#(and only a 20ish minute commute

[red-shepherds]

my creative flow was gone for a LONG time which is a downright shame. especially because the reason I'm fully decompressing and able to create now is because I have been unemployed recently. and shall be employed again, starting next week. hopefully it doesn't crimp things too much, though it certainly will change my schedule severely

[aroihkin]

Redbox vs welding, in which I hash some thoughts out. Comments welcome.

Okay, so. Redbox is still the best job I’ve ever had; even my shittiest redbox day has been better than most of my good days at literally any previous job. It’s insane.

I was hired on at $13.25/hour and got a huge raise for my first year that shot me up to $15.58/hour, and I am coming up quickly on my second redboxiversary. No bad audits, no speeding tickets, everything is smooth sailing. I probably won’t get that type of raise again because I was one of only 30 people in the whole company who did and it’s kind of a luck thing, but that’s alright. I got it when I needed it most (year 1), so I’m grateful. It’ll probably be more like a fifty cent raise and that’s alright.

See, none of that is a problem. For driving around listening to podcasts and music all day, doing my work without any bosses looking over my shoulder, my pay rate is amazing and I have no complaints there. Sure I gotta work in the rain sometimes but I bought an amazing rain coat from the UK and now that’s not even a problem.

What the problem is… is I was hired at 22 hours as my weekly cap (so about 20-21 hours a week in effect), and… I am still at 22 hours. Almost two years in.

I have gained no new territory since starting. Even the one (1) EcoATM I now service in town is literally right next to my redbox kiosk and so adds maybe… idk, ten minutes to my allowed time? At best?

I make enough to get by, relatively comfortably. When I’m careful to max hour my hours and get over 20 a week, I’m doing well. Sometimes I cover for someone taking time off and I get a nice juicy extra chunk of pay on that check, but it’s not consistent or reliable.

Problem is, I don’t make enough to do more than tread water. Yeah, I spend too much, I admit it, but the amount I spend isn’t enough to make a difference in the big stuff I need to do.

I need to get my credit back on track, which means paying off a bunch of old debt. I need to be able to afford another used car when Sapphire eventually shits the bed – and with the amount of driving I do for work, it’s a ‘when’ not an ‘if’. I would really like to be paying on a mortgage instead of rent before I’m 40… I’ve had so many slumlords that the idea of fixing everything myself doesn’t even phase me, I’ve been doing that most places I’ve lived and I was paying rent.

I don’t know how likely I am to do any of that while working 20ish hours a week for Redbox.

“Get another part time job” sounds reasonable, right? Except I can’t do shit that involves customers, clients, or patients. My redbox job is customer-facing, but it isn’t customer-service. I’m allowed to not laugh at the one millionth iteration of the same stupid jokes, and I can tell people not to touch me. And then I get in my car, crank up the music, and drive to my next stop far far away from whoever the fuck that was. I’m not chained to a counter, or trapped in a building.

Manufacturing jobs 1) aren’t in this area, 2) are never part time. And if I was going to bother with that kind of unpaid, 1-1.5 hour (one way) commute, and work a full time job…

Well, for one thing, I’d be better off welding. Same commute, same hours, twice the starting pay, and infinitely more job security than literally any other manufacturing thing I’ve ever done, and I’ve done a lot.

But for another thing, what about Redbox.

This isn’t mindless company loyalty going on here, it’s the fact that I actually like this job. I like the independent work, I like the company itself. They are officially, in legal documentation, enforce-ably LGBT friendly. Both my boss and my boss’ boss are covered in tattoos, and my boss’ boss has purple hair. It’s a good company.

But if I go get a full time welding job (and there are no part time welding jobs), I doubt I’ll be able to keep Redbox. Welding jobs are 40 hour weeks with mandatory overtime. I doubt I could sustain 60+ hours a week (plus commute) of the two jobs for long.

If I went the welding route, here’s my plan. I finish welding at the local community college, possibly even finish my AA for the fuck of it while I slowly try to fix my credit via Redbox wages and grant money for being a student. I just gotta get it out of “abysmal” and into “have a shitty loan rate” territory. Then I get a student loan for 7k and attend the big welding school in Modesto, while still working at Redbox. I figured it out and I could make that work.

Then I get done with that school and… they help me get a job – they do lifetime job placement assistance. And it’s like, okay, so let’s say I go that route and I find a welding job I like, and then I bid Redbox farewell. What if I turn out to be a shit welder? I’d be in another $7k of debt and out of a really really good job.

