One Door Opens...

So, I've been avoiding writing, which evidently hasn't escaped everyone's notice because I've received e-mails, plural. There is no excuse, but there is a reason... Since my meeting at UPS (and subsequent scheduling of the interview) time was spent waiting.

I hate waiting, and what's more, is its rather difficult to write interestingly about waiting. At least, in this context... the goal here is not for the sort of abstract, train of thought writing that would make such an explanation interesting, and so there would have been lots of posts like "Saw a funny billboard, played a videogame, looking forward to Community tonight." On days like that, I would not subject you kind people to the boredom of my everyday life. It would be unethical, immoral, and probably a violation of the Geneva Convention.

Anyway, since then, I have returned to UPS for an interview (at 5 AM, no doubt), which required another tour since Pre-Load does things "differently." Rejecting an invitation to Louisiana for Halloween weekend so I could stay home, be responsible with my money, help Steph work on the house, and miss out on several parties, one of which I'm told involved a hot tub.

Save me.

My phone also died immediately after that interview so I enjoyed playing phone tag with the hiring manager to determine my start date, and cleared this up shortly before Mom and Paige came down for a long weekend. Paige and Sam hit it off, I got to show them around town, we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. They spent so much time with the kittens that after they left Thundercat and the little ones wanted nothing to do with anything bipedal for the next 24 hours.

I woke up for work a mere seven hours after dropping Mom and Paige off at the airport; 2:30 AM for a report at 4 AM. I was excited to get to it, but I ended up spending the next four hours watching training videos, most of which were older than me. This pattern continued through Thursday, however after Monday, each day included some work on the floor. The amount of floor time waxed and the amount of training time waned until Friday was a complete shift on the floor. (My report time was moved to 4:30 which gets me closer to a proper seven or so hours of sleep, depending on whats going on downstairs at the time) My first day on the floor (Tuesday) they had me work on one truck, which I quickly grew bored with, and took on two. Wednesday, was three. Thursday, four. Friday, however, took the cake. I was on four trucks for about twenty minutes, a different set of three for another hour, then to a different set of three for half an hour, back to the previous three for forty five minutes, then to another set of three for half an hour, then finishing off the shift by doing add/cuts in and out of three trucks.

My 8.85 an hour is thoroughly earned.

I'm working at the Bungalow this weekend, and the wave holds through until next Sunday, my first 24 hours off. The Bungalow is more appreciated than ever as an opportunity to work and draw, write, read, etc outside of the house-- the environment makes all the difference.

As I write this, Sam and Steph do all manner of things--grocery shopping, clothes browsing, picking up tools and supplies for the house. I believe the last package of flooring will be purchased today, as well as the titular door, which will make me firmly secured in the basement bedroom (which requires all manner of finishing touches, but has the essentials: walls, floor, door, bed, light).

I've been experimenting with baking... I made homemade Challah just before The Visit, and it turned out very well, if considerably thicker than I expected. Last night I experimented with making pretzels, and while the flavor was right, it was distinctly lacking in some areas. A frequent issue I have is when kneading the dough or mixing it, I get a large, flaky, dry mass that looks sort of like a monochromatic mass of torn cloth. I can never achieve a smooth mass of dough. Anyone want to chime in with some advice? Is it too much dry/not enough liquid? Over/under kneading?

Since I know Mom is reading this: Thanks AGAIN! for the Dry Erase Board and the smelly stuff. the DEB is very useful in getting me to actually accomplish things when I've got the time (and I will adjust to the UPS schedule and have the energy to do more of them each day) and the smelly stuff has been great in keeping the room smelling nice despite our menagerie of animals. The lumber-scented candle has met its end, and I look forward to trying out the next one. Much Love.