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Gattaca Tidbits
R. Alex Whitlock
Tip of the Day: When your coworker says that he wants to share with you the "sickest thought ever" and everyone around you immediately plugs their ears and starts saying "la la la la la" then it's best to do the same. Chances are that (a) they know why they're doing what they're doing, (b) their 'la's won't be loud enough to prevent you from hearing, and (c) you'll wish that your ears were plugged and the 'la's were indeed loud enough. On the other hand, sometimes after the initial period of revulsion your mind will be so horrified that you will block it out and not be able to share it with the readers of your blog. Your blog readers, if they know what's good for them, will then be very grateful.
I got my first review a couple of days ago. I'd make it humorous but I actually got really good marks with a handshake and a "keep up the good work" when it's over.
I missed my first night of work last night. With only seven hours of sleep in the previous two days, I almost fell asleep on the road driving up there. I was supposed to take a test over the employee handbook. I really could care less about it, except that (a) if we don't get 90% we have to take it again and if we don't get 90% on the second (harder) test, we're suspended until we can get 90% and (b) since the first day I've called in was a test day, I wonder if I might have chucked away all the good will I'd apparently bought up to justify a "keep up the good work" review.
There are presently five people on third shift. The last day I was there had four people working the shift. I almost intentionally screwed up tape copying so that I would have to do it again. The shift supervisor said that if I had done so, he would have understood. He then taught me how to screw up tape copying so that it takes twice as long. Now there are going to be five people. Can two people screw up tape copying as easily as one? I hope so...
On the last entry, I hit the backspace and subsequently freaked out. Somewhere, an internal programmer who has probably long-since stopped working at Gattaca is probably laughing.
They upgraded the internal software. They said in the message that it should be easier to use. It sure is as now it doesn't work at all and therefore I don't have to use it. It doesn't get much easier than that, does it?
There is a gay guy named Adrian that works in the OCD. Nobody likes him very much. At first I wondered if it was because he was a bit feminine. I later found out that it was just that he was a really big asshole. It just goes to show that the gay population isn't very different from the straight one, assholes and all.
Mr. Smith was toiling around with the schedules (and moving me to second shift was a part of that) in order to get Adrian moved to first shift because he's such a darn good employee (his brown-nosing is one of the many reasons that no one likes him). He even tried to buck the seniority system and move Adrian ahead of another guy, but the other guy noticed and so Adrian is stuck on second shift. Smith then turned around and tried to get two first-shifters moved out to RSI. But now Adrian is getting moved to programming (which is good as social interaction is forbidden in the programming dept.) in a few weeks and Smith is going to have to fill both Adrian's spot as well as the two that he was having moved to RSI.
Adrian and I are going to be working second shift on Saturdays alone. I'm actually looking forward to it! Adrian makes a habbit out of doing all of these little things that make him look good, but never doing the time consuming tasks that people don't generally get a whole lot of credit for. That means I will actually have something to do!
I really think that I might be a bad apple. When I first got there, very few people spoke negatively of the company. Now I've got all three of the guys that are newer than me non-stop bitching about what BS the job and company are. Yesterday I started hearing first shift complain about it. Viva la Revolucion!
I found out that we in OCD are actually security officers as well. I knew that one of our jobs was to monitor the security monitors, but I thought that was the extent of it. Not so. If recruiting has a security concern (if, for instance, someone doesn't get a job they think they ought to), they hit a buzzer and an alarm goes off in OCD. We are then supposed to go and resolve the situation. Unfortunately, they don't give us a poll to slide down. That would be badass cool.
I'm actually getting used to the company. I'm starting to think that if the job itself didn't suck so bad, I could actually stay there. Pray for me, y'all!
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