My hours at work changed this week, and I have to be there an hour earlier. My so-called quitting time has also been adjusted by an hour, so it should be no big deal, right? Well, how come I’ve been dragging massive butt-meat?
I’m working the same number of hours, just moved slightly forward, but it’s knocking me balls over tits. When the alarm goes off at 9:15 (instead of the old 10:15), I simply can’t believe it. Didn’t I just climb into bed? Am I being punk’d?!
Anyway, tomorrow is as close to a day off as I’m going to get in the near future, and I’m incredibly excited. I’m going to go for a haircut (long overdue), have lunch at Five Guys (oh God…), buy two of the new Replacements reissues (hopefully from the indie store, but that’s up to them), and maybe set up my new NASA computer (still boxed-up in the fambly room).
Oh, it’s going to be a wonderful day: my version of a weekend, compressed into eighteen hours. Then it’s back to work on Friday and Saturday (traditionally days off), before the regular work week cranks back up on Sunday. Fantastic! Pass the, um, Excel spreadsheets.
But at least it’s not physically demanding work. I was thinking about that last night, as I drove and bitched. It could be so much worse…
Admittedly it wasn’t ditch-digging, or lumberjacking, but I had a job in North Carolina that almost destroyed me. I’d worked as a stocker at a small grocery store in West Virginia, and when I moved to Greensboro I took a job as a stocker at a much larger, more serious store. And it was a whole different breed of cat.
We worked overnight, when the place was closed, and it was hard, physical labor. Anyone who’s ever done that kind of crap knows what I’m talking about. Unloading trucks… breaking down and sorting tractor trailer loads of inventory… dragging pallets of water and bleach from one end of the Earth to the other…
Every morning I left that place feeling like I’d been run over by a car. It sucked so bad it created a horizontal wind shear phenomenon over Guilford County, NC. I’m not kidding, that job was so terrible it made planes fall from the sky. Oh, how I hated it.
What was your worst job? And what was your most physically demanding job? Are they one and the same? Yeah, I thought so.
Have you ever spent time in your neighborhood, during the middle of the night? You know, while sober? I get home around 2 am now, and used to arrive around 3 am. And it’s interesting to take a look around at that time of the morning.
The house next door to us, for instance, is always brightly lit, with a gigantic TV flickering in the living room. Every night. And what’s the deal with that? I assume they have jobs and everything, but don’t really know. Perhaps they’re vampires?
And I sometimes see people walking their dogs, old ladies out puttering in their yards, and occasionally even a jogger or two. It’s amazing how much activity there is, in the dead of night. In fact, I kind of like it; it’s a little unnerving to feel completely alone.
But who jogs at 3 am?? That shit simply ain’t right.
And speaking of ain’t right, Pizza Hut is changing their name to Pasta Hut in the UK – to promote a healthier image. You know, since pasta is so good for ya. I don’t care for it. A person could theoretically live inside a hut made of pizza, but good luck erecting four walls made of cooked noodles. I mean, what do they take us for, idiots?
Surf Reporter Garrett sent this to me, and it’s pretty clever. What if the lyrics of the A-Ha song (they only had one, right?) matched the video, literally? Nicely done.
And Tom wants to know if this is a snapshot of Nancy’s kids. I’m sorry, but I cannot confirm, nor deny.
I need to go now, and get this workday in the rearview mirror…
I’ll see you guys tomorrow.
first?
Top tenner here. Yay me!
???
Top 5 for theTall Man from TX!!!
One of my worst jobs was exactly the same as one of my best jobs — just under new bosses with more BS rules, policies & procedures ( Those rules, policies and procedures will get you every time. )
When I managed a video store that was one of about a dozen owned by a small family-owned company in Pennsylvania I was totally happy – – running the show, making my own schedule, dealing with something I had an interest in ( Movies, movies, movies ! ). When Movie Gallery ( a nationwide co. with hundreds of stores … now bankrupt 🙂 ) took over they made what was a sweet gig hell. I was out in 6 months.
For the last 2 years I’ve had a much more physical job as a mail carrier. I love It — my only regret is not getting into it sooner !
