When I was writing to you last weekend, I was coming down with an illness. Steph believes she communicated it to me, as she felt bad Thursday and Friday, but its hard to say for sure. Furthermore, I had not yet asked for a space heater in my bedroom (an addition I now consider essential) and thus was sleeping in a temperature that varied somewhere in the fifties to low sixties. Couple this with the lack of sleep (I was just beginning to find a good rhythm that involved actually getting enough sleep, but its not infrequent for me to lay down for 6-8 and get 3-5) and despite the exercise, which boosts immune system strength, I was definitely not in a great position to fight something off.
So, Monday I called out, a decision I didn't come to lightly. Tuesday, I went in, and somehow, was able to finish the shift. Whether I felt as good as I thought, or convinced myself I did because I refused to be sick on my Birthday, or whatever, is unclear, because Wednesday I went in for 2 hours and had to leave after feeling so dizzy and faint I grew increasingly concerned that I might pass out, throw up, or worst, fall asleep driving home. I stuck it out for as long as I could, and then asked if it would wrench up the works if I left early. When they told me it would not, I went home. I stayed home Thursday as well, to ensure my full recovery and to prevent spreading my illness to the rest of the boxline... if my Supervisors were upset about one absent employee, it would surely upset them more if half of them were out sick.
Friday, I did go in and work the whole shift (yay) and found out that one or two of my fellow co-workers were also out sick, and had to have their lungs scraped. Sincerely hoping that that is not a necessity asked of me, and as I am feeling much better, with the exception of some hoarseness and the occasional overabundance of mucus, am reasonably sure this is not in my future. If it does somehow end up being the case, everyone will be seeing much more of me.
My Birthday was great. Thanks to everyone for the calls, cards and well wishes! All the cards (including the ones from Graduation, yes, I saved them) are stapled up around the door to my bedroom, and t makes me smile every time I go in. I got a gorgeous watch from Dad, and I've been wanting a watch for a while. I need to take it to a jeweler, because the clasp is unreliable, but its great in every other respect. Until then, I try to not wear it too much so I don't risk losing it. Mom got me a set of nonstick cookware, which is presume is great, but havent used yet. I didnt cook at all last week, between my illness and eating out on Tuesday. Friday, though I felt well enough, I worked two jobs and didn't have time. I'm still getting to the end of the previous menu, which is all slow cooker recipes, and haven't had need to use the new stuff yet. I may get a hanging rack for them, though, since the kitchen is very very small, and there's not much space for new instruments. Also got some very generous cash/giftcard/checks that I am not using or thinking about right now because they will make me very happy in a few weeks or months when I need to change something in the immediate environment.
As I mentioned previously, I'm looking at taking a few classes at the local community college to get back into the educational groove until the state considers me a resident and will give me all its money. Ivy Tech offers a somewhat more limited selection of degrees, but deals with this by offering "concentrations" within a degree program. Thinking about:
Liberal Arts - Social and Behavioral Science Concentration
Hospitality Administration - Culinary Arts Concentration
School of Business - Accounting Concentration
School of Business - Administration Concentration
The last two strike me as potentially very boring and unsatisfying, but I recognize that they open up more job or promotion opportunities for me in the immediate future, and would be useful, if not essential, in the long term dream of owning my own Comic or Animation Studio. I'd also given some thought to Medical Coding and Billing Specialist, because they tend to be in demand and with the Insurance system undergoing some heavy revision, it seems like an area that might see a good bit of growth. E-mail me your thoughts. While I may only be there for a semester, and may only take a few classes, it might make a difference in where I'm aimed.
So many people my age are still wondering where or what they're going to do, I'm glad I have so many interests; but there's so much to do.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Saturday, December 5, 2009
That Time of Year
It's been a little less than a month since my last update. It could be better, but it could be worse and I shall endeavor to improve it. There was a hasty and exhausting two and a half weeks between my start at UPS and the Thanksgiving Holiday that provided a respite from the tiring and early work.
