13 Oct 2008

Good News, Bad News, and Good News

(sorry for the font of the last post, it was pretty hard to read, Eh?)

Well I didn't get laid-off. But today I began training on one of our high-tech machines. I got bumped off my usual job by someone with seniority because he got bumped off his job by someone with more seniority than him. So the upshot of all of this is I'm still on dayshift during my training time but I'll get put on second shift once my training is done. For now it's OK, but in a month or so it's going to keep me out of bowling on Friday nights 'cause I'll be here at work.

That just means I need to get myself hired on at the VA really soon.

It's cool that the company is cross-training me instead of laying me off. I thought I might have shot myself in the foot by turning down the position running the new product line. But I think it'll work itself out.

The guy who's training me said he'll string out my training time. He even said it might last until the beginning of the New Year. So that means I have until then to make my move to some other location if I can.

It's 1 o'clock and my trainer has left. He came in at 5am so he was done with his shift. I have to talk with the supervisor to make sure I can go home after 8 hours. In my other job here I had to work 8 ½ hours because they docked a half hour for lunch. In this job I work a straight 8 hours with no lunch break. Oh, I still get to have lunch, but they expect you to eat at the machine while running it. Oh, and I get a raise to an operators pay grade. Just how much, I'm not sure yet, but it should be around a dollar more an hour.

Side note:

Since last Friday morning I have been trying to catch a small black and white kitten that has been roaming our property. Friday morning I was pulling the motorcycle out of the barn and spotted four white paws sitting under the PT Cruiser. Then I proceeded to chase this blasted cat around the house. Friday night I could hear the kitten but couldn’t see him/her in the trees. Last night (Sunday) I got close and would have had him/her except I got tangled up in a thorny vine and lost sight of Bootsie (so I have named him/her to avoid writing “him/her” again!) only a few feet away from me at the time.

And when I say “tangled up” I mean “tore up” more. If I had been wearing anything less than jeans and boots at that moment, I may have lost the ability to practice procreation with my wife for a short time… As it was I ended up in the woods Friday night in my PJ’s and slippers chasing that cat’s “Meow.”

We’re leaving food out in the hopes that Bootsie will stay close and stay in the barn, but I really want to get my hands on Bootsie so I know it is healthy… I’m a sucker for a kitten in distress.

I’m Alive… So Far…