Did you pull a double shift or what?
Yeah. I was training this guy. Nearly 30. And so dumb! Constantly calls me "bro". If I get on him about something he says, "Chill killah!" Jezus.
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Did you pull a double shift or what?
That sounds like a nightmare!Yeah. I was training this guy. Nearly 30. And so dumb! Constantly calls me "bro". If I get on him about something he says, "Chill killah!" Jezus.
I got notified about 6 pm tonight that I'm going to Mexico tomorrow for a day of work on Friday and come back Saturday. Friends say, "Hope you have time to have some fun!" Uh-huh.
At least this time I'll be closer to my own time zone.
Today was a sort of busy one - went to the Passport office downtown to renew Josh's passport - $160 later he will get a 10 year passport in the mail in about two weeks.
Went shopping for a few grocery items, picked up a prescription at the pharmacy and made some chili
I have to leave for work shortly - hope my night shift goes fast - I'm off at 11 p.m. then back to work the next day at 8:15 [honestly, some days early retirement looks very attractive] - I might just look into it, as I could probably come back to work on a Casual basis.
Is what not illegal? Getting a 10 year Canadian passport for 160 dollars?Is that not illegal?
...won't do you any good, as long as there are 8 hours between shifts-they've got you...travel time and such doesn't count.....Is what not illegal? Getting a 10 year Canadian passport for 160 dollars?
Oh wait a sec - I see what you are getting at - having someone work until 11 pm then expecting them to come in the next day at 8:15
Actually I kind of wondered that myself - but since you technically could get about 7 hours sleep (If you got home at 11:30 p.m., went to bed right away and then got up around 6 or 6:30 you would get 6 1/2 or maybe even 7 hours of sleep.
I must admit however, that I always feel like a zombie after that shift change over - I've asked others who have to do the same thing and they agree that it's quite difficult.
We do have a Union - perhaps I should look it up in our collective agreement!
So it sounds like you've experienced this too?...won't do you any good, as long as there are 8 hours between shifts-they've got you...travel time and such doesn't count.....
....many times....with my ride home and to work, it automatically carves an hour off-and then trying to wind down or wake-up, get a shower etc.-you might have about 4 hours to nap....So it sounds like you've experienced this too?
After getting home after 11 p.m. I normally cannot sleep until 1 or 2 in the morning - pretty sure straight day shift workers cannot relate - they never think about things like that
So it sounds like you've experienced this too?
After getting home after 11 p.m. I normally cannot sleep until 1 or 2 in the morning - pretty sure straight day shift workers cannot relate - they never think about things like that
Back home from a quick work trip to Mexico. My travelogue on it:
Zacatecas, Zacatecas (like saying, New York, New York), is a town with features that are reminiscent of places all over; the homes of Ireland fronting on narrow, hilly sidewalk stairs, the small, busy streets filled with storefronts like in... well, about every Asian place I've been to. It's interesting, how communities around the globe resonate with commonality. I wish I'd had more time to explore, but this was a limited-time trip, and I had duties to attend to in my spare time.
I know muy poco Espanol, but more than I know Korean or Mandarin, and in a way, a little knowledge is a little more frustrating. At least when I'm in an Asian shop, I can affect total ignorance about the language, because that's the fact, and we work to make do. But if I say, "Gracias," or, "Buenas dias," or, "Hola," and sound halfway authentic about it, generally the other person will launch into Spanish, thinking that I know my way around. To which I smile weakly and say, "Sorry, no habla," which still trying to catch what I can.
The trip went fine, once past the vibe of the Mexico City airport. In that complex (with surprisingly few runways), they're not in a hurry to get you through the Customs and Immigration lines. There were five, maybe six, rotating stations open for what must have been a thousand people in line. I had plenty of time for my connection, so I wasn't worried. The lesson here is to give yourself plenty of time on the connection, especially if it involves a passport choke point. And either I wasn't paying attention or the signage wasn't that great. I found myself losing time on several wrong turns, or more properly, failure to make the correct turn or even find the passage I needed. But all in all, I'd rather have this airport than a couple unfavored places in the US which I won't name, because I don't want Atlanta or LA coming after me.
Once the airport experience with the attendant indifference of its clerks was over, people were friendly, accommodating. The places where I needed them to speak English (hotel, airport), they did so. Even on the flight from Mexico City to Zacatecas, a nice Mexican man named Daniel sitting next to me struck up an accented conversation. I complimented him on his English. He said, no, he spoke very broken English. I told him his English was fine and about 100 times better than my Spanish, both of which statements were true.
In the hour-long flight to Zacatecas in the narrow plane, the food and beverage carts came rolling up the aisle. Daniel said, "Oh, good! Lunch!" When it stopped at our row, we got our libations and were each handed a small bag of peanuts. He held his up, laughed, and said, "Mexican lunch!" And it was funny, but I have to say, the food that I experienced, in the hotel and out, was mucho delicioso. And plentiful. And inexpensive when out on the economy. Really, shockingly inexpensive.
