Crankypants

Yesterday started off as a good day. We got a lot of work done, I didn't weld long enough to get a headache, and my man came to visit me at lunch. The only frustrating bit at work was that we had a new guy "helping" us in the afternoon.

He's a nice guy. He's friendly. He tries very hard to do his job. But dear gods, he moves slower than sap. Chuck is no longer allowed to make jokes about how slowly I work, because (and I timed it to be sure) I work six times faster than the new guy. I try to be patient. I really do. I helped him and bit my tongue. But I wanted to tell him to go sit in the corner while I finished the job.

On the plus side, I got to watch Luc work for most of the day. A few days ago, Paul installed three 4x8 sheets of whiteboard-covered drywall in the maintenance area, which is a few yards away from my station. Yesterday Luc was up on a ladder putting colored tape and stickers on the board to form a grid for the new maintenance schedule chart. He was being very precise and obsessive about it, too, which made me happy.

Things fell apart once I got home. I was so tired that I nearly fell asleep at my desk, and I skipped dinner. By the time I got to school I was feeling mostly-dead (where's Miracle Max when you need him?) and didn't want to work. My friend Dan was feeling equally unmotivated, and we managed to kill about an hour and a half sitting there talking.

It wasn't until after I'd decided to at least get the slag cleaned off the hot pass I ran the other day that I realized the day students had "cleaned" the shop. My pipe had sprouted legs and walked away. Completely gone. At that point I gave up, went outside, sat down, and tried very hard not to let the fatigue and frustration get to me. I didn't burst into tears, hit things, or go home early, so I consider it a successful effort.

I don't have school next week (semester break), so I should be able to get plenty of sleep for the next week or so. Hopefully.