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66F right now, and it's not expected to even hit 70F today! It's also overcast and very slightly misting out there! I LOVE IT! I managed to get over to the D313 command center on Seminary Ave on time today, and snapped this photo of a maple on the grounds already changing color, here on the 8th of September...
I call it the command center, because this building was like CIA level security.
And that was the first hint of the fascist vibe I was picking up the entire time I was there.
I thought we might just be chatting informally, but instead I was whisked up to Jesse's office by a very aryan looking young guy who sat in the room with us, and helped him read off questions to me for what was a very interrogation-like full, hardcore job inteview.
And there I was in my loafers, with a ratty baseball cap on my head, and a pair of sunglasses resting on the brim, chewing some gum, to get the smoke off my breath.
But I already have a job, so, I was more or less being myself, and feeling them out as much as they were feeling me out.
So... they do have an opening on 2nd shift at Odlaw, and I made it clear that I'd love to work there, and they both seemed to nod and glance at one another in a vaguely positive way about that.
But when I asked if they could beat $14.50, Jessee, very uncomfortably, said they start people at $15.25 to perhaps $15.75... he wasn't exactly sure.
And that told me that it would probably be $15.50, or... one little dollar more an hour than I'm making right now.
But Jessee was quick to point out that there's plenty of overtime to be had!
So... they're very much the same as GeoStaff (and probably every other janitor gig) in that, they'd much rather be perpetually understaffed, and force everybody to work overtime, than pay anybody a living wage.
Also, one of the questions they had for me was to give an example of when I was not very motivated at work.
And without hesitation, I told them that over the summer I was not very motivated, because the building was so hot.
And they both kinda frowned and hung their heads like, "Uh oh!... we've got a hot workplace complainer here!"
So they're no different from GeoStaff in that sense.
But there were other parts of the interview in which they really betrayed a very fascist work culture.
The one that sticks out is when they asked how often I dust, "high and low." and I told them that where I am now, each room is assigned one day a week to get 100%... meaning it's dusted high and low.
And Jesse's response was, "Well we expect 100% in every room every day!"
They also said It could take a while to onboard me, because they do very thorough background checks with fingerprinting and so forth, and that can take a while to get done.
And he actually said, "We have to make sure you're not a pedophile."
So... I mean, I understand how that's a concern, but... it did strike me as a bit much to throw out there, like that.
So, my take away is;
- The money's not significantly better.
- The buildings will be just as hot.
- Yes, I'd have more time at home each day, but...
- They take themselves way too seriously.
- They seem to almost require overtime.
- It's probably an environment where coworkers are encouraged to rat each other out, especially for something like smoking.
So... not looking like the great career move that it did yesterday, when I was just daydreaming about it.
But a process has been kicked off that will take several weeks to play out.
I'd say, if I was offered a position at Odlaw, and if I was working alone, I'd seriously consider it.
But there's also the chance that, if they call GeoStaff... it could trigger them to bump my pay by some petty amount, and I'd stay with them.
Cuz... they are pretty casual.
And the devil you know, is always more comfortable than the devil you don't.
So, it's now Friday, and the weekend is looking to be relatively cool.
Tomorrow will only be 73F, and Sunday is 77F, but that's still not too bad.
It's gonna be a mixed bag this weekend... I want to get the lumber for the storms at Home Depot, and set up a workspace for them.
But I also want to fine tune the hatch door, mow the lawn, and catch up on some other yard work that's been ignored for weeks, thanks to the heat.
If there's time, it'd be nice to get a start on constructing the storms... cutting the boards... drilling all the holes with the jig... maybe even fastening the outer frames togetether?
But... these projects always take longer than I think they will. So we'll see.
As for that flat tire in the back of the van... it's gonna have to wait another week.
Final thoughts before I leave for work...
If I do stay with GeoStaff another year, I really need to take advantage of the health care. I need dental work, and a pair of glasses would not hurt!
Also, I should probably start looking around for maintenance work, now that I know all janitor gigs seem to top out at $15.00 per hour.
And I need to get out of the school district sphere, where air conditioning is considered an extreme luxury no lowly laborer should expect to enjoy at work.
Such a job hunt will take a lot longer, but... I've got nothing but time.
Jesus, what a night!
The PTA was at it again, out there in the park tonight, but it wasn't a picnic this time.
Tonight, it was MOVIE NIGHT!.. where they project a movie from a laptop onto a crappy screen outside, but nobody watches it, because it's just and excuse for all their kids to play on the playground in the dark with glow sticks.
Extra 2,000 steps for me, and because they slowed me down until 9:30PM, I had to scramble to catch up for the final two hours... which is always fun on a Friday night.
It got me to thinking that for jobs like this, it would make more sense to pay a worker per step, than per hour.
And if you do the math, one penny per step is a perfectly fair wage!
So, let's do that math...
On a typical 8 hour shift, I do 14,000 steps. The actual number is more like 14,543 or something, but that does count my steps before I get to work.
So, going by 14K per shift, divided by eight, is 1,750 steps per hour.
So at one cent per step, that's $17.50 an hour.
"But wait!" I hear a regional manager cry, "We can't afford to pay you $17.50 per hour!"
Well, that's fine! If all you can pay me is $14.50 per hour... what you're saying is that I only have to do (1,450X8=11,600) 11,600 steps per shift!
I mean... you have your budget and I have mine, right?
And my body can't afford to take a step for less than a penny!
A step takes it's toll on my feet, knees, and spine!
And doctors cannot repair feet, knees, or spines, can they? No! Nobody has ever had a foot, knee, or spine surgery that restored them to normal.
It's impossible!
So no amount of free health care can make up for what I give to you, when I take a step, in your workplace.
Therefore... I'm gonna need one cent per step!
