Most of my life, I’ve either worked some stupid “McJob” or behind a desk. I’ve never had what you’d deem a real gritty job before. Until now. Now I come home every morning covered in carbon dust, coolant, and grease. It’s insane. My arms are sore every day, and are getting… Gruesome.

I work in a “cell” that consists of a grinder station, six-axis FANUC robotic manipulator, and dual-spindle FANUC CNC lathe. The grinder does exactly what the term I used implies, it grinds the raw material down to size. The manipulator takes the properly sized material and loads it onto the lathe chuck, which then uses tooling to shape the material into the finished product. The manipulator then sends the finished piece on down to me, where it’s gauged for accuracy and I can make corrections near the end of the line when necessary. The cell produces about a hundred pieces an hour. It’s overly complex for what’s actually happening, and has a tendency to reflect that in what can (and does) go wrong. I’ve noticed two tandem PLC’s, one to direct the manipulator and another that apparently controls the lathe. The cell used to consist of two manipulators, two lathes, and four spindles. It has since been found that it’s a freaking mess for just one person to handle with just one series running. I think I’d die if both were ever running cooperatively.

It’s going to rain soon. I can smell it. Summer is finally coming, and I have some damned fond memories of summer. My last one was a mind-blower, that’s for sure. Certainly can’t take summer for granted anymore. Too many fond memories, too much to look forward to. The Drive-in used to be a cool thing I did, I guess not many people really did it. These days, it has some significance to me. It will be a place my mind goes, whether times are bad or times are good. That place will always make me smile. I’m overly eager to visit again soon.

It feels good to be working again. I’ve missed having a place to go every day. I’ve missed being tired after putting in a genuine effort for eight hours, turning in and being able to pass out from exhaustion. When you’re sitting around all day, you don’t really get tired from anything other than the passage of time. It simply doesn’t feel half as satisfying as being tired from the expense of energy and the pleasure of having been productive.

It seems as if things are finally leveling off. We’ve got lunatics in the White House who want to carpet-bomb Iran, take away our right to protest, but at least some corporations are wising up at least a little. Still, we have a long way to go. Obama is no sort of hope at all, even incendiary writing has him pegged pretty well. It looks like we’re working toward a gigantic goal of “nothing”. Everyone who has a job is working hard. Everyone seems to be struggling towards this single direction. The sad part is that this direction leads to nowhere. The Dems are going to ruin us. The Reps are going to ruin us. Who will swoop in and save the US? No one. No one at all.

Working feels good. I fucking love being employed. I almost never like the tasks I’m charged with, but feeling like a productive member of society and enjoying the perks of this status is a deep requirement for me to feel like a whole person. It’s more than satisfying in a lot of ways, because being an adult is satisfying. No one tells you what to do, you simply commit to actions that will have the best outcomes for whatever it is you’re trying to achieve. I would never go back to being a kid, I don’t take adulthood for granted at all. Yes, it’s hard. It’s always hard, all the time. Sometimes to the point of making me feel like I’ll break under the pressure. But I’ve become accustomed to it, I use that pressure to feed into my actions and give me energy.

I feel like a douchebag. I need to stop writing blog posts while drunk. Loose lips sink ships, and some opinions are best left unmuttered. I have a habit of opening my big damn mouth when the situation least calls for it. Not sure what the hell I can do about that except manage it and attempt to manage the fallout (which is typically inevitable). Ah well. In the very least, I can assure the five people who read this blog (including myself) that no one who is reading this doesn’t already know my opinions on things. Basically, if you’re reading this blog, you already knew I was going to write it before I did. In most cases, anyways.

My unemployment ran out this month. I’m flying solo, completely without any sort of safety net. If I can’t maintain some steady stream of income, it’s game over. I’ll lose my car and pretty much my only means of doing anything of importance at the moment. Luckily, I’m working at an industrial complex through a temp agency, but I’m not so sure this is going to turn out to be a regular thing. I’ve seen people who are in through a temp agency that have been there for four months, and they’re still temporary. I’m not sure if they just haven’t applied or what their situation is exactly. Either way, this temprary gig isn’t looking very promising.

Tonight is the first night I start working again in over a year. I really think people have assumed I’m “on vacation”. That perhaps I’m not exactly “looking hard” for work or that I’m flat out not looking. The stark reality here is that the jobs simply don’t exist. It’s hard to see that unless you’re jobless and struggling, in which case you probably aren’t involving yourself with others all that much and you’re overly involved in your own search for gainful employment. No, I’ve been looking hard for a long time now, not just for jobs that pay the same rate I was making before- but anything. I applied to anything and everything that came my way. Any employer that claimed to be hiring. Anywhere, anyone, for anything- I applied and heard nothing back. I have more rejection emails than I can count. Barack Obama is being lauded now for adding jobs to a forlorn nation. The sad reality is that the jobs being added cannot sustain this country. The government is despotic, I’ve realized that sooner rather than later, and corporations are at the masthead.