Top Ten!
That pic of the translucents is spot on.
Enjoy your “day” off Jeff.
Top ten? yay me!!
Worst job – working in the hamburger hut at a free, public zoo. crappy zoo, idiot patrons, lots of grease, and no air conditioning.
The only good part was telling people where the elephants were when they asked.
We didn’t have any elephants.
top ten two days in a row……yippee!!!!! i used to work at a grocer warehouse that shipped stuff to the grocery stores….that was for young guys not 30ish fathers…..i agree with you jeff, it sucks balls. also worked in a factory that made fiberglass flag poles. i’ll spare you the gory details. now i work in a hospital and have split shifts but at least i can get my wvsr updates on company time
Ok now to comment –
Most physically demanding job: Landscape maintenance – ie lawn boy – We went balls to the wall for 10-12 hours a day for the princely sum of $4.00 / hr. Carrying several hundred pound burlap sacks filled with grass cuttings, hauling dirt,plants, whatever, and all this in the lovely summer DC weather. After that i ran a jackhammer 8 hours a day, and loaded busted concrete in to trucks by hand, it was actually a picnic compared to landscaping.
My worst job though was as Controller / GM for a construction company that refused to pay any subcontractors. Eight hours a day of verbal abuse.
Among the highlights were coming in one day to find bullet holes in the window aimed at where i sat, and coming in another day to find EVERYTHING with an electrical plug stolen, even the pencil sharpener.
good times……
My first job was in a lumber yard. I had to sweep up around the place, clean the sawdust out of the table saws, wash & wax the trucks. The foreman was about a hundred years old and had more hair coming out of his ears than he had on his head. It was hot (saw)dusty work but it did add to my unique skill set. I learned to drive a forklift (before I could drive a car) and how to kill flies with a crowbar ( I was wicked fast).
When I sold beer, I used to help the drivers load the trucks in the morning; about 100 cases and several kegs (around 150 lbs each) into a Chevy van. Those things would drag ass around Austin till the load lightened around noon.
Worst job….I spent 1 winter after high school as a car-hop at Sonic. Miserable delivering food to people in their cars in the freezing rain for minimum wage. But the upside was that I made $250 a week in tax-free tips. Thank god I left before they brought back roller skates.
Most physically demanding job….gymnastics coach. Lifting and catching chubby little snot-nosed brats for 8 hours a day really puts a strain on the old back muscles…and the patience. The worst part was the in-school classes we taught. We’d go to the school, haul in all this ridiculous equipment, then have to haul it back out after an hour.
Makes me appreciate my cushy government job all that much more!
Worst job- Dealer Trader/Inventory control at a car dealer. I was waaay to young and my boss was such a dick that his own family wouldn’t hire him at their store. once he finally got fired from our store he pretty much couldn;t get a job selling cars in the surrounding counties.
Toughest physcially- As far as paying jobs, probably at the meat counter at a small grocery sstore. Hauling around 50 to 100 ounds of raw beef, chicken, pork or fish to and from coolers to display cases.
Jeff, I’m assuming that the indie store is on rt. 6 across from the Mall. I just wanted to let you know that there is a kick ass record shop downtown on Adams avenue across from the Bog. Great place to kill a couple hours.
ANd I used to go in at 3 or 4 am. So yeah, I did see the neighborhood in the wee hours. Very quiet.
Some people leave TVs on for their pets. I use to work for a guy who had a separate living room for his dog – and the TV was always on for the dog to watch.
Hardest physically: to echo the guy above, loader at a grocery warehouse. Worked from 3pm-whenever all the orders were pulled (usually around 4:30). The pay was good for around my hometown (I think $10 hr. or so) but it busted my ass good. I was also the only white guy that worked there, which no matter what you think makes it a bit awkward.