During that time I achieved very little, besides going to work which I suppose is an achievement in and of itself. I fell into a pattern of coming home, eating lunch and falling asleep again for two to four hours, which lead to difficulty sleeping. I also got stuck working a series of cars that I strongly dislike due to the size and unevenness of the loads and the fact that the last car is off the dock. My tenure with that area is over, and I'm working a set of bins that have been pretty good to me. My first hour is vigorous, but then I have gotten far enough ahead of my work that the rest of the shift is very easy. There was some trouble with misloads earlier this week which I took too to heart, but the following days had Zero Misloads, and this impressed the Powers That Be. I have been used to help train a new hire, which is silly, but oh well.
I believe I witnessed someone get fired and subsequently escorted from the building. A supervisor asked me to go to the end of the line to assist someone who was swamped; this was odd because we were all so far ahead of our workload that no one should be swamped. I found that the reason the employee was behind was because he was being questioned by five Guys In Suits. G.I.S. are always a bad sight, as they are five or six paygrades above someone in my position, and a gathering of this magnitude, I found through the grapevine, is often an indicator that something has suspiciously gone missing. After a few minutes of this, my supervisor told me i would be finishing up this section, and a few minutes after that event, the GIS "walked with" the employee to who-know's-where.
As I was getting to leave I was stopped by Terry, the Boss of My Bosses, and informed in a clandestine fashion that while he cannot schedule me that early, if I were to show up at 1:30, I might be clocked in. I'm gonna get up at Midnight, so, that should be fun... Looking forward to the overtime, hah. If this pattern continues eventually I'll be there so early that it's a normal person's job. Also been giving some thought to getting my CDL and aiming to be a driver. A lot of people have been working on the boxline for three or more years, and while I can wholly understand this as a result of the union and seniority being a major piece in promotion, I'm inclined to do whatever I can to improve my station.
UPS's Tuition Aid works in a reimbursement fashion, which is fine, if you have funds to be reimbursed. However, for Ivy Tech (a local community college) they pay direct. Ivy Tech also costs <3,000 a year, which s what UPS provides. So, if IUPUI doesn't give me a good shake on Financial Aid for the upcoming semester, I plan to go to IT and work on courses that will be transferrable to IUPUI for a degree in Psychology. It's the second degree I've always imagined working towards, so a change in sequence is no big deal and probably a good staging ground for figuring out how this life will work (with UPS and school).
I've found that I really like Christmas sights, sounds, smells, etc, but without snow, they can be fairly depressing. That being said, snow and the bitter-ass cold in the house is not pleasant. I'm thinking (read: fairly certain) that I'm going to buy a small, real tree for the foot of the stairs in the basement so that I can enjoy the smell. Sam and Steph use a fake tree because their grandkids come for Christmas in late January and the tree will be dead by then, so, for the sake of their investment.
Thursday I think I started to find a pattern that will yield some good results for peak season and me, in regards to accomplishing something. I'm looking out at a field of long strings of 10+ days working with single days in between off. I'm going to go to Financial Aid monday after work to try and get the last of the big stressful things off my back before my birthday. Not sure what I'm going to do. May go take myself to see a movie (sad because im going alone? happy because its my birthday?) make myself a pineapple upside down cake (lame to make your own birthday cake, but I cant rationalize a way its ok to ask steph or sam) and maybe just get more sleep and not be worried about anything.
In a related thought, I'm eagerly planning out gifts for everyone. Just zip me an email if Mom hasnt been helpful in giving you any ideas, or the address, and as always, your generosity means so much. I am trying to avoid it, but a few of you may be receiving Winter-Een-Mas presents instead of Christmas presents. Winter-een-mas is a made up holiday, ostensibly celebrated by every male between the ages of 8 and 15, wherein the winter break is taken up wholly by the constant play of videogames, only breaking for the most basic survival needs and the occasional nod at hygiene. What it allows me to do is actually just send gifts after I get my paycheck wth all that lovely lovely overtime...
