ok, who the hell is in charge of this site? just one post in december? one post in november? (there were four in one day, but im counting those as just one.) thats pitiful. seriously. you should be demanding your money back.
-b
pretty good weekend i have to say, especially compared to the previous, when i was stuck at home on the couch for three days coughing up various shades of green and yellow.
good snow and a beautiful day on friday at abasin with mango. took my new board, and for the first time, everything just seemed to click. pretty much whatever i went down, i felt strong. even through the crud i was flying, and believe it or not, i had a near powder experience on an untouched groomed run. dont now if it was my new board and bindings, or those plus the conditions, but whatever it was, it worked. we also made some of the first tracks down the east wall when they opened it around noon, although, that wasnt the greatest experience since i put my first really good gouge in my new board. took a hunk of metal right out of the edge on the nose when i went flying right over a rock that was covered by about and inch of snow. a piece of it is still hanging there as a nice reminder.
saturday wasnt bad either. there was a lot of traffic on the way up to breckenridge, but it was worth it. even though it had been a couple days since the snow had fallen, it stayed cold, so the conditions were really nice. unfortunately, brenda decided to go against precedent and get hurt on the first run instead of the last. i hope her wrist isnt broken.
then on sunday we went to the broncos game. poor outcome, but it was still enjoyable. the best part was the flyover by four airforce fighters during the national anthem. we were sitting in the upper deck and could look south out of the stadium. about halfway through the anthem, i noticed the jets coming straight towards us about 10 miles away. they crossed over the stadium from south to north and passed over about 200 feet above us, so we got to watch them the entire time. very cool. the second highlight of the game was making a dumbass steeler fan look stupid when he tried to claim that "there are more steeler fans in the world, than fans of any other team," and then i made him look even dumber when he tried to claim that "there are more fans of the NFL in the world than any other sport." whatever, moron. brenda finally got me to back off when she said, "dont bother with him, hes got a mullet!"
-b
didnt have such a good ending to my shift the other night at work. in fact the middle wasnt so hot either. i was responsible for 3 of the big presses, which meant that i also had to keep an eye on all the final product going out, to make sure that it was ok. there were a few problems there. it seems that swing shift had a problem earlier in the night on a different part of the line, but they never purged all the bad product before it got up to the presses. so, our shift ended up running a bunch of bad product and 4 skids had to be held so that quality control could go through them to see how bad they were…and that looks bad on me. add on to that, the fact that i had to have one of the presses down for about 2 hours while i was pulling tooling out of it so that adjustments could be made and then spend an extra 45 minutes having trouble threading it up with the next coil strip, and i end up having a pretty bad shift.
then, just to top it off, near the end of the shift, at about 615, one of the presses jams really bad, a "running strip jam." that means i have to go into the press, pull out 3 different plates to gain access to the ends, and clean out all of the scrap aluminum that was thrown on the tooling and inside of the press. fine. done. thread up the press, fire it up, and let it run. looks good. until five minutes later it goes down again for the same thing. now its 645, just 15 minutes before im supposed to go home, and the clean-up process usually takes me at least that long. i still need to do my paperwork for the night…shit. ok, someone else decides to help me out and do my paperwork for me, so i resign myself to the fact that i just have to bear down and clean it up before day shift comes in. so, in i go. pull out the plates, clear out all the scrap, double check it just to make sure that i dont leave anything inside. look at the clock, 655. alright, they should be showing up by now and getting me outta here.
most people try to show up about 10 minutes before their shift starts to get the other person out on time. now, not every person actually does come in early, but every person sure does complain when their relief doesnt…especially day shift.
i look around, and theres randy, the day shift guy who is supposed to take over for me, standing over at his toolbox watching me while he puts lotion on his hands. dick. how long has he been here? i make eye contact with him to make sure he knows, i know hes here and cant avoid doing some work. he saunters over and leans close so i can yell to him (its REALLY loud here) the details of my shift and what needs to be done with this press. so, i tell him about the jams and that the press is all cleaned up, and all he has to do is thread it up and fire it up. now, i already know, that at the beginning of his shift every day, hes got to do some extra work on this press, so leaving it down for him shouldnt be any big deal (in fact it is saving him a little bit of extra work). he responds by looking at his watch, which says 656, and then pats me on the back while saying, "youve got just enough time to thread it up for me." asshole. what the fuck? i look up at him, expecting to see him smiling at his stupid, snide joke. but no, hes not smiling. hes serious. im pissed. really pissed. then he goes on to explain how he had a really rough shift yesterday and then tells me the specifics of what he had done, some of which are a flat out lie, because the shift after him did what he claimed. oh, and of course i should know all this, if i actually read the log books. asshole. of course i read the log books, and thats how i know that youre lying to me about some of this. why the hell should i give you sympathy for your shift YESTERDAY and thread up your press for you when i, JUST NOW, am trying to leave a pretty tough shift myself???!!! i know that right now i have to walk away from him or theres going to be trouble. so, i turn around the press to make it look like im going to thread it up, and while my back is turned to him i yell as loud as possible, "FUCK YOU!"
