Week in Review, 15 June to 21 June

This week marks the final week of Spring for the year 2009. Fortunately the weather continued to improve as the rainy cool pattern showed discernible signs of waning through the week. However, it did rain four of the six days, but 70 degrees or warmer temperatures were observed daily each day of the week.

Day/Date ......Hi...... Lo..... Avg..... +/-...... Precip

SUN 14  70  45  58  -3   T
MON 15  71  46  59  -3   0.04
TUE 16  73  46  60  -2   0.01
WED 17  75  52  64   2   0.12
THR 18  73  51  62   0   0.15
FRI 19  71  48  60  -2   T
SAT 20  70  54  62  -1   0.03
SUN 21  76  51  64  +1   0.22

I caught a ride over to the factory on WED 10 June from Brant's son Chad to do some paperwork prior to returning to work, and to place an announcement asking for help. I had hoped by placing an announcement in the employee lunchroom soliciting a ride to and from work would be a successful strategy, but alas it was not. I should have known better based on my prior judgment and opinions largely of my co-workers. So by Saturday 13 June I came to realize that I would have to get the truck running and use it to drive the 8 - 9 mile haul to the factory, at least temporarily until I could talk someone into helping me out. So I got the battery charged, tires inflated, fluids checked, and took it on a test ride on Sunday 14 June to the Walmart and post office which would be about an ten mile round trip. As expected performance was poor but marginally tolerable. I was able to get a few groceries and my mail, and I was able to get myself in a good position on food supplies to last me two weeks.

So Monday the 15th arrived, and I had trouble sleeping; I only got about six hours before waking for good around 4am. I had readied myself the prior evening and was able to get out the door before 6am for what used to be a 15 minute drive that very well could be twice to triple that amount with the poor running truck. It ended up being about 25 minutes or so, better than I thought as the vehicle performed a little stronger than anticipated.

My work shift is from 7am until 3:30pm with ten minute breaks at 9am and 1:30pm, and a lunch break of only 30 minutes from 11am to 11:30. I was re-assigned to the same supervisor as last summer and autumn, Steve Wolfe, an okay guy but a person who should probably doing something else with his life. He is in his mid 50s and a former USAF NCO. He is cold at times, and prohibits the crew from having the radio or any music on which has both its blessings (no rap garbage from the rabble) and drawbacks (no country, oldies, or classic rock). I was back doing the same job, wrapping windows with a clear film and placing them on carts as the last step in the manufacturing process prior to loading onto trucks for shipment. Some windows, primarily those going out to Home Depot stores, do not get wrapped, but Home Depot orders nine packs of various window sizes which are placed on pallets and then wrapped as an exception. Overall our team runs out between 325 and 400 windows during our shifts, sometimes more. The size of windows ranges from about 8" by 12", to monsters that are 20' long and sometimes 12" tall that weigh over 350 pounds with glass in them and more than a handfall. There is about 5 other employees in close proximity to me doing other steps in the process before the product is handed off to me, and about eight to ten others farther up the line involved in the early part of the process. The other personnel in the factory are working other production lines; involved in glass production, glazing, and cutting; truck loading; and other various tasks.

The turnover and change at the factory from when I was last there was rather remarkable. I only recognized about 5-6 individuals that I had worked with last summer. On-site staffing was reduced markedly, as only about 45 -50 people are working at the factory from what I can tell, about 30 % of what it was during last summer and into last autumn. And production is down about the same as orders from retailers and wholesalers are down by at least 2/3 if not more.

I talked to several other employees, including some that have close to a decade of service at the factory, and they all strongly feel the business is the slowest ever in memory, even more so than after the 9/11 World Trade Center Attacks and subsequent recession. The belief among these fellows is the factory will be running on a skeleton schedule. They think things will struggle along for the next four months or so, and then many will get laid off in early Autumn, late October at the latest. They also said there is a good chance the factory could get totally shutdown in early November and put in mothballs until late April or May of 2009. My guess would be in agreement with them after just a few days of seeing the current production and having a strong awareness of the local and national economy, in particular to how it relates to the product this factory manufactures.

I knew I would be in for a major physical adjustment going back to work after six months of relative inactivity. I was quite correct as I was beset with major muscle strains in my back, as well as significant pain in my quadriceps, calves, shoulders, arms, hands, and feet. Generally my therapeutic approach once I got home was a prolonged hot shower, followed by a lengthy period on my massager pad, and then massage on the afflicted areas with my massaging tools. I also took 1500 mg of Tylenol Arthritis tablets twice daily along with some baby aspirin (243 mg daily), and applied generous amounts of either Ben-Gay or Icy Hot to the surface of the afflicted areas. The treatment had only limited results as I was staggered with pain and stiffness through much of the week. Tuesday and Wednesday were the worst as I experienced excrutiating pain in my back which was quite pronounced as the day went along. Some improvement was seen as the week went along, and I am projecting I should be okay for the most part before July arrives.

