'Bout Kicked My Butt
The other day, I made a momentous decision. I decided that from now on, when I am on the "off" part of my 7 days on/7 days off schedule at work, I'm going to work every weekday.
I'll be honest: I've been rather lazy with that time off the past few months. So the other day, I went down to a day labor company and signed up.
The plan is, every weekday that I'm not actively writing something for money, I'm going to the day labor place. On Thursday, I dutifully rose at 4:15, took a shower and headed out.
The day labor people suggest you get there at five if you want to work that day.
I got there in plenty of time, and I was given an assignment at a local sawmill. I spent the morning feeding pieces of wood into a saw. In the afternoon, I unloaded pieces that came out of the other end of the saw.
The work was tedious and relentless, but it was rather simple, and I had plenty of time to think and plan. The biggest problem I had other than the sheer physicality of the work -- I'm not used to being moderately active for 8 hours straight -- was the fact that there was a clock on the wall right in my line of vision.
I did my best to avoid looking at the clock, but when it's in your line of sight...you look.
At the end of the shift, I earned $56.36. That's okay; I've done worse jobs for less money. And when you work day labor, you get paid at the end of your shift, which I like a whole lot.
And I enjoy working with wood. I like the smell (except for dogwood, which smells like manure that has been mixed with honey), and even though I was pretty sore, I felt good.
The money didn't even make it all the way home; I stopped at the grocery store and spent $55.
On Friday, I was all set to go back to the sawmill, but decided against it. I had some story ideas, and I even had someone who had agreed to be interviewed for the On The Job article I write for the paper.
But I couldn't find the guy until almost two in the afternoon. He said to come back next week on Wednesday or Thursday. Another subject was out of town for the day.
So I was frustrated. My plan is to work every weekday -- and I had skipped a paying job for writing a story, and I was skunked. And this was only the second day of my Big Plan.
Instead of giving up, I stopped in at a dog grooming place and made an appointment for next week to interview one of the stylists. I also called a church secretary that I know who agreed to an interview on Monday morning.
A family that provides foster care is up for Tuesday. So that means I probably have four or five stories lined up in the next few days.
So that means I don't need to go to the sawmill or any other assignment from the day labor place. This is the deal I made with myself: work every weekday. If I'm not writing, I will go to the day labor.
It's funny just how many ideas just jumped into my head when I had 8 hours of noisy incessant work in front of me.
I'll tell you the truth: that job 'bout kicked my butt. It's also true that I needed it kicked.
Posted by michaelsawin
at 11:16 PM CDT