An absence of posting, indicating a reluctance to put things in words due to an inability to fully comprehend said things.
I appear, somehow and without intending for it to happen, to have aquired myself a career. I hadn’t shaved for a few weeks and was going to work in jeans and t-shirts but still my boss asked me if I wanted to stay on until the new year. I turned him down twice due to the commute, the fact of another job lined up and the general sense of brain melt derived from data entry. He asked again and I rather cheekilly asked what was in it for me. He told me. I related this to my brother in law, a worker in the computer programming industry, who implied I’d be a fucking moron not to jump at this opportunity. So the next day I said yes.
Thing is, I’m not 100% sure exactly what it is I’m a) doing and b) going to learn, hence the reluctance to write about it here. What I do know is I’m heavily involved in the building of a database for use in the maintenance of two passenger aircraft, the CRJ200 and the CRJ700. In order to build this right I have to be familiar with the systems in place and, as you’d expect, the systems for maintaining aircraft are very much set in place. So far in two weeks I’ve gone from straight data entry to cross referencing part numbers with the IPC (a huge multivolume work showing where each bolt and screw goes on the plane) to determine location codes. Or some shit. Hell, I dunno what I’m doing but I’m doing it right by all accounts. But that’s because it’s common sense, a lot of it. By all accounts getting people with common sense, especially people from employment agencies, is not that easy. So I’m not a dumb-ass, which is a relief.
And so in a few months time I should have a bulk-load of experience not only in databasy-sytems-stuff but also in the aviation industry. I’m already looking at the planes in the hanger and mentally taking them apart so by Xmas I should be an expert, in theory at least. What’s freaking me out somewhat is how I’ve stumbled blindly into this. I was expecting to have to do crappy jobs over the next few months while I taught myself at weekends (with Jez’s help). Now it looks like I’m going to get a serious amount of experience and CV material while getting paid.
So I won’t be working at the bookshop this Xmas, which is a bit of a shame, though when I learned what the basic salary is (£4.70ph! No wonder London shops couldn’t keep staff!) it did make sense not to. I had wanted to draw a line on my bookselling career on my own terms rather than the not-very-good circumstances I left under in the spring. But what the hell. It’s all in the past now.
I probably won’t write about work any more on the blog – the potential to get in trouble over it is slightly higher and I don’t want to take risks. If you want to know more do it on the email.
Congrats, mate. It’s always a good moment when you hit a seam of something you can do that needs doing. What you wear matters in shit work, but not in the real stuff. This is that.
Also, I reckon you always learn best on the job doing useful stuff that matters.
Have a good one — it’s about time you got something mentally taxing to do. After all, you’ve got the equipment …
It’s an interesting thing that while I’ve been doing industrial temping jobs these last couple of months I’ve noticed the relative lack of bullshit in a few of them. On the whole there’s a job to be done so it gets done with none of the superficial crap you get in retail (and I imagine certain office jobs). I think that’s what appeals to me about this job – it’s got a very concrete end result which is to facilitate the non-crashing of planes within a budget (in other words controlling the stock of spare parts and maintenence kits). There’s no brand building or perception or other intangibles. While the jo can be tedious at times it’s always, well, honest I guess, and that’s quite a novelty for me as an employee. I always thought the “real” stuff could only take place in my own time, not the time I rent out to pay the bils.