I worked 8.2 hours on Monday; 9 hours on Tuesday; 6 hours on Wednesday; and 10.5 hours on Thursday. As for today, I, along with most of the rest of the crew, was given the day off as there was simply inadequate production demands for working a fifth day. I hope this isn't the case in the weeks ahead, as only getting 80 - 85 % of a full weeks pay is not conducive to meeting my goals.

And unfortunately one of those goals now means purchasing another vehicle. The truck survived Monday and the trip out to the factory on Tuesday morning, but not the return trip home. I was barely out of the factory on the connecting street when the White Knight died. A loud pop, almost an explosion occurred, and it stopped. Upon opening the hood, there was oil all over the engine compartment. Fortunately I had been successful in setting up a ride for the days and weeks ahead which would begin on Wednesday morning. And a kindly co-worker I was slightly acquainted with stopped with me on the side of the road with the dead truck and gave me a ride into the city to my apartment. Shortly after upon arriving, I called Brant and he came by later around 6:30pm and he towed the White Knight back to the street in front of the apartment.

In a way its a relief, as I was concerned about all the maintenance expenses looming not only with the transmission but also the kingpins and exhaust system. Combined I was probably looking at over $2K, maybe close to $3K, which was not a reasonable commitment to take on for a nearly 32 year vehicle. So I will get it emptied out of supplies and equipment in the coming weeks before having it towed off to the scrapyard. I can survive without a vehicle for the next couple of months with rides arranged for work and Brant helping me out a couple times a month to go to the grocery store. Hopefully within about two months or so I can find something in the area of $1500, preferably a truck - but not likely - that I can purchase and then cross my fingers it runs okay for the upcoming period of transition from Cheyenne to Colorado Springs in autumn and into the winter of '09-'10. I had my doubts the White Knight could ever pass a Colorado air cleanliness and pollution emissions test, so that is another reason why maybe this is best result when all is added up. Unfortunately the Cash for Clunker legislation enacted by Congress does not apply to vehicles that no longer run, but I know Hank will be able to use it as their Nissan needs only some stopgap repairs to get it moving to a dealership to take advantage of the federal deal. I wish I could figure out how to do the same thing but I all but know for sure the White Knight has made its final ride.


But its kind of sad to have one's 21 plus years transportation mainstay and partner go by the wayside and no longer be part of one's life. Its been a long road since 1987 when I lived in Phoenix when and where I bought the truck. A lot of things have happened in my life since then, as I live a lot of life and various adventures; I saw a lot of countryside in that truck while sitting behind the steering wheel, probably about 400,000 miles and every state west of the Mississippi in the Continental US except North Dakota. Over 22 years - that is better than two-thirds of my adult life. I will never have another vehicle again that lasts that long; it is certain I won't even last half that again, let alone another full 22 years.

Other than work, I mostly rested and struggled with the pain. I really did not watch much baseball, catching only a few innings of the Rockies' games Tuesday and Wednesday, and only watching the shortened recap/replay show which is fit into a half-hour for the the Thursday afternoon game. Other than that I was largely out of it for the last four days.

I did manage to talk the electric company during my lunch break on Wednesday into keeping my service running until I get paid on Friday 26 June. I also found out I am getting holiday pay for three - four holidays even though i was in layoff status. That should mean a bigger paycheck, but until I see it, I am not taking anything for granted. My goal for treating myself to something special is to be able to order a pizza for delivery for the upcoming MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday 14 July. By then the wolves will be away from the door for the most part.

So today, Friday 19 June, was a day at home. I awoke shortly after 7am after getting up before 5am the prior four days. I did some extensive internet surfing and work most of the day as I had not done much besides a minimal amount in the last four days with my fatigues and aches. It was a largely sunny day but cool as it just reached 70 degrees maybe. Around 5pm I walked over to the DQ. I did okay as all the therapy, rest, and day off allowed me to feel better. I had been sitting on a free coupon for a Blizzard for my birthday which was due to expire on Saturday, so I took advantage of it on the last day and got myself a Chocolate Blizzard. As the evening came on I started watching the Rockies game against the Pittsburgh Pirates and continued doing some writing and research on the internet. I think I will bake some potatoes for supper before 8pm, and then retire before 10pm.

Other than trying to get out to the grocery store over the weekend for a gallon of milk and five bananas for work next week, I am sure I will be staying in and resting, readying myself for another work week ahead. But the nice thing is that I get a paycheck at the end of this next one. And while I will not be spending it on anything but delinquent bills, it is the first step in a very long process ahead of meeting some important goals: getting new transportation and setting aside money so I can move away from here to Colorado Springs this autumn. But the possible reality of small paychecks and a layoff much sooner than would be ideal is endangering the dream of leaving here. I cannot quantify the chances, but today I would say it is only a little better than 50-50 I can get out of here in the next 12 months. There is no way I can really think about leaving without about $2000 in the bank in order to be prepared for the transition which will prove to be difficult. It would be too risky to do so on much less than that.

