Legend
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Post by 🤯 on May 8, 2020 1:21:58 GMT
When I was applying to be a police, the testing portions were all pencil scantrons still. Across several states. Last test though was maybe 2016?
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Legend
19,310 POSTS & 19,612 LIKES
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Post by Ness on May 9, 2020 21:14:18 GMT
When You Control the Mail... You Control Information
It was sometime in June of 2015 when I decided to just walk out of my post-Navy job. I had been unhappy with it for some time and had been tossing out applications. A few of the guys I worked with talked about finding better paying jobs elsewhere. We just stocked produce and unloaded the truck so we were barely making above minimum wage. After a few pay raises I was around 10.50. Thing is, after work I tended to just crash or fuck off. Didn't leave a lot of time to job hunt, let alone interview. I think a lot of them probably were the same way. Or perhaps they just liked talking about it, but not acting. Not sure why I decided today was the day to walk. I didn't have a backup and none of my applications had any bites either. I worked most of my shift and I think I knew deep down today would be my final day. My regular supervisor was not in that day and none of the higher ups were either. I think as I unloaded the truck I knocked over some fruit clippings (peels and other trash) that the fruit cutter lady dumped into a banana box overnight but didn't dispose of was the straw that broke the camel's back for sure. I picked it up (no idea why) and once the truck was unloaded but not stocked I clocked out and headed towards the door a few hours early. To make it super official I tossed my hat and name tag in the trash and didn't look back. That night I turned my phone off so when I inevitably got called the next day to ask where I am...
I was living with my parents at the time and didn't tell them. I was just at home more. Dad asked me what was up and I told him I was on vacation. Two weeks later and he started to get suspicious. I went on an interview a little after quitting. It was for a vending job for Frito or something. Vendors go from store to store and stock their own product. Kind of a weird job as it's not hourly and you're paid for so many stops on a route. Could be done early or you could get screwed. They pay decent for the job (16) but you also have to use your own vehicle and I'm pretty sure that's on you, so seems like a wash. I didn't get it and they probably didn't hire me because I quit the store I would likely be going into for stocking. During this time I decided to apply for the Post Office. I applied for two jobs, a regular carrier and custodian. It required two separate exams. The carrier one was your standard postal exam memorizing zip codes while the custodian one dealt with on-the-job scenarios. One question legit asked what to do with a mop and one of the answers was use it to wipe the counters. I laugh at the stupid question, but I still only managed an 88 on the thing. Got interviewed by a guy named Bill Wolf. Such a cool name. The interview was basically a formality. He didn't really ask me anything and all I did was sign off on a background and drug test. He told me a lot of people simply fail them, so he goes to the next in line. Luckily for me they did or I likely would've been passed over. I went to the local urgent care for my drug screen. Unlike the Navy I was allowed to do it on my own, so no worries about pissing on the floor or not going with an audience. In all honesty I had no idea being a custodian was a thing. I just assumed they either contracted it out like most companies do or the regular employees drew straws to see who has to wipe shit up. You really only think of the mailman even though there's a lot more to it than just delivery. So I was hired and it was time for orientation, or as it's usually referred: Death by Powerpoint.
Orientation is basically all the new hires brought in to watch videos, hear from people, etc. in a classroom environment. Depending on your job it can last up to 5 days, a whole week of dying in chairs. There were a few job titles hired off the street. You had me as custodian, city carriers and clerks/mail handlers. Clerks could be the person who you do transactions with at the window, but they also sort parcels and other stuff in the back. Not really sure what the difference between that and mail handlers are. In any event all have their own pay scales. Custodian was level 4, which started me out at 13.25, which considering I was making just about 11 when I quit my job two months prior... already looking better. One thing I learned early on... there is literally zero communication in the Postal Office. One person tells you one thing, next person has zero clue what you're talking about. Found this out before orientation was over. Orientation happened at the local plant. Not everyone would be working at the plant. Some were going to actual offices (or as some call them stations) and had schedules and everything. I didn't have any of that. Way it was supposed to go was 2 days of orientation and then 3 days of driver training for those that need it. After day 2 and no schedule what was I to do? One of the office ladies overseeing everything went to go "check" for me. As I'm waiting (only one still in the class) another lady asks me what I'm doing. I tell her. She goes to find out as well. I'm sure you can see what's about to happen. First lady never came back. Second lady tells me to come back for day three of orientation. Day 3 was just more Powerpoint death dealing with safety in driving. I assume 4 and 5 would've been actually behind the wheel. Apparently they had any custodians do day 3 just in case they had to send us somewhere in a company car. Remember the first lady? She came back during day 3's orientation and was mad at me for leaving before she could return. Honestly I probably waited a good hour after orientation ended... how long was I supposed to hang around? Also who was I supposed to listen to given you guys gave me two different answers? This becomes a pattern with every member of management in the Postal Service. Trust me. Anyways after day 3 I was seen by an actual custodian. She was going to send me to a nearby office. See I interviewed at the plant with Wolfie, but had no idea exactly where I was working. Was the interview just at the plant or was I working here too? The station I was being sent to... was that where I worked? They didn't tell me shit. Officially I was a PSE, Postal Support Employee aka Piece of Shit Employee... they can do whatever they want with you. As a PSE you have no benefits or union rights, you work when they tell you and have literally no say in anything. Also no time off! As a regular you have union backing (for how little that's worth), can bid on open positions and have an actual spot. Not to mention retirement, TSP (401k), vacation time, etc. All the PSEs look at finally being made career/regular as a future dream. Not much really changes though. How do you make regular? Just by sticking with it. I think the union contract says they have to have so many regulars, so as people transfer/retire the most senior PSE is next in line.
To make matters worse your contract only lasts 360 days. After 360 you're sent home for a "5 day break". After the 5 day break they can choose whether to bring you back or not, and rinse and repeat until you make "regular" or become a career employee. So you could literally be with the post office for years and still have no seniority or time built into retirement because your time as a PSE or sub on the carrier side does not count. Why such a weird system? No clue. I have to assume that with it being a government job that after a year (365 days) that you must qualify for benefits and this is their way around it. Must've been some sort of union compromise thing. I have no idea. Also should stress the process from application to orientation can be painfully slow. I quit my job in June and started in August and that seems fast comparing my story to others. I'm rambling and I'm going all over the place, but since my time in the Post Office is so recent I'm not basing this on notes either. Yeah, I'm literally typing whatever's on my mind. Seems like a good stopping point for now. Next chapter we'll discuss showing up for my first day at the new office and how it all went down as a newly hired Custodian.
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Legend
23,184 POSTS & 12,594 LIKES
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Post by 🤯 on May 9, 2020 21:39:34 GMT
I honestly might be more fascinated by the tales of the inner workings of USPS than the boot camp stories. To further our spiritual connection Ness... My grandpa on my mom's side was a custodian for USPS. Or, I presume that's what his title was. Sounds like he was an everyman facilities manager type. Like, light bulb needs replaced? He's on it. Parking lot lines need repainted? Him too. Etc. Not sure how much cleaning he did.
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Legend
19,310 POSTS & 19,612 LIKES
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Post by Ness on May 9, 2020 22:30:33 GMT
I honestly might be more fascinated by the tales of the inner workings of USPS than the boot camp stories. To further our spiritual connection Ness ... My grandpa on my mom's side was a custodian for USPS. Or, I presume that's what his title was. Sounds like he was an everyman facilities manager type. Like, light bulb needs replaced? He's on it. Parking lot lines need repainted? Him too. Etc. Not sure how much cleaning he did. Was your grandpa named Ray? Sounds like the guy I replaced. He had a lot of general knowledge of non-cleaning issue (electrical, car stuff, etc.) and did a lot of that type of stuff. Depending on the building and custodian they do act as sort of personal maintenance for the whole office. Some don't do either and get railroaded into doing stuff that isn't their job like deliveries. There's higher level maintenance for the area that visit offices that handle the more technical side of things but I always look at me as the custodian as the first line of defense. Can this dumbass figure it out? Great, now we don't have to submit a work order and pray they make it here before six months pass.
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Legend
23,184 POSTS & 12,594 LIKES
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Post by 🤯 on May 9, 2020 23:59:19 GMT
I honestly might be more fascinated by the tales of the inner workings of USPS than the boot camp stories. To further our spiritual connection Ness ... My grandpa on my mom's side was a custodian for USPS. Or, I presume that's what his title was. Sounds like he was an everyman facilities manager type. Like, light bulb needs replaced? He's on it. Parking lot lines need repainted? Him too. Etc. Not sure how much cleaning he did. Was your grandpa named Ray? Sounds like the guy I replaced. He had a lot of general knowledge of non-cleaning issue (electrical, car stuff, etc.) and did a lot of that type of stuff. Depending on the building and custodian they do act as sort of personal maintenance for the whole office. Some don't do either and get railroaded into doing stuff that isn't their job like deliveries. There's higher level maintenance for the area that visit offices that handle the more technical side of things but I always look at me as the custodian as the first line of defense. Can this dumbass figure it out? Great, now we don't have to submit a work order and pray they make it here before six months pass. Stephen Patrick. But Ray is a bad ass name too!
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Legend
19,310 POSTS & 19,612 LIKES
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Post by Ness on May 11, 2020 21:02:40 GMT
Little Pig Little Pig, Let Me In!