Worst job: I worked as an overnight stocker at an OfficeMax or Office Depot, I can’t remember. You would go in at 10 or whenever it was about to close, they would lock you in the store, and you would leave when the store opened the next day. My first night, the manager was like, “Oh yeah, I don’t have time to stay, but Eddie hear will show you everything you need to know.” It quickly became evident Eddie didn’t know shit, and he finally told me, “Man, I’ve been here 1 week and they did the same thing to me that they did to you.” Basically nothing got done in the week or two I worked there. What really killed it though was that they called me every morning, waking me up, to bitch that nothing got done. The final straw was when the assistant manager called and tried to get me to admit that someone on the night shift was looking at porn on the computer in the Gateway Computer section. Now, this computer was one where you needed a username and password to log in, and when I reminded him of that he blew it off. I quit about an hour later.
Turns out what happened was a week before, on New Years Eve, they had a party in the store and the store manager had brought a porn site up on the computer, a female employee complained to HR about it, and they were trying to get me to take the bullet and get fired.
My worst job was for the Girl Scout council (which was also my first job out of college). I liked most of the people I worked with, but the Executive Director was a bull dyke tyrant (not that there’s anything wrong with being gay).
My most physically demanding job was while I was in college, I was a cocktail waitress at the Dog Track in Cross Lanes. There were lots of levels (stairs) and sometimes, I’d have a full tray of drinks. I made a lot of money slopping drinks for gamblers.
Worst Job- Spent a summer doing “landscaping” for this pair of douchebags who owned this massive acreage near my home town. I don’t mind hard work, but I hate idiots with a burning passion. Every day the male half of the couple would emerge from the house about 8 am and give me the orders for the day. Then about an hour later his wife would slither out on her way to work and give me a second list of crap that completely contradicted what her husband had said. I couldn’t win, no matter what I did one of them was pissing on me about something. I got them together once and tried to get coherent instructions, but they started arguing and told me the “just figure it out” . By mid-august I found another job and just stopped showing up. After about a week they called and told me I “wasn’t needed anymore” and I just laughed.
The most physically demanding job I had was working construction, which I loved and still miss. I don’t miss the paycheques however and will not be returning to the construction industry until they see the wisdom of paying me $50/hour.
Worst job EVER – Roofing. Hot as F*#% work on a constant angle.
Long, long ago I worked as a waitress at a small family restaurant, hands down the WORST job ever, I quit the day a local excentric couple who’d won the lottery and used all their money to drink came in ordered, pulled out their bottles of jack and commensed to gettin’ piss drunk over dinner. Literally, the “Lady” sat in the booth and peed her pants, they ate, drank, paid left no tip and waddled out like nothing happened. The boss told me I had to clean it up and I said “F” no. I didn’t care thats just wrong. It might have been different if she was ill, or old, but just too drunk to get up doesn’t qualify.
The hardest job was overnight stocker at Walmart for $5.10 an hour. Unloading the truck, hauling pallets, breaking down modular and resetting. Hard when you’re 5′-1 and weigh less than 100 lbs. Just went fishin instead of work one night, was well worth it.
Worst job – bartender at the Holiday Inn in Harrisonburg Virginia. Right next to the auto auction.
Yeah.
Uniform- cutoff hot pink tee shirt, shorty- Mcshortshort black athletic shorts, and not much else. Oh, and all the glass were either in an overhead rack or UNDER the rail.
Hated that job.
Beats out that one summer I spent as a park and rec counselor by a nose.
Worst/Most Physically Demanding Job: Worked in a dry cleaners after school for a couple years when I was in high school. Sure, I just had to run the register and pick up orders for folks, but this is in Texas and dry cleaners don’t pay for A/C when they’ve got big machines and steam presses running in back. It was brutal, but fun since my friends worked there too.
Of course, I may be looking fondly back at those dry cleaner days before long since I currently work in finance…
Good Afternoon Surf Reporters!!!!!
I just got back from the bar(yeah, it’s 4 in the afternoon, what of it?), so give me a minute to get me bearings, and oh yeah, there’s more Harp in the ‘fridge, so let’s make it a mini-bender, shall we?
There’s more to come after these messages.
Worst/most mind numbing job was temporarily working on a production line for a couple weeks at a factory I worked at. My usual gig there was in final test/qc, but thanks to some big rush order, all hands got put on the ‘no high school diploma required’ line. Man. No wonder the regulars on that line could drink anyone under the table, you’d be so zoned out after your 8 hours anything you did wouldn’t affect you the same as that.
