workinforwood
Member
Being unemployed was a lot of work! It's like I got to make and sell pen blanks to pay the bills and that takes all the fun out of it, it gets old and tiring if that's all you do. Then when you are tired, you play video games and sleep and get more tired and unmotivated becoming just like a blob.
I did my first UAW shift yesterday and I thought it was pretty good. It wasn't just doing nothing all day. I did do stuff, now it wasn't a lot of stuff, but it was a nice balance of working and standing around talking and smoking. I am on second shift, which actually is pretty decent. I start at 2pm and work till 10:15, so I get home before 11 and get to bed no problem. In the morning I wake up at a decent hour, can have coffee, sit with my kid for an hour, go out to the shop and cut a couple blanks with no pressure, it's really back to like it used to be. I was hauling carts yesterday. I'll be doing different jobs for a little while till I get a steady route. Some routes are no touch, some are carts. The carts are about 6 foot long, they put small parts on them, you push them into the trailer, they are heavy but not over heavy and they are on wheels so it's not that strenuous at all. You stand around waiting for your carts to show up, load them, strap them down, take them down the street and the GM guys unload them like a wagon train in just a few minutes, then you reload empty ones and go back, do it again, 3 times in 8 hrs. The exact same thing with same parts to same spot, no problem. You have window times, the parts can't be early or late, and the time they give you to get there is very relaxing, so you have the pressure you must get there, but there's no pressure cause you have 25 minutes to drive 1 mile :smile-big:. All the people were friendly, I had a good time. I wasn't exhausted at the end of the day, I wasn't too tired during the day, I got good sleep, I got paid, heck..there wasn't anything to complain about at all. I get paid less than I used to, but in 3.5 yrs I will be back to my old pay scale. I get 8 hrs of vacation this year since I started in December. I get 88 hrs next year. In 5 yrs I get 128 hrs vacation. In a couple weeks I get 10 days off for Christmas, that's a hoot, and I can get unemployment during that time, so that's most excellent. The health care plan is premium, and I get bonus company stocks, UAW retirement plan, it's pretty sweet. I think I can fit right in here with this company.
I did my first UAW shift yesterday and I thought it was pretty good. It wasn't just doing nothing all day. I did do stuff, now it wasn't a lot of stuff, but it was a nice balance of working and standing around talking and smoking. I am on second shift, which actually is pretty decent. I start at 2pm and work till 10:15, so I get home before 11 and get to bed no problem. In the morning I wake up at a decent hour, can have coffee, sit with my kid for an hour, go out to the shop and cut a couple blanks with no pressure, it's really back to like it used to be. I was hauling carts yesterday. I'll be doing different jobs for a little while till I get a steady route. Some routes are no touch, some are carts. The carts are about 6 foot long, they put small parts on them, you push them into the trailer, they are heavy but not over heavy and they are on wheels so it's not that strenuous at all. You stand around waiting for your carts to show up, load them, strap them down, take them down the street and the GM guys unload them like a wagon train in just a few minutes, then you reload empty ones and go back, do it again, 3 times in 8 hrs. The exact same thing with same parts to same spot, no problem. You have window times, the parts can't be early or late, and the time they give you to get there is very relaxing, so you have the pressure you must get there, but there's no pressure cause you have 25 minutes to drive 1 mile :smile-big:. All the people were friendly, I had a good time. I wasn't exhausted at the end of the day, I wasn't too tired during the day, I got good sleep, I got paid, heck..there wasn't anything to complain about at all. I get paid less than I used to, but in 3.5 yrs I will be back to my old pay scale. I get 8 hrs of vacation this year since I started in December. I get 88 hrs next year. In 5 yrs I get 128 hrs vacation. In a couple weeks I get 10 days off for Christmas, that's a hoot, and I can get unemployment during that time, so that's most excellent. The health care plan is premium, and I get bonus company stocks, UAW retirement plan, it's pretty sweet. I think I can fit right in here with this company.
