Movin' On Up

My classmate Dan, who just started on Monday, has been working on our big, important, overdue project: the conical. He's been going too slow for management's liking, and he hasn't really been enjoying the pressure and responsibility thrust on him in his first week with the company. We talked about it during lunch today, and both admitted that we'd like to switch jobs. He wants to do my mindless, repetitive barsets, and I want to do the unusual and exciting conical. I asked him if he wanted me to talk to Joe, and he said he'd think about it.

While Chuck and I were running sheets through the Timesaver, Paul came over and asked me how things were going. I told him that I enjoy what I'm doing, but Dan seemed to be unhappy, and I wondered if we might swap tasks. He thought for a minute and then said no, we were fine where we were. Okay, no problem, I figured it was worth a shot.

Five minutes later, Joe and Paul came up to me and told me to come into the office with them. After a moment of panic, I remembered that I've been doing my job, the guys like me, and I shouldn't have anything to worry about. I was right. Joe explained that Dan wasn't moving quickly enough and had expressed his dislike for the project, so they wanted to know if I'd like to take his place.

In my head: Oh my gods! Seriously?!? Hell yes!!!

Out of my mouth: "Absolutely."

So I'm the new Special Projects person. No change in title or pay, but because this order is so overdue, I can have as much overtime as I want just to get the darned thing finished. Plus, I get to work with filler wire, which is what I love most when it comes to TIG welding. Until now, the only wire work I've been doing has been patching cracked plates for Mike, and while that's fun, it's only once or twice a day for a minute or two. This is going to be more-or-less constant for as long as it takes to get the set finished.

I am ecstatic. And exhausted. G'night.