People often wonder what it is that I do all day long at work, so here it is:
I currently only work three days a week. Two consecutive double shifts and a single.
3:35 AM My cell phone's alarm(currently Mudvayne's "Happy Now") goes off. I immediately hit snooze. Sometimes I milk that extra five glorious minutes of sleep, but mostly I just lay in the dark for five minutes, put on my glasses, and think about the day ahead while becoming cogniscant and waiting for the second alarm to go off.
I'm up. If it's below freezing and/or raining/snowing, I go straight outside to my car, often in my underwear, and start it up. Gotta get those windows defrosted! I return to the house, take my morning pee, brush the teeth, apply deoderant, and dress myself.
I start with socks, usually thicker and above the ankle in height, then I pull on my long john bottoms OVER the sock. No skin is exposed at the ankle. I put on the long john top. They usually aren't from the same set. For example, yesterday I wore a light blue cotton thermal top and dark blue wool/synthetic bottom. I wear long underwear pretty much every working day of the week between late November and early March. I throw on whatever pair of work pants is clean, folded, and closest to my position. Same with a t-shirt. I'll usually don a work hoodie too. If it's going to be colder, I'll put on more shit at work. I throw on my boots and grab my pre-made and bagged supply of food for the day.
4:00 AM I leave Millvale. I try to have my musical accompaniment selected the night before. Yesterday it was Ozzy Osbourne's Ozzmosis album. I usually listen to something fast and thumping on the way in, as dawn is still a few hours a way and five hours' sleep is considered a good night for me. I may or may not kill a water bottle(filled from the tap, what am I, rich?!) on the drive. I'm a stickler for proper hydration while at work.
I take my time driving the Parkway. Often, it's so early that plows have not really been out, so things get treacherous. When the road is clear, I usually don't push it much past 60 speedwise, as I know of about 5 places cops like to sit and "protect and serve" until an above average Joe like me on his way to work speeds by at 75.
4:25-4:30 AM I'm in the parking lot at work. I park The Warrior, grab my lunch, put it into my messenger bag, throw my work badge on, check to make sure all my windows are up, hop out, shut the door, click the locks, and head in. If it's going to snow, I pull up my windshield wipers.
My walk/other drive in takes about 12 minutes. I walk through the huge PIT Airport parking lot, into the terminal, and go to the bag room. I grab a bag tug and drive about a mile to our gates. I swipe in.
I'm usually at work about ten minutes before my designated start time, so I'll try to eat something thick and hearty in order to prepare myself for the upcoming 18 hours of glory. Often, it tends to be oatmeal or triple cheese Easy Mac(namebrand for this baller) but sometimes it a rice or vegetable dish left over from the night before. Pizza makes many appearances as well.
Between the hours of 5 and 8 AM, my Coworkers and I are responsible for loading and releasing seven 737 aircraft, which is impressive, but even more so when I explain that those seven planes are only able to be loaded/boarded at three gates. It's like a plane ballet. It's rough and fast-paced, but if you plan ahead, you're almost always gonna make it out the other side retaining your sanity and without taking delays.
From 8 AM to 3 PM we average about a plane an hour. Depending on your assignment for the day, you may only work planes for about ten minutes. Even if you're a "lead" or "buff" you're usually only working steadily for about a half an hour.
(Southwest planes are in the air an average of twelve hours a day. We don't like to see them sitting for longer than 25 minutes, as a plane that isn't carrying passengers isn't making you(or the stockholders) any money.)
For my second shift, which starts at 130 PM, I'm often found downstairs in the bag room, removing bags from the belt and placing them in carts separated by destination. It's steady work, but it's cake. Out of the elements and pretty much free to do whatever your heart desires as long as the belt stays clear.
Over the course of an "average" day I'm often:
-Eating. I eat a lot of food at work. At least 1500 calories during a double shift. Each bag ways roughly thirty pounds, and each plane has roughly 75 bags, multiplied by about 14 planes a day. I need to eat often and well in order to do my job.
-Writing jokes and/or screenplay/scene ideas. Most will never get farther than the pages of my notebooks, and for good reason.
-Watching our satellite television. Collectively, we don't seem to ever mind the Discovery Channel, no matter the content. Personally, I'm a fan of MTV Cribs, Fuse, Fuel, CNN/KDKA in the early morning, AMC in the afternoons, Comedy Central at nights and especially weekend nights, and USA when LaO: SVU is on.
-Lifting weights. Occasionally. Well, "rarely" really.
-Reading. This ranges from the daily newspapers(papers from different regions removed from airplane garbage bins are a favorite!), tabloid mags, music, fashion, mountainbiking, and men's interest-related magazines, to popular fiction and reference. I just began Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian. Novels take me as little as a day or two or as long as a month to read, depending on if I take them home at night.
-Computing, We have internet. I check the social networking sites, the comedy sites, the bmx/mountainbiking sites, IMDB and often just get on Wikipedia and see were I eventually end up at. I usually write a rough draft of this here blog at work and polish it up at home later. I'm about a day ahead of the current date regarding blog writing.
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In other news which is nonetheless work-related, my foot is killing me. Something on the outside of my right foot/ankle is out of wack big time! It sends a sharp, stabbing pain up my leg when I walk on it. It even does it while I'm driving. I'm going to the clinic on Monday morning. I'm hurtin' real bad right now, but have been on a strict regimen of rest, whiskey, and Tylenol. It is helping somewhat. Even a placebo effect is welcome at this stage.
Hobbled out to Belvedere's last night to watch a friend wrestle in pudding. I mostly did it to show her support, but I ended up having a really great time. It was well run and the drinks ran cheap. No complaints here.
All the way over in Millvale.-BK
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