Everyone imagines working at their local post office. The one closest to home is generally what you think of, but it rarely works out that way. At least not at first. It's similar to wrestling and paying your dues. You might get lucky, but in my time working for this place I've learned people travel far and wide to work for it. Makes sense to me. I read a lot of stuff online, especially people bitching about being stuck in a dead-end job at Walmart or something. They claim there are no other jobs in their town. Doubtful, but then it creates an obvious solution... go to another town. And that's how the process really works for the Post Office. Find an opening and apply. You can eventually transfer or bid on an open position in your local one if you get lucky. Don't get your hopes up though. The plant was still pretty close to my parent's house. We'll say 20 minutes. My local post office was about the same distance and the one they sent me to was around the same, just in the opposite direction. So at the end of my third day of orientation the custodian sent me to one called Northridge, so the day before I made a practice run to see where it was. Not too bad and unlike my previous job it wasn't during third shift so at least I'd see daylight. I was told to show up at 7 and to ask for Mike. I get there and I have no idea where to go. Most retail lobbies don't open until 8-830 so there was no one when I went inside. Tried the back entrance where the trucks were and all the doors were locked and no one in sight. So they have this "bell" in the customer lobby, that I would eventually learn customers could use for random stuff (inquiries, package pick-up, etc.) and I'm not sure why it exists as opposed to just the regular window. I'll touch on that more when we discuss my current office, but for this first day I rang it not knowing what else to do. Nobody answered, but I could hear them working in the back. Rang it a second time and I heard someone yelling "WE'RE CLOSED" and then laughing. I wasn't here to buy stamps so I rang it again hoping they'd get annoyed enough to at least see what's up. I explained I was here to see Mike and of course they've never heard of him. You gotta be fucking kidding me. Like I said, absolutely no communication. They bring me in as one of the supervisors will be in to see me shortly. I explain that I'm a new custodian and that I was told to ask for Mike as I had assumed he would be training/working with me. No clue what I'm talking about. I assume they called the plant downtown to find out what was up, but the part that really confused me was they literally told me that "yeah we need one" with regards to a custodian. So how is it you have no clue I'm showing up? Because Post Office. So the supervisor directs me to the supply closet and that was the beginning and end of my training as a custodian. Sink of swim motherfucker?
I have zero clue what to do or where to start. Place is absolutely trashed, cobwebs in every corner... trash spilling out of the cans... etc. etc. So I grab a broom and start trying to do something. The carriers began piling in and I'm of course just getting in everyone's way. They're happy that I'm here because God forbid anyone take their stuff to the dumpster by the dock. I'm just doing what I can until the Postmaster arrives. We have a meeting and find out what the deal is. What does she want me to do, when do I come in, etc. Gave me a bunch of vague answers as obviously she does not give a fuck. I get it. Her focus is making sure the mail goes out. As long as there's not piles of dog shit on the floor when the customers come inside she probably doesn't even care that I'm here. She did tell me she'd have a list of things she wanted me to do. That was 5 years ago and I'm still waiting for it. Eventually I develop a routine. Problem or a perk of being a custodian is that management doesn't give a shit about you so you'll find yourself very bored if you're not the type to always be busy or find little projects for yourself. That's not an issue for me these days as you'll see by my monthly rearrangement of my "office". Working here is where I discovered the glory of using the internet on your phone and data plans. See I never used my phone for anything beyond call and texts at this point. I only ever used the internet at home so I had no clue it was a thing. This was where I discovered reddit and started just throwing random subs out there to see if they exist. It's probably what really cemented my love of fast food. What other retard is gonna visit the McDonalds reddit? Clerks and carriers were finally happy to have someone in to clean up. I learned that their custodian had suffered a serious injury via a car accident. He broke his leg trying to stop a car and as I learned it basically ran over him. And at this point he had been gone for several months. Remember Mike? He was the most junior PSE at the plant before I was hired and he would get sent to this office 2x a week to keep up with things in the regular custodian's absence. Most of the workers just commented that all he ever did was smoke on the back dock. It showed. Custodians in the Post Office are a mixed bag. Some don't do anything, some barely anything and others kill themselves (via working not suicide). I guess it just depends on your personality and how much you care because obviously management and the union don't seem to care since you can really only be let go for attendance or theft.
And to even get to that point you have to be going out of your way to try and get fired. The attendance is very lax. In order to get fired they have to go through steps. So many call-offs in a rolling period and you get the first step. Might be a verbal warning. Then the next step, etc. up until 2 week suspension and then a final removal. And it's all on management. For instance after your first step they could initiate the next step as soon as another call-off, or wait until you've built up a few more strikes or do nothing at all. Basically you have to be calling off non-stop for like a year to get removed. And even then the union will fight to bring you back. Same with theft. To get fired for stealing you basically have to be stealing for a long time. You're not getting fired for one offense. If someone is removed for theft the postal inspectors have been watching them for a while and setting up traps. Yep, they'll spend a quarter million to catch a dude stealing 50 in scratch-offs. I figure this is all based on you being a regular as I doubt PSEs have any leeway when it comes to messing up. You have a lot of downtime as a custodian. Potentially anyway. Some are worked to death with tasks, but others are kind of left to their own devices. I do a lot of odd shit at my current office, but I mostly blame that on my own OCD regarding things and just not wanting to be sitting around doing nothing for too long. At the very least if I'm gonna be fucking off I want to be out of sight. Some give zero fucks and will just hang out like Mike did. In my efforts to be out of sight and to show how little they paid attention to me I literally would walk off the property and take strolls down the road just to eat up time. I think one day I just went to the nearest grocery store and looked at the shelves and came back as if nothing happened. I stopped doing that when I thought I was in trouble. I didn't clock out for lunch and drove up the road to Subway. Got my food and came back and planned to "officially" clock out as I ate. When I came back the supervisor I first met said I was in trouble. At this point in time I did not have my own car, so I drove my Mom's. She's a big Michigan fan and being in Ohio that was basically asking for trouble since her vehicle had a giant M logo on it. The supervisor was basically just busting my balls saying only Ohio State fans can park here. Heh. Okay, no more fucking around so I don't get fired! I didn't know how it worked yet about being let go so I wasn't gonna chance things. I'm being paid 13/hr to empty bags and browse PW, can't get much better than that. Few weeks into things the post master is asking me to mow the lawn. After getting the news I said probably the dumbest thing to be uttered in the history of the planet. They told me they had a riding lawn mower and I hadn't ever used one before so I asked if somebody was gonna teach me. Very audible laughter. My Dad had one so I learned via his. You're probably thinking, huh, Ness lived at home and didn't mow the lawn... interesting. Anyways yeah, so the lawn adventures began. They didn't have much grass and probably a fraction of the size of my current office, but it ate time. Here's how little I paid attention to my surroundings though. So I noticed the lawn mower was leaning on one side. I just assumed the lawn itself was lopsided at a certain point. It wasn't until a customer pointed out one of my tires was so flat the rubber part of the tire was practically off.
That could've been dangerous for me if they didn't point it out because I was trying to shift my weight one way to make up for the lopsided grass. Informed management and I'm not sure what they ended up doing about it as I didn't seem to have anything to deal with it. Just as well because soon my time at Northridge would be coming to an end. This was sometime in September, so I had been employed for around 6 weeks and Anthony the former custodian was back. He was clocking in at the same time as me and muttered "I told them." No clue who he was, but he knew me or at least assumed a new face was his "replacement". Once you secure a bid as he did you're in. If you go on vacation or are sick for a while like he was they either have someone help out (usually PSEs) or they just go without. Bids are basically on a seniority basis, which means all the best spots are going to the old timers. So he told me he informed the postmaster 2 weeks ago he'd be returning today. Didn't tell me of course because why would that be important to do? I was dealing with this job on a day-to-day basis and had no idea what's next? Do I go to the plant now? Kinda felt defeated at this point because I didn't understand what was even happening. He had been gone so long people kept thinking I was gonna take over. That's not how it would've worked since I'm not a regular, but I didn't know that. I just kept hearing the truck drivers and some comment how long he'd been gone and suggest he was retiring and this would be mine soon. If only. I still had Wolfie's number saved in my phone so I gave him a call to ask what was I to do? What's funny is management changes hands so quick and a lot of offices never even answer their phones so I'm lucky he even picked up. He told me to come back to the plant and we'll figure things out. I should stress that at this point I still don't know where I work. Am I part of the team at the plant or what? We'll discuss more as I begin working at the Dayton plant and return to Northridge?
