Random Thoughts

[dll2000]

5 minutes ago, dll2000 said:

If you are going to live in central IL there is no reason I can think of to commute an hour.   Its mostly rural and you can find nice places to live in any area.   The ‘cities’ are mostly towns built around a college.

Peoria is Bradley, Bloomington/Normal is Illinois State and Champaign is U of Illinois, etc.   They do have some minor seedy neighborhoods, buy you know don’t live there.  

If you have decent credit and wages it may  be better to simply buy a small place rather than rent because interest rates are so low.   

 

@twslhs20 if you are set on looking for an apartment it is best to have local realtor to show you around that knows the area.   Landlord will pay them one month rent, but it is free to you.  

Or ask a co-worker where they live and what they recommend.  

 

Edited December 6, 2020 by dll2000

[twslhs20]

1 hour ago, dll2000 said:

@twslhs20 if you are set on looking for an apartment it is best to have local realtor to show you around that knows the area.   Landlord will pay them one month rent, but it is free to you.  

Or ask a co-worker where they live and what they recommend.  

 

Thanks. I think I'm set on an apartment to remain flexible if I can move up quickly in the company. They are expanding, and I could see a promotion in a year or 2

[Sugashane]

So I'm in a plant in southern LA and had to fire an old guy for being drunk at work. Dude tried to assault me but a kid pulled him back by his hoodie. Police arrested him since I got us to the cafeteria before he tried anything and there is surveillance there. Found out he is a regular drunk and the Site Manager I'm re-training just usually sends him home, so I had to rip him apart for allowing this kind of crap. Had two guys cry in one night.

 

Hope you guys had a more calm Friday night than me. lol

[Hitman52]

2 hours ago, Sugashane said:

 Had two guys cry in one night.

Usually you have to pay extra for that.

[Bfan]

2 hours ago, Sugashane said:

So I'm in a plant in southern LA and had to fire an old guy for being drunk at work. Dude tried to assault me but a kid pulled him back by his hoodie. Police arrested him since I got us to the cafeteria before he tried anything and there is surveillance there. Found out he is a regular drunk and the Site Manager I'm re-training just usually sends him home, so I had to rip him apart for allowing this kind of crap. Had two guys cry in one night.

 

Hope you guys had a more calm Friday night than me. lol

It sucks to be the adult. Hope the rest of your day gets better.

[Sugashane]

7 hours ago, Hitman52 said:

Usually you have to pay extra for that.

One of them might have been in overtime by then, if that counts for anything. 

 

7 hours ago, Bfan said:

It sucks to be the adult. Hope the rest of your day gets better.

It's all good. It at least makes the shift go by way faster, and now people see I'm not allowing that kind of crap. The Site Manager allowed this to happen so he caught the worst of it from me and will from our boss too. 

Today's been a really good day so far.  

[Heinz D.]

On 1/30/2021 at 5:51 AM, Sugashane said:

So I'm in a plant in southern LA and had to fire an old guy for being drunk at work. Dude tried to assault me but a kid pulled him back by his hoodie. Police arrested him since I got us to the cafeteria before he tried anything and there is surveillance there. Found out he is a regular drunk and the Site Manager I'm re-training just usually sends him home, so I had to rip him apart for allowing this kind of crap. Had two guys cry in one night.

😲

[JAF-N72EX]

On 1/30/2021 at 6:51 AM, Sugashane said:

So I'm in a plant in southern LA and had to fire an old guy for being drunk at work. Dude tried to assault me but a kid pulled him back by his hoodie. Police arrested him since I got us to the cafeteria before he tried anything and there is surveillance there. Found out he is a regular drunk and the Site Manager I'm re-training just usually sends him home, so I had to rip him apart for allowing this kind of crap. Had two guys cry in one night.

