Back To The Grindstone
I can't believe it's been so long since I wrote here, no wonder I keep getting all those nasty emails.
So I went and found myself another job, once again landing in the woodworking industry. The company I work for is actually one of three companies that the owner is running out of the same building. The section I work in does all the millwork for kitchens, storefronts, office buildings, and other similar things. The second section deals strictly with the counter tops and sink installation while the recently started up third company does all the template work to determine what measurements and sizes to make all the cabinets. For the limited amount of people who work there, we sure get a lot of stuff done.
I find myself doing a lot of edgebanding, cutting, laminating, spraying, and assembly work, which is taking full advantage of my previous experience. The working atmosphere is very calm and laid back as everybody just does their own thing and keeps busy.
"Little Jim" is the owner of this place. He's married but has no kids.... except for his two dogs who are at the shop each and every day. I really like how Jim runs the place because he's constantly communicating with the guys, joking around, and just seems easy going. From what I was told Jim is very easy to get along with but just don't mess with his "boys". His boys being a 9 year old German Shepard named Charlie and a 1 and half year old mutt named Oscar... aka "Stupid". Oscar isn't too bright, and can be a real pain in the butt at times. Charlie is showing his age and on most days is huddled in some quiet corner by 9:00AM. For some reason "Stupid" has taken a liking to me and spends quite a bit of his day following me around. If I were to stop for a while to run a few parts off of a machine, he'll just lay on the floor right next to me. The one thing that annoys me about him is that you stand still for a couple minutes he comes along and wedges his cold wet nose into the palm of your hand. This is terribly a nuisance when you're holding onto a 5 foot by 4 foot piece of wood.
Last Friday I was having lunch when the secretary came to me saying that I had a phone call waiting for me. I jumped up from the table and ran to the office to take the call. When I came back into the lunch room I saw "Stupid" just finishing up my ham and cheese sandwich and granola bar. "Dammit Oscar you stupid dog!". I grab up what's left of the sandwich and wrappers and throw them in the garbage JUST as Jim walks around the corner. D'oh.
"What's going on in here" he asked
"Ahhh nothing, Oscar just ate my lunch while I was on the phone. It's my fault, I was warned about him and I didn't cover up before I left"
"OSCAR!! GET BACK HERE!!" He grabs onto Oscar and pulls him towards the lunch table and yells out, "NO!" before giving him a quick (and harmless) tap on the snout. Jim then turns to me and reaches into his wallet and hands me $5. He says to take extra time for lunch and to go upstairs to the small cafe and buy a sandwich and also apologized constantly about what happened. I told him it was no big deal and to keep his money but he insisted and ended up throwing the money on the table and walking away. Jim really seems to care about the guys. He goes out of his way to come work on the floor with us, he'll sit with us during lunch, greets you while a smile and a "hello" every morning and just does the little things that keep people on his side and motivated.
I find myself still a little gun shy after what happened to my previous job. I still have everybody complimenting me on my work, the only difference being that this time it includes management and the owner but still, I'm leary of feeling too comfortable. I want to start planning for things in the future but it's hard to do when you're not sure where the hell you stand in the present. For now I'm just going to take things one day at a time, perhaps after my 90 day probation I'll feel better.
So I went and found myself another job, once again landing in the woodworking industry. The company I work for is actually one of three companies that the owner is running out of the same building. The section I work in does all the millwork for kitchens, storefronts, office buildings, and other similar things. The second section deals strictly with the counter tops and sink installation while the recently started up third company does all the template work to determine what measurements and sizes to make all the cabinets. For the limited amount of people who work there, we sure get a lot of stuff done.
I find myself doing a lot of edgebanding, cutting, laminating, spraying, and assembly work, which is taking full advantage of my previous experience. The working atmosphere is very calm and laid back as everybody just does their own thing and keeps busy.
"Little Jim" is the owner of this place. He's married but has no kids.... except for his two dogs who are at the shop each and every day. I really like how Jim runs the place because he's constantly communicating with the guys, joking around, and just seems easy going. From what I was told Jim is very easy to get along with but just don't mess with his "boys". His boys being a 9 year old German Shepard named Charlie and a 1 and half year old mutt named Oscar... aka "Stupid". Oscar isn't too bright, and can be a real pain in the butt at times. Charlie is showing his age and on most days is huddled in some quiet corner by 9:00AM. For some reason "Stupid" has taken a liking to me and spends quite a bit of his day following me around. If I were to stop for a while to run a few parts off of a machine, he'll just lay on the floor right next to me. The one thing that annoys me about him is that you stand still for a couple minutes he comes along and wedges his cold wet nose into the palm of your hand. This is terribly a nuisance when you're holding onto a 5 foot by 4 foot piece of wood.
Last Friday I was having lunch when the secretary came to me saying that I had a phone call waiting for me. I jumped up from the table and ran to the office to take the call. When I came back into the lunch room I saw "Stupid" just finishing up my ham and cheese sandwich and granola bar. "Dammit Oscar you stupid dog!". I grab up what's left of the sandwich and wrappers and throw them in the garbage JUST as Jim walks around the corner. D'oh.
"What's going on in here" he asked
"Ahhh nothing, Oscar just ate my lunch while I was on the phone. It's my fault, I was warned about him and I didn't cover up before I left"
"OSCAR!! GET BACK HERE!!" He grabs onto Oscar and pulls him towards the lunch table and yells out, "NO!" before giving him a quick (and harmless) tap on the snout. Jim then turns to me and reaches into his wallet and hands me $5. He says to take extra time for lunch and to go upstairs to the small cafe and buy a sandwich and also apologized constantly about what happened. I told him it was no big deal and to keep his money but he insisted and ended up throwing the money on the table and walking away. Jim really seems to care about the guys. He goes out of his way to come work on the floor with us, he'll sit with us during lunch, greets you while a smile and a "hello" every morning and just does the little things that keep people on his side and motivated.
I find myself still a little gun shy after what happened to my previous job. I still have everybody complimenting me on my work, the only difference being that this time it includes management and the owner but still, I'm leary of feeling too comfortable. I want to start planning for things in the future but it's hard to do when you're not sure where the hell you stand in the present. For now I'm just going to take things one day at a time, perhaps after my 90 day probation I'll feel better.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home