Wednesday, Jan 7 - I am informed that Friday the 9th will be my last day at work. I'm a temp and my current place of work has a national contract with my temp company that limits a temp's length of employment to 6 months. I place several calls to other temp agencies where I'm registered. My supervisor is visibly upset - she literally calls me her "gift from God" at least once a week because I've taken over half of her paper work, freeing her up to do the actual case management that her job title describes. She and the other manager I work for are placing frantic phone calls trying to keep me for at least a few more weeks.
Thursday, Jan 8 - My supervisor (who hasn't been able to look me in the eyes since she told me they had to let me go) lets me know that there's a first-shift opening at my current place of work, on the production floor. It's part time though, almost all of their new hiring is part-time. I also find out that the permanent job I applied for with the company never got filled because there's a hiring freeze for mid-level employees). I get a lead on a potential temp-to-hire job. It's more money than I'm making now, and more likelihood of leading to permanency (that company's growing). I have a decision to make:
A) stay where I am and move to the production floor
- Large, VERY large company, which means stability and great benefits if I ever go full time, which I'm told takes 6 months to a year). PRO
- The hiring freeze means they're not bringing anybody new in, BUT they can promote from within into those mid-level jobs. This means after my 45 day probationary period I can bid on the type of job I applied for, if they don't fill it by then. But there are many other office jobs that I'm qualified for that I could have a first crack at being an employee. PRO
- Part-time, so I would only be scheduled at most for 32 hours a week. CON
- BUT, I'd be making enough more per hour that if I did work 32 hours in a week, I'd only make $30 less than I do temping. I could get another part time job or do something like substitute teach on the off-day, and I'd come out ahead. PRO
- I risk losing a chunk of a finger or worse in a machine (which has happened since I've been temping there). CON
B) Jump ship for the new temp job
- Another big company (though not as big) with great benefits should I get hired on, though not as big. PRO
- Full time hours, making more than current temp job. PRO
- Half the distance from where I work now, greatly reducing commute PRO
- No guarantee I would get hired onm meaning that in 3 months I could have nothing. HUGE CON
Mind you, I've been looking for work the whole time I've been at my current job, with no results. It's starting to look like a "bird-in-the-hand" situation. I forward my latest resume to the temp agency.
At work, the manager I mostly work for has a conversation with God (in my presence) asking why He's taking me away from her and how is she going to get any work done without me, etc, Amen. The other manager comes in to chat me up a bit. We talk about work and he gets all self-revelatory on me. He tells me all about how when his first marriage got tough he would work excessive hours to get away. This is by far the longest conversation we've ever had that wasn't about OSHA or the Cubs, I have no idea what to say.
Thursday night Jenny and I feel the baby move for the first time. Bird in the hand....
Friday, Jan 9 - Last day of work. Thankfully my boss doesn't cry, I was really worried. They can't keep me any longer without having some Vice-President sign off on it. This is not an option.
The whole Human Resources department (of which I work for a small branch) fells terrible. The funny thing is - I don't. Yeah, a little more than two days' notice would have been nice, but this is part of being a temp. The good thing about them feeling terrible is that they bend over backwards to accomodate me. The new employee orientation that they only have once a month starts on Monday, and I still don't know about the other temp job. They're more than willing to accomodate. They postpone the drug screen I have to take in case I go with the other job, and they let me take the test for the new job while I'm on the clock. In fact, I really end up not doing much work on my last two days except for writing down in detail everything I do.
End of the day comes on Friday and I still don't know if I got the other temp job. The way it works is that the agency recommended me, but they sent the employer 2 other resumes, and the employer chooses. The employer has yet to choose.
Monday, Jan 12 - I go to orientation and spend the morning learning how not to lose a finger. I call the temp company at lunch: no response yet. I spend the afternoon learning how to drive a fork truck, being very careful not to exert myself too much because there's a chance I could have an interview that afternoon. I have a shirt and tie in my backseat in case that happens. I wonder if I'm going to smell like [a very common product my company makes] at my interview. End of the day comes, the employer still has not chosen. Apparently he's been too busy to give it a look.
I go to the bookstore after work and spend $200 on my books for my classes, which start tonight. I buy 3 books... all used... $200. Bird in the hand.
I get home, no word still about the new temp job. I rest about an hour, pack a dinner of salmon and veal (I'm not kidding) and head out to Parkland for four hours worth of Accounting 101.
Tuesday, Jan 13 - I finally find out about the temp job, they chose one of the other two submissions. I sit through day 2 of orientation and learn all about my new employer's business strategy. Day three of orientation takes place on the night shift, which means I'll have to be back at 11 PM Wednesday night.
I stay up until 4 AM playing "The Age of Empires II" (AWESOME game) and jotting down jobs from the want-ads to apply for.
Wednesday January 14 - I slept until 11:30. Nice feeling. I'm home until about 5:30, when I head out for Business 101 at Parkland. Class is from 6-9 and then I have day three of orientation from 11 PM - 5 AM. I have to call my supervisor to see when exactly I start. I'm still not quite sure what I'll be doing.... but a job is a job...
Funny thing: it's been a really great week. Reasons:
- I love my wife. She's the best. At no point have I been worried or stressed out, and neither has she (at least that I can tell). THIS IS ENTIRELY THE GRACE OF THE SACRAMENT (for me at least, she may have always been this level-headed). Praise Jesus! I'm serious, praise Him right now.
- I love my baby. Seeing Jenny's round tummy has made it easy for me to think about the situation and to make the right decisions.
- Great family and friends. One of our wedding gifts was a gift certificate to Olive Garden. We went out to dinner Saturday night, which was a nice thing to be able to do amidst the uncertainty of transition. It was also the reason why I got to have salmon and veal for dinner on Monday.
So there it is, starting next week (or maybe even Friday, I don't know yet), I'll be making a certain very popular sandwich spread for a living. Hopefully it won't last long, but the tour of the plant we took on Monday actually has me excited to work there. It has been over 7 years since I worked a labor-intensive job though, so we'll see how that works out.
Um, yeah, so if you've called or emailed in the past week... I've been busy.