During that time I achieved very little, besides going to work which I suppose is an achievement in and of itself. I fell into a pattern of coming home, eating lunch and falling asleep again for two to four hours, which lead to difficulty sleeping. I also got stuck working a series of cars that I strongly dislike due to the size and unevenness of the loads and the fact that the last car is off the dock. My tenure with that area is over, and I'm working a set of bins that have been pretty good to me. My first hour is vigorous, but then I have gotten far enough ahead of my work that the rest of the shift is very easy. There was some trouble with misloads earlier this week which I took too to heart, but the following days had Zero Misloads, and this impressed the Powers That Be. I have been used to help train a new hire, which is silly, but oh well.
I believe I witnessed someone get fired and subsequently escorted from the building. A supervisor asked me to go to the end of the line to assist someone who was swamped; this was odd because we were all so far ahead of our workload that no one should be swamped. I found that the reason the employee was behind was because he was being questioned by five Guys In Suits. G.I.S. are always a bad sight, as they are five or six paygrades above someone in my position, and a gathering of this magnitude, I found through the grapevine, is often an indicator that something has suspiciously gone missing. After a few minutes of this, my supervisor told me i would be finishing up this section, and a few minutes after that event, the GIS "walked with" the employee to who-know's-where.
As I was getting to leave I was stopped by Terry, the Boss of My Bosses, and informed in a clandestine fashion that while he cannot schedule me that early, if I were to show up at 1:30, I might be clocked in. I'm gonna get up at Midnight, so, that should be fun... Looking forward to the overtime, hah. If this pattern continues eventually I'll be there so early that it's a normal person's job. Also been giving some thought to getting my CDL and aiming to be a driver. A lot of people have been working on the boxline for three or more years, and while I can wholly understand this as a result of the union and seniority being a major piece in promotion, I'm inclined to do whatever I can to improve my station.
UPS's Tuition Aid works in a reimbursement fashion, which is fine, if you have funds to be reimbursed. However, for Ivy Tech (a local community college) they pay direct. Ivy Tech also costs <3,000 a year, which s what UPS provides. So, if IUPUI doesn't give me a good shake on Financial Aid for the upcoming semester, I plan to go to IT and work on courses that will be transferrable to IUPUI for a degree in Psychology. It's the second degree I've always imagined working towards, so a change in sequence is no big deal and probably a good staging ground for figuring out how this life will work (with UPS and school).
I've found that I really like Christmas sights, sounds, smells, etc, but without snow, they can be fairly depressing. That being said, snow and the bitter-ass cold in the house is not pleasant. I'm thinking (read: fairly certain) that I'm going to buy a small, real tree for the foot of the stairs in the basement so that I can enjoy the smell. Sam and Steph use a fake tree because their grandkids come for Christmas in late January and the tree will be dead by then, so, for the sake of their investment.
Thursday I think I started to find a pattern that will yield some good results for peak season and me, in regards to accomplishing something. I'm looking out at a field of long strings of 10+ days working with single days in between off. I'm going to go to Financial Aid monday after work to try and get the last of the big stressful things off my back before my birthday. Not sure what I'm going to do. May go take myself to see a movie (sad because im going alone? happy because its my birthday?) make myself a pineapple upside down cake (lame to make your own birthday cake, but I cant rationalize a way its ok to ask steph or sam) and maybe just get more sleep and not be worried about anything.
In a related thought, I'm eagerly planning out gifts for everyone. Just zip me an email if Mom hasnt been helpful in giving you any ideas, or the address, and as always, your generosity means so much. I am trying to avoid it, but a few of you may be receiving Winter-Een-Mas presents instead of Christmas presents. Winter-een-mas is a made up holiday, ostensibly celebrated by every male between the ages of 8 and 15, wherein the winter break is taken up wholly by the constant play of videogames, only breaking for the most basic survival needs and the occasional nod at hygiene. What it allows me to do is actually just send gifts after I get my paycheck wth all that lovely lovely overtime...
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