 

Hope you guys had a more calm Friday night than me. lol

Years ago I was a manager for a steel factory and I had this guy(kid actually 19 years old) who showed up drunk and wasn't even trying to hide it--he told me was drunk because he wanted to go home. This is 3rd shift, mind you.  He was working in an area that was safe and so as a "punishment" I didn't fire him or let him go on the spot. I let him work for 2 hours and used him as a flex so I could let others take their lunch break. Then I fired him and sent him home.  

[Sugashane]

1 hour ago, JAF-N72EX said:

Years ago I was a manager for a steel factory and I had this guy(kid actually 19 years old) who showed up drunk and wasn't even trying to hide it--he told me was drunk because he wanted to go home. This is 3rd shift, mind you.  He was working in an area that was safe and so as a "punishment" I didn't fire him or let him go on the spot. I let him work for 2 hours and used him as a flex so I could let others take their lunch break. Then I fired him and sent him home.  

He was sloppy drunk enough I didn't want him to even get to the floor. Moron would have likely found a way to get caught up in a conveyor belt. Oh well, two more days and I go back north to a bigger plant. These small plants are easy overall but damn it takes forever to get through a shift. There's only so much to do besides watch people clean. Now that I have the crew trained up there isn't much correction... so just walking around and smelling catfish everywhere. lol

[JAF-N72EX]

On 2/3/2021 at 3:55 AM, Sugashane said:

He was sloppy drunk enough I didn't want him to even get to the floor. Moron would have likely found a way to get caught up in a conveyor belt.

Yeah...if he's that far gone then there's no reason to risk it. 

On 2/3/2021 at 3:55 AM, Sugashane said:

Oh well, two more days and I go back north to a bigger plant. These small plants are easy overall but damn it takes forever to get through a shift. There's only so much to do besides watch people clean. Now that I have the crew trained up there isn't much correction... so just walking around and smelling catfish everywhere. lol

Working in steel factories are boring and repetitive in general. I worked for 3 different ones as a machine operator/shift manager.  1 for steel posts and 2 others for car manufacturing (galvanized and others). 

Do like I did.....drink silently. LOL. I helped start up Amercian Posts as a machine operator and it was just me and 1 other guy all night nobody else (12 hours a day 7 days a week---7pm-7am). We used to just sneak beers here and there while we we working. Never got trashed or anything. Just something to do. Later on I became a shift manager and learned that the owner had cameras setup in the place. My boss never said anything but I knew then that HE knew. I remember one day we were drinking and his father had showed up (who gave him the startup money and owned the place next door) and he NEVER showed up, especially that late. He just to talk to us for a few minutes and left and we never heard a word about it. 

They shutdown temporarily and I was offered a job at another steel factory for better pay as an operator than I was getting as a manager without the stress so I took it. This was 16/hrs day 7 days a week. Needless to say I didn't having time to myself or my family (my son was only a few years old at the time) so I did the same thing. It helps pass the time lol. 

[dll2000]

11 hours ago, JAF-N72EX said:

Yeah...if he's that far gone then there's no reason to risk it. 

Working in steel factories are boring and repetitive in general. I worked for 3 different ones as a machine operator/shift manager.  1 for steel posts and 2 others for car manufacturing (galvanized and others). 

Do like I did.....drink silently. LOL. I helped start up Amercian Posts as a machine operator and it was just me and 1 other guy all night nobody else (12 hours a day 7 days a week---7pm-7am). We used to just sneak beers here and there while we we working. Never got trashed or anything. Just something to do. Later on I became a shift manager and learned that the owner had cameras setup in the place. My boss never said anything but I knew then that HE knew. I remember one day we were drinking and his father had showed up (who gave him the startup money and owned the place next door) and he NEVER showed up, especially that late. He just to talk to us for a few minutes and left and we never heard a word about it. 

They shutdown temporarily and I was offered a job at another steel factory for better pay as an operator than I was getting as a manager without the stress so I took it. This was 16/hrs day 7 days a week. Needless to say I didn't having time to myself or my family (my son was only a few years old at the time) so I did the same thing. It helps pass the time lol. 

