Guess I should talk about this now. Once a week, all of us in The Main Department have to go in and open up packages to start getting urine samples ready to be tested. It's a menial job, so everybody has to do it. I think I've complained about this before, but sometimes these samples leak, and so you're reaching in to an open package and touching piss. Sometimes it's really gross. I don't know how people are unfazed by this, but I think I'm a very different person now that I have a job whereby I touch piss on occasion. It's ... debasing.
Moreover, I had a run-in with one of the lab people a couple weeks ago. This isn't the asshole who was riding me like a high schooler over accidentally cutting myself. This was some older lady who has her own way of getting through all the hundreds of packages that we need to cut open and whose contents we need to get out for her, in that position, to scan into our system. She was, let's just say, impatient, and I got that hostile vibe and so I kept away from her as much as possible. I, of course, don't want to be there at all, but that does not motivate me to work faster. Anyway, we were getting down to large packages, which the lab has as protocol the thing we do last because it takes time to open boxes that large packages usually come in. I'm throwing the last of the packages onto the counter, and apparently one of them just happened to slide too close to her, so she throws it back to the other side of the counter -- missing me, but not by a lot -- and says, "No! Not that!" And that just made me vent at her: "Hey, sorry I threw that package your way!" And it was loud enough for her and the other people at the workstation to hear, and probably to sense my defensive tone.
That was a couple weeks ago. I am sure that if I added back dates this week, I would be sent into the lab. And not as if I would run into her again -- like us, they are on a rotation as to who opens up packages at this station every day and every week -- but after that blow-up, I think it was a good idea to ensure that I don't go into that lab for another week. I didn't go in there last week either (that was a decision made by my boss), and I think it's good I go at least two weeks without being seen in there. Maybe cooler heads will prevail.
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Where was I? I didn't think I would talk about that incident because I want to talk about the gig I have today. Anyway, I compromised; I went in to my main job on Monday because I wanted to take back one day of work. Turns out, by the way, that the day I am taking off next week I am getting back; my boss asked me to come in on Saturday, and that would replace Tuesday, when I am coming back on my flight. After these two weeks, I will have two more days off of paid time off I can take this fall and winter, which is two more than I thought I would have.
But I am only working this other gig today/Thursday. The other days ... well, I went and am going to the State Fair. It's weird to wake up whenever you want to instead of when you have to wake up. I mean, it's great, but I remember that for three of these four days I could have gone in to work instead. Instead, I'm waking up largely when my body wants to wake up, which was, I think, 10:45 Tuesday and around 9:15, maybe, yesterday/Wednesday. And I have been lazing around thinking, "OK, what should I do?" I am, hate to say it, kind of bored.
And this gig, by the way, starts at 1. It's a lot better than having, say, a 7 a.m. call time. But I woke up on my own at a quarter to 10 when I set my alarm for 11:30. I think I'm ready to go to work now. But I have 90 minutes to go before it's showtime. And by the way, I think I am setting my alarm for 11 (to go to the Fair) tomorrow, but my body might be awake well before then. I was looking forward to my body having time overnight to sleep and wake on its own, and yet it seems like I'm waking up too early. I might be scaring myself more than I need to.
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This blog post became different than what I initially thought it would be.
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