Most physically demanding was setting red steel for 3 years, sucks tryin to weld in the rain, plus I dont like heights.
Worst job was plant manager of 115 workers all of which were of kindergarten mentality.
Runners prefer to be called runners, not joggers, I only run in the wee hours if its too hot.
I didn’t hate the job most of the time, but worked as an assistant mgr for a major “Craft supply” retailer. That August-November, our store was so busy that the night shift manager had to have help unloading all the crap that would come three nights a week. At the time, we lived in an apartment above a car wash, so I would go home, go to bed at noon, not sleep-then go back to work at 10PM. I think I aged about 10 years that season. Then one day after a TWENTY FOUR hour shift, because no other managers showed up at the store next day-my husband said NO MORE of that BS-and now I love my little office job that pays twice as much and I have weekends off and holidays paid!!! If you work retail-wake up-get OUT. Wow, I feel like I just had therapy, thanks.
Worked my way through college at a mortuary. Started off rather normally, cut grass, trim shrubs, wash cars, paint, etc.
After about one year, I was removing bodies from local hospitals and nursing homes. Another six months, I was allowed to do home removals, car accidents, suicides, and occasional stiffs floating down the Ohio River. I would guess I hauled 1,000 bodies over the 5 years.
One woman died at home and weighed about 600 pounds. We had to call the fire department to help us lift her, and we tore down a wall in her house to get her out the front door.
Another guy killed himself with a shotgun. The only part of his head still attached was his jaw.
Pulled a woman out of the river. She committed suicide by jumping off of a railroad bridge. She was still wearing her night gown and had curlers in her hair.
Local 20 something female bought a Corvette and hit a concrete bridge pier going over 100 miles per hour. Her legs went through the floorboards and were cut off at the knees. The car was so demolished, you could have swept up the pieces and hauled it away in multiple dust pans.
Teenager hung himself in his basement. I met the coroner at the house so he can sign the death certificate, took the gurney up to the porch and walked in the front door. I was met by this really hot girl who was in several of my college classes, she was his sister. That was a really weird one.
Have lots more like these, but I will spare you.
Dan
Actually Dan, as sad as some of those are, they’re pretty damn interesting.
I’m just sayin’.
Wow, I’m one of several here who held a “lock you in the store at night, see you in morning” job. Was a night stock boy at a K-Mart. That wasn’t really quite so bad, we usually finished the tasks at hand by 2 am, went to the break room, ate “lunch”, watched CNN or slept until 6 or so, then finished up odds and ends before the manger came in at 7:00. This was while I was newly married and still in college, so that 10 am class was sometimes a real sum’bitch.
Worst job was a summer gig, still in college, where i was part of a demolition crew that was renovating the Captain Loomis Hotel in Clarion, PA. The 2 owners, brothers Gene and Vic, were so cheap and so tight, they had the first nickle they ever made still stuck up their arse. We were tearing down sections of a building that was well close to 100 years old. They had us removing nails and straightening them for future use(?). I was responsible one day for removing an old cast iron radiator behind the walk in cooler of the bar. I was swinging a 16 pound sledge to remove genuine 4×4 posts to make room for radiator removal, when I missed the marked and knicked the corner of the radiator right off. Water subsequently began to spray everywhere, mixing with the dirt and plaster dust on the floor, making a true mess. Vic had wanted the radiator saved(for future use!!), and when I told him what I had done, I was proclaimed “an ass” and sent home for the day.
The final straw to that fiasco of a job was when I went to get paid for the week’s work, only to find out that I had had wages “garnished” to pay for the 100 year old cast iron radiator I had destroyed.
Gene? Vic? If by some slim chance you are both still alive and reading this, I threw all those nails you had me straighten out in the dumpster.
My worst job was my first job out of high school. I worked at a mobile home plant putting in doors, crown molding, etc. It was hotter than the surface of the sun and I’d be soaking wet with sweat every day. They’d ring a bell and drag those mobile homes along a train track type line every 30 minutes or so. It was fast and tough.
