Sorry….again! It’s been two months since the last post…and in a nut-shell, this has transpired….I worked at the bottling hall on a the back shift, was finally contacted by someone at the security company. Went for training for said security company in England, passed all my tests, had a hell of a time getting home from the training…and went to work the day after I got home.
Most of my workdays are standing making sure that people are nice to each other. I do security most days in a departmental office. Last week I spent some of my time in Falkirk, but since my job title includes “Area”…it means I get to travel on short notice. I was meant to open up a building in the Falkirk area on Thur-Fri…at 6am and be off at 2pm….then got changed to Edinburgh, 6am-6pm….then the office in Leith 8:30-5:30…but in order to get a free ride in, I was up at 5am. Made for a long day! I will say though, that I did like the time I spent there.
The first day there went by pretty fast, and the 2nd seemed longer. The 2nd was wetter as well, which in the office makes people act ignorant. I don’t think I’ll be divulging anything confidential in the stories I relate here, as I don’t remember names as well as I remember events.
I’ll tell you a few stories tomorrow…good night!
Sorry I haven’t been keeping up with this, but things have put this in the back seat. Hence the title of today’s blog entry. A week from this past monday, I was sent by the same agency to ‘build pallets’ for the same company at a different location. Well, this location is where the bottling hall keeps all that made it past Quality Assurance. Father Jack’s Shangri la I thought….boxes upon boxes on pallets upon pallets full of Vodka, Whisky, Gin…you name it. I was able to see the production dates on the top boxes….yep. I was there when that batch was made….how sad am I? As the day progressed, I came to understand that I was there as a one off, there were no repeats needed. A container bound for Spain had been loaded wrong and I was called in to assist in its repacking. LOVELY! The container was tardy and I was there waiting for it for five hours. It finally showed up, and wouldn’t you know it, the lads that work there figured out a way to do the job (using specialized forklifts) without my help. I was there for the day and got paid to stand and do nada.
The day after, I get a call from the same agency; they need me back at the bottling hall. Backshift it is….Arse! Only one break only per shift! Feck! But…..in the same vein….thank God! I need to be working.
If you have no clue who Father Jack is, you should rush to your local video store, or shop online for the complete series of Father Ted. Will see how long it takes me to get to the next entry…hopefully not too long!
It’s been a stretch…that’s American for a ‘long time’ for those who don’t know…been a long stretch since I was a student. Its going to be a while longer yet! I went down to enroll in College this past monday and was told that the fees for attending first year were about $9k. That’s about $8k too much….though I would have paid anyway had I the money to do so. I’ll be 42 soon after Christmas and it looks like I’ll be nearer 45 before I’ll be able to get to school again. Have to try and be positive about this, I’ve waited this long, three years should be nothing.
I need to prove to the wife that I know how to load a pic without going through all the things she does….so here goes!
Voila!
Of course I’m making a reference to a Van Halen song! My wife endlessly teases me about picking up other women, and as much as I assure her that I won’t unless they pay up front, she just doesn’t let off. Seriously. I’m going back to school!!! I look forward to it actually. I’ll put more in the next entry about it, but I wanted something for Laura to read in the morning….Love you baby! Your support means more to me than you know!
O2. When I went on a ‘Discovery’ at their facility in Glasgow last May, I was duly impressed with the way they treated their employees, and the conditions in which they worked. I was crushed when I didn’t get offered a job. I understood why I was rejected and bided my time until I could apply again. Just so happened when that time came the perfect position opened up. Part time, technical. Lovely! I applied, was told to call and arrange a phone interview. That phone interview was scheduled for 10am this morning. They called about two minutes early, and it was over before it was supposed to start! In the application I had honestly answered that I had a visa that allowed me to work in the UK. They asked how long it was valid for, and I said it was until May 09. They then told me that they could no longer continue with the interview as I needed to have at least two years to go on the visa. I was dumbfounded. I really don’t know how that can be legal, but morally its repugnant! Needless to say, my ideas of O2 have been shattered and not only will I never feel a need to have their service in any capacity, I will dissuade any and all from it as well.
Not that I have a crowd to please…yet, but I do apologize to anyone who feels I neglected them with my lack of updates. It was about two weeks ago that I was let go from my agency job due to lack of work available at the bottling hall. This was rougher than I had imagined. Its amazing how some work is better than no work.
Last weekend, I did a damn fool thing and went up Ben Cleuch with kids. They weren’t a bother, but it does age one to see youth flout your lack of fitness! I did the climb/hillwalk a couple of years ago and thought I’d have another go at it. I had expected to have done better than I did, but I did do better than I had done last time. Last time my legs were burning to the point of agony on the way down, and this time they were tired, but still okay. That is until the day after! Now its day four and I still can’t go down the stairs without supporting myself. My wife thinks I’m such a wimp with all the faces I’m pulling as I try and get off the couch or get into the car. My legs hate me….and I’m on their side. I don’t know what else to do. I like hillwalking! I’ll look online to see what’s the best, but as my wife will see, against her will…I won’t stop. I can’t. Not in me to give up, well….not easily.
You know, I’ve had a motorcycle license since I was 20. Been involved in one wreck while on one, and got caught speeding more than a few times…but only ticketed once for it. I realize that Scotland (and the UK in general) is not the best place to ride year-round, but I’d be willing to chance it. I got my eye on a couple of rides and hopefully as time marches on, I’ll be able to save up the money to get one….as well as convince the wife to let me buy it!
Ok…its now 6:30ish on a Monday morning…very depressing. People on the west coast USA are probably just now considering getting to bed! Here I am, about to go and get my bike out the shed and ride it to work. Work. Slave. Need money. The things I do to make sure my family and I can stay warm, fed and dry. Never thought I’d be in this job for this long. Bottling Hall. Boredom. The job is ’soul crushing’, as it gets said around there. The repetition and low wages. The people though…that’s okay. Then I think every job is okay as long as you get along with the people next to you. No real friends though, but God help me, I don’t want to be in this job long enough to make any real ones!
Okay, so I’ve managed to get this far with the WordPress blog s/w and can’t say that I’m disappointed. Its far easier than I thought it would be aside from having to deal with an impatient scorpio.
I get to go to sleep tonight and hope that the rain will still hold off so I can get on my bicycle in the early hours of the morning and get to work…which I really love…..NOT! I like whisky….not that I drink much of it anymore, and as fate has it, now that I’m ‘affit’, I see all too much of the stuff!