Hose Management
2003-07-14 � 12:15 p.m.

So I worked for my parents on Friday night, after working the Day Job all day. I got home at slightly after five a.m., and my total clocked hours for working that day were just over eighteen. Shew!

And I get to go again this Friday. Plus I'll be working the door at The Bonfire on Saturday. Sheesh.

The work on Friday night was hard and dirty, but I actually rather enjoyed myself (I am still feeling the effects — my hands and fingers ache, though I only wore the skin off in two places). My job was to run one of the giant vacuums that they use to suck up the slurry after cutting the slots in the street. I ran the slot vac, a monstrosity of about thirty-five pounds with a four-inch hose running to the vacuum on the truck. It has a flat, rubber-lined plate at the base that the vacuum hose hooks into the top of, and a long wand that serves as a handle and runs a pressure washer. A little guide in the base of the plate keeps the whole thing lined up with the slot. After everything is cut, I would run this thing through the slot, spraying out the mud and gunk and the vacuum would suck it up, leaving it clean and mostly dry so that my dad could come behind and wrap the wire and then seal the cuts.

We did twenty-six loops, and we were done working by about four a.m. I am told we made pretty good time.

On Saturday, I went to see Electric Six (Fire in the disco!), and they rocked the joint. Good times were had by all, and by all, I mean me.

Sunday was full of adventures! I travelled with my mother to the home of a strangely nervous woman, from whom my mother purchased a dog for herself. This was a supremely odd thing to me, as my mother has not historically been supportive of the idea of pets. Nevertheless, she is now the proud owner of a very small, very cute Miniature Doberman. I suggested she name it Pita, for "Pain In The Ass," and I hope she takes my suggestion, because that would be funny. The poor dear had been bit by its father and had a slightly torn ear — today it will visit the vet and probably get stitched.

Work proceeds apace. I am anxious all the time because it is difficult to tell what I should be doing from one moment to the next (except if it might be answering the phone, which I haven't had to do yet — thank goodness, because I hate the phone). Last week and the end of the week before that I was stuck processing this massive list of discontinued items, and it made my eyeballs hurt. Now that it is done and they have the newer new person in the support department, it seems they have lost their interest in making sure Yours Truly is consistently engaged in backlogged work.

I still don't have the access to my computer that I desire, and it pisses me off to no end. I can't even change the default font size for Windows! Argh. SUPREMELY frustrating.

This week I have to focus on getting the homestead cleaned up, as new roommate Ross will be wanting to start moving in. It's going to be a big job, so don't be surprised if I am absent for extended periods.

-t

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