But I worked at it for a while and moved up. I made crew leader and then foreman. I ended up making pretty good money for a kid. After 2-1/2 years I’d made enough money to go to Baylor, so I quit.
Sic’em Bears, Jason…
Adam, thanks. Too bad they suck. One of my best friends here in Huntsville, AL went to Appalachian State. He’s always rubbing my nose in it. But I keep telling him, the law of averages is on my side. One of these days the Baylor Bears football team won’t suck.
Keep on hoping… it’s tough to attract good football players when Austin is just down the road… and A&M is more Bubba-friendly. At least you can hang your hat on kick ass tennis, golf, equestrian, baseball, softball, water ski, water polo, Bible-drill teams.
Either way, it’s impressive you were able to save enough BU in 2 years… in today’s tuition dollars that would be over $100k in tuition alone.
I went to Baylor too… for about 8 years… am still stuck in Waco since I was offered a “job I couldn’t refuse” when I graduated courtesy of Dr. Gilbreath.
Adam, thanks. I was single and lived in a one bedroom apartment off of North 19th (near MCC). I didn’t have much to spend my money on. And the last year I worked there I made almost $70K.
Dr. Gilbreath? Economics?
My worst job was cleanup duty at a petting zoo. To this day I can iidentify all manner of animal turds by the smell or appearance. That must be a marketable skill somewhere, right?
Most physical (see above) but also many, many years waitressing in a busy restaurant. Huge, heavy trays and lots of running around.
It is gratifying to get paid a whole lot more for sitting on my ass, I must say.
at about 14-15 i worked construction, rough in phase, the work was ok but the mud and dirt unbearable. that lasted 14 months then to a auto shop as a grease monkey worked my way to retirement thats it
forgot about this little jewel…….worked one summer for a fireworks company tearing down after shows…..was promised a certain wage and meals and got paid shit money…..had to call the state employment agency just to get my “check”………sleazy pricks…..most of these shows were shot off river barges…..had to wait for the barges to dock and unload all the shit they use to launch the shows…..damn those were good times…..had to pull live shells out of tubes on one show that was rained out…glad to still be here
Hey JCIII, do you still live near Clarion? I have gotten ripped in the Loomis many times. One of my best friends lives just north of Summerville.
I miss the Wolf’s Den in Knox since they closed.
Dan
Most physical job: photographer’s assistant, hauling equipment to and from “location” sites, to do the photography, then going back to the studio, and processing color transparency film for 8 hours.
Most metally demanding job: case manager for those being released from state mental hospitals, and being placed into the community, when they didn’t like it. I’d get calls at 3 in the morning from the home providor, saying that “so-in-so got mad and set fire to the front porch”. I would have to call the police, have him picked up, taken to the local hospital, get a judge out of bed, have him come to the hospital, and have the guy committed to a state metal hospital (harmful to himself or others), then be back in court at 8:00am for a committment hearing, then go to work for the rest of the day. That stuff burns you out real fast.
Greg. That’s one of my nightmares.
holy shit y’all. you’ve done hard time in the job field. My hat, if I had one, is off to you all. I’m a middle class white chick with a college education that mammy and daddy paid for who thinks I did hard time for showing my ass to a bunch of car dealer.s You shame me, and have my respect.
Worst Job ever was working for a company that sold school supplies and checking orders on a computer for 12 hour shifts…enough to put you to sleep easy. Most physically demanding was at the same company, only in the warehouse third shift, unloading boxes of paper from trucks and then reloading the trucks with finished orders…the inside of a tractor trailer can get real damned hot in an ohio summer, and it gets worse when the two guys you work with in the trailers don’t shower on a daily basis.
Worst job? Oh this one is easy.
11p-7a at a 24 hour gas/convenience store in da hood.
I stood behind bulletproof glass all night selling
Peach White Owl Cigars and Black & Milds as accessories.
Beer/Pop coolers to fill and every time I mopped the floor I heard my father’s voice:
“If you don’t get your shit together you’ll be 30 and mopping floors…”
Heh. I was 30 and mopping floors.