But then again I know there’s lots of shitty welders out there with stable jobs.

So maybe I’m just scaring myself for nothing and clinging to Redbox because it’s the one shiny I’ve found and I’m loathe to let it go… but christ you guys I’ve never had a good job before. My resume is multiple pages long and they were all absolute shit.

But if I leap into welding, I’d be making 4x the money easily and very possibly still be in a job that I like. Because what do I like about Redbox? I like being left the fuck alone, able to listen to my music/podcasts and do my fuckin job without holding anyone’s hands or having someone stare over my shoulder.

What’s welding? By its very nature of fusing two pieces of molten metal together, it’s also a job where you get left the fuck alone. I have hearing protection that can play anything my phone streams to it, under my hood. Welding would actually involve less customer interaction – which is to say, none. I’d occasionally have someone look over my shoulder, but not constantly, and it’d be more of a course correction kind of thing. “Hey this bead’s too fat, speed up.” That kind of shit. Not “MMmmnyes I am a corporate dingleberry, here to sneer at you in passing without even having spoken to you and then go tell your immediate supervisor to get rid of you literally because you’re sitting down with permission to do part of your job that doesn’t require standing, I am very rich”.

Which, if you couldn’t tell by the specificity, I’ve encountered before. More than once, though the sitting thing was only one specific factory.

I just, don’t know. Fuck.

I wish Redbox would just magically find more shit for me to do. I know if I stuck with them for the course of my working life I’d eventually hit full time, but it’s like… I’m 34? Drowning in debt? With no savings? Cuz every time I save up $1k, something happens to Sapphire that costs at least that much to fix, or there’s a big vet visit, or both…

I feel like I’m just being an impatient baby but I don’t know. December 13th will be my second anniversary with Redbox and I’m still like… spinning my wheels in the mud. For more money per hour than I started, but…

[turzelle]

Fun story that I'm ranting about here because no one will see it

I attend a college in a city neighboring my hometown. To save money, I decided not to live in a dorm, but instead commute in every morning. My earliest class isn't too early, so I don't need to worry too much about when I wake up. To save even more money, my plan has been to drive to the nearest bus station and then take the bus onto campus (~20 minutes driving, ~30 minutes on the bus) since bus passes are provided by tuition and parking at bus stations is free. My girlfriend also happens to attend the same university, so, despite her first class starting an hour earlier than mine, we carpool onto campus (we leave at different times though).

Today, however, I was running behind schedule. I would have made my girlfriend late to class if we missed the bus. So the new plan was for me to drive straight onto campus (just 30 minutes instead of 50+) and deal with the parking fee ($1.50/hr, which was one of the cheaper parking lots on campus). We got there at 8:20am, it all worked out.

I had to be on campus until 6:30pm. 10+ hours of walking back and forth, attending classes, whatever. The last obligation of my day was meeting up with my project partner to finalize presentation details. We met at her dorm building at 6pm to briefly discuss. What I like about meeting at her dorm is that it's right next to a bus stop! It's very convenient for me to get home. We actually finished early, which meant I wouldn't have to wait at long for the next bus! So I only waited 3 minutes for the bus instead of 16-20.

It took the usual 30ish minutes to get to the bus station. I was preoccupied listening to a podcast, so I didn't really register much except where the bus was stopping. I got off at my usual place and started walking to where I parked my car.

...Where I thought I parked my car.

My first thoughts were that someone stole my car. I frantically checked my pockets for my keys, wondering if I should call my parents, the police- And then it hit me.

My car was back on campus, and I had to wait for the next bus just to ride another half hour back to where I just was. Thankfully, I remembered which parking lot I was at. The parking fee was $1.50 over what it would've been, but oh well. I was bummed, but it was my fault for not remembering.

However, it was when I was driving back that I noticed I had passed my classmate's dorm. I was literally parked a block away from where I was originally. I could have walked 5 minutes instead of a wHOLE FLIPPING HOUR.

Then I had to drive the 20ish minutes back home, leading me to write this post, livid.

[terselylove]

33 Tips For Night Owls Who Want To Wake Up Earlier

1. Have something you look forward to doing. Like making yourself a breakfast you really enjoy or doing an exercise you love.

2. Make a morning playlist that’s exactly as long as you want to spend getting ready. Make it full of songs that pump you up.

3. Set up thinner curtains to let the rays enter in. The sunlight will help adjust your internal clock.

4. Take care of yourself the night before. Prepare an easy breakfast/meal prep. Set aside the clothes you want to wear for the next day.