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Legend
23,184 POSTS & 12,594 LIKES
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Post by 🤯 on May 12, 2020 12:58:41 GMT
As much as I loved the boot camp tales, this new saga is just as compelling. Honestly, parts of it are making we wonder if I would've/would still dig working in a government environment. Sometimes the lazy bones in my body seem to ACHE OUT LOUD to be buried in an inefficient bureaucracy. The bidding on preferred duty locations also reminds me of when I was applying specifically to the Virginia State Troopers down in Richmond. After a morning of physical and written tests, the 100+ remaining of us were all congregated in an auditorium-style classroom. The Commandant, looking straight up like Col. Sanders, comes in to give his speech about what we're getting into if we're selected. Let's just say there were 110 of us in the room. 10 were totally from out of state, zero time logged in Virginia in any part of the state. 98 were "home boys" from the various sticks of VA. I was from Arlington in Northern Virginia (albeit was applying by way of Pittsburgh, PA). The other "one" was, I think, from New Jersey originally and had relocated to NOVA and didn't understand the deep-seated loathing he was about to inadvertently subject himself to.* (*Honestly, I think most people in NOVA live in a self-isolating echo chamber bubble... and generally just attract like-minded types. I'm amazed it's essentially the hub of our nation's government, as it seems like no place for anyone with even the slightest Republican leanings. ANYWAY...) Being from Virginia (and specifically Arlington), I knew the stink NOVA had outside the beltway (i.e., to ALL the rest of VA -- which I think resents being funded by NOVA's heavy blue-leaning tax dollars) but this other poor sap from NJ didn't. When Col. Sanders polled the room to see which counties the "home boys" were from, I knew better not to raise my hand when he called out "Arlington" and "Fairfax" with literal disgust in his voice and disdain on his face. NJ Sap didn't know better. He raised his hand, and became the instant focus of ridicule and hate for being a hoity-toity Northerner (DESPITE Arlington being the birthplace and home of Robert E. Lee!). It was crazy seeing the institutionalized version of Southern Pride live and in living color (so long as the color was white). Made it easy to decline the offer in the end. BUT, before getting to the end, this moment segued into the Commandant telling us about bids and areas of assignment. Apparently the State Troopers were a preferred employment option over Wal-Mart for the "home boys"... and consequently, Col. Sanders warned them they'd like NEVER seen their hometowns again. Maybe in 20 years if they were lucky, kept putting in bids for reassignment, and retirements lined up just right. However, if anyone wanted to volunteer for "hell" in NOVA, spots in that area were always ready and available and awarded to anyone listing those counties as their first choice. Then he guffawed with the rest of the classroom. I think I might've been the only one who immediately saw my career path in that moment: volunteer for NOVA, get placed in NOVA, get that sweet cost-of-living differential, just do mostly traffic on the beltway all day, and either grind out a nice relatively boring career until pension time BABAY!!~ *or* hob knob with contacts in other agencies to lateral into the FBI, Secret Services, etc. But then Wife got hired by Google, and I became a trophy husband, and all good plans... Honestly, watching that gif of Forrest mowing over and over and over has me feeling like I'd be happy as a clam owning my own lawn mowing business and mowing fields and shit for businesses, governments, etc.
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God
7,892 POSTS & 6,146 LIKES
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Post by System on May 12, 2020 16:27:21 GMT
Really interesting read Ness, I wish I checked this thread out before I had you on but always time for a part 2.
My uncle was in the navy and my parents were both in the army.
My dad saw a bus go passed when he was younger that said “join the army” so he did..and was in for 20 years to get his pension and left.
- A guy who in my TAFE class years ago who was off due to injury said the exact same thing
- A guy who was injured from the Army said the exact same thing
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God
7,892 POSTS & 6,146 LIKES
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Post by System on May 12, 2020 16:35:06 GMT
Really interesting read Ness, I wish I checked this thread out before I had you on but always time for a part 2. My uncle was in the navy and my parents were both in the army. My dad saw a bus go passed when he was younger that said “join the army” so he did..and was in for 20 years to get his pension and left. - A guy who in my TAFE class years ago who was off due to injury said the exact same thing - A guy who was injured from the Army said the exact same thing about not getting aroused & claiming there was stuff in the food. - I’m exactly the same! I could easily drink 12+ a day, I go cold turkey and go back. At the moment I’m just having one with dinner. - Sounds exactly like my workplace. Message 1 “can you start work early at 4?” Then get the same message from 3 different people not knowing I’d already been asked. Also :lol: at the Jody stuff, heard a guy talk about it one of those “real __ guy reacts to war movies”. Someone also shared a FB group just for military wives to get some side action while their husbands were away. I’m with 🤯 that the post office stuff is really interesting, especially in comparison to the Australian post System.
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Legend
23,184 POSTS & 12,594 LIKES
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Post by 🤯 on May 12, 2020 16:41:37 GMT
Honestly, I bet the erection suppression is just due to stress and anxiety. S&A with a fear cherry on top of the sundae can be a straight-up libido killer. Don't underestimate the boner-killing power of S&A+F, even within 18-year-olds
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God
7,892 POSTS & 6,146 LIKES
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Post by System on May 12, 2020 17:06:51 GMT
Honestly, I bet the erection suppression is just due to stress and anxiety. S&A with a fear cherry on top of the sundae can be a straight-up libido killer. Don't underestimate the boner-killing power of S&A+F, even within 18-year-olds That’s what the government wants you to think 👽
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Legend
23,184 POSTS & 12,594 LIKES
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Post by 🤯 on May 12, 2020 17:16:19 GMT
Honestly, I bet the erection suppression is just due to stress and anxiety. S&A with a fear cherry on top of the sundae can be a straight-up libido killer. Don't underestimate the boner-killing power of S&A+F, even within 18-year-olds That’s what the government wants you to think 👽 I mean, the Gov't is def responsible for a lot of the general S&A+F prevalent throughout the world... so not totally disconnected.
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Legend
19,310 POSTS & 19,612 LIKES
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Post by Ness on May 14, 2020 20:19:18 GMT
Tell Ya A Secret About Zip Codes...
When I worked my grocery store job it was mostly overnight. I started on the 3am shift and it eventually moved to midnight, still 8 hours. Working at a custodian at Northridge was a change of pace from that. My schedule was 6 to 2, which is what most custodians at stations do. It's also generally Monday through Friday. Pretty sweet gig, right? Obviously that came to an end when Anthony came back from his injury. Fear not for it would not be the last time I saw him. What happened the day he came back was the Postmaster said I could work for 4 hours since she didn't tell me he was back. I mostly just picked Anthony's brain and then listened to the radio in my car before driving to the Dayton Plant. I keep referring to it as the plant, what is that? A station is your local office, but the plant is like a central hub for all the area offices. Think of it as the final stop as things get sorted and shipped out to your city's office before your mailman gets their grubby paws on your letters and packages. It can be very intimidating looking at it for the first time with all the different rooms, automation machines, etc. ... especially after I had just gotten used to working at a smaller office. Anyways I met up with Wolfie and another lady, who I did not know was a custodian as well. She was playing the part of 204b, which is basically her cosplaying as a supervisor. 204b from what I understand is just filling in and possibly having a practice run as a manager. After a set amount of time they go back to their spot, but some do it long enough to eventually become a legit manager. No idea why it's called 204b, but I assume it stands for something. They wanted me to shadow Jan (the custodian who sent me to Northridge to ask for Mike) for the rest of the day and then I'd cover her route while she was on vacation. When she came back they were gonna send me to Trotwood and repeat what I did at Northridge. (And yes I'm not a Bella so I'm giving you their legit names. If they find this thread for some reason, well they should join and register!) Guess I was just filling in, which looking at it now would have been a sweet gig really if that was a full-time thing. Just go to offices to help out as regulars went on vacation or were sick. You don't have to learn anyone's name and anything long term is not your problem since you're just a floater. This is where I learned a lot more about the inner workings of the Post Office. I should stress that I have been in the Maintenance Craft for my whole postal career, so any statements or claims I make about what goes on outside of it is simply what I assume as an outsider. Anyways the plant is your standard government building with two sides: A and B buildings. A is administrative and that's basically secretaries and paper pushers. It's also where orientation is done. This side is clean and shiny. B is where the lowly grunts go to do the actual work. It's dusty. You think you know dusty... you don't. If there's a dustier place than a postal plant, you don't wanna go there.
When people think of the post office they generally only think of their local office. There's a lot more to it than just your mailman. The plant is open 24/7 and people are working the whole time. Yes even on Christmas and Thanksgiving. Every day means every day Mom. So the odds of getting another one of those cushy M-F routes are slim. They exist, but starting out it's not likely. And no way it's happening as a PSE. It's always a chore to explain to people that I work on Sunday and they ask me how if the post office is closed. How do you think the mail gets to you on Monday if it's not in the system on Sunday? This is why the push to cancel Saturday delivery or even several days makes no sense. Not including Amazon (and now UPS) deliveries on Sunday, letters and most parcels are built up on Sunday so that Mondays are heavier than normal. And then when you have Monday holidays... Tuesdays can be a nightmare. Well for the carriers... custodians not so much. If nothing changes for the Post Office... eliminating Saturday delivery changes nothing. It just makes things all the harder the rest of the week. You're not saving money because you just fork it over in overtime to make up for the "savings". Again, people only think of their local office. Yes, you may only get junk mail on Saturday, but there's more to the process than just your box. And of course if you're expecting something you know they'll throw a fit with no Saturday delivery. There are 3 tours at the plant. 10-6, 6-2 and 2-10. The coveted spot, especially for custodians is tour 2 as that's the daytime one. Each tour has an entire team of custodians. It seems excessive and to make things even crazier the post office is always understaffed in custodians. Honestly with that many in a given day you'd think the floors would shine and you'd be blinded by the sparkle in the restrooms. But most, especially at plants do very little. You probably won't even see them most of the time. Management doesn't do anything, so it's whatever. It's generally regarded as the best job in the post office. But it's also the lowest paid, so you gotta make a decision: lower pay but no stress? Jan was on tour 2, so my sleep schedule didn't really change. She showed me around the building and introduced me to the team. She went on vacation the next day and I took over her "route". Every morning all the custodians met at a certain spot (which they changed more often than the mop heads) and decide who does what. There were two floors in the plant, so depending on who was here it was usually 2 up/2 down and maybe 1 garage person. My first day on my own the supervisor asked a guy named Jim to train me. He didn't want to and got rather hostile about it and told me to just do what I did at Northridge. I get it, everyone has their own routine and don't want someone to find their hiding spot. Two weeks rolled by and Jan came back. Guess it's off to Trotwood, right? Given the stellar communication they had shown me so far I wasn't gonna just show up, so I wanted confirmation from them. Only supervisor was the 204b and this went about as well as I expected. She called someone and then left. For a long ass time. I dunno what it is about them getting me an answer, but it's never a quick thing. Is she literally driving to Trotwood to ask in person? She eventually comes back and says I'm being sent to Northridge.