There were a few weeks that I biked to that job 5 miles and back when our car was “not stolen, just taken” and I could not see my way out of that hell hole.
The company got bought by Habib&Family and everyone lost their job. No notice. That was the shove I needed.
Now I have a job that I love during the day and I job that I love more heading out to fix random PCs in the area… working for myself.
Hardoxdan: Shit, the Wolf’s Den closed? That was one of the few decent places to eat in those parts. I too often got shit faced at the Loomis, and at the dive bar further down the street.
Two physically demanding jobs: crating art, hanging art. In the former I broke my nose, sliced off the tip of my finger, and made sure my back would forever throw itself out during such wussy activities as washing the dishes. Plus the boss would occasionally lose employees in poker games, so yeah, it was one of my worst jobs. The latter was usually carried out within tight time constraints and often under duress of one disaster or another. The physical part of the job would leave me prone for days after a show, but at least there was gratification when patrons said the art was beautifully arranged. It was one of my best jobs, actually.
worst job ever, would have to be when I worked at Happy Times Family Fun Center. It was an indoor playground that did birthday partys, and kiddie events. There were ball pits, a 3 story hamster like tubing thing the kids could climb up, indoor go-cart track and much much more. I H A T E D dealing with the spoiled kids and their asshole parents. I lasted 2 weeks.
Best job and most demanding on my body, would be the job I have had for 10 plus years being a horse show groom. Lifting 50 lbs bags of grain, 70+lbs bales of hay, dealing with animals 100 times you weight, lifting the muck buckets, water buckets, and such many many many times a day.
I had the best body during that line of work. Most horse people have great legs and upper arms.
But I have beat up my body too bad and I cant do the work anymore.
14 hour shifts at Hecks warehouse in the early 80’s, the WORST! Loading tractor trailors and never seeing the light of day. Dark when you get there (5AM) dark when you leave (7PM) did a whole winter and quit.
Now I sit on my ass for a living 8-5 m-f…it’s great!
I didn’t know the Wolf’s Den had closed either. Great old barn! I spent lots of time shit faced north of 80 . I was up there last weekend as matter of fact.
~~~Hardoxdan & Gretchen….
Wow, who’d have thunk the mention of the Loomis would have elicited any response!
I went to school at Clarion, graduated December 1989.
I lived one block from the Loomis, behind the post office, above a laundromat, the Wash House.
Most of my time was spent at the hippie/freak house at 225 Main St.
On a side note, the Wolf’s Den in Knox was a kick ass restaurant. Wasn’t that right by or in a KOA campground?
Bartended my way through college, definetely the most physically demanding. Worked at this local hotel that looks like a castle. I worked 12 hours shifts 4 days a week and had a 8 am class everyday. Dealt with shitbag customers, idiot fellow employees, and a sexual harrassing coke-head GM. But, lord, did I make a shit ton of money.
My worst job is my current job. My boss ia a condescending bitch (white trash, got a little bit of power and let it go to her head), she looks like Mr. Burns from the Simpsons. I am way more intelligent then she is and a hell of a lot hotter. I think she resents me for that.
I have never used the degree I worker so hard for (Zoology). The Army and Wally keep sticking me in places with no zoo to speak of. I have been out of school for almost 4 years. Sorry if I ma starting to get bitter!
JCIII and Gretchen;
I travel to Clarion every two or three months. I always stay at the Holiday Inn Clarion. One of my best customers has a fabrication shop just north of Summerville. The owners and I are all about the same age (early 40’s).
Wolf’s Den was our favorite spot for food, then over to the Loomis for many adult beverages. Of course, Loomis is mostly college kids, but we send rounds of shots to the college girls. Why not? I have an expense account, and I use it.
Now we go to the Wayside Inn in Lucinda. The building is a dump, but they have great steaks and some nice appetizers, my favorite is oysters Rockefeller. Occasionally, we drive to Mercer to the Iron Bridge Inn. Excellent food, but too far to drive back to Clarion after many drinks.