Time & Money
Tuesday, September 20th, 2022 08:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoozefestaudioSo, Yesterday was my first day as a GeoStaff janitor for... We'll call it... Grape, Elementary School. But I was unreasonably exhausted by the time I got home, so I didn't write an entry here.
I say, unreasonably, exhausted, because... it was only four hours, I didn't have to be there until 3PM, and Grape Elementary is only 20 minutes from my house, so... what's there to be exhausted about?
But this was my first time punching a time clock in twenty months, and my first time training for a new job in... twelve years?.. so I was kinda nervous.
Also, being a school building, it was only partially air conditioned. Some rooms. Some hallways. But other areas... 75F because why invest in full AC, when most of the school year is in the winter?
I was sweating a bit more than I anticipated. But I also forgot that... oh yeah!.. Janitors don't ever sit down! There is no part of vacuuming, taking out garbage, and cleaning bathrooms, that involves sitting down... or even standing still!
Now, being on your feet for four hours, and getting in 8000 steps is... pretty moderate. It shouldn't be exhausting, but, for the past, almost two years, I haven't gotten anywhere close to those numbers per day.
Not that I've been sedentary... I mean, I've been shoveling snow in the winter, and mowing the lawn in the summer... and I've been working on the house, and was out there doing some handy man work and stuff...
But, you know... even on a busy day it might've been 6000 steps... with frequent breaks.
--<>--
So, I was exhausted after my first day, but today felt a lot more normal... I wasn't nervous. I ate before I left. My body was already adapting to all the walking. I got home with energy to spare... as one should, after only four hours!
And it's supposed to cool down, come Thurdsay... by which point I should be fully flying solo over there, no longer in training, or getting lost in the building.
--<>--
GeoStaff used to have two full time janitors at Grape on 2nd shift, who each had their halves of the building. But then they lost one. And now, they've hired me, and another part-timer to cover that one position... and both of us started on Monday!
So... our supervisor realized they didn't have a third janitor cart, or a third vacuum cleaner. And for the past two days it's been kind of hectic as he's been trying to train us both, and juggle the one cart and one vacuum betweeen us.
So... I'm looking forward to next week, when the training is done, and we both have our own equipment, and it's cooled off outside, and I'm smoothly in the swing of a new routine, and life starts clicking along.
------------{=0=}------------
The job itself is gonna be great! I have no problem with the people or the building or my tasks, or the commute or anything. And I'm really grateful that I can start out part-time like this, to get myself, Dad, and my two little kittens all used to me being gone for a few hours a day.
So my only big worry tonight was... when's that money gonna start hitting the bank account on the regular?
I think my first payday will be next Tuesday, but... is it only gonna be for the couple hours of my orientation last Thurdsay? Or will it include this week I'm working now? And there was also talk of a sign on bonus... half now... half after 90 days. So will that first half be on the first paychek?
Because like... if not, and if I'm only paid for orientation next tuesday, that's only gonna be like thirty bucks! And I may have to wait three weeks from today to see like... half a paycheck?.. and five weeks before they're always full paychecks!
--<>--
But then, when I got home tonight, something had come for me in the mail.
On the envelope, it read, "Smith V. Advocate Health Care," which was my OLD employer.
And god damn if it was not a check made out to me for $230.00!
Apparently there had been some class action lawsuit, filed back in 2019, against Advocate, for unpaid overtime going back to 2016. And after years in the legal system, Advocate settled out of court, and sent out a bunch of checks to people who'd worked for them in those years.
And I'm tellin ya!.. it came at the EXACT right time! That $230.00 is gonna cover anything that hits my main checking account over the next few weeks, while I'm waiting for the GeoStaff checks to start hitting... and living off the fumes of my Dad's income.
--<>--
I'll take this random $230.00 as a sign that the universe has indeed backed off harassing me... and that I'll be able to make ends meet from here on out... as I continue to grapple with the fallen mulberry tree the rest of the fall and winter.
------------{=0=}------------
I will continue to be living on a shoestring for quite a long while, however.
The part time job will cover the bare necessities, and I'll continue to have to find cheep or free solutions to any challenges like the mulberry.
For that, a longer chainsaw blade & chain will only be $40.00... and then maybe another $50.00 for rope and pulleys to rotate the vertical limb down to the ground.
I have Care Credit, to get Snoop & Prowly fixed (which has to happen soon), but male cats are cheeper to fix, and the monthly payment shouldn't be difficult.
--<>--
The name of the game, as I go into 2023, is going to be basic survival, but I will have full health care, come December, and I am happy to have an employer tossing a little to Social Security again... as well as income taxes.
And I can look forward to a pretty good tax return in January... because I'll have made barely any income for 2022.
And after that?.. It's just a game of waiting for inflation to go down, and keeping Dad alive, while the cats grow up, and I build enough momentum at GeoStaff to either go full time, or transition into maintenance.
And my union's gonna be renegotiating at the end of 2023, so... if inflation is still a bitch, they may bargain for everybody to get a cost of living adjustment.
Or, who knows? Maybe Congress will finally increase the minumum wage!.. which usually results in pay bumps across the whole workforce.
------------{=0=}------------
One way or another, with all the things I secured at the end of my last career, when times were last booming... tools, electronics, a reliable car, good credit, a ton of critical home repairs...
And the top notch health care Dad already had, and I will soon have...
And the youth of the cats...
We should be able to weather 2023.
--<>--
And with that... it is a warm night tonight. I think I will record another few hours out there of crickets while I can.
Oh, and I did get some good rain and thunder B-roll the other night!