The same one I was just literally at? Did he injure himself again? I called that office to find out. Nope, he's fine. You guys hired me, can someone just tell me what I'm supposed to be doing?!? 204b said I should just keep working here and to continue showing up. Fantastic... keep coming in, I guess? So I did just that. I have no idea when to take off days and have once again taken it to a day-to-day basis. My favorite part was during one of the meetings a supervisor asked me what I was gonna do. ISN'T THAT YOUR JOB TO TELL ME? Fuck me. So I just kept showing up every day. Figured eventually someone would get a clue. At the very least once a few pay checks rolled out maybe they'd realize they were paying me. It took me several months to get a "spot" and start appearing on the schedule. Since we have the same schedule every day (6-230, take a lunch whenever) the only reason to look is for your days off. Regulars have their bids so they know what days off they have. PSEs it's whenever. In fact the only reason I look these days is to see if they got any time off requests up, which they usually don't and that's a separate gripe. Remember Mike? Yeah, he was Tour 2. When I originally asked for him I thought he worked at Northridge, so hearing his name during one of the meetings threw me for a loop. Wait, why would I ask for him if he doesn't work there? And if he is there... why would you send me there to fill in? Because nobody has a clue what they're doing. And somehow the mail gets delivered on the regular. No idea how it's happening given what I've witnessed in just a few short months. I've finally gotten a "spot", one of a dozen PSEs in the Dayton region between the plant and various stations. But at least I have a routine again and I'm appearing on the schedule. Or so I thought. Turns out they needed a body on tour 3. There were 3 PSEs on tour 2, so it had to be one of them. They probably put the bid up and didn't get any bites from the regulars. 2-10 kinda sucks because while you get to sleep in, you can't really do anything when everyone is at work so it eats your whole day. I assumed it would be me since I was the low man. Or at the very least ask for volunteers until I get voluntold (see!). Mike even said he would quit if they forced him. Well, it was me. Right when I finally get used to things they change it up on me. Next time I'll discuss the differences between working the two tours and probably other postal related stuff.
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Legend
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Post by 🤯 on May 14, 2020 23:12:54 GMT
Baker-man was a postman? Do they ALWAYS ring twice?
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Post by Baker on May 15, 2020 0:08:39 GMT
Baker -man was a postman? Do they ALWAYS ring twice? Yep. For nearly 5 long, miserable years. I usually didn't ring at all lol. Just leave the package on the porch and begone. That's the way I was trained. And hey, that still beats this guy Mike. He wouldn't even leave his truck. He'd just honk his horn. If nobody came out, he'd leave the package on the ground by the curbside mailbox. Laziest person I have ever known. For all the storytiming I do, very little has been written about my long and winding road when it comes to jobs/careers. Predictably, I have many stories. But for some reason I like keeping that stuff and my current personal life a secret. Long story short, I thought the PO would be easy. It wasn't. The most miserable of my many jobs and the only one where I disliked many of my coworkers (usually it's only 1 or 2 at worst. I'm not hard to get along with). Started writing an essay on Post Office hell. But decided not to post as I don't want to rain on Ness's parade.
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Legend
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Post by Ness on May 18, 2020 21:08:21 GMT
We Were Never Big On Creeds
I like to think of being a postal custodian as the absolute worst parody of everything that people think of lazy incompetent government workers. Ya know, do nothing... overpaid... union protecting awful workers. The more I stay with the post office the more I almost wanna agree with that statement. At least the ones I was exposed with. Dayton is a unique beast and may be unlike the other P&DCs around the country, but I doubt it. The maintenance craft is a coveted spot because for the most part it's a cake position to be in. The custodians fuck off and hide, the machine guys do a little bit and then fuck off... the building side guys probably do stuff but I've never seen it. You're essentially paid a living wage to do nothing.
When you're the only dude at a station it's a little different of course, but being part of 3 separate teams in a day is just insane thinking about it. Does make things easy when people call off or go on vacations because it's not like you gotta make up for anything. I know it sounds like I'm just shitting on my people, but a lot of them aren't worth it. Then again the general consensus is that custodian is the job to get for the end of your career to coax to retirement. Not a lot of people get into being a custodian young and ride it out, it's usually broken down carriers and clerks.
So the Dayton Plant on the grunt side had 2 floors of machines. It had a storage basement too, but nobody really went down there. When I refer to machines and automation I'm talking about things that sort letters. There's a few types of machines, but they're basically the same. Letters fed into the reader and the barcode has the letters sent to the right zipcode via belts and such. It's kind of fascinating to see the technology there and I'll discuss more on these machines later. I think there are probably machines for packages too, but we didn't have any at our facility. The plant for my current office is based out of Cincinnati and I hear it has 4 floors so I guess it probably has them.
Those machines are ran into the ground. They call tour 1 and 3 the "run" tours, but they use the machines on tour 2 so you might as well just assume they are running things 24 hours. When I would clock in at 6 they were running the last bits from tour 1 and then by 10 the next set of clerks were starting, so a 4 hour downtime window at most. I guess it all gets placed in trays and loaded onto trucks that get sent to the stations. Obviously I didn't pay too much attention to it, but I have to assume there's more to it than a single run into the machine because to be running them all day you didn't see that much mail coming in. But again I wasn't on that side of the post office so I can't say for sure.
Tour 2 is considered the "cleaning" tour for the custodians. LOL. Supposedly there's more of us on the tour for that reason. And since the other tours are supposedly the run tours I guess that's why they use it to clean. The other tours are more "policing" meaning they just go around emptying trash and such. In all honesty you have a handful of custodians during the day and just 1 on the other tours and be just fine. Learned it had nothing to do with the actual work involved, but square footage of the building. I guess the union contract had that in it. Early on when I was a PSE they actually had people measuring the building just for that. I was quite scared, thinking they'd see we had too many and I'd get the boot. Turns out we had too few. This fucking place.
When I first started I busted my ass. Emptying trash, dustmopping, etc. I got a lot of compliments from people. I guess actually seeing me or hearing me roll my can around was enough for them since they never saw anyone else working. Eventually I mellowed out and joined in with the other guys and did bits here and there and then hid. I developed a reputation as the best hider in the building. And at the same time the people who weren't in maintenance said I was the best custodian. I'm like Hannah Montana that way, best of both worlds.
So now I'm onto tour 3. The day before I met up with Rob, who'd become a really good work friend of mine. He still texts me occasionally to say they have open spots if I wanted to come back. He was happy to have me on board. I didn't really see any change to the work environment. We ended up splitting the bottom floor, each of us taking a side. What that amounted to was going around a few times a night and collecting trash and picking up stuff. One lady would usually have me sweep and mop her office, but other than that we didn't do much. I'm not kidding when I say we probably did 1-2 hours of actual work a night. The supervisors would usually summon me and Rob to do random projects. Fine with me as it ate time, but it did get annoying how he'd never bother the others on our tour. I figured he has us do it with us being the junior guys, but it's not like they can hear the intercom in the women's locker room anyway...
I did have to fill in for tour 1 a few times. Almost fell asleep walking around several times. I didn't bother trying to get my sleep schedule changed since I was only doing it a few times. The tour 1 supervisor wanted me to be on his run, but I didn't want to really do that. You do get a slight premium for hours worked 6pm to 6 am, but it's hardly worth giving up your life for. I mean, if it came down to it and it was that or find another job, I'll do it. But it won't be my first choice.
During this time we got a new PSE. He previously worked as a custodian at a hospital. He told me a neat trick. He said if you just sprayed air freshener in the bathroom, regardless of what you do people think it's clean. He had been with us 2-3 months and then he said we're all gonna be regulars. I thought he was either full of shit or misheard some rumor. Nope. Turns out the new union contract was rolling out and one of the gets for our side was eliminating the PSE part of maintenance, making it an all-career craft. Once it became active all the custodian PSEs become regulars.
