Big changes at work.

Disclaimer: I'm totally not naming company names so as not to draw attention to myself in Google searches, but I do feel the need to talk about this stuff somewhere, so here it is. It's been a work in progress for the past month and a half, and is pretty much old news.

Big things have been going on at my job. My employer is handing over control of the warehouses to their parent company (the company who bought them in 2009), so that my current actual employer can concentrate on stuff involving their headquarters and offices on the west coast. So basically, we'll be a (parent company) warehouse that happens to fulfill orders for my current employer's website. I'm kinda holding out judgment on if that's a good or bad thing, but I can tell you that the parent company has already had a negative effect on the warehouse. Last September, they changed "our" picking system over to "their" picking system, and it's pretty terrible. I don't want to go into too much detail, but it keeps us from picking to our full potential, so for the most part it was a step back instead of a step forward. The only good thing I can say about it is that if I need to use the restroom, I can log out of the system, and it won't count against my "rate".

Something that I was hoping might be changed with the change-over is shifts, but I think they'll be keeping the current shifts. I absolutely loathe working Sundays and Wednesdays*, and between that and the crappiness of the picking system, I'm seriously thinking about transferring to a department where I can get a Monday-Tuesday-Thursday-Friday shift. Besides having the choice of that shift, another thing that sets it apart from my current department is that when they have an overtime day, they only have to work eight hours, as opposed to my department where you have to work a full ten-hour day, or even an eleven hour day if we're doing 11s during the holiday peak season. The downside is that their shift starts at 6:30, but I've already been coming in before 6:30 since the Photo and Inbound departments (Inbound being the one I'm thinking about transferring to) come in at 6:00 and 6:30 respectively, thus snatching up the best parking spots, and to get a good spot you have to get there stupid early. I'm already getting up at around 5:20, if I did this transfer, I'd only have to get up at 5:00! But there are things about that department that I'm not sure I could put up with, and I think working that job for ten hours would drive me even battier than my current job. I've also been thinking of staying in Picking, but doing a Sunday-Monday-Tuesday-Thursday shift so I can at least avoid Wednesdays, as well as not have to work more than four days a week on certain months. I've thought more recently about going to night shift. Sure, I would miss out on a lot of evening things and would probably even have to use vacation time just to go to concerts, but I'm seriously sick of having to get up at 5-something in the morning. Plus, it would be an extra 75 cents per hour.

*I don't necessarily mind working on Sundays, I just hate getting up so damn early on Sundays. I hate working Sunday mornings since it ruins my Saturdays, giving it that "Oh, I have to work tomorrow" dread that's usually reserved for Sundays, plus I drag ass at work if I stay up late on a Saturday night. There are two things that I absolutely hate hearing on Sundays when I have to work. The first is my clock radio waking me up to Woody's Roadhouse on 91.9 WFPK. I associate Woody's Roadhouse with ending a night, not beginning a day, and having it wake me up at the start of a work day is just wrong! If I'm lucky, I'm usually awake before the alarm is set to go off, so I can get up and turn it off before it can come on. The other thing I hate hearing is the CBS Sunday Morning theme. It's something that I associate with lazy Sunday mornings at home, or at a home-away-from-home, and hearing it at work is also just wrong. If a TV at work is on CBS on a sunday morning during my first break, I try to leave the room before I hear it. As for Wednesdays, I hate them because we have almost twice the amount of people. Having more people doesn't necessarily help with the way the picking system currently works, and we have a hard enough time trying to get carts and other resources that we need to work with on a regular work day, it becomes nearly impossible to get those things on Wednesdays.

The Photo department (the department I was working in for two and a half years, until I got laid off there the first time) seems to be the most heavily affected. Long story short, some people in that department will have to decide if they're staying in Kentucky, or moving to my direct employer's home in Vegas. If they had asked me four or five years ago if I wanted to take my job to Vegas, I would've totally jumped on it. Now, I'd be more like "maybe", but only because I have a girlfriend here now, and don't necessarily think moving her over there with me would be the greatest idea for her. I have a feeling though that I'd probably rather go to Vegas and continue working for the original employer than stay here and work for The Parent Company.