Flying in and out of Mexico City, you're struck by the stretching consistency, of sorts, of the city landscape. It's not like other big cities I've seen from the air. Sure, there are features that stand out here, some tall buildings, a really big park, the highways, but the consistent viewshed from the plane is a mottled tan-brown-black urban carpet from horizon to horizon. And I believe, because I just looked it up, looming over the scene is the volcano of Popocatépetl, venting its white plume.
Over the rural areas, it's different than what you see flying across the US. In the States, particularly as you go west, with the straight section lines that are a hallmark of a great government program (Public Land Survey System), you see neatly lined farm areas of squares, rectangles, and the occasional circles from center pivot irrigation. But farmland in Mexico is more of a patchwork crazy quilt. And there sure is a lot of farmland.
I flew Aeromexico from Mexico City to Zacatecas and back. It's a decent airline. It was a United/Delta sort of comfort level, at least what I flew. Not purposely uncomfortable like the US ultra-low-costs, and not convenience-filled and pleasing like the Western Pacific airlines. (I'll just note that flying Delta from Mexico City to the connection in Atlanta, there were no charging ports at the seats, and the seatback TV screen didn't work. So I knew I wasn't on an Asian airline.)
One pretty weird thing. On the return flight from Zapatecas during the safety briefing, the flight attendants didn't pantomime along with the announcements, not at all. They just stood around and chattered with each other while the bilingual announcement was made. First time I think I've seen that, ever. It didn't make a difference. Just odd.
Zacatecas Aeropuerto Internacional, despite its grand title, is small and quaint. The planes that fly in are the smaller passenger commuter jets, and a ladder is wheeled out to bring you down from the plane. But the ground service was fast and efficient, in contrast to the more laid-back customer service experience elsewhere. I'm not being critical saying that. It's just a more relaxed atmosphere.
Departure from the Zacatecas airport had another layer of charm to it. Once we were all in our seats, the ladder was wheeled away, the plane buttoned up, and as it started to roll back, I watched the ground crew gather in a group. For a second, because sometimes traveling mentality can overlap across trips, I half-expected them all to bow. But no, they all waved cheerily at the departing plane. Like I said, charming.
Lessons learned from the last two trips:
* I thought that a long flight to a one-day job and a long flight back would be more arduous than a longer trip. At least for me, it's not. My body doesn't have time to get maladjusted to the time differences (and in this case, Zacatecas is in the same time zone as Fort Collins).
* Another up side is having carry-on only. When you're fretting about connection times in making your international connection, it sure is nice to walk through the baggage area without having to stop to claim and recheck your bag. Then at the gate, you crowd to the front of your zone seating to make sure that there's room in the overheads and your bag isn't gate-checked. And then because you sat down early, you get to watch the other people board the plane while you play the game of You can sit by me/please don't sit by me/you can sit by me/oh, CRAP, please don't sit by me.
(In my case, I lost this game on the return trip. A mom and her daughter had to split up, with the mom next to me and the daughter behind. Using hand gestures, I offered to swap with the daughter so they could sit together. Much "muchas gracias" followed. Then the guy who sat next to me was as wide-bodied as I am, and he was as zealous at obtaining real estate as the Soviet Union in the 1950s. Another good deed did not go unpunished.)
* I downloaded the passport app to my phone from http://mobilepassport.us. The last time I came back to Denver, I watched in envy as the people with the app got in a very short line for the automated entry. Atlanta didn't have that level of convenience, mostly due to poor signage and lousy pedestrian control, but the app got me through a lot faster than I would have otherwise.
Another interesting and educational trip. It left me wishing I had more time to explore. I'm looking forward to the next sojourn, if one happens. You never know. But I'm hoping one does.
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Mexico City, somewhat buried in haze, with the volcano in the background.
You sure are active - I guess that's what keeps us young, eh? I hope you don't have arthritis or something similar - does your body hurt just due to the extra work? I wish I had your energy.Slowly working my way through chores. Soaking some dishes right now. Grocery shopping after that. Have RJ all day, but no Sage, she is with her other grandma.
I'm pretty tired. Worked hard to get all the cleaning done on Friday. Saturday I painted all the doors and trim around the doors upstairs. (Now I need to do the baseboards too, they look grimy next to the crisp new white. ) Yesterday tried to get some wash done but I didn't get very far. Did get a bunch of clutter out of my little library room. It has somehow become the catch all spot.
Wish I could just sit today. My body hurts.
Ugh! I wouldn't be able to deal with that. It sucks when you have to waste time training someone that you know is not going to work out.Yeah. I was training this guy. Nearly 30. And so dumb! Constantly calls me "bro". If I get on him about something he says, "Chill killah!" Jezus.
Are you talking about not being able to see up close (presbyopia)? - that usually happens after age 45 - why so many older people have reading glasses.My vision has recently started being blurry even when I'm not having a migraine so today I'm getting my vision tested and will probably come away with a prescription for glasses. Getting old sucks.