Regulars usually convert it a few at a time and while I wasn't the most junior one at this point, there were a lot ahead of me. I was somewhere in the middle, so that was great news for me. I was expecting 3-5 years to a conversion. Seems like a standard schedule unless you're rural and it's like 10+ years which is ridiculous. The new custodian really lucked out being hired when he did. I felt like I got converted really quick as I hadn't even had my 5-day break yet and he was barely out of probation, if even that. Now it was just a waiting game for the contract to become active. I had my 5-day break in August of 2016, which kinda scared me because they tell you via a letter where the wording comes off very sinister with it saying "should we choose to bring you back". Somewhere in the contract it says you gotta bring back a PSE if you opt not to reuse them after their 5-day break before you can hire someone fresh. Wouldn't that be a bitch to not be brought back right before becoming a regular?
After my break I came back and shortly after that on September 3rd I became a regular... just a little over a year into the post office. Now I can actually get pay raises, vacation/sick time, can bid on routes, enroll in TSP/retirement, Holiday Pay, Sunday Premium (25% bonus pay so if you work every Sunday it's a free day of pay each month), etc. At this point I just wanted to leave the plant and go to a station like Northridge. After they converted us they put all the stations that were manned by PSEs up for bids... kinda. Some offices were revamped to be split shifts. Instead of being at X station for a full day your route was split between 2 places. Makes sense as there probably isn't 8 hours every day, especially if they're smaller offices. There was really only one full-time office and it had several custodians and Jan got it.
We filled out our "dream sheets", which are basically preferred assignments. I put Northridge as #1, but that wouldn't become an option so I remained on tour 3. Which was fine as I made friends with Rob and got into a nice little routine/comfortable rut. If a station ever opened up and I was able to get it (seniority and all that) I'd be happy. Until then I'd just ride out bullshitting at the plant. Received a slight pay bump for becoming a regular as I was now making somewhere around 14-15. I say slight because when you factor in they now take out FERS contributions and TSP if you sign up for it, it can actually be a drop in pay! I've contributed 15% into TSP since becoming regular. Most people only do the 5% they start you on. Obviously the recent losses due to Corona-Chan have made that mostly a waste of time though.
There isn't one union for the post office. Each craft kinda has their own, which probably makes things tricky during negotiations. For instance rural carriers have their own versus city. So many hands in the cookie jar, which is probably why some get screwed and others don't. And even weirder is union membership is optional. My previous job was a union shop and union membership was mandatory, like taxes it was just part of your paycheck. Don't understand why one can work and the other can't. I especially don't get grocery stores being union. When I first got hired there I thought it meant high wages being a union and all. What's the point if it's still minimum wage?
So we got something pretty great in the contract, so what's the catch? Management and the union go back and forth and compromise in the middle with the workers getting screwed. Well, something was about to "change" in the custodian world and we'll discuss exactly what that was and another perk of being a regular in the maintenance craft... the ability to move up into higher paying positions. Next time!
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Legend
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Post by 🤯 on May 19, 2020 2:07:45 GMT
Now, see... This, THIS is the perfect outlet for your Rocko gifs. Granted, you saved the best for last with a D&D gif. But still.
You're tales are seriously making me wish I was in your line of work. Can you imagine us being on the same tour at the same station!? We'd empty one trash can, then record the week's podcast(s), pound out PW News' latest merch, write some fan fic split, and inch one day closer to that sweet sweet pension.
The fucking DREAM.
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Legend
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Post by Ness on May 21, 2020 21:35:23 GMT
STAY PUT OR MOVE UP?
A few months prior to converting to regular we kept hearing rumors about "team custodian", essentially a revamping of how we do things. Nobody was looking forward to that and honestly we heard it for so long I just didn't believe anything was happening. The post office decided to reinvent the wheel and wanted to have an official system for the custodians. They cleared out this supply room and had us build storage cabinets for the upcoming supplies and then it was time to train. I had jury duty during my scheduled training window so I got the privilege of being rescheduled with the supervisor class. And of course my jury duty was cancelled so I was forced to do it for no reason. What happened was I got to be the guinea pig for demonstrations since the supervisors obviously wouldn't be doing any of it. No idea why they needed to go through the training though. To be fair it does give them some credibility if they at least know what's being asked. Of course I doubt they paid much attention and just wanted to be done with it.
Before the new system we kinda just did our own thing. We each had cans and we filled them with stuff we needed. They wanted to get rid of all the old equipment and bring in fresh stuff. I started to see that this is probably why we were made regulars because bullshit was coming. But then I also understood the system was likely someone in the union/management getting a payday/works for the company providing the new supplies. Usual greasing the wheels stuff. So what's the new system? It was one of those systems that lives and dies by everything going according to plan. Everyone scheduled as required and at full staffing (LOL) and it works fine. They had several jobs and they all connected together. They had one job where you go around the building and empty trash and pick up big stuff, the next job has a backpack vac and sucks up everything that isn't big enough to collect from the previous guy (in place of your usual sweeping/dusting), a restroom exclusive job and one more that dealt with a mop. Not only that we had specific concentrated liquid cleaning stuff. Nothing new. Every custodian closet already had the wall-mounted liquid dispenser. Big show for the introduction of the vacuum. They showed us that it worked for Boeing, so clearly it would work here. See all the supplies and various jobs makes perfect sense if you were cleaning a hotel, but not really at individual offices. Kinda hard to utilize TEAM cleaning when you're the only one here. As we learned when we cleared out the basement... this is not the first time at updating the system. We found older versions of the restroom cart down there. There are things I like about the system (the vacuum and having a cart just for restroom stuff) but hated how they were insisting on following us around and monitoring everything. Part of it was probably to pad out management's duties to justify their existence with the extra paperwork. We had to turn in sheets documenting what we did. So weird how no matter how little we did it was always magically 7.5 hours of work. Yeah, I believe people were emptying garbage cans for 4 hours today...
The smart custodians hid old equipment during the purge and played ball until the smoke cleared and then went back to normal. It would've been so much better if they just brought in the new stuff and said hey here's tools, use em. Instead they got rid of the old stuff to force us to use the new stuff and then assigned "routes". I'm not the type to argue with higher ups about their projects. It's like a coach getting in the face of an umpire over a call. It's a waste of time and it has never ever led to them changing their mind. They clearly have invested in this stuff so there's no reason to try and talk them out of it. It wasn't going anywhere. One perk of being a regular is I was now eligible for the 955 Maintenance Exam for higher level positions. I could either work on machines (MM, MPE, ET) or do building stuff (BEM, AMT) and truthfully I didn't really care about moving up originally. I was content being a custodian and had no ambitions. To me more money meant more responsibilities and I just wanted to coax doing little to nothing. It's not that I'm lazy, but I prefer the ho hum aspect of having a set routine and minimal interaction with the public. The pay boost would be nice, but not worth the extra training involved and added stress. MM (Maintenance Mechanic) was essentially a glorified custodian since all they did was vacuum the automation equipment so that was as far as I wanted to go. MPE fixes broken and worn parts in the machine (belts, bearings, etc.) and ETs make sure all the electrical components are up and running. I think at one point it was all on the ET, but they eventually broke it up into a few different jobs. There's a big jump in pay for these jobs. MM is level 7 and starts @ 20, MPE is 9 @ 26 and I think ET hovers just below or at 30. Big bumps compared to custodian, but they also have to go to Norman Oklahoma for numerous training classes throughout their career. BEM and AMT are basically general maintenance guys for the building. BEMs are in charge of the plant and AMTs are traveling BEMs that fix issues at the various offices. Sounds like a nice spot, right? Meh. I don't want the added responsibility. Truthfully I just wanted to ride out the custodian thing. I don't really have much in the way of ambition. I don't have/want a family so the extra money while nice is not much of a goal for me. Improving my station is life is not something I strive for because I'm pretty satisfied where I'm at. So when all the newly converted regulars were taking the exam I didn't. Turns out I changed my e-mail sometime after getting hired so I never got the message to sign up. Didn't care. At most I'd go for MM, but no desire to move further up beyond that.
Eventually Wolfie's replacement got a hold of me and wanted me to take the 955. I assume I was the only one who hadn't and she must've been getting messages from above to make it happen. My buddy Rob studied like crazy for a week, failed and then retook it and passed the second time. And this was after getting guides. Me? I did not give a single fuck. Showed up for the test and "christmas tree'd" it, just bubbling randomly to get it over with. And I passed... I had pretty shitty SAT/ACT scores so I was shocked as I never got that lucky. You need a 70 or better like all things government and while my scores were like 70-72-74 it still counts. Each of the jobs I mentioned had their own scores and oddly enough the lowest one (MM) I did the worst on, which makes no sense. After passing the exam I interviewed and luckily they were glorified HR people so they couldn't call me out on my bullshit. I was offered a spot as an MM and starting January of the following year I had moved up to Maintenance Mechanic. It was now 2017 and in just a year and a half I had doubled my salary from what I made stocking fruit. When I quit that job I was making 10.60 and I went from Custodian (PSE) making 13.25 to Custodian (Regular) 15.00 to finally MM @ 20.00. Next I'm gonna discuss the higher level world of maintenance in the post office and the desire to just go back to emptying trash and wiping toilets.
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Legend
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Post by 🤯 on May 21, 2020 23:26:19 GMT
Ness, I'll have to come back and read the latest installment when less high But in the meantime, question when I thought about you today on a drive Passed a USPS "Network Distribution Center"... Is that fancy speak for a plant?