5. Transition out of caffeine. Your body also becomes dependent on it to stay awaken throughout the day. However, its hard to adjust if you stop cold turkey so slowly take steps to reduce it (add milk, decrease espresso shots, decrease size, etc.)

6. Get a Christmas light timer and program it so your coffee pot turns on when you want to wake up.

7. Make your bed so you aren’t tempted to get back in it.

8. Wake up earlier on weekends so that you don’t throw your schedule off.

9. Gradually become a “morning person” by savoring the quiet of the early hours and the opportunity to get things accomplished before the tempo of life increases as the day wears on.

10. Change the alarm sound on your iPhone to the “Slow Rise” song. It’s a game changer. Now instead of being jolted out of your sleep the song slowly gets louder and is pretty gentle. It really helps. That and having a good night time routine will make you tired. Mine is, I stop looking at my phone, take a quick bath for relaxation, and head to bed.

11. Here’s the #1 trick, though. I set two alarms, one for when I want to get up, and one for 40 minutes earlier. That means that the first time the alarm rings, I can turn it off 100% guilt free, and get a nice, round 40 minutes of extra sleep in there before I have to even budge. Works perfect for me, whether I’m running on a 7 or 3 hours of sleep. One alarm, I’ll Snooze it for ages. Two alarms and I’m ready to go.

12. What we eat apparently has a lot to do with sleep schedule. I consume the vast majority of my calories in the evening about 3 hours before bed, typically without breakfast and only a small amount for lunch.

13. Limit alcohol intake.

14. Take melatonin. You don’t have to go to bed immediately but just take one and chill for 20ish minutes. Out like a light. Do so at the same time each night and it fixes your sleep schedule. Then just take it 20 minutes before you want to be asleep by and set an alarm.

15. Standing up when your alarm goes off and then doing one single push up was my shortcut for a long time.

16. Download Alarmy app. You have to solve math problems to turn it off.

17. If you shower in the morning, multitask. It’s ok to brush your teeth while your showering, and if you need to let conditioner or shampoo to set in your hair like I do for that maximum softness, wash your body while you do.

18. When you get up think of things to be grateful of/ positive thoughts/ people you are looking forward to seeing/opportunities that day. On a related note, I remember reading a Buddhist monk who suggested saying good morning inwardly to yourself in a genuine and sincere way. Sort of honoring your true self.

19. I drink a lot of water before I sleep. I heard it’s not supposed to be good to do so. But it helps me wake up and get to the bathroom to take a massive piss. It’s so relieving.

20. You can take natural sedatives like valerian root and chamomile available in pills, powders, and teas, but only take those if you plan on getting 8 hours of sleep, because you are getting knocked the fuck out, and no alarm will help you.

21. Keeping the blinds open, you wake up gradually as the sun rises.

22. Make time to exercise, do yoga, and/or meditate in the mornings. It sets you up for a really great day.

23. Go to sleep before/by 10pm. You’ll start waking up around 5-6am on your own. This is my favorite time of day to go for a walk in cities, suburbs, etc… There’s little to no people around. It’s really quite zen.

24. I was never a morning person, but for a while I started exercising every morning.

The trick was to stick to the exercise schedule even if I was going to be late. Eventually I started waking up early enough to exercise.

25. There’s something to 90 minute sleep cycles. If you make sure you’re waking up at the end of a cycle, you feel better and not groggy.

26. Set out your stuff. Sleep in your gym clothes. Set an alarm. Get to bed early. Set out a glass of water and a granola bar. Set your coffee maker’s timer. Pack your bags in advance. Whatever you can do to streamline your morning so that you can zombie-walk through it.

27. Go to bed early, take a hot shower, and have a good breakfast like eggs or oatmeal.

28. Avoid reading or looking at screens in the first hour or so in the morning.

29. Make your livelihood depend on getting up early. It helps that commute times are often better in the morning and if you can leave a little early yet still work your full day, your commute home will probably be quicker and you’ll beat more bodies to getting to the gym earlier or whatever you do after work.

30. Prep some easy to make cold meals the night before i.e oatmeal, crackers with cheese, ants on a log. Basically, something small and easy to eat that you can grab or pack in a bag. Don’t eat junk like potato chips or candy for breakfast.

