Dispatches from Blogblivion

If there’s one thing I can do with vigor it’s bleed.

There was one final truck, half full. I went on that with another guy, to blow through it and be done. Turned out it had completely trashed rollers. Not even sucky ones.

We ended up with a swarm of as many as five of us on it, initially brigading past the rollers while someone did a quick repair. It was a rush.

After a while, I notice blood starting to flow between my right pinkie and ring fingers, starting to get on my palm. Looking, there’s fresh blood centered on the middle of the back of my hand, flowing that way to where I finally noticed it. I tend to get cuts and scraps and bruises without ever noticing, and this job is rife with them. Surprisingly common working on computer hardware, too – metal parts and all. My guess is I scraped it on the metal ribbing in the truck.

I washed it off and put on a bandage. It’s a small nick just before the first knuckle at the base of my middle finger. Waaay too small for so much blood, but that’s me. I bleed like crazy. Well, same thing with sweating. I sweat so profusely under exertion, people worry about me.

[Much later, because I have kids and stuff…]

Was I even planning to say anything else?

When I got back to the truck, it was almost empty. I helped with a few more boxes and then left for the day, forgetting to ask about paychecks (despite checking in with the manager), which I thought were in for us to get on Friday mornings, but perhaps it’s actually Saturday. By the time I got to the parking lot, the bandage was blood-soaked. From that tiny little nick! Took all day for it to crust over enough not to want to ooze some blood.

Anyway, there’s the post I tried to write for filler earlier today, longer than expected. Hopefully I can avoid too many injuries. Last night was the “pace yourself and don’t fill the conveyer too much for the people further down to sort” management message. The night before was the “go fast, here’s the impossible spec you all should manage and there’s a prize for the first person to do so but it’s realistic, really” management message. Previously it had been the “be careful not to damage anything or send up anything already damaged, take the extra time to be careful and to put aside QA stuff” management message. At least, on balance, they do seem more interested in safety, mindful efficiency and quality than in raw speed at any price.

And not “it’s better to burn out than fade away.”

Trouble is, the crazy schedule has created a mess and has thus far eluded my need to rule it. That has to change, and assuming I survive the part time job and adapt the rest of the way soon, which is mainly a matter of sleep and my old injury from Renovator’s Supply flaring only temporarily (since it does reduce the problem to build the arm muscle, and if there’s one thing I’m doing it’s moving muscle), it should.

One victim has been my time and energy to post, even though I have more I want to as a side-effect. Annoying.

I want to talk about the week working in Marion and how that impacted Halliday, Renovator’s Supply and how that impacted this job (and everything in between), how and why this is a reset, and so forth.

I’ve been getting up at 2 AM or so, following between 2 and perhaps as much as 5 hours sleep. When I get home, if I am not too wired, I might get an hour or so real sleep. Most days so far I am a zombie, and walk around varying degrees of sore. Sometimes I have gotten more sleep, or more meaningful napping, but usually any sleep I get during the day is a few minutes at a time, sometimes not even intentionally.

The work so far mostly consists of unloading packages off trailers, sometimes helping to route oddball items. I ruled the first few days, apparently managing almost full speed. Or as close as people get, because nobody actually manages the spec. I’ve slipped this week. Spec would mean 50 minutes for an entire trailer, with actual normal being closer to 90. I’ve gone 120 or so at least once. The first day after the weekend I could barely move and took most of the shift to loosen up. I’ve had trouble staying hydrated enough. My weight has fluctuated in a 15 lb range the past 10 days. I’ve already built a lot of muscle, which would explain any non-water weight gain.

Kids are screaming and stuff, and I need to check the stove and work on food prep and stuff some more. No birthdays tomorrow either, but perhaps I can post a picture or few. There are a bunch.