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Legend
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Post by Ness on May 21, 2020 23:34:37 GMT
If I had to guess, yes. Some are bigger than others and they have annex buildings too. I just assume anything not an office is a plant.
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Legend
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Post by 🤯 on May 21, 2020 23:42:36 GMT
If I had to guess, yes. Some are bigger than others and they have annex buildings too. I just assume anything not an office is a plant. It was huge. Not gonna lie. Passing by It made me think How cool it'd be for us to work together.
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Legend
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Post by Ness on May 21, 2020 23:43:17 GMT
If I had to guess, yes. Some are bigger than others and they have annex buildings too. I just assume anything not an office is a plant. It was huge. Not gonna lie. Passing by It made me think How cool it'd be for us to work together. Let's go to the plant. As long as gummies are legal I'll move.
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Legend
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Post by 🤯 on May 21, 2020 23:44:43 GMT
It was huge. Not gonna lie. Passing by It made me think How cool it'd be for us to work together. Let's go to the plant. As long as gummies are legal I'll move. Do federal laws apply to federal employees? Otherwise I wonder what Colorado plants are like
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Legend
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Post by Ness on May 21, 2020 23:45:44 GMT
Let's go to the plant. As long as gummies are legal I'll move. Do federal laws apply to federal employees? Otherwise I wonder what Colorado plants are like You are drug tested going in. But after that it's all good.
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Legend
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Post by Ness on May 24, 2020 16:53:11 GMT
Being The Suck-O-Matic
Moving up to MM gave me a decent pay bump. Would've been even crazier had I gone to MPE. During my time as MM there were 1-2 chances to do so, but I was not interested in doing so. Plus I think they were both on tour 1 and nobody wants to do that. The way pay raises work in the maintenance craft is it's all based on time served. You move up to the next step every 36 weeks, which is 9 months. So by moving up I fast-tracked my earnings by several years since it would've been 5-6 steps just to get that much of an increase.
I was training with good ol' Mike and another guy, although the week of training it was mostly just me and Mike because the other guy kept not showing up. An ET named Jay trained us and he had a full-course and everything. He did it on his own time (still on the clock obviously) because after our "class" he stopped doing it due to a management argument. I'm grateful as I learned a lot even if most of it was pointless given what the head of maintenance wanted from us. He wanted us to only vacuum. Period. As the MMs that got shipped to Norman found out... that was only Dayton. All the other plants had their MMs do "real" work on the machines. So they got to look like morons for not knowing anything. But it also creates a weird scenario in my mind. If you want us to know everything before going to training... what's the point of the training?
We were assigned those wheeled toolboxes you see in garages and a bunch of tools. Most of it we didn't really need to use. Most of mine were mint by time I turned them back in. We learned all about the machines and how they work. It's fascinating to see them under the hood because they have all these belts, levers and cameras to track the letters as they're fed inside. Each one has a barcode and the camera places it where it needs to go. Once it arrives at the station the carriers start placing them in the right address. I'm gonna assume all the addresses are in the computer via office/route.
Each day we had certain tasks to complete. Some were daily. Others weekly or monthly. And we had to mark them on the computer as management stressed "get 100%", so if it was due today they wanted it marked off. Obviously if it didn't they probably got bad marks from someone above. The MMs daily tasks were usually just search for mail stuck in belts, vacuum and wipe off the camera lens. When I started I was assigned 3-4 machines a day (usually the same ones) and unless I stretched it, I was usually done pretty early. The rest was downtime. I managed a routine to keep me busy throughout the day since those early machines weren't being ran until I left. Sometimes if you got a run machine you had to bust ass to get your shit done. How is preventive maintenance gonna be done in a 4 hour maximum window on certain machines? It can't.
MPEs do more technical stuff and their tasks reflect that because they have preventive maintenance assignments and anything to do with powering down the machines. I guess in management's eyes so long as you do your tasks the machines should work 100% of the time. Sounds good in theory, but that's not how life works. There's a weekly task called "belts and rollers" where you are to visually inspect the inside and make note of when belts are starting to go (tears) and other things that need replaced. I guess the idea is to nip it in the bud before it dies during operation because if a belt snaps while it's running a lot of stuff messes up and it creates bigger work orders to fix. A domino effect in a way. So if you've ever got a letter that was all crumpled up or bent... well it coulda been something else, but it was probably just jammed in the machine at some point. Especially a problem for people who try and send coins/dog tags in regular envelopes because they're too cheap to buy the real packaging.
They kept hiring MMs though. On all 3 tours. Basically everyone hired after me with the exception of one dude were off the street, which I kinda resented them because they became regulars right away. I know I only "paid my dues" for a year, but I didn't like how they had subs and PSEs doing years and nothing, but these guys got in right away. Just how it is. I think making everyone do their first year as a probationary period is fine, but after that they should just be regulars. So I went from doing 4 assignments to doing 2 and then eventually 1 machine depending on who was here. Sometimes it seemed like maintenance was a weird joke. We didn't have a lot to do, but now we have 100 people so we have even less to do. At one point we started joking that soon enough we'll have to share individual machines. The head of maintenance was retiring soon so my theory is his pay was based on who was under him so perhaps he hired a bunch of people before he left to boost his ending pay?
Another problem occurred when they started changing the layout. Originally they had a dozen on the first floor and a few on the second in addition to a giant flat sorter machine. I think that was for magazines and such, whatever is considered a "flat". No idea what that is, but I'm guessing anything that isn't a regular letter or a package. If you've ever rented from Gamefly the envelopes usually said "AFSM" and those were sorted through that machine. They opted to completely get rid of the 2nd floor machines (kept the flatsorter though) and to make up for it just added a few stackers to the ones on the bottom floor to make them longer.
When I was hired in Bill Wolf said that they had been trying to close the Dayton Plant since 2011, so understand the possibility. Rumors are the flatsorter are what stops them from doing so, but also because of how that would affect production. From what I understand it's just not possible financially. We have plants in Cincy and Columbus and the Dayton mail would have to be routed there. Obviously they can barely handle what they got, let alone another major city's mail. Makes you wonder why they want it shut down. I could understand downsizing based on volume, but that didn't seem to be the case here.
Needless to say I was always paranoid about the plant closing for fear of losing my job. So I was always stressing transferring or even trying to find another government job. I was semi-actively putting out feelers for random dot gov jobs, even put in for a border patrol one. People told me not to worry and that they "have to find you something." Do they though? Pretend the plant closed... they might not have jobs, but I'm sure my career will be their first priority.
During MM orientation they had a few custodian bids up and for a laugh I tried bidding on one since it was at a station. Seems you can only bid on your job title (bid cluster). In order to transfer crafts you have to do a reassignment. Well I looked it up and they had a custodian job in Tipp City (20 minutes from where I lived), oddly at a level 5. I assume that spot probably has to do extra stuff, which given what I know now is like all of them so it was just properly paid. I got a rejection letter as apparently you have to be a regular for 18 months to transfer. My year and change as a PSE (keep typing PS3!) did not count as time served since I wasn't a regular, which sucked because I would've been at the 18 cut-off. So I just made a mental note that as soon as I got to that point we'd revisit this.
So the Norman Oklahoma Training... I wasn't looking forward to it. From what I understand MMs are required to go twice. I think they're supposed to send you at least once during your first year and if you fail you're done? Turns out they just send you again, but yeah that put my nerves on edge. No one had failed before, but imagine being the one dude that did. MPEs and other jobs go a lot more than 2x and since I was only planning on being an MM I figured I could handle going twice. They chose people at random unless they got volunteers and then shipped them off. This part killed me because the woman that replaced Wolfie was an idiot. She kept fucking everything up. One guy's return flight was scheduled on a Thursday... his last day of class was Friday. And another instance where she was supposed to send them money for the plane tickets and it never went through.
So needless to say whenever the sign-up sheet was posted I never signed it. Figure when it was my turn I'd deal with it, but I'm not gonna go out of my way to offer myself as a sacrifice. And to put me even more on edge during our time as MMs we had to do this online course/lecture over several days with other maintenance people across the country. Someone who was about to be shipped out asked the instructor about a bed bug rumor. He claimed to never have heard about it, but would "look into it". And he never reported back about it. Where's there's smoke there's fire... and also I think you just have to assume any hotel probably has them. I'm so OCD and paranoid that I was considering renting a car to drive and then destroying all my clothes upon return. Just a paranoid mess of a person. Business as usual, but ya know.
I liked being an MM for a while. It offered the same perks of being a custodian (downtime/easy job) along with the added benefit of people looking at you in a better light due to the perception of the job. People seem to respect someone holding a wrench over a plunger. Yes I know plumbers make a lot of money, but that wasn't the case here. After a year and change of being an MM I was starting to feel bored and restless. Despite liking the idea of doing the same old shit for a job all the way back to dreaming of being a "gate guard" for the Air Force, the reality is it gets boring real quick. Either that or maybe it's just the 4-6 hours of downtime that did it. There's really only so much phone browsing you can do.
And as I mentioned the machine shuffle. That to me suggested maybe they were gonna close down the plant or at least that was the end game down the road. Perhaps this was a test to see if the mail could be handled with less equipment. I wanted to go to a station anyways and figured if shit hit the fan I was lowish on seniority compared to others so if x amount of jobs were available I wasn't getting them. Plus it would be better to get out before that happens so it's not a bad dash to fight over what's left. I don't know how it would work. Would jobs be forced on stations/other plants? I didn't wanna find out.