But if the cost of living doubles... then guess what?
I'm gonna need TWO cents per step!
Of course, nobody wants to hear this kind of an argument because it's just another way of framing the argument they already hate, which is that people should be justly compensated for their labor.
Instead, the universal attitude... that's now even saturated the unions, apparently... is that if you're not happy with the money... you can work over time and Saturdays!
"Unlimited overtime, guys! Unlimited Saturdays, guys! Money for everybody... who wants to work! Only gay retards work 8 hours and take two day weekends! We don't want any gay retards messing up our good thing with all the overtime!"
It's just a veiled way of saying that the standard work week is now 12 hours a day, six days a week!
"If you do that... and your spouse works a gay 8 hour job... and you have five credit cards... you'll be FINE!
And don't complain about your dog being left alone, or your house being empty for all those hours because your family members need to step up and take care of things like that!.. your sons and brothers, and your spouse's retired parents!
What's wrong with you!"
And some people just EAT THAT UP!
Some people LOVE to be told that working harder and longer for less money is a VIRTUE that sets them apart from the lazy losers of the world.
And these people LEAP at the opportunity for overtime! Twelve hours is nothing! Let me do a DOUBLE on Saturday, baby! That's sixteen sweet hours of DOUBLE TIME! YEAH!
They laugh all the way to the bank, like they've pulled off some kind of genius heist!
And when their employers say, "We love you, becasue we know we can rely on you," well... they really do RELY on these insane idiots to stay in business with only 50% of a full staff on any given day!
That 50% full staff includes all the people who work for a few months or a year and then quit, because it's bullshit.
That other 50% is just always vacant... never filled.
So, in a very real and sinister way... it's those boobs who buy into the cult of overtime... who are the problem!
They're such a problem that even when they unionize, they don't fight for better wages!
They just fight for free health care for their family members who are taking care of their houses and dogs while they destroy themselves with sleep deprivation and permanent joint injuries... to bring home what they've been fooled into thinking are the big bucks!
If the companies paid people living wages... let's say $20.00 per hour to start... because with the cost of living today, and for a union worker... that's absolutely fair!..
Then they would be 100% staffed... which means there would be no NEED for anybody to work overtime, or on Saturdays!
And these stupid boobs... know and FEAR this!.. because, without their overtime... they're not SPECIAL anymore!
And really kids... that is what's at the heart of ALL brainwashing techniques!
Don't ever forget that I told you this.
Brainwashing is the number one problem in society. And ALL forms of brainwashing are just ways of making people feel SPECIAL.
Okay, I know this entry's getting long, but it is my Friday night, and I do have one more thing to vent about, from today.
I checked my FICO score with Experian today, and it's dropped twelve points!
You'll recall that it only just shot UP ten points, at the start of the month, so... dropping twelve is not as bad as it could be.
But the drop was caused by two factors that... I cannot say weren't partly my fault... but I can say, were ridiculous hurdles I shouldn't have had to deal with.
The first was that Care Credit... which is for veterinary care... had given me a $3000.00 line of credit last August, when I got the cats... and recently cancelled that line of credit, because I didn't use it!
And we'll unpack that below.
But the second thing was that I missed my first PenFed payment!
PenFed first, because this does really get my goat!
You'll recall that on September 1st, I attempted to pay PenFed, before the payment was due, but they required an authentication code first... that they couldn't send!
I tried three times to get them to text me an authentication code and nothing came through so I logged off... and then five full minutes later all three texts finally popped up all at once!
Had I waited the five minutes... the authentication on the app would've timed out anyway!
Because TEXTS ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO TAKE FIVE MINUTES TO ARRIVE!
This much was not my fault!
The only thing that was my fault is that, I then moved into a very intense, and overheated weekend of completing and installing the hatch door, and... just totally forgot!
But it came due on the 4th, and... NO DELAY WHEN IT CAME TO REPORTING ME!
So I did manage to finally plug in my checking account to their buggy-assed app, and make a $300.00 payment toward the $700.00 balance (for the lawyer).
And I also finally put $30.00 from my checking into their stupid savings account they have for me... because they're a credit union.
So FUCK YOU, PEN FED!
All I need to do now is suffer through getting the damn card to autopay the minimum from my checking every month, and this will never happen again!
But the Care Credit situation is also a huge ton of bullshit, because;
- They don't issue you a card, just a number, expiration date, and security code that you have to read off to somebody, if you want to use it.
- You cannot use it online, or plug it into your Google Pay or Apple Pay app.
- You can only use it at the veteranarian, and not all vets take it.
- They say you can use it at certain pet stores and drug stores, but they are lying.
- No other credit card in the universe cancels your credit because you have not used it!
So, what this did was, lower my, "available credit," by three thousand dollars.
And what that did, was make my, "available credit useage," jump up from 6% to 11%, in the blink of an eye!
And both of those things are BAD for your credit score!
So, the only way to fix THAT problem, is to apply for more credit cards, until I have $3000.00 more in available credit!
Which is harder to do now... because my credit score just went DOWN!
So... I was doing pretty good walking that tightrope this year, all the way from when I got the PNC loan in late March, until just now, in early September.
But I have now slipped, and must struggle to regain my balance... lest I fall off the rope down into the saf... oh yeah, there is no safety net in America...
Down into the hot lava!
I'm pretty sure I can get it back to where it was by October 1st, if I can get another credit card, and pay down both PenFed, and Wells Fargo to... near zero.
But that's gonna push back the optimal date for applying for a home loan into October.
So that means I have to hope the slow motion drama going on with BMO and my lawyer drags on into October.
But all of it does seem workable.
So at the moment, I'm more annoyed, than in a panic.
Okay, that's my Friday.
Talk to you after the Sun's back around.
°¦}
