Full-Time Work

It's about time I finally gave some details about my new job. I'm paid more than double minimum wage, get bonuses and benefits, which is pretty great considering that I managed to get a job at all just coming out of University. It's a fairly cushy desk job where I sit in front of a computer and do stuff.

What kind of stuff you ask? Concrete. I know what you're thinking. How does a Psychologist get a job relating to concrete of all things? I don't know either, but the pay is good enough that I'm not going to think too hard about it.

Also, I sit inside all day too, so I'm pretty pleased about that.

The first week mostly consisted of training. I learned a lot more about concrete than I ever expected to. It's surprisingly a lot more complicated than I would have ever thought. For starters, it has a set lifespan but we have ways of accelerating or slowing down how fast it sets. There are tons of things we can put in it to change the strength or properties of concrete because a foundation for bridge isn't going to have the same stuff in it as someone's driveway.

Oh, and if there's anything I learned, it's that mistakes are expensive. The cheapest mistake will cost at least $2000. And it's not hard to make a mistake. Maybe a driver takes the wrong concrete, drives off, and now everyone behind him is going to get the wrong stuff. Or someone forgets to clean his drum out properly and the next person to get concrete ends up with a pink driveway. Or maybe a Thursday order gets sent out for Wednesday instead.

To put this in perspective, at my old jobs, the most expensive mistake I could make would cost $10.

And let's not start mentioning the mistakes that can cost over 100k.

So what is my job exactly? My job is to take orders for concrete. So a guy will want X amounts of Y type of concrete at Z location, and I'll punch in all the details into a computer and away we go. Easy as that. Maybe a guy wants his Monday concrete moved up to later in the day, or next week. No problem I check to make sure things are alright, and off it goes.

But this is kind of boring, and if I do well, I'll get moved to dispatch. What does this mean? Now I am in control of sending trucks of concrete all over the city. I have to see what trucks are available, who wants what, and when to send it.

Sounds easy. Until drivers start getting lost and I have to give them directions, or if someone decides to cancel their order of concrete, or if trucks break down in the middle of nowehere with a full-load of concrete, or someone calls asking where their concrete is because it's over an hour late.

And then you have the new guy trying to make sense of it all.

But the people are nice, friendly, and they seem to like that I'm doing my best to try and learn as much as possible and ask as many questions as I can. I might leave for a week in a bit to do some training in another city because of how understaffed we are. Not a problem for me as long as I have internet.

Oh, and before I end this post, here's something I learned if you plan to one day build your own house. ALWAYS hire a tester or some form of quality control on site. See, most construction workers/labourers are lazy and don't really care about the project unless it's for the city (because of the constant quality checks).

This results in the labourers weakening the concrete to make it easier to work with, or pouring less concrete to make things faster for themselves. Great, now your basement is going to crack more easily or maybe the walls are going to keep flaking, resulting in a dusty house.

If you're going to spend several hundred thousand dollars on a new home, spend a few extra thousand dollars, get someone to make sure that your house is built up to snuff.