new job and stuff

oh hey, a blog post.

I started a new job at the beginning of July and have been busy getting used to a new schedule. As per usual I never seem to have time to blog and when I only have like 3 followers I don't really find it necessary. But every now and then it's nice to get things out of my head.

The new place is here in New Albany and is only 5 minutes from my house, which is such a nice thing not only for my checkbook but for my nerves. The chances of me being caught up in terrible traffic is pretty slim since I take one little side street to get to work. There have been SO many times that I've been stuck in traffic for 20 minutes (or up to 2 hours) because of something on the bridge or on the interstate. Not having that headache, nor having to use up so much gas is really nice. So far a tank of gas is lasting me more than two weeks instead of only a week (sometimes more, sometimes less depending on where we go outside of work)

I'm now working for a local company that molds and assembles plastic parts for all sorts of different manufacturers (lots of parts for cars and medical equipment.) It's one of the largest employers in this area and one of those places people told me I ought to work when I first moved here. I work in one of the assembly rooms putting together cash boxes for ATMs. It's air conditioned, which is a nice change from working in a sweltering building during 100 plus degree weather. It's certainly more boring than my last job because I generally stand in one spot and do the exact same thing over and over again for 10 hours. But I guess the appeal, other than being closer to home, was that it was a bigger company that could provide me with more opportunities to move up. I think there are over 600 employees which is a huge change from the tiny company I came from.

There have been some speed bumps in my transition but I'm hoping those will stay in the rear view. First was getting used to the hours and getting adjusted to a completely new environment. There for a while I was actually having separation anxiety. I would go to work every day and think of my old co-workers and compare every aspect of the new place to the old. I thought for a while that I would just quit and go back mainly because of the newness. I felt like I just wasn't ever going to adjust or fit in and that it would be easier to go back to the same old same old. But I had to remind myself that I left for a reason. I left because I had no chance to move up. I left because retail is still finicky and I wasn't getting hours during the spring and summer. I left because I didn't get a raise for 3 years and was spending too much money on gas per week. I suppose at this point even if I hated the place it would be dumb to go back.

After a little over a month I think I'm finally used to the new hours. I was working 9-5:30 but the new job is 6-4:30 monday through thursday and then only until 3:30 on fridays. (which is a 49 hour work week for those of you who are bad with math.) I am actually making 50 cents less per hour, but with the savings on gas and the added time and a half I get paid for OT, I'm making a lot more money. For the time being, anyway. We are very busy, but we've been doing really well meeting our goals so they're thinking of giving us a break and knocking us down to 9 hour days for a while. From my understanding they tend to keep to the 49 hour thing, though sometimes they may knock it down to 40 hours if we're not as busy. As long as they don't cut me below 40 hours I'll be happy. I don't think that ever happens though.

I'm still feeling a little awkward with all the new people, but I'm finally getting to the point where I'm getting to know people and am talking and laughing with them. It's been so long since I've been in a new job that I've forgotten what it's like to get to know new people. I still eat lunch by myself, but I usually ate lunch by myself at the old place so I guess it's ok. Most of my co-workers are ok. There are some people who are a little weird but nothing terrible.

My only complaint in that area is my Lead. I have a supervisor technically, but he oversees all of assembly so he's really busy. They break down the different areas in assembly and have them overseen by leads, so I just refer to my lead as my supervisor if that makes any sense. To be blunt, my lead is kind of a cunt. It's as if she thrives off of intimidating people and making them feel inadequate. One day in my first few weeks she made me feel so horrible I went home and cried my eyes out. She just made me feel like an idiot who couldn't do anything right, just picking on my every move telling me I wasn't going fast or doing as well as I should. I've personally witnessed her do this to other new people, breaking them down and making them cry. It's kind of awful.

The other bad thing is that her mother is pretty much her 2nd in command and her brother and daughter also work on our line. Her daughter is fine, but her brother is a fucking idiot. He only works 5 hours a day and just bumbles around and does whatever he wants with out consequence. He stands around with his fingers in his mouth and poking his nose in everyone else's business. Her mother is much nicer than her, though her bitchy side comes out from time to time. The one day she made me cry I had planned on just quitting, but Mike talked me out of it. I don't really know what happened, but one day she just stopped picking on me. From what I can tell, she's just like that with new people. It's like a hazing almost. They're cold to the new people until they know they're going to work out and then they lay off.

I had been working on the slower line but one day she moved me to the fast line and actually told me I was "really good" at the particular station I was working at. Since then she's been indifferent really. She's certainly not outwardly nice to me, but she doesn't seem to go out of her way to be mean to me either. She answers my questions when I have no choice but to ask her, and her interactions with me are as quick as possible. I figure that's a good thing. Now I just put my headphones on and do the best I can. I keep up and she hasn't bitched about my work, so I assume I'm doing an ok job. I hate that I have to avoid her out of fear of incurring her wrath, but what else can I do? I'll just put up with it and try to show her that I'm a good worker and hope that one day she'll make an attempt to be friendly. I really don't understand people like her. That's the one thing I miss about the last place. I miss knowing everyone and being very comfortable with my supervisors, feeling like I could talk to them if I needed to....not only on a professional level, but on a human level. I felt like they knew me and cared about me (at least some of the time.) Perhaps that will come with time here? I can only hope.

So I guess things are ok. I'm definitely happy with the extra money, but am still just tired a lot and am trying to find ways to deal with the way the work beats up my hands. I still feel a little out of place there, but I know that will go away with time. I know I'm a good worker and I know that I'm an asset to the company and I have to actively try not to let negative people get me down. My other co-workers are constantly telling me that I'm very quick and good at the things I've learned (and I'm actually like 2nd best on the line at one of the hardest stations we have, so there!) I have to keep reminding myself that whatever is wrong with my lead is not my fault or a result of something I've done. It's her problem, maybe she had a bad childhood. Maybe she had a bad supervisor once and is taking it out on everyone else? Who knows. All I know is that I'm happy as fuck that I have a Zune and lots of podcasts to listen to.