The Good, The Bad, and The Dreamy

Now that I've told you about Chuck (who was out today, thank the gods), let me tell you about three other personalities I interact with on a daily basis.

The Good: Paul is my supervisor, and a pretty cool guy. He was the one who told me during my interview that, even though the rest of my references weren't welding-related, the name of my instructor (who used to work here and was very well-liked) was more than enough. In addition to being in charge of the shop, he's also in charge of maintenance. It's that part of his job that has the potential to make him angry (our big Timesaver has been more of a Timewaster lately), but he likes me enough that I can always get a smile out of him.

The Bad: Larry is a suit. I'm not sure what his official title is, but he wanders through the shop every other day or so. He falls into the annoying-doddering-old-fool category, and I try not to make eye contact in the hope that he'll keep walking and not stop to talk to me. I had the misfortune of having to fill out tax and confidentiality forms with him on my first day, and I think I began to hate him in the first two minutes.

The Dreamy: Luc is another suit, but zounds, he looks good in a suit. He's our efficiency expert, sent by the parent company's Quebec office. He speaks just enough English to tell people what to do, but just little enough that most of the guys bitch about how nobody can understand him. I made his day during my interview when I spoke to him in French, and I love hearing him talk, no matter what language he's using. It's lovely to have a tall, handsome Canadian say "bonjour" to me every morning.

There are more good people in the shop than bad ones, so I'm happy. Tomorrow I get my first paycheck (for 8 days' work), try not to fall asleep while welding, go home, take a shower, watch Samoa beat the USA at rugby, and then get a full night's sleep for the first time in three days.

Coming Next: Efficiency Eavesdropping