the neverending story ...

... of Day Labor Hell

For the past month, I have been working at Tallahassee Community College through a local day-labor firm. The job is good, my co-workers are a lot of fun, and I am indoors at least half of the time (thus out of the scorching Florida sun).

Yesterday I had to take another temp job; TCC wasn't sure last Friday whether they would have work for me on Monday. It turns out they did, but I wasn't available until today. Instead of TCC I went to a local college-student apartment complex to help move students' belongings into their new apartments. I had to stand around in the hot parking lot and help whomever needed assistance moving their belongings.

The job was a serious drag. Most of the new residents had 3rd-floor rooms and way too much stuff; worse yet, there are no elevators. Everything had to be carried up several flights of stairs: beds, enormous TVs, 200-pound bureaus, etc. I left at 3 pm although we were supposed to stay until 5. When I told the boss I was leaving, he said, "I'm calling the labor pool office over this. You won't have this job tomorrow or ever again." I replied, "I'm fine with that." He wasn't pleased. When I got back to the labor pool to pick up my check, they said I had my TCC gig back starting today. Hallelujah! TCC says they will keep me busy for a long time. One of the guys I work with is about to start his senior year in high school so he won't be working very much. This means that I will have plenty of work. They also want to hire me on full-time.