The Tooth, conclusion (hopefully)

I started an entry three weeks ago about my trip to Indianapolis to see Danzig, and have yet to finish it. It was a way more massive undertaking than I expected, and in the end it probably won't be so massive. Last weekend, I started an entry about some of the big (and I mean BIG) goings on at work, and some other workplace-related gripes. I meant to finish it, but might end up posting it "as is". The one thing that those weekends had in common were that they were four-day weekends. Evidently, four days still isn't enough time for me to work on an entry longer than a short paragraph or two.

This past Thursday, I had a permanent crown put on The Tooth. Now that that debacle is over, my next health project will be getting new glasses. My current pair are six years old, have tape holding one side together, and the lenses have developed a rosy tint in the past year, probably having something to do with the fact that they are old Transitions lenses. You can see the rosiness in my current thumbnail pic (current as of June 2012, it might change in the future). It's important that I get this done in the next month or two before my warehouse is completely taken over by my employer's owner. You'll see more about that if I get around to posting my last attempted entry.

That's all  have for now.

Tooth update

I got to go to the dentist two weeks ago. The main thing I wanted to find out was what was going on with my problem tooth. I found out that it was abscessed, and needed a root canal. The root canal was done on Friday the 18th. The hardest part for me to deal with was just waiting for them to get it started. In about two weeks, I get to go to the dentist to have the tooth permanently filled and crowned. I mentioned back in January that a tiny part of the old filling broke off while I was eating. A lot of it had worn away since then. Anyway, I noticed later in that week that it broke off that I was in a down mood, and feeling less energetic than usual. I had a feeling that it was due to the filling, but wasn't sure. For the most part, things stayed that way until my root canal. I've been feeling a lot better mentally this week, probably because I don't have all that mercury in my mouth. At some point in the near future, I'd like to replace the rest of my silver fillings with white ones.

Hmmm, forgot what the hell else I wanted to write about. :(

Nothing to see here.

I ended up working four out of five Saturdays in March. Orders finally wound down towards the end of the month, and I got to have two full weekends off in a row. Orders started picking up again during the second week of this month, and I had to work last Friday for overtime. Freakin' fun, I tell you what. Thankfully, orders slowed down some this week, and I've actually got a full weekend off.

God damn it, I get all these ideas for what to write about in my blog when I'm away from the computer, but once I get to the computer, I can't type shit. I'm pretty sure I started on that first paragraph last week, and wanted to add more to it, but never got around to adding anything. I spent these past couple of days modifying that paragraph, and have been meaning to add to it. I go back to work tomorrow, and the window is closing fast. Guess I'll just post this.

I wish I had more time for blogging.

I appreciate the job security, but geez...

The "honeymoon" portion of my employment has officially ended, and just in time to get my benefits! I'm sick of ten-hour days, and I'm sick of working Sundays. And so far this month, I've only had one Saturday off. I haven't even gotten to go to a Midnight Movie at my favorite theater since November, specifically the day after my birthday. As I mentioned in my previous entry, I don't have much time on my regular work days to do anything but work and sleep. The only good thing about them is that I get three-day weekends. Having to work an extra day for overtime fucks up my entire week, and I have to cram three days worth of weekend into two days. While I guess that can still be considered rest from work, it can still be pretty stressful. I appreciate the job security, but a little more time for myself would be nice. Here's some good reading: Why we have to go back to a 40-hour work week to keep our sanity. Note that they mean 40 hours split into five 8-hour days, because working more than 8 hours in a day is counterproductive.

The only good things I can say about this week are that I got to see and meet Henry Rollins again, and I'm getting to go see Jane's Addiction for the first time tonight. In other concert news, I found out that The Psychedelic Furs will be playing in Louisville on April 4th, and the Danzig Legacy tour will play in Indianapolis on June 1st. My overtime day in June is Friday, so I'll have to remind myself to try to get a vacation day for May 30th so I can get out of working that day if OT is called, and to get a four-day weekend. I actually have a blog entry idea brewing in my head that involves both Jane's Addiction and The Psychedelic Furs, I hope I'll actually have the time sometime soon to actually write it.