I made it a habit to check reassign every month for new postings even if I couldn't put a request in. Most of the time it's just bullshit window clerk spots. When I was at 16 months I put in for a spot in Wilmington as I figured by time they get around to it I'd be at 18. With reassign you can also bid on stations in general, regardless of open spots. I'm not sure how they decide on things. Do they put open spots for bid and then if no one bites, go for reassignment and then if still nothing offer it to the public? So what I did was look at every office in my district and see which ones were within an hour drive of my house. Then if they were, see if they had a maintenance spot (custodian) available and then put in for it.
Few months later I was sitting in the breakroom and a former Supervisor told me he put a good word in for me. I had to ask him where because I put in for so many. As part of the reassign process they want a supervisor's name/contact and while he wasn't my current one anymore, I still put him down. So I assumed I was in the running for a custodian spot. A week or two later he returned with a sheet for me to sign to accept. It didn't really have much info other than the name of the station. Like was this a full-time spot? Would be stupid to leave the plant and go to part-time work.
Rumors began circling around. I didn't really tell anyone but people starting talking. So I told them my reassign story (a tale I still tell to this day) and some even said it was a smart move. The plant obviously hasn't closed and probably won't so long as the Post Office remains open, but I didn't wanna chance it. To continue the trend of ZERO COMMUNICATION, I was expecting some kind of confirmation regarding my start time, what my schedule is, etc. Nothing. I called the office to ask them what's up. Did they even get my acceptance letter? The postmaster thought I was backing out when I called. No I just wanted to know if I start or not. I asked to come down to check out the place, so I drove down one day (40ish minutes) and scoped the place out.
It was your standard M-F 6-230 gig, so that was nice. All bids start on the Saturday of a new pay period. So I was actually getting a weekend off (LOL at how short that lasted) for once. My last day as an MM was on a Friday and during our morning meeting they decided to buy pizza for me (and everyone else obviously) for my last day. There's something very bittersweet about leaving a place as I found out when I clocked out. It was July of 2018 and had been working here (minus that brief Northridge stint) for almost 3 years now. Well, back to being a custodian. I finally get my own station and this is everything I wanted for a postal career, right? Next time we'll discuss showing up at West Chester.
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Post by Ness on May 28, 2020 20:59:48 GMT
Living the Dream
So things were really looking up for Ness. At this point I had been an MM for a year and a half and managed to not get sent to Oklahoma the entire time. Not sure if it was luck or if my super power of blending into the background worked for once in my favor. Did me no good in basic training. Now I had my own station. Not sure how I got the job as I figured more senior ones would've grabbed it. Morale is kinda low right now, but I doubt that was the feeling in 2018 when I went in. The postmaster was new, so maybe he fucked up? Perhaps he didn't put it up for bid so I was lucky to get a reassignment? Or maybe there were rumors? The guy I replaced had retired earlier in the year and they had someone helping out a few times a week until I arrived. The only real question was about my pay. People from the plant kept asking and I just kinda shrugged my shoulders. Nothing was mentioned on the sheet I signed. Would I start at the first step for level 4, would they take my time as a regular and bump me to a certain step based on that or would I remain close to my current level? The last one ended up being true. It looks like they matched the closest step to my pay then and even bumped to the next step. So I was now being paid around $22 as a custodian. Sounds good in theory, but that's probably less than minimum wage counting for inflation. Also with all postal jobs you basically live here, so you're earning every penny. To really put it into perspective I've been with the post office for nearly 5 years, only about 4 as a regular. Had I remained a custodian the whole time it would've taken me 11.5 years to reach my pay going by the 9 month/step scale. So being an MM was really a smart move. Had I gone even higher as an MPE I would've obviously taken a pay bump to drop down, but I'm sure anyone doing that would say it's worth it. I'm 3 steps away from maxing out and if nothing else changes that means only COLA adjustments and new contract maximums will give me an increase in pay. I also miss out on a lifetime 2k/yr average from a level 7 MM, but you know that going in when you step down. The office was about a 40 minute drive from my parent's house where I lived. I made a mission to save money from the first postal check I got unlike my previous job. Despite working there for 3 years and living at home rent free with little to no bills I was "broke". I mostly just blew my cash on food, fun stuff and playing as a sugar daddy. Will get to that stuff eventually. This go round I was putting serious bank away. Not my whole check and living off ramen and beans, but at least half. Then shit happened, starting putting serious work into my dental health as it caught up with me. Still at this point I had saved a good chunk and my goal at this point was to just commute and continue just that. That didn't last long. The plant was 15-20 minutes away, so the average distance. Even with a 40-minute drive and getting off @ 230 so likely missing the 5:00 rush, getting home on the highway was a pain in the ass. 4/5 days were fine but that last day just killed me. Wrecks on the road, congestion, construction, etc. just made it completely unbearable. One day the 40 minute drive took 2 hours. My plan was to just pile in my savings for another 2 years (basically come this summer) and get my own place. A few weeks in and I was already done with it. I seriously have no idea how people do it. Started at the new office in July and already had my own apartment (first time moving out) by September, where I'm writing from as we speak. It's not as close as I would've liked (25 minutes) but it avoids the highway and I like where I live/the complex so everything came up Milhouse on that front.
So onto the first day. I left way early because I didn't know how long it would take with morning traffic. Basically no one on the road other than trucks, so I learned pretty quickly how to time my drive. Better to be early and listen to music in the car than late on your first day. Do you wanna know what went down when I got there? I shouldn't have to tell you if you've been following along the whole time. The ones that were in the office had no idea who I was or that I was starting. And honestly I wouldn't have had it any other way. If I ever go to another office and they're expecting me? I will walk the fuck out because it's obvious a trap! One thing I noticed was the "custodian closet" was trashed. Originally I thought the guy I replaced was messy, but now I understand. Whenever I have had a day off and they need something, they go in and NEVER put anything back where it belongs. Oh clean rags on the restroom cart... guess I'll borrow one and put the dirty one back on the cart. The postmaster wanted it to be one of my major projects to clean and organize it. Even if he didn't give me that order I would've... and I still do periodically. I've thrown a lot of crap away, some stuff I probably shouldn't have. The guy I replaced recently retired. I must've been hired not long afterward because people commented "already?" when they heard I was here. I guess it must take a while for someone to get the spot. I learned to hate him and his name, Ray. The legends of this guy. They made it seem like he was God's gift to sanitation engineering. Honestly I think they were just making stuff up to see if I'd do things if they tossed out "well, Ray...". Fuck Ray. After 6 months to a year they stopped doing that. Maybe they realized it ain't helping their case. I've never been the type to snarkily say "not my job", but I'm also not afraid to let them know I'm not a mechanic either. I'll give it a go, but when it comes to vehicle maintenance if it isn't topping off liquids or filling up air in a tire I can't help ya much. "Do you know how to replace a horn?" ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND? And that's another thing I've grown to hate... my back room or "office" if you will is slightly bigger than your average custodian room. I got shelves and a decent amount of equipment/supplies and people seem to confuse it for an Amazon warehouse. I have cleaned and organized the backroom a good 100x since I've taken over the job. Trust me, 99.99% of the time I know exactly what's in there. The other corona-chan % (.01) is usually just being confused about what they're asking about. People always claim something is back there. It may have been when Ray was here, but it ain't no more. And here's a clue... if it was something a carrier used or could use, odds are in the almost 2 years I've been here it will have been claimed by now.
And that's an annoying habit of dealing with the other coworkers... everyone is a goddamned expert. Never met so many journeyman in HVAC, landscaping, plumbing, etc. Everyone always has an opinion on what to do. I'm kinda surprised they're wasting their expertise making serious bank, but have chosen to be mailmen instead. I guess they got bored in retirement or something. The absolute worst of the backseat drivers comes with the lawn. I have settled on a routine using equipment that I have purchased. They had old mowers and such, but I couldn't get them to work. They won't get new ones and instead try and patch them up. Why would you bring in a repairman for a $70 push mower? The lawn is a decent size for sure. Way bigger than Northridge. I've settled on a routine and I basically mow every day. I could spend a full day killing myself doing it, or just do 40 minutes to an hour every day. I do it in sections. And everyone has a problem with it, well except management. They don't care one way or even notice. We do have a larger mower, but the way the lawn is situated I have never been comfortable using it on the practically 90 degree hills on the backside and it's just not worth getting out for the smaller sections. It's also not a rider, so what's the point if I gotta push it anyway? It's also broken (the pull cord is a dud) so it's pointless. And yet everyone loves to tell me mowing would be so much easier with it. Ever used it? No. Ever tried using it on this very lawn? Also no. Then wouldn't it be safe to assume you have no idea what you're talking about? Also if it's so easy than why did your hero Ray bring his own riding lawn mower on the weekend to do it? And that's usually where a few of them tell me they thought we had a rider. Yes, we have a riding lawn mower but I'm choosing to push a 20". If they brought me a proper riding lawn mower I would use it, sure. But they ain't. Some have even said they should just contract it out. Yeah, let's give them ideas about outsourcing my job. It would help a little if I didn't have to worry about mowing, but it keeps me busy from April to September with a guaranteed task to do after lunch (weather pending) and have an excuse to why certain things are neglected.
