Beneath the Wraps

On our fifth day was two weeks ago today.  We were at the house Randy put us to work.   Who doesn’t love doing yard work during their vacation?   Better than being cramped up in a plane or a car I suppose. Also his corner lot yard is much easier to manage than the wilds of our backyard.  Devin doing dishes Roland mowing lawn Jenna looks overly thrilled in all of these pictures happy to have recruited family to do chores I was certainly not dressed for the part "This is NOT how I wanted to spend my vacation" holding the cord of the lawnmower Me with my youngest grandson This is how Roland and I would vacuum at the church.  He would push the vacuum and I would hold the cord.

                On April 20 I received an email for a work assignment for the 13 – 28.   I was scheduled to work at Coffenberry for the rest of the year.   I posted this assignment on facebook and proposed two questions:   If they wanted me on the 13 th , why did they wait until the 20 to tell me?   The schools are closed, but do you think if I show up that I will get paid?               Roland had suggested that I qualify for unemployment, but he was still working and I didn't want to take away from somebody else who needed more than we.  As it turned out I didn't even qualify as I hadn't put in enough hours or made enough.  And that was okay.             I haven’t been to any of the schools since March 13.   The school district has payments available on the 10 th but today I re...

       For the past three years or so, Roland has been working as a recruiter for students to take online courses.   His title wasn’t recruiter though.   I forget what it was.                         When he first started, those in his position were responsible for having at least two people start per mod (don’t know if the three letters are abbreviations for something or if it’s spelled differently – but it means every six weeks to eight weeks when the classes start for each major) and somewhere along the line it was raised to three and then four and then six.             My brother-in-law, Bill, had worked there just a few years before the stress pushed him into looking for another job.   He put in his notice before the requirement was bumped to six.   Th...

          When was first called to work at Swire, the company was located downtown.  I would take the bus to a stop two or three lights east of where I needed to be and walk the rest of the way. I was working in the human resources area doing filing. It also became my job to help them pack up and move as they were leaving the downtown area and settling on a neutral location between Salt Lake and Provo and combining their employees into just one building instead of two.   I remember being with them after the move – I think until they were all settled in.  And then my position was through. I returned to Swire for another assignment – handling and counting money that each of the drivers would bring in from the vending machines. The girl who trained me was really nice.  It was an easy job – except for the one time when the power went out and we couldn’t even see our hands in front of our faces.  T...

          I started my temp jobs with Kelly.  I don’t recall any jobs through Kelly that weren’t banquet involved.  What a letdown.  NOT the field I was looking for.  There was one assignment I’d been given to insert flyers and advertisements together. There was a large group of us who got the job done in less than two and a half hours.  We got paid for four. 1           The only other temp agency I worked for was Adia – which later became Adecco.  The name changed when I was doing secretarial work for DCFS.           Now there’s a trip.  Working for the state.  Department of Child and Family Services.  Felt more like Dysfunctional Communication for Society.  I really was not at all thrilled about how agents or clients were being treated.        ...

          I took the bus downtown to 2 nd south and walked over to 2 nd west from there.           Patrick Dry Goods had three floors.  On the first floor one could pick out fabric and towels or order them by catalogue.  The second floor carried notions and the third floor carried some baby clothes and socks – mostly through catalogue – but did keep certain brands within the warehouse.           The elevator used in the building seemed ancient compared to the building itself. It reminded me of the broken (and noisy) elevator in Thoroughly Modern Millie . except the gate pulled down instead of horizonal center.  And there was no dancing. Mostly items were purchased from name brands and then sold to Ma and Pa stores who couldn’t afford to purchase directly from the name brands as they were unable to meet the minimum a...

          After high school I got a job at my dad’s work ( an insurance company )   as a file clerk.  It was back in the days where not everyone had a personalized computer.  And the computer that my dad worked on (he was a computer programmer) was one of those ancient wall to wall machines that look along the lines of a horrible sci-fi.           My job was to pull microfiche, file microfiche, scan documents to be cut and inserted into microfiche, and to cut and insert.  Mostly I pulled or filed.  I rarely ever cut and insert.  I actually may have done it only once.           We were located in an ancient building which used to be a lodge for the lions (probably at the very moment they were founded) The company outgrew that building and moved to a much nicer location only eight blocks away....

          I think everybody ought to have the opportunity of waiting tables for at least two months.  Some may have to do it longer to really appreciate what hard work for little wages really is.  Although I don’t know if it’s quite as feast or famine as it used to be.            My second job was at the ice cream parlor where my mom worked.  I was probably there longer than any other job.  I think I started out at 2.67 an hour.  Milkshakes were less than two on the menu. I’d seen the prices going up quite often.  Wish my paycheck had been increased as rapidly. I mostly worked weekends and one or two nights during the week.  I would come in at 6:00 or 8:00 and work until after closing.  Everybody did everything and tips were split among all of those who worked that shift.  Our assignments consisted of being host or hostess (seating...

          I don’t remember leaning toward a specific career.  I took on jobs just to get by.  My first few jobs were just for spending money.  It seemed to have a more grown up feel than just doing chores.           I received my first job when I was 13 or 14 years old.  I delivered a weekly newspaper.  Informative scoops about events in the surrounding community.  It was called the Green Sheet.  I delivered it on Thursday mornings for about a year.  And then I stopped.           My second job was at the ice cream parlor where my mom worked.  I was probably there longer than any other job.  (More on that in its own post) I was there before college, after college, before the mission, after the mission . . . and even while I was working at other jobs.           Se...