More Stories

"What're you guys up to today?"
"Jackin' off."

[ . . . ]

"You know, you're gettin' real good at showing up when the work's done."

[ . . . ]

"You guys doing the left side next?"
"It's already done! That's what I told you about showin' up when the work's done."
"Well I didn't know you guys were doin' this!"
"That's why you gotta come over here and see what's going on!"
"I did! I was here like an hour ago!"


That's the story here at the hot end. Real questions are rarely answered, and [semi-joking] fault is zealously found upon any apparent absence or ignorance.
It's not as bad as it sounds in writing here, though, 'cause Kirb shot a smile as he walked out of the control room after that last exchange, and these brief dialoges don't show you the hours of joking around the office, the real communications that do happen, and the camraderie when everybody's sweating away down under the ports. So don't hate my job ('cause I don't), just.. observe and ponder (like I do).

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This morning I got an email with the info for a teleconference at 2pm. I'd been in a couple of these before where we go in my boss's office and listen around the telephone to all the Guardian plants in the area catching up with each other. What I didn't know, and didn't find out till 1:50, was that Earl wasn't going to this meeting, so I was the sole Floreffe representative. And it dawned on me as the first few minutes went by, that I was expected to give a report on what went on in September! I was nervous enough just being in Earl's office by myself, on the phone with all the managers and such. I could feel my brain freezing up and ceasing to recall any of what had transpired in the past 4 weeks, but I hunted furiously through the HotEnd drive for report files and sheets.. anything to jog my memory and give me the yield and tons pulled at least. The first plant's report sorta drifted by my ears as I jotted some notes down and found the report I was looking for. And that was a good thing, 'cause then I heard "OK, so, John, you want to give us an update from Floreffe?"
I'm not real good at talking on the fly, so I probably spoke fast and I know I wasn't as coherent and succinct as the other guys, to whom this sort of info is second nature. They were interested in the new Ashur tweel we put in, and asked a couple extra questions about our cutting and lehr issues with the 10mm Crystal Gray (the ribbon of glass basically shattered apart for two entire days). I held my own, though, and it was pretty cool to be "flying solo" amongst "real people."
In all of this, I just love how I got a wordless forward in the morning, and no mention--not even a hint--that Earl wouldn't be there, that I would be speaking for the plant, and that maybe I should get ready a little bit for that!
Ahh, nobody gives me a thought of help here, but that's what gives this job value. It stands out as the one thing in my life that I answer for unhelped; in failure, growth and success. (I guess I've learned guitar that way, but that's not really a real life thing.)

--CA