reacquainting myself with the floating bum.

as i'm sure you're all well aware, times ain't the easiest when it comes to finding work. whether it's for full time skilled labor or part-time grunt work, jobs are competitive. bearing this in mind, i've had the great fortune of being able to find another job. so to speak. for the unaware, i currently work at the benson science building on byu campus doing early morning (4:30 am) custodial work, and have been since last november. it pays well enough for what it is and has been great for a job both during school and break. the only disadvantage (outside of the occasional disgusting happening) is that the hours are limited to 17.5 a week. that means that while it pays well enough, it still lands short of a fulltime job. which is really what i would hope for during a break where i have no school. so i've been looking for a second job for the summer. and luckily, i actually found one, or rather, rediscovered one.

the job i worked before the benson building (and the job where i met my dear girlfriend) was at byu laundry. i pressed coats and pants and drove a laundry truck for about six months when i first came back to the university. when i left, my boss said if i was interested in a job again to give him a call. i did, and he didn't have any spots available until recently. but since he had one as of last week, i finally got the second job i'd been looking for.

it's interesting coming back to a job after you've been gone for over half a year. especially a job like the laundry. it's a great place, but much of the work is fairly monotonous. for instance, my past job (and now current job) was/is pressing coats and jackets at a little station for the duration of the shift. not the most thrilling business. that's not the reason i left the laundry, but i must confess it may have had some influence. now, though, i've come back and see people who have been there since before i started last summer still at the presses. i have to wonder how they can bear it. honestly, it's sort of like making xerox copies of a weirdly shaped papers one after another for hours without ever speaking to anybody or moving. it's practically a varicose vein farm. because i'm a fidget, i can't stand at the same spot that long so in the few seconds that the machine is on autopilot i take the chance to bounce on my toes, find an excuse to walk a bit (drinks of water are the most common), or simply jump in place a few times. but these other people who simply twist their waists every few minutes have me baffled.

personally, i've always been more partial for pressing jackets. it's what i started on. also, you put the jacket on a sort of wire-and-cloth mannequin rather than...

the floating bum.

i thought i was rid of this abomination when i left the laundry in november, but my dismissal was premature and even rash in retrospect. it would seem fate has intertwined our destinies. either way, there are always more pants to press than jackets, so when one of the pants presses are open i get to head over. in case you're curious, this machine basically take the pants and floods them with steam so they balloon up to their max size and eliminate any small wrinkles and also reinforce pleats (as seen in the photo). then it's our job to take them to the press itself and put the crease of the pants in place and eliminate any stray wrinkles. and to be fair, from this angle, i guess it's more accurately titled "the floating crotch." that sounds a bit crass, though, doesn't it?

anyway, this means a bit more income for yours truly which is a good thing after half a summer of searching for some extra cash flow. at least i have an mp3 player now. autumn is being kind enough to loan me hers (amongst other acts of kindness--so thanks to her), and i'm only working three hour shifts. how in the world i use to work four hours without any music or radio theater to fill my skull is beyond me. but i see other people doing it, so i guess it remains possible. to be fair though, these are the same people who'll be getting varicose veins.

so there.

p.s.--yes, i know i neglected part two of my washington dc adventure. i apologize. i totally forgot and will work on getting it posted soon. forgive me, williams.