So, sometime in the near future I'll be able to process more cricket footage and crank out a couple more tracks for the playlist. And there is another fake thunderstorm in the pipeline.
°¦}
https://soundcloud.com/snoozefestaudio
I say, unreasonably, exhausted, because... it was only four hours, I didn't have to be there until 3PM, and Grape Elementary is only 20 minutes from my house, so... what's there to be exhausted about?
But this was my first time punching a time clock in twenty months, and my first time training for a new job in... twelve years?.. so I was kinda nervous.
Also, being a school building, it was only partially air conditioned. Some rooms. Some hallways. But other areas... 75F because why invest in full AC, when most of the school year is in the winter?
I was sweating a bit more than I anticipated. But I also forgot that... oh yeah!.. Janitors don't ever sit down! There is no part of vacuuming, taking out garbage, and cleaning bathrooms, that involves sitting down... or even standing still!
Now, being on your feet for four hours, and getting in 8000 steps is... pretty moderate. It shouldn't be exhausting, but, for the past, almost two years, I haven't gotten anywhere close to those numbers per day.
Not that I've been sedentary... I mean, I've been shoveling snow in the winter, and mowing the lawn in the summer... and I've been working on the house, and was out there doing some handy man work and stuff...
But, you know... even on a busy day it might've been 6000 steps... with frequent breaks.
So, I was exhausted after my first day, but today felt a lot more normal... I wasn't nervous. I ate before I left. My body was already adapting to all the walking. I got home with energy to spare... as one should, after only four hours!
And it's supposed to cool down, come Thurdsay... by which point I should be fully flying solo over there, no longer in training, or getting lost in the building.
GeoStaff used to have two full time janitors at Grape on 2nd shift, who each had their halves of the building. But then they lost one. And now, they've hired me, and another part-timer to cover that one position... and both of us started on Monday!
So... our supervisor realized they didn't have a third janitor cart, or a third vacuum cleaner. And for the past two days it's been kind of hectic as he's been trying to train us both, and juggle the one cart and one vacuum betweeen us.
So... I'm looking forward to next week, when the training is done, and we both have our own equipment, and it's cooled off outside, and I'm smoothly in the swing of a new routine, and life starts clicking along.
The job itself is gonna be great! I have no problem with the people or the building or my tasks, or the commute or anything. And I'm really grateful that I can start out part-time like this, to get myself, Dad, and my two little kittens all used to me being gone for a few hours a day.
So my only big worry tonight was... when's that money gonna start hitting the bank account on the regular?
I think my first payday will be next Tuesday, but... is it only gonna be for the couple hours of my orientation last Thurdsay? Or will it include this week I'm working now? And there was also talk of a sign on bonus... half now... half after 90 days. So will that first half be on the first paychek?
Because like... if not, and if I'm only paid for orientation next tuesday, that's only gonna be like thirty bucks! And I may have to wait three weeks from today to see like... half a paycheck?.. and five weeks before they're always full paychecks!
But then, when I got home tonight, something had come for me in the mail.
On the envelope, it read, "Smith V. Advocate Health Care," which was my OLD employer.
And god damn if it was not a check made out to me for $230.00!
Apparently there had been some class action lawsuit, filed back in 2019, against Advocate, for unpaid overtime going back to 2016. And after years in the legal system, Advocate settled out of court, and sent out a bunch of checks to people who'd worked for them in those years.
And I'm tellin ya!.. it came at the EXACT right time! That $230.00 is gonna cover anything that hits my main checking account over the next few weeks, while I'm waiting for the GeoStaff checks to start hitting... and living off the fumes of my Dad's income.
I'll take this random $230.00 as a sign that the universe has indeed backed off harassing me... and that I'll be able to make ends meet from here on out... as I continue to grapple with the fallen mulberry tree the rest of the fall and winter.
I will continue to be living on a shoestring for quite a long while, however.
The part time job will cover the bare necessities, and I'll continue to have to find cheep or free solutions to any challenges like the mulberry.
For that, a longer chainsaw blade & chain will only be $40.00... and then maybe another $50.00 for rope and pulleys to rotate the vertical limb down to the ground.
I have Care Credit, to get Snoop & Prowly fixed (which has to happen soon), but male cats are cheeper to fix, and the monthly payment shouldn't be difficult.
The name of the game, as I go into 2023, is going to be basic survival, but I will have full health care, come December, and I am happy to have an employer tossing a little to Social Security again... as well as income taxes.
And I can look forward to a pretty good tax return in January... because I'll have made barely any income for 2022.
And after that?.. It's just a game of waiting for inflation to go down, and keeping Dad alive, while the cats grow up, and I build enough momentum at GeoStaff to either go full time, or transition into maintenance.
And my union's gonna be renegotiating at the end of 2023, so... if inflation is still a bitch, they may bargain for everybody to get a cost of living adjustment.
Or, who knows? Maybe Congress will finally increase the minumum wage!.. which usually results in pay bumps across the whole workforce.
One way or another, with all the things I secured at the end of my last career, when times were last booming... tools, electronics, a reliable car, good credit, a ton of critical home repairs...
And the top notch health care Dad already had, and I will soon have...
And the youth of the cats...
We should be able to weather 2023.
And with that... it is a warm night tonight. I think I will record another few hours out there of crickets while I can.
Oh, and I did get some good rain and thunder B-roll the other night!
So, sometime in the near future I'll be able to process more cricket footage and crank out a couple more tracks for the playlist. And there is another fake thunderstorm in the pipeline.
°¦}