Only time will tell if I can execute my plan. I sure hope I can.

Saturday saw a cloudy cooler windy day with the constant threat of rain, although little if any fell by late afternoon. I awoke around 7:30am after a full night of restful sleep and I felt better and far less sore than in recent days. The wonders of Tylenol, Aleve, Advil, and aspirin - not at all at once, but I was switching from one to another to find the most effective drug to relieve my pain, which Aleve or Advil is seemingly. I had some cereal as usual for breakfast and watched some programs on the History Channel during the morning while doing some reading on the internet.

Part of my routine in the last several months is to do several Sudoku puzzles on the internet sites of five newspapers: USA Today, The Denver Post, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. The USA Today has four different puzzles weekdays; The Denver Post has a daily Sudoku puzzle which keeps track of stats like completion and the time it takes to the puzzle as well as one's best times; The LA Times has a daily puzzle which is the hardest one to complete successfully; The NY Times had three Sudoku puzzles daily plus six KenKen puzzles; and the Washington Post has three soduku puzzles on weekdays including a Mega Sudoku puzzle which can take an hour or more to solve. Doing all these puzzles can fill up about an hour and a half of time on many days, but there are some days I can complete them all within 20 -25 minutes. Now that I am working again, I probably won't do all them as often as I have been.

Around noon, I decided to hike to the Safeway to get milk and bananas. I put on a backpack to carry back the items and set out for the one and a quarter mile or so walk each way. I wore my headphones radio and listened to oldies from AM950 from Denver while on the hike. The store is located east of my residence, and the weather today was favorable for a walk with the clouds and breezes. I also was feeling in pretty good shape after a week of work and felt my strength would be okay, which it was. While at the store I took some time and browsed through about ten different magazines, such as Atlantic, Harpers, US News & World Report, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Make, Psychology Today, and some college and pro football preview magazines. Since this hike went well, maybe I will walk up and get my mail next weekend. While walking back, I passed a parking lot where people place their vehicles for sale. There were about ten of them along there, and some were priced near or less than $1000. Seeing this gives me hope I might be able to get a vehicle within the next six weeks to two months.

Upon returning after being gone about 45 minutes to an hour, I tuned into the Saturday Afternoon Baseball Game of the Week on Fox between the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Mets from the new Mets Field in Queens. The game was delayed a couple of times by rain and we were switched over to Milwaukee and Detroit. Around 3:30 I microwaved some chicken, prepared some gravy on the stove top, and microwaved some instant mashed potatoes for an early supper. Todd called me and we had a conversation for about 45 minutes around 6pm as I had not spoken to him since sometime in early May or perhaps even late April.

This evening I will watch the Rockies game against Pittsburgh and just relax, enjoying the cool air from the outside that is ventilating the unit. I probably will fade out around 9:30 pm, but I lasted until around 11pm.

I arose around 9am, had cereal for breakfast, and watched baseball all afternoon as the Boston Red Sox edged Atlanta with a walk off homer in the bottom of the 9th at Fenway; and the Colorado Rockies won yet again, completing a sweep of the Pirates to make it five straight, 16 of 17, and 18 of 23 since Jim Tracy took over as manager on Friday 29 May. This great run over the last three and a half weeks has put Colorado in the middle of the Wild Card race. Next up for the Rockies is a challenging nine game road trip to California with three game stops each in Anaheim, Oakland, and Los Angeles over the next ten days leading up to the Independence Day weekend holiday.

Sunday started out as a sunny day, but thunderstorms have reappeared yet again in mid-afternoon with good rain falling in the 4pm MDT hour. It will be partly to mostly cloudy until well into the evening as temperatures have dropped off from the mid 70s earlier to the current mid 60s. Today makes 60 of the last 91 days snow and/or rain has fallen here, and 19 of the 21 days in June so far.

For supper on Sunday evening, I fixed myself some macaroni noodles with spaghetti sauce, adding ground beef and peas & carrots to make it more filling. It is large enough to provide three meals. I will be watching the Angels - Dodgers game this evening along with a movie on ABC entitled Impact, a two parter which concludes next Sunday, a rather sizable gap I found to be unusual. I probably will be abed before 11pm.

A second week of work looms in hours once again, with the reward of a good paycheck at weeks end. The upcoming week will largely consist of work, rest, and watching baseball until Friday and next weekend, when I will get to pay bills, get the mail, go to the grocery store, and whatever else I figure out at that time. Once again, I would not be surprised to be off on FRI 26 June, but I would be more happy to get some hours in on that day, even if it were to be just a half day. Next week, I will get Friday 3 July off, but will be paid for it as a holiday. Hopefully I will get a largely full week of work before that holiday date. Then comes the long eight week haul of no breaks until Labor Day on the first Monday in September.

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