And then it happened. Or should I say, I heard it. Remember when I started at Northridge and I rang the bell? Never recalled hearing it when I worked at Northridge. But I hear it. All day. Every day. Package inquiries, general bitching, picking up keys, start and stop vacation holds. In all honesty just answering the door for customers when they ring it is a full-time job. Clerks and supervisors answer it, but they don't always do it. And people are impatient too. I'll be in the back and ring. And not even 5 seconds later... ring. Like fuck dude, give them a chance to get there. It's not like they're sitting at the door awaiting your all-important request. I start work at 6 and I've heard it minutes after I clock in. All day is all day. I don't know if we're just busier than Northridge or if we just have a needy population, but my God it's annoying. I hate being out in the lobby doing my morning stuff and people ring and then kinda glance at me expecting help. Is the package drop-off full? Not much more I can do. Also enjoy how they're quick to answer the door if I'm inside, but if I'm out there with customers they take their sweet time. And mopping of course always draws them like flies. Dunno why people insist on checking PO Boxes at 6 AM, but they do. I think I once got the floor mopped start to finish without someone walking on it. Next entry I'll discuss tricking myself into getting overtime, waxing floors, lock changes and other random custodian stuff.
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Legend
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Post by Ness on Jun 1, 2020 22:29:21 GMT
A Janitor Is Everywhere & Nowhere
Lots of people call being a custodian the best job in the post office. Very little is expected of you and you earn a decent wage. Nobody ever really thinks about someone starting out, but instead think of a maxed out former clerk or carrier stepping down to the do the job. So then they see them pussyfooting around for 25-30 hour and think of it as easy streak. 80% of custodians do little to nothing, so it's a cake position. That describes maintenance in general, but especially custodians that are part of a team at a plant. I never hear that when it's snowing out or when I'm literally drowning in sweat from mowing the lawn. But when they see (or hear) my can roll on by to collect trash, then everyone likes to comment how great my job is. It is great, but I'm also part of the 20%. I like to keep busy and always find projects for myself. I even have a list of stuff I like to get either monthly, quarterly, etc. So I end up doing "useless" busy work that only I care about. Never anything management requests or demands, but perhaps that keeps them off my back? Just never had the stones to do literally nothing like a lot do. But it's not my place to tell others how to do their job. Doesn't really matter since I'm the only custodian. I'm at what is considered a big station. Supposedly we were to have another custodian, possibly split between us and our sister office... but obviously that isn't a thing. Just as well as I hate when they have people "help" me as they just get in my way or put stuff in the wrong spot and it drives my OCD insane. And as hard as I work I really can only give myself a 70. Like a GED it's good enough, but I can tell it's not the best. Weeds fucking everywhere in the lawn, but other than cutting I don't have time for that. Do you want a custodian or a landscaper? You can't have both. I do a little bit of everything around here. I clean, reorganize, minor issues like changing lights and tightening bolts and such. I always get such a big kick out of walking around with a wrench, making sure something in snug and then walk back knowing I took care of it. Any monkey could do it, but it just makes me so proud. One major thing I'm in charge of, which might as well be a part-time job in itself is lock changes. Outside boxes (apartments, HOAs, business centers, etc.) that have new tenants or other issues are my responsibility to deal with. I have a routine down where I leave every few days for a few hours to take care of locks. And of course usually sneaking off to get some fast food breakfast too.
It's actually kinda great because it gives me a "break" from the office. I'm not big on being forced to drive to other offices to do random things (pickup, drop off, etc.) because it takes me away from my planned work for the day. But I like doing the locks because it's borderline fun. Only gripe is it never fucking ends. We (read: I) have a system in place and they put their requests in a box and I check it as part of my early morning routine. Always new locks to do. Always. It never ends. When I first started it was a nightmare though. Driving to the spot and trying to find the cluster boxes. They're rarely right in front and a lot of times are hidden away. And sometimes the notes are anything but clear. Should be address, name and number. For instance I got one recently that said 7511 (or whatever the number was)... okay? 7511 WHAT? A street would be nice. Doesn't help that sometimes they resolve the issues on their own and I have no idea that's gone down. For instance someone will request new keys, but maybe they get the keys from the landlord or whatever the case. Not knowing that I do my job and then call them to let them know they're ready. Oh don't worry I already got the keys from the previous tenant so I can check my mail now. No you can't. I just changed the lock. If those set of keys work, my job is completely pointless. The most annoying aspect of my job is probably management's insistence on getting the floor waxed. When I did the original tour of the place they mentioned doing that. After I got settled in and a routine down the postmaster mentioned wanting to get started on that. It was implied I'd have help, but yeah that never happened. See what should be happening is a team of custodians should be coming in on a Sunday (when no one is here!) so that you can focus undisturbed. I believe you need to be stripping the floor before you do it, which you cannot do by yourself since it takes one person to keep the floor wet and another to work the buffer. Instead they were having me come in on Saturdays "later" when the carriers leave for the day and to do it in sections.
Problem? Big one. See by time they all start getting out and I can move shit around, sweep, mop and apply wax... they come back. And no matter how much I try and block it off (because it needs a few layers at about an hour's dry time each) they just don't care and walk on it. I also don't know what the fuck I'm doing or if I'm using the right product. I say that because the floors look "good" for a bit, but as the weeks go on and I've started mopping and general wear from work it starts fading and going back to the normal look. Is that normal or am I just not doing it right? Also I can really only do the segments where they case the mail. Can't do the entryways because constant traffic and can't just come in extra early because trucks are dropping off skids the entire day. If not Sunday then overnight. They don't seem interested in doing it that way, so I've been doing a half-assed version whenever I get a chance (because I have a regular job too!). Six or so months ago we had some "corporate" people come in and they of course asked me when the last time it was done. I tell them the deal, but I should've known better that it would go in one ear and out the other. Suits that don't do the job aren't gonna think logically. If I didn't have to constantly have them get back with me about the floor my job would be so much better. I see our sister office's floor every Monday when I pick up undelivered Sunday packages... they look the same, so I'm not sure why the big push for us to get it done. Probably so management can brag. This is where I fucked up though. Originally the postmaster wanted me to come in every other Saturday to do floors. After a few times and seeing me not getting anywhere since I was waiting on them to leave for the day I offered to do it every Saturday, thinking it would speed it along. And then it got to the point where they just wanted me there every Saturday, effectively working 6 days a week. For a while I was only working a half-day on Saturday, but getting up and going still counts as a day. The past two Saturdays I said fuck it and didn't go in and they've been glorious. The postmaster who was in charge when I started didn't last long, which was a shame as he seemed to be totally on board for Team Ness, although my next story I'm not sure how things would have fared him versus his replacement. Thing about supervisors is don't get attached. Of course they are rarely good where you want them to stay, but if you got a bad one it's only a matter of time. They come and go. So after he left we got a temporary one and then the one we have now. Most of the office doesn't like him. Even the maintenance guys (the one I've really bonded with anyway) think he's an idiot. Before and after the incident I wouldn't have a strong opinion on the guy, which I admit may be because I'm mostly left alone to do my own thing. He always has projects for me (his words), which can be annoying but also makes me feel like less of a shitstain since it makes me feel like I'm contributing something to this building. And I guess the office was about to learn exactly how much I contribute as the next story will be discussing my time sitting on the bench ala Luke Harper. Coming up discussing my month of paid admin leave, almost losing my job and some valuable life lessons.
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Post by Emperor on Jun 2, 2020 21:26:16 GMT
My plan was to just pile in my savings for another 2 years (basically come this summer) and get my own place. A few weeks in and I was already done with it. I seriously have no idea how people do it. Started at the new office in July and already had my own apartment (first time moving out) by September, where I'm writing from as we speak. I've read this paragraph over and over and I don't understand the bolded bit. You have no idea how people do something that it took you only three months to do?
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Legend
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Post by Ness on Jun 2, 2020 21:31:37 GMT
My plan was to just pile in my savings for another 2 years (basically come this summer) and get my own place. A few weeks in and I was already done with it. I seriously have no idea how people do it. Started at the new office in July and already had my own apartment (first time moving out) by September, where I'm writing from as we speak. I've read this paragraph over and over and I don't understand the bolded bit. You have no idea how people do something that it took you only three months to do? Commuting long distances, particularly on a highway. Must've had both saving/driving on the mind and merged them as I typed without thinking about it. So my plan going in was to save for 2 yrs and do the commute (the idea to have enough for a house down payment really instead of rent) but a few weeks of that I was "done" as I typed and started looking for a place closer to work. Nothing makes me break out in hives worse than going into the exit and seeing traffic backed up for miles and knowing I got to merge onto it.
As far as typing these up I have a rough idea of a topic, but I have no bullet points or anything so I just start going and who knows how it ends.
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Post by Emperor on Jun 2, 2020 22:30:28 GMT
Ah, I gotcha. For me, working at home for so long has made me kinda dread the commute, even though it's a 20 minute train ride + a 20 minute walk. Not bad at all. I think it's mostly the waking up super early I'm dreading more than the actual commute. I like a good walk.
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