Work Fri May 1, 2015

Mon Apr 20: I arrived at 10am. The entire Operations Department was loud. A rarity.

Tue Apr 21: I talked to the Risk Manager's former risk administrator contractor in the cafeteria. She was training a new Executive Assistant. She turned down a full time Executive Assistant position at a start-up company.

I felt everyone was tired in the Operations Department.

Four pallets of power supply units arrived. I started opening each package. The technical operations director's band practiced in the storage room.

Wed Apr 22: The late morning commute drive was taking longer than when I started arriving at 10am.

I unpacked the power supply units the entire day.

Thur Apr 23: I was fatigued. My stomach felt terrible. I ate chicken tenders and fries for lunch from the cafeteria. Nothing more. I ate my lunch in the storage room. I was in survival mode. I finished unpacking the power supply units. I also finished testing the SSDs.

Fri Apr 24: I ate Panera breakfast at work. Today was the weekly breakfast provided by the company.

I began testing the power supply units in the operations laboratory. My engineer lost 2.5 hours of work today because his laptop was installing updates and backing up files in the cloud. He took pics of me with the power supply units in the storage room.

The test engineer and I discussed open positions. He was interviewing Failure Analysis Technicians. I asked him if these were entry level positions. My thinking was any engineering background can test hardware equipment. The test engineer wanted someone with experience. He said, "I don't have time to train". He wanted someone who can test on his or her first day. He can provide guidance. He has no time for dedicated training.

My thought after the conversation was companies want to hire new employees or contractors with experience. I believe another reason entry level positions are difficult to find is companies don't have time to train. The job market continues to be tough for recent college graduates. It's unfair. It's stupid. Avoid entering the vortex of long term unemployment.

Mon Apr 27: My final work week. I wore one of my hiking shirts. It was the short sleeve green color. I tested power supply units all day in the operations laboratory.

Tue Apr 28: I was in the elevator with two workers starting my work day. One of the workers pressed the wrong button. He apologized. The other worker and I said no worries. I told him everyone is tired. The other worker followed saying elevators go up and down.

I was in survival mode the entire day. I did my best to take it easy. I didn't want to get sick. I felt the entire company was in a funk. The world needed rest.

I completed testing all the power supply units. The total count was 580.

Wed Apr 29: I saw the Risk Manager's former risk administrator contractor. She told me her contract was extended an additional day from her contractor's company emails. Thur Apr 30 was her last day.

I boxed all defective power supply units individually in two pallets. The pallets were shipped to the manufacturing company.

I worked out at the gym. It was a 30 minute walk on the treadmill watching the San Francisco Giants baseball game. I was slowly getting back to full work outs.

I talked to another test engineer when I walked back to my cubicle. We talked about jobs and the department's recent new full time hires. He told me the starting salary was $200,000 for the engineer architect internal job opening. He also told me engineers who know both hardware and software earn high incomes and have excellent job security. Further, he shared his story when he started working with the company in 2011. He started as a contractor. He was given four weeks to learn the job. He succeeded. He continues to learn new technologies and new programming languages.

Thur Apr 30: My worst morning commute. I almost hit a car from behind. I saw a CHP motorcycle officer with a radar gun hidden under a tree before Moorpark Ave. There were lots of cars.

The shipping coordinator approved the two pallets. He created the paperwork to ship the power supply units.

The best time to stop at all floors either going up from the first floor or going down from the fifth floor was lunch hour. I rode the elevator down stopping at all floors on my way to the storage room.

The part time financial analyst confirmed the Risk Manager's former risk administrator contractor last day is Fri May 1.

I worked out at the company gym for the last time. It was another 30 minute walk on the treadmill watching the NFL draft.

Fri May 1: My last day. I arrived at 7:45am to accommodate my engineer's schedule and the on-site recruiter if I needed to sign any papers. I never communicated with the on-site recruiter.

The front doors were locked because I arrived before 8am. Two workers couldn't unlock the doors with their badges. I successfully unlocked the doors. I joked my badge still works because of my last day.

The Order Fulfillment department was empty the entire day because they stayed late last night to enter orders. Yesterday was the end of Q3 FY2015.

My engineer told me there was not enough money in the budget to keep me. The project and RMA automation were almost completed. He wanted me to continue working as his data entry specialist.

I found out the SAP developer's contract ends in June or July. I also found out the project manager working under the Risk Manager is a contractor. I thought he was a full time employee. He told me his contract is six months. It took him 11 months to find his present job after his contract at another company was terminated.

I brought a box to carry my plants, keyboard wrist pad, mouse pad, desk fan, and color pencils. I gave my engineer my laptop, notes, and badge. He escorted me out. He shared his thoughts about the department at my car. One thought was the department needed more workers. The company is growing. The department is growing. There is too much work. Business politics are affecting the budget. More money is needed to get their responsibilities done including hiring more workers and new equipment. I told him my contractor company received fewer requests for contractors. The company is hiring more full time workers and fewer contractors. It seems the company hires experienced workers, pays high wages, and overworks them. No support. No long-term contractors. No temp workers.

The commute home was terrible at 5:15pm for a Fri.

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