I know you are kidding, but you don’t have to drink.  Drinking is just foolish.  It both leads to bad decisions and makes you feel like crap next day and damages your body in long run.  Older you get the worse it gets on your body and younger you are the stupider your bad decisions will be.    

I have gout so I can’t drink, but its been a blessing to be forced to abstain from it.  Saves a ton of money too.  It doesn’t mask anxiety or problems, people just think it does.     

All work is drudgery once you know how to do it well and stressful before.  If you are doing something you really love (rare) then it isn’t ‘work.’  You can be happy in your job and not love the work.     

If you are doing something that requires little of your brainpower have important or interesting conversations with co-workers whilst working.    Listen to an audio book, music or podcast.  If your boss won’t let you (foolish because studies show that increases productivity and contentment in those types of jobs) find another job where they will let you.

 

 

 

[JAF-N72EX]

13 hours ago, dll2000 said:

I know you are kidding, but you don’t have to drink.  Drinking is just foolish.  It both leads to bad decisions and makes you feel like crap next day and damages your body in long run.  Older you get the worse it gets on your body and younger you are the stupider your bad decisions will be.    

I have gout so I can’t drink, but its been a blessing to be forced to abstain from it.  Saves a ton of money too.  It doesn’t mask anxiety or problems, people just think it does.     

All work is drudgery once you know how to do it well and stressful before.  If you are doing something you really love (rare) then it isn’t ‘work.’  You can be happy in your job and not love the work.     

If you are doing something that requires little of your brainpower have important or interesting conversations with co-workers whilst working.    Listen to an audio book, music or podcast.  If your boss won’t let you (foolish because studies show that increases productivity and contentment in those types of jobs) find another job where they will let you.

 

 

 

No offense DLL (and correct me if I'm wrong) but I don't think you have worked in a factory for a long period by the sounds of it. Much less a steel factory.  

Listening to headphones or anything else that hinders your hearing is usually not allowed for good reason. Not only is listening part of the job but it can also be very dangerous in those environments. Communication between co-workers (machine op, pilers, QC, floor, you can't hear the forklifts, cranes, semi's pulling in to load and unload, , machines making abnormal sounds that may give you signs of wear and tear that you could notice before they hurt you or others, co-workers trying to give you a heads-up about something dangerous that you're walking into, etc. 

There are some brainless jobs but the danger comes with those brainless jobs too. 

[Sugashane]

3 hours ago, JAF-N72EX said:

No offense DLL (and correct me if I'm wrong) but I don't think you have worked in a factory for a long period by the sounds of it. Much less a steel factory.  

Listening to headphones or anything else that hinders your hearing is usually not allowed for good reason. Not only is listening part of the job but it can also be very dangerous in those environments. Communication between co-workers (machine op, pilers, QC, floor, you can't hear the forklifts, cranes, semi's pulling in to load and unload, , machines making abnormal sounds that may give you signs of wear and tear that you could notice before they hurt you or others, co-workers trying to give you a heads-up about something dangerous that you're walking into, etc. 

There are some brainless jobs but the danger comes with those brainless jobs too. 

 

So one of our sanitation steps is to use foamers, basically machines that mix industrial strength chemicals and foaming agents with water and air to make a foam that keeps the chemical in contact with a surface for a good length of time. Every plant I go to the guys or girls yell "Foaming!" repeatedly as they do to let people know to be careful around them and to put on eye protection if they are near. This is an important step but if the foam is made right then it becomes one of those brainless tasks, flanked by simply spraying a ton of water.

 

Now I like to try and allow people to have fun as long as they don't have to sacrifice safety to do it. One way I like to change it up and let them start making whatever loud noises they want to, because when we are in production plants with running equipment, water hoses running, and earplugs or earmuffs on people start to sound alike. Plus it just breaks up the monotony, people enjoy getting to be loud/dumb so they actually start to jump at the chance to do it.