the good thing is that im pretty sure no one heard what i said (its REALLY loud in here), but im pretty sure that he heard me yell. i turn around and see him walking up to me. he tells me to go ahead and leave it down because hes got to clean the lower tooling anyway. no shit, dumbfuck. i should have fired it up so that you would have to shut it down and do more work. asshole. i turn away from him and walk over to my toolbox, put away my tools, lock it up, and wheel it away without turning around.
now, i know that wasnt the best way to handle the situation. i shouldnt have yelled, and next time i wont. but the next time he decides to make some stupid demand im going to throw it right back in his face and make him feel just as stupid as he is.
after asking around, everyone already hates this guy. hes got a reputation of trying to use his little bit of power to run over people. well, if he thinks he can try to run over me just cause im the new kid on the shift, hes got another thing coming.
-b
so, im sick. this is the worst head cold ive had in a real long time. after i wake up in the morning (or evening), it takes me a full hour till my head clears, and the process isnt fun. you know when you can feel your head draining all the congestion out of it? well, its more than just a feeling for me, it actually happens. mucous, phlegm, snot, lung butter - whatever you want to call it - it comes draining out of my nose, down the back of my throat, and coughed up from my lungs. yellows, greens, even some nice pinkish hues (i havent seen them before). the good news is that my cough is subsiding some, although im sure ive just jinxed it, and it will be back again.
this leads me to my real story of going to the drug store to pick up some (insert generic prefix of choice here) - phed. i love the ‘phed, whether its the suda brand variety, or just the generic wal variety, it all works wonders for me. but i digress…
so, i grab my meds and walk up to the register in the drugstore. at this point im constantly coughing still, so im quite irritated and just want to get out of the store and head over to brenda’s to take a nap. i vaguely notice that the people in front of my are having a quick conversation with the checker, and all i can do is hope that they hurry up and move on, so i can get out that much faster myself. they end their conversation, and i move on up to the front of the line.
this is an approximate transcription of how my conversation with the checker transpired. my thoughts are in italics.
Checker - Hi, how are you doing?
me - fine, how about your self?
Checker - Well, I’m feeling a little bit tired.
me - oh yeah? (cough)
Checker - Yeah, and my boyfriend was able to get tickets for this coming week’s Broncos game, so I’ve got to try to switch shifts now
she sounded a bit dejected at this point, which is odd, because if you scored tickets to the broncos next playoff game, you are a treated like a blessed individual here in denver.
me - well, thats cool that you were able to get tickets. (so why the fuck are you complaining about switching shifts? do it and go to the game. if you dont want to, then have your boyfriend take someone else!) (cough, cough)
Checker - Yeah, but you know how hard it is to change shifts at the last minute, I just don’t think that I’m going to be able to.
me - (cough, cough, cough) yeah, but its the playoffs, you should be glad that you have the opportunity to go. (ok, why should i care about you and your stupid problems with switching shifts? do you actually think i have any control over the situation? what is so wrong with your life that you need to fish for sympathy from some random person you are serving at your job?!)
Checker - Yeah, but its just such a hassle, but I want to go…
at this point, she was finally beginning to hand me my change.
me - (cough, cough, cough) well, good luck with it. (give me the fucking change already! i cant believe you are actually keeping me here talking with you about your problems when im clearly sick, in a bad mood, and just want to get the fuck out of here! hurry up already you bitch!)
and i have to admit, that i did call her a bitch in my mind. it really wasnt warranted, but i sure did want to get out of there.
Checker - yeah, well, we will have to see….
me - (cough, cough, cough, cough)
she kept talking, but at this point, i already had my bag of meds along with my change, so i just turned around and walked out the door, cursing under my breath.
what in the world is a person thinking when they are doing this? what they hell gives them the right to dump all of their problems on someone else, just because they have you held hostage while they ring up your ‘phed?
two days later, ive realized that ive taken this a bit further than a more sane person would have. but i wasnt sane at the time, being that i was going through coughing fits and looking forward to having to go to work in an hour or so. but still, come on?
it really made me think about what her relationship with her boyfriend must be like. i mean, is she that needy when shes alone because her boyfriend isnt giving her the attention that she needs, or is she like that all the time? wow, i know i wouldnt be able to deal with that for even a day, even when i am sane.
useless things to think about…
-b
5 very funny words