Ah, we’ve reached that time of year when I do my annual review of where I stand in my job: what has changed and what is the same. It helps me assess whether I’ve grown or am becoming stagnant. I’d venture to say it’s no small part of why I ended up in grad school, about which I will wax a little at the end of this post.

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Job Days No. 3

I am, at least for a little while longer, with my same employer. I find it hard to believe that I’ve already gone through three plus years there, residing in this apartment also longer than I had been in Carboro. It seems to defy the possible that so much time has passed, but therein little alterations have slowly led to big change.

As I noted in the prior Job Days post, I figured that my time in Light Sticks, in which I stuff boxes with said items and fling them at an airport-style conveyor belt, is now more or less permanent. I had been initially hired to work in Master Lock, but this lasted only about five months due to a shortage of product that occurred that summer. It’s been so long since I’ve been over there that I have little memory of how that was even done.

Even though the change had been implemented a while ago, I’d still been assigned to the Master Locks supervisor up until really about a month ago. This meant I had to attend what they call “Huddle”, an employee meeting that happens in each section of the plant, in locks, then run over to sticks to work with little idea of what had been discussed there. Because of this, I didn’t understand the priorities applied in that section and the volume of work I needed to put out. I’m not really sure if the choice was mine, theres, or a little of both, but finally a slow transfer began to happen. Now that I also have that supervisor in Sticks, I notice that communication is easier; from getting the monthly bus passes I need to commute to and from, requesting days off, and even just being able to hear and talk to the coworkers with whom I collaborate all day. So I’m glad I have finally made that happen. It results in a vastly iproved quality of life, and given that work is so much of one’s life that is important.

Another important indicator of life quality is one’s routine. I don’t think my routine has changed a whole lot since last year, but in order to see how much it may have I want to write this year’s normal calendar without taking a look at the previous one. So, here we go.

• 4:30: Wake up. Fifteen minutes later than I used to, but this does make a little difference (when insomnia doesn’t strike, as it did today yawns).
• 4:45: Flick on WRAL News on the iPhone, so that I can leave a little more informed, and inevitably sadder. I do this instead of listen to music, because neighbors don’t wanna hear that at early hours.
• 5:15: Hopefully stumble out of the door on time to make for the bus, although I usually forget this, that, and then end up nudging towards 5:22, meaning I must hurdle towards stop for any chance of avoiding bus sailing through crosswalk as I arrive there.
• 5:50: Wait at Durham Station, which becomes more interesting as the weather warms. Listen to people nearly scuffle over sports and gossip about the latest work happenings, and hope next bus isn’t late.
• 6:00: Board next bus, settle in, and fire up podcasts and Braille display for some multitasking. Fight attempts to drift off.
• 6:30: Reach job, slide into chair at break room. Same ol same as previous years from then on.

Preparing to Move On

So the biggest change, obviously, has been my entrance into online grad school at Queens University of Charlotte. I haven’t talked much about my thinking on what it’s like going to school in this way. Well it’s different certainly, but there are some advantages. Namely, all I have to do is read the text; no lectures required. It’s also relatively easier to respond to people on the discussion board, resulting in even the shier among us, myself included, having a voice in class conversation.

I have talked about the challenges of said, especially with regards to making connections. but I think that something is happening by the blogging I have to do in class, as there seems lately to be an explosion of people noticing my writing and asking me for different sorts of things (hi, anyone who’s dropped by through search! I do appreciate you.) It makes me feel like things are starting to get on the right track, and that perhaps this will be my last Job Days post from the workshop? We shall see. More next year.