 

I start by making loud whooping sounds that throw people off, and once I tell people they can do whatever they want within reason there are always a few that try to outdo me. I've heard raps, vocal guitar solos, loud and somewhat realistic 'moos', goat-like screams, one Spanish song that actually sounded good but had other Spanish-speaking people dying from laughter (could have been an Afroman song for all I know), but my favorite one was the sound of a chicken. I heard it and looked over to see a 19 year old kid (half black, 6'6" and over 320 pounds) walking around and even with his safety goggles he was clearly mean-mugging everyone as he would hit his machine with foam then angrily 'bwak bwak" at anyone he saw. Kid even did the little head jerks a chicken does. After 5-10 'bwak bwaks' the kid would let fly a screaming crow up at the ceiling. Ive never laughed harder on a job than seeing this kid do it. Aside from buying his lunch later that week I bought pizza for the plant and presented him with two vinyl rooster stickers for his helmet.

[dll2000]

On 2/7/2021 at 12:36 AM, JAF-N72EX said:

No offense DLL (and correct me if I'm wrong) but I don't think you have worked in a factory for a long period by the sounds of it. Much less a steel factory.  

Listening to headphones or anything else that hinders your hearing is usually not allowed for good reason. Not only is listening part of the job but it can also be very dangerous in those environments. Communication between co-workers (machine op, pilers, QC, floor, you can't hear the forklifts, cranes, semi's pulling in to load and unload, , machines making abnormal sounds that may give you signs of wear and tear that you could notice before they hurt you or others, co-workers trying to give you a heads-up about something dangerous that you're walking into, etc. 

There are some brainless jobs but the danger comes with those brainless jobs too. 

I understand the danger.  Each situation is different. If something is dangerous it is not brain dead work, it requires concentration.  Not situation I was talking about.  

I worked inside factories in summers as a college student to clean them with dangerous machinery or in dangerous situations so I get it.   Also had to wear Tyveks in 120 degree heat while doing strenuous work - that was dangerous in itself.  I remember pouring sweat out of a rubber boot like it was a full glass of water.

Not all blue collar work is brain dead and not all white collar word is not brain dead.   Many times it is opposite.  

I did temp jobs in law school, many were white collar brain dead work.  Like checking for errors in online magazines for one example.   Many of the errors were systemic I found so after awhile I knew exactly were they were and it became rout. 

I would listen to book tapes and it really helped me to get through an 8 hour shift.

 

 

 

 

[dll2000]

4 minutes ago, dll2000 said:

I understand the danger.  Each situation is different. If something is dangerous it is not brain dead work, it requires concentration.  Not situation I was talking about.  

I worked inside factories in summers as a college student to clean them with dangerous machinery or in dangerous situations so I get it.   Also had to wear Tyveks in 120 degree heat while doing strenuous work - that was dangerous in itself.  I remember pouring sweat out of a rubber boot like it was a full glass of water.

Not all blue collar work is brain dead and not all white collar word is not brain dead.   Many times it is opposite.  

I did temp jobs in law school, many were white collar brain dead work.  Like checking for errors in online magazines for one example.   Many of the errors were systemic I found so after awhile I knew exactly were they were and it became rout. 

I would listen to book tapes and it really helped me to get through an 8 hour shift.

 

 

 

 

Speaking of using your brain.  Reminds me of Crocodile Hunter guy in a way.  

He got famous for doing dangerous things with Crocodiles, but he literally grew up on a Crocodile farm and worked it every day and knew the animals intimately.   Knew their instincts, knew their reactions, so what looked to be dangerous and was dangerous for most people wasn't particularly dangerous to him.

But then he branched out and did same stupid stuff with other species of animal as he would do with Crocodiles without the decades of experience and knowledge.   

Got him killed.

 

 

 

 

Edited February 8, 2021 by dll2000