Brief update, March 10, 2012

Having a regular income is nice, but I really miss having time to write my blog, or read blogs that I follow. Working ten hours a day kinda sucks. After work, I only have time to eat dinner and take a shower, then I might have an hour or so to fool around online or watch TV, then it's off to bed. I feel like I do have quite a bit that I want to say these days, but don't have the time to type it down. When I do get the rare chance to write in here, I usually find myself too exhausted mentally to write, so I just quit and go watch some stuff on the DVR instead.

In February 2011, I wrote What have I gotten myself into?, where I decided to buy a Lifetime Membership into Louisville Mojo. These days, that place is so dead that I would delete my profile if I didn't feel compelled to keep it due to my lifetime membership. Back in 2004, Mojo was so entertaining that it replaced TV as my choice of prime time entertainment. That's definitely not the case now.

I'm trying to make some lifestyle changes, and the first one has been to try to wean myself off of sodas, in this case I'm referring to both regular and diet sodas. I'm not necessarily eliminating them from my life altogether, just trying to get to where I don't drink them at home or work. I grew up drinking sodas like most people probably drink water, and it's been one of the hardest things I've ever tried to give up. Reducing my soda intake has been easier this time around, probably because I seem to be getting tired of them anyway. The time I find it hardest to not drink a soda is when I sit down to type up a blog entry, or do some other task online that's going to take up a lot of time, like doing taxes or filling out an application. I am happy to say that I have no drink beside me at the moment.

2012 so far...

Sorry for the lack of entries lately. Starting up entries has been easier than finishing them. Other than the tooth (more on that in a minute) and the wild weather, I haven't had much to complain about. It hasn't been real eventful either, since I'm mostly either working or hanging out with my favorite girl. Sometimes, no news is good news. :)

I spent the first few hours of the year with my favorite girl, and I couldn't think of a better way to start it. I can't say that the rest of the day was all that great, since I had to be in at work at 9:00 a.m., and then later on while eating dinner, part of a filling broke off. The tooth it came from was the one that should have just been pulled instead of filled back in. The tooth really bothered me the first few days, but doesn't bother me now. I've been trying to decide whether to take care of it soon, or in two months when I'll actually have insurance.

Work has slowed down quite a bit. I've had no overtime this year, and I got to leave early every day this past week. Next week's check is going to suck, but I'm trying to enjoy the time off that I get, especially after having worked 44-55 hours a week for over a month. One thing I like about working day shift is that I actually get to see the sun when I get off from work early. Before too long, I'll get to see it every day when I get off at my regular time.

One of the perks of having a steady full time day job is getting to go to concerts. I get to see Anthrax pretty soon. This will be my fifth time seeing them, but only my first with Joey Belladonna on lead vocals. And in March I'll get to see a Henry Rollins spoken word show AND Jane's Addiction in the same week! This is the first time I know of that Jane's Addiction has ever played Louisville. Van Halen is playing in February, and I'm debating on whether to go see them.

One of the few brick-and-mortar Blockbuster Videos that I know of is going out of business. Like Borders and Ear X-tacy, I'm kinda sad to see it go. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying the sale.

I've recently decided to give up watching "Star Wars:Clone Wars". When watching a show starts to feel like a chore, then it's time to stop watching. I never was a huge fan, but it did seem to get more interesting at some point. This season is supposed to have some good shit, but it's mostly been a dud so far. You especially know it sucks when Gungans are featured in two or three episodes in a row. But anyway, I'm really glad that I was recently able to get both volumes of Genndy Tartakovsky's Clone Wars micro series that aired between Star Wars Episodes 2 and 3. It's not only the definitive Clone Wars series for me, but it's also better than the prequel trilogy.