31. Don’t go on your phone until you:

drink a glass of water

wash your face/ shower

do yoga, stretch or meditate

write down or think of 3 goals for the day

eat breakfast

32. If the most difficult part of the morning is rising out of bed, leave some pre-made cold coffee or an energy drink near your bedside and take a swig. It always gets me right up.

33. Own a cat. They’ll get you up EARLY.

[alia15]

LIRR Nightmares

It started off as a regular morning -- well, a regular morning after a four-day weekend.  Your typical grogginess, difficulty waking up to an alarm, general irritation.  

All normal.

I left my apartment on time and not rushing for once (give me credit for this) and saw a text from my mother around 7:50am.

“Is your train on time?”

(I believe they call this foreshadowing)

I get ready with the news on every morning and didn’t hear anything about LIRR delays, so I wondered why she was asking that.  I also wasn’t at the train yet since I take the 8:03 every morning so I didn’t know.  But I thought nothing of it.

I got on my train and quickly heard that they were experiencing some delays (WHAT ELSE IS NEW) and would be making local stops.  Eh, I can live with that.  That’s all fine.

But then, all hell broke loose.  Instead of just telling you what happened in my own words, I can also show you in series of photos.  Alternative title to this post:  ALLISON HAS A MENTAL BREAKDOWN.

BUCKLE UP.

First, the alerts.   The Long Island Railroad isn’t great at saying, “hey, there are going to be delays later; you might want to plan accordingly!” but they ARE great at saying, “uh, yeah, there are delays now.  but you probably know that already.”

It wasn’t awful, though.  Sure, I was late, but nothing out of the ordinary.  I figured all the extra stops were causing the 20 minute delay (which I can live with!  I’m easygoing and patient!  Very go with the flow!) 

But then... we stopped.  There was no more movement.  I looked at my calendar to see what meetings I had today at work, and the first call was at 10:30.  Phew, I’ll probably make that, right?

(Foreshadowing again)

I email my team and tell them I’m going to be late and decided to just try and be patient (something I suck at), throw on some music and deal.  I also felt like I should document the delay because I’m an over-sharer and have this weird thing where I think people care about what I’m experiencing:

I now started to get antsy.  My butt hurt from sitting for so long.  People were starting to lose their patience and tempers.  I felt bad for those who were stuck standing in the aisles, but also was secretly glad it wasn’t me.  I felt the train walls closing in on me and suddenly felt... panicky.  The man next to me -- who at this point hadn’t said a peep -- decided to call every single person in his phone’s address book.  LUCKY ME.

I look at my phone battery: 38%.  I should probably not use my iPhone anymore, but what am I supposed to do during this stressful situation?!  I HAVE TO CONTINUE TWEETING HATEFUL THINGS AT THE LONG ISLAND RAILROAD TWITTER HANDLE!

topical.

 not the most mature, but... *shrugs*

I *also* needed to keep concerned friends and family posted on my whereabouts:

of course I gotta keep Sue in the loop.

It’s now 10:30.  I’m hot, I’m full of rage.  I’m annoyed.

I’m late for my client call.

I think about all the times the trains have been messed up in 2017 and I get annoyed.  I THEN remember that I pay $300 a month for this godforsaken piss-poor service, and I start to see red.  Breeeeeeeeeeathe, Allison, just breathe.

I hear the conductor make an announcement on the loudspeaker, so I take my headphone out to hear it.  Only, I can’t hear it, no one can -- the volume is too low and his voice is muffled.  THE SPEAKERS DON’T WORK; WHY WOULD THEY???!  People on my train laugh;  the kind of laugh that happens when you’ve lost your mind.  Because we have.

Now, the worst happens... I lose cell phone service.  No more Instagram stories, tweets and texts.  This is it, I think, this is my home now.  I live here.  I’m never getting out.

11:00 am.

Just as I begin to accept my fate that I somehow died and am now living my personal hell, we pull into Penn Station.  Three hours of commuting.  Two hours longer than normal.  I stand up and just see a bunch of faces: disgruntled, defeated.  We’ve been through battle together.  And now our (work) days were only just beginning.

I made it into work at 11:20ish; a bruised and battered commuter, and as soon as I turned the corner into my desk area, I saw about ten concerned faces look up at me.  I make a VERY SERIOUS announcement.  

“I need ten minutes before I can talk to anyone.”

And whatddya know, they listened.  

So, not the greatest start to my day, but I survived.  And to those who followed along on my little nightmare journey this morning, you’re the real MVPs.  That couldn’t have been easy to witness.

So, tell me: any fellow commuters out there?  Got any nightmare stories for me?