Day 22: Final Four

Today found me suddenly loathing my job. I could feel myself going insane with helplessness. I don't quite understand why I felt so strongly against going to work today, but I was really close to turning in a resignation today. It could be my constant stomach ache, possibly caused by an ulcer. It could be that I have to wake up at 5am every day and I never spend my nights anywhere but home. It could be that I work for 10 hours a day, falling asleep on my feet, literally. It could be many different things, but I think it's just time for me to quit.

Brad was planning on working until the 16th, while Skye was planning on working til the 18th or 19th. Griffin planned on turning in his resignation today, hopefully setting his last day as Friday. I was planning on working until the 12th. After Steve harped on Brad somewhat indirectly, my poor friend decided he was through with Brycon. Steve was apparently infuriated by Brad's injury, despite the pure accident-ness of it. Brad felt awful after the morning pep-talk, and there was little I could do to help him feel better. I didn't really know what to say. What was there to say? He wanted to quit as soon as possible. If it weren't for the 5-day warning Brycon asks for, he would have been gone by tomorrow. I actually managed to talk him into quitting next Friday. That means he'd turn his resignation in on Monday. I decided to do the same; Skye, on the other hand, remains intent on working until the last Friday before school starts, which would be the 18th. Griffin left at lunch today for a doctor's appointment or something. I don't know if he ever turned in a resignation, but I doubt he forgot.

I worked with Felipe all day, on a scissor-lift. We were punching holes in an area of the FAB that was not covered with the raised floor tiles. That means that it cannot be reached by the scaffolds; thus the need for a scissor-lift. It was my first time in one, and I thought it was pretty cool. Brad was excited for me, and I felt bad that I got to go on the scissor-lift, while he had to stay on the floor and work with Alfredo. Not that there's anything wrong with Alfredo, or the floor. It's just sometimes not exciting to do the same thing over and over. I didn't enjoy myself much on the scissor-lift though, as I kept literally falling asleep on my feet. It was horrible; my eyes would not stay open and I kept like, opening them to find Felipe asking for something or handing something to me. I wondered if he noticed I was asleep.

Brad worked with Alfredo most of the day, until he had nothing else to do and sent Brad over to work with Pedro. Brad said Pedro's got the dirtiest mouth he's ever heard. I felt bad for Brad all day long. Everyone that saw him was suddenly interested in seeing his tooth, which had miraculously been put back into his head. He was smiling all day, but not cause he was happy. Pedro actually asked him to smile and he wouldn't; then Alfredo told him to smile and he did, then asked "Would you like me to sign your tooth, Pedro?" Brad got really sick of showing his tooth off, but there wasn't much he could do. They even mentioned him in the weekly safety meeting at 7am today. "There was one craft that knocked his tooth out and chipped the one next to it." A tumultuous murmer arose in the large crowd of workers assembled in the break room. "What an idiot!" Brad said.

Skye worked with Griffin and Cowboy at the pass-thru for a while, until there was really nothing to do there. Then Cowboy sent them inside to help with the new section of the fab, recently opened. Now we've got a square, and there's a large Level 4 gowning room being assembled opposite the Level 3, across the FAB. Tomorrow we're supposed to attend a Protocal meeting to be briefed for Level 4 activity. Although I know I'll fall asleep during the meeting, it's still exciting, because I know it means less work! Hooray less work!

I was talking to Fernando today and he randomely said, "Richard, you're a good man!" and went to shake my hand. I took it and we shook, as I said "Thank you, Fernando." The next thing I know, the water cup in my hand spilled. We shook hands too hard, I guess. Fernando laughed and apologized. He was really interested in what I was doing for college. I told him I was going to the University of Utah, and he was very jealous. He said, "I like two sports teams: University of Utah, and whoever is playing BYU." It made me laugh. He told me that he'd been kicked out of BYU after having a beard in the computer lab. Completely ludacris, I think. Sometimes BYU's stupid rules just piss me off. They take it too far with just about everything. Anyway, back to work...

Basically, nothing really happened today. The day seemed to pass pretty quickly, yet slowly. It was pretty uneventful, and it makes me want to quit so much. I hope next Friday comes soon...


Quote of the Day:

Grant: "Brady's got the best name for things, like "Rice Rice, Brady" or "Hasta la vista, Brady..."
Skye: "Basically anything with 'baby' in it..."