders and loading trucks to pickup shipments. I even handle occasional deliveries in receiving too, when everyone in receiving went home for the day. Receiving only works 1st shift, while regular warehouse associates work 1st & 2nd shifts. The only reason there's a 3rd shift, is because there needs to be someone to clear the pack & label line. Otherwise, there wouldn't be anyone needed for 3rd shift in warehouse.

I'm nervous, but I hope I do get the job, as I want days, and be able to relax in the evenings. It would even allow me to go to Chicago in the evening hours during the week. I've missed a lot of events during the week, due to working 2nd shift at my current job since October 9, 2003. Also, except for a 6 week period in 2003, I've worked 2nd shift since September 12, 2002, when I left UPS for the last time to work at a salad dressing plant, and then a window parts company, then 2 other jobs before returning to my current job. Working there 3 years & 4 months as a temp, then 2 years & 1 month as an employee, I deserve to get this job, as I know some job duties.

I'll keep everyone posted on this.