Where does the time go?

So, I haven't posted in a while, roughly a week and a half to be exact. I haven't really had the time or energy to blog on my work nights, and I've been too busy being out-and-about or chatting with friends on my off nights to do it then, either. Last week was the first time in a while that I've worked four days straight, which felt really odd. My schedule for this week is really jacked up. I was off on Saturday, worked Sunday, have Monday off, work on Tuesday, am off Wednesday and Thursday, and I work Friday. I can't really say I'm fond of this "off a day, on a day, off a day..." thing either. I think this Saturday will be the start of going back to a regular schedule.

I'm amazed at how little I can accomplish on a day off. I mean, I did three loads of laundry, but I was really hoping to get more writing done than I did. I did the first paragraph of this entry at about 4-something, got tired, and saved the draft so I could add more later, but for the most part I've forgotten what I wanted to write about. I will say that after I saved the draft, I went to town to get supper for my parents and I, watched a show that I recorded while folding laundry, tried watching Countdown but ended up napping through it, watched part of The Rachel Maddow Show, then watched a couple more shows that I recorded. I figure the main thing I'll try to do when I get off the computer is watch a movie that's on the DVR. There are not enough hours in the day to do everything I'd like to do. And my co-workers wonder why I don't want to get into World Of Warcraft! I don't have time to play the games I have for my PS2, much less time for that hulking monstrosity.

Another thing I did today was look for job openings. Needless to say, it's still looking pretty bleak.

Attitude

Tuesday was a much easier night at work than the previous two nights, mostly because they had a bunch of temps start unloading the truck well before we got there. I even got to leave at 1:00. Anyway, the guy who is my direct boss will be switching to another department soon, so they're taking applications for his replacement. The main guy who is in charge when our direct boss is off is ineligible for the job because he has some "coaching" on his work record, but I think the statute of limitations on it was getting ready to expire, so he was going to try to talk to a manager about getting the "coaching" taken off or something. When he said something to "Dragon Lady manager", she basically told him he wasn't fit for the job. The best part of the exchange went something like this:

Manager: "You've got a bad attitude."
Dude: "Well, who doesn't around here?
Manager: "Me."
Dude: "That's the funniest joke I've ever heard."

I'll admit, the guy really doesn't have a great attitude, and isn't the best person for the job, but with as overworked and underpaid as we are, AND have to put up with Dragon Lady, how can you not have a bad attitude?

I checked out my schedule for this week, and it looks like I'll be working Tuesday through Saturday, which among other things means that I won't get to go to either the Tuesday or Thursday meetings of the Depression/Bipolar support group. I'm not too happy about that.

No Vaseline.

When I came in to work on Sunday, we only had one truck to unload, but there was so much overstock that we had virtually no place to put most of the new freight. When I heard later that night that we were supposed to have two trucks for Monday, a fucking holiday, I was like, "What the fuck?" I knew Monday was going to be a bad night. When I came in, I thought for sure that the room would at least be set up for us to start right away, but it wasn't, so we spent a good deal of time moving shit around. We had a lot of help with the first truck, and I think we finished it in two hours. When we got back from break, we wrapped up some of the loaded pallets and put them in the trailer that we just emptied. There was a whole bunch of overstock in front of the dock door where the second trailer was, and we had to move that shit around too. One dumbass manager kept going back there, asking if we had started yet, and every time I did, I just wanted to laugh at him. At one point he was like, "This truck has to be done by 8:00, and I am NOT staying over!" Seeing as that we were probably going to have to stay past our scheduled end time of 1:00, I had no sympathy for him whatsoever. I seriously doubt that he stayed past 8:00 anyway, because I didn't see him anytime after 8. We went to lunch from 8:30 to 9:30, and finally got the truck unloaded sometime before midnight. Half of the official unloading crew left sometime after 1:00, while me and the other two guys who finished things up left at around 2:15.

This was one of the most moronic nights I've had at work in a while. For one, you'd think they would be easy on us on a holiday, but no, they really pounded us in the ass! Second, whoever keeps ordering shit really needs to pay attention to the overstock! There was absolutely no need for two trucks! The worst part is that I won't be getting Holiday Pay for it! You have to be there three months to get Holiday Pay, and I've only been there for just over two months. This was, without a doubt, the shittiest 4th Of July ever. I'm really glad that I picked The Ramones "Greatest Hits Live" to listen to on my way to and from work. If that doesn't get you energized, then nothing will.

The only good thing I can say about today is that I found out when I got on Facebook that The Pixies will be playing in Louisville on November 9th.

Freaking out about the future

Between the death of the acquaintance that I mentioned in my previous post, the fact that I probably won't be going to school until next year (and continuing to work until then), and the thought that we might possibly have a Republican President next year, I've really been freaking out about the future even more than normal.

Since I won't be going to school for a while, I've considered applying somewhere that my Vocational Rehab people can probably help me get a job with. What freaked me out was when my Voc Rehab person asked me if I intended to stay on at this place after I start school. I have no intention to, since I don't think I could juggle school and work, but I know that doesn't look good since companies (supposedly) want people who would be in it for the long haul. I'm also afraid that if I go to work there, then I might make too much money to qualify for a Pell Grant for the 2012/2013 year. Then again, we'll be lucky if the GOP doesn't take that away from us.

I was shocked and saddened on Thursday when I learned about the passing of Doug Norman. I was never really really close to him, but I always enjoyed talking music with him. He was an especially big fan of 1960's Garage/Psychedelic Rock, and even fronted a Garage Rock band called Thee Flying Carpets. When I discovered the Carpets at the end of 2004, they were on hiatus, but had a CD out. I finally met Doug the following Summer at Louisville Mojo's Second Birthday Bash. In 2007, I finally got to see Thee Flying Carpets play live with a revamped lineup. Between 2007 and now, I think I only got to see them two, maybe three times. It would have been four or five had I stuck around long enough at one show, and gotten to another show early. He sent me a message one time on Louisville Mojo, congratulating me for locking a thread in the forums about Louisville's smoking ban. We were both for it. I used to see him pretty frequently at Third Street Dive, whether it was for a show or The Midnight Hour Sound System, an event that went on on most Thursdays where some DJs would play records from or inspired by the 1960s. I saw him there the past couple of times that I went to see The Midnight Hour Sound System, but didn't bother to talk to him. I'm not sure why I didn't talk to him, maybe I just didn't have much to say. Then again, I hardly ever talk to anybody anymore, especially when I'm listening to music inside a bar. Since I was in town this past Thursday, a trip to the Dive was pretty much mandatory. I made it a point of actually trying to talk to people this time. It was totally what I needed.

I don't think I can bring up Third Street Dive here without paying tribute to Steve Gordon, who pretty much started the place up. I didn't really talk to him a whole lot, probably because it was rare when I didn't see him talking to somebody else, and I hate interrupting conversations*. I actually first met him back in 1997, he worked as a temp at my then employer for a day and a half, but we had some good conversations in that time. It took me a few years after I started going to the Dive before I finally did talk to him, and asked him if he remembered working at the place where I first met him. I think the fact that I could remember that time so well might have freaked him out a little bit. Sadly, I didn't really talk to him a whole lot after that, either.

*Seriously, I don't know how to come up and talk to people when they're talking to somebody else. I think it's rude to just come up and bust in, but if I go up and just stand there, not saying anything while waiting for an opening, I come off like a creep. End side note.

My heart goes out to my friends who were really close to these guys, as well as their other friends in these circles who have passed away this year. There have been too many of them, and they've died way too young. It really makes me want to do something better with my life than busting my ass for slave wages while getting yelled at by some psycho bitch. Life is too short for that shit.