When I left last night they had me scheduled to work the front desk today.Normally I would rather try to shove my elbow in my ear rather than work the front desk. It's boring as heck. And I'm not real big on being bored. Even on my nights up in the comm room I keep busy moving around and doing things. It just makes the nights go by faster.
But after roasting out on 9 yard last night and the ride in this afternoon (the a/c in my truck doesn't work so well, either) I decided it might not be so bad. Lt Chipmunk asked when I came in "You want to move? I can put you back on 9 yard or A-yard or B-yard if you want! I can move somebody!"
I stood there for a moment, letting the cool breeze of one of the very few working a/c units left on the camp blow over my damp brow and thought about it. Then I said "Nah. That's okay. I'll stay up here. No reason for you to shift people around for me." Acting, of course, like I was doing him a favor.
Let's see, of the known places without a working a/c unit at the moment.... 9 house. Medical. The Control Center. Education. 30 house. 10 house. And last time I was up there, 8 house. And no money in the budget to fix any of them. I was told that maintenance said the a/c in the control center was "not a priority". It certainly will be a priority if the computers and panels go down from the heat and nobody can get in or out...
But for the moment, the front desk had a/c and I decided to take advantage of it. There were a few small minded pimpleheads that called me names over that decision, but I paid them very little heed. Let them suckers go out and sweat. Don't mind me, I'll stay in here where it's cool.
I spent a good part of the night chatting with Vinnie and Ms Odd and The Brute. Hanging out front smoking or chatting through the chuck hole. The Brute made coffee all night long and wasn't skimpy about sharing.
Manning the desk on an average night on our shift involves very little actual work. I maybe "worked" for one hour out of eight total. Most of the time I talked with somebody or read a book I found stashed under the counter. Walked around in little circles now and the and drank coffee.
Like the title said, it was almost like being on vacation. Except I didn't build anything. That's what I usually do on vacation.
Once in awhile is nice. But if I had to do that full time I would go completely bat snit.
Wednesday (my comm room day) will be Name Your Poison Day. I think I'll name mine Albert. That has a nice ring to it. It will also be Upsy-Daisy Day, World Ocean day and Shavuot. This, in case you were wondering, is a Jewish holiday celebrating the day that Gawd gave the Hebrews the Torah on Mt. Sinai. I had to look that one up.
"Hey, don't put yourself out on my account. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
ReplyDelete"What was that last part?"
"Nothing. I might need my coat later. Hehehe!"
A/C is definitely a priceless commodity right about now. The Foreman's office and the QC's office are the only places out on our shop floor with A/C, and I have very...important stuff to discuss with them!
Yes, a vacation in the AC is always welcome when it's 98 degrees in the shade and high humidity. Yuck.
ReplyDeleteI think I'll name my poison Penelope. I've always liked the sound of that name. I guess I should go celebrate that Jewish holiday you mentioned now that you told me what it was. As you may have guessed, I'm not very observant (having married an Italian Catholic and all!)
A/C is a high priority where I work. Our instruments have to be in climate controlled areas or they start to tarnish, shrink, get out of tune, and suffer general damage. Also, the employees get awfully grumpy if the temperature gets above 68 degrees.
ReplyDeleteAll the employees except me, obviously. I keep a heater under my desk at work, and when I'm not at the desk I'm packing a jacket and thick wool socks because I can't stand the cold.
I don't see why anybody would have a problem with you working the desk, though. Its not like you MADE them give it to you. That's just the way the cookie crumbled.
As for Ocean Day or whatever...I won't be visiting it.
It's about time to take off from work. I think I'll go try some Penelope.
ReplyDeleteBryan- Like I said, it's nothing I would want to do all the time... But it was well worth the abuse I got. I never broke a sweat all night.
ReplyDeleteLolamouse- It was sweet. Penelope always makes me think of Penelope Pitstop from the cartoons. She was sweet, but quite dingy. And frankly, I have to look up alot of these holidays I mention. many of them are a complete mystery to me.
Chanel- I could see how a/c would be important, especially around wood instruments. And I figured you were one of those who were cold all the time. Maybe you should work in a bakery instead.
Doug- Not too much, though. A little Penelope goes a long way!