First Day at the New Job!

Wow, am I ever tired... and sore! Hmm... haven't I sung this tune before? LOL! Had my first day at the new job today and I'm pleased to report it went quite well! I am SO happy to be gainfully employed once again! I have to admit I was fairly nervous about this job as my previous attempts at finding employment over the past few years haven't gone so well, as anyone who "regularly" reads this sporadic blurt already knows. In fact, I was so nervous, I couldn't sleep very well last night. I went to bed early (for me) at around 11:45 pm but didn't get to sleep until well after 12:30 am. Then I proceeded to wake up several times until around 2:30 am when I think I finally fell into a deep sleep. Needless to say, the alarm going off at 4:30 am was not welcomed at all! I dozed for about 20 more minutes then dragged myself out of bed and began to get ready for work.

My wife was working days at the nursing home today, which meant that she had to be a half hour south of our city for 7:00 am, the same time I was supposed to be reporting for work in the north end. We only have one vehicle right now, so that meant that I was the lucky one who got to take the bus to work. The way my city has set up their transit system leaves one wondering "Why?". In order for me to be at work on time, I had to catch a bus from our downtown at 6:15 am. Now there is a bus that goes right by the end of my street and then heads downtown. The problem was, according to the posted schedules, I would have one minute to get from the first bus to the other bus once we got downtown, IF the buses were running on time. Our buses are notoriously 5 - 10 minutes late at any given time so that would be cutting it VERY close, if at all. So... I asked my wife if she would drive me downtown and drop me off. She graciously agreed, then said she had to be heading out of town by 6:05 am. So, to make a long story a little less long, at 6:02 this morning, I was standing, all alone, in the dark, very chilly morning at the bus "terminal" downtown waiting for my bus. Not fun! The bus ride itself was uneventful, and I arrived at the plant at 6:36. Then I got to wait until shortly after 7:00 for the training to begin.

There was about 25 people starting this morning, so things were a little chaotic until they got us all signed into lockers and registered on the palm reader system. Let me tell you about the security in this company. Every employee has a security card with their photo on it, which is used to get through 3 sets of locked doors to get into the building. Then, once you've left all your personal belongings in your locker, you go upstairs to the warehouse where you pass another security check then scan your hand into the palm reader. If you need to go out of the warehouse for a break, lunch or end of day, you have to scan your hand again, then walk through an airport style metal detector and then have a security guard wave one of those metal detecting wands over you, front and back, since the airport style one beeps every time thanks to our steel toe shoes, and if you have a wallet on you, they have to check that too. Then you need to use your security card to go through those 3 locked doors again if you need to go out of the building! I pity the smokers... well... actually I don't, but I'm sure that more than a few people have contemplated giving up the habit because of all that hassle! I've never seen such security anywhere else I've worked, even the ( government run at the time I worked there) Canada Post Head Office buildings in Ottawa!

Once that was done, we started training, which lasted about 2 hours, then I was handed a RF (radio-frequency) Bar-code Scanner, and a bunch of order pick lists and told, "Go to it!". Yep... within 4 hours of starting a brand new job, I was flying solo! The warehouse is absolutely HUGE (over 650,000 square feet, I think I heard) and I got to walk most of it my first day! Sink or Swim! I floundered along ok... I think.. at least I didn't foul up completely!

The company is pretty lenient with regards to break times, which is a pleasant relief from the other places I've worked with those loud obnoxious buzzers telling you when to go on break, and when to get back to work! Here you take a break when you think you need one, just keeping in mind that you have one 15 minute break, followed by a 30 minute lunch, then one more 15 minute break per 8 hour workday, and you have to scan your hand out and in for each one, so your times are recorded. They have a very nice cafeteria, and once again we were told about all the bonuses we could earn if we play by the rules and do our jobs well.

I think I'm going to like it there. Most of the people I met today were very friendly, and willing to help if we "noobs" got stuck with anything.

Well... I am fast running out of energy after that short night and very busy day! I'll be heading off to bed soon, hopefully to sleep better than last night, so I'll wrap this up.

Have a great week everybody!