A little fuzzy math for you algebra lovers out there

Jason Has 2 jobs
He earns hourly Rate B at the BRO and Hourly rate M at the MOHP
M = 2.6B
Jason Gets offered a promotion at the BRO that will pay him 2B which sounds nice, but would require him to give up salary M
Jason's current earnings are:
40M + 30B which we'll call X
Accepting the promotion means Jason only earns
80B which we'll call Y
How do those compare you ask? (you could do the math yourself here but I'm feeling generous)
X =1.7Y
A complete analysis here means assigning some sort of premium to the guarantee being offered by the BRO, Since I am only a Temp at the MOHP but I am not really sure what that's worth. To be fair I'd have to assign some other premium to how much I enjoy what I do at the MOHP and how much I'm learning there. Then Since I'd be managing people at the BRO, I'd have to assign some sort of value to the management experience I'd get from doing that job. So lets face it, these things are difficult to quantify and terribly subjective; which kind of defeats the purpose.

Where have I gone?

Yes, I know. My blog is badly neglected. I had free hosting for my little favorite Icon (The little pinball that used to appear in the address bar) and I didn't log in often enough to keep my acount open. What have I been doing with all this time? Well that's actually a good question. Time is flying, but i'm not really having all that much fun. Things at both workplaces are still good. There's much buzz at the BRO about a promotion, but only a small one. Meaning I'd have to give up my much more lucrative gig at the MOHP. I don't really see that happening, since I'm quite happy there and doing exactly what I need to do to get the job I really want. Also on the job front fellow MBA'er Vicky N finally scored a real gig at City Group. She was even nice enough to let me know they were looking for one more if I was interested. But I have vowed not to move again anytime soon. I wouldn't quite know what to do with only one job anyway. This Week W had Friday off, so she came and met me at work for lunch. I was really excited about trying the Pacific coast brewing company. The beers were awesome, but the food was only average and we got the worst service ever. If i'm at a brew pub and no one ever asks me if I want another beer, I'm not going to say nice things about you. Not to mention we never got asked how our meal was. I will go back, but only to drink, not to eat.
I'm starting to owe less and less people money these days, so hopefully soon I can stop working 60-70 hour weeks and start enjoying my sorroundings. I have been assured of a Gig at the
In other family news (so you'll know where I get it from) I'm extremely proud of my grandmother these days. She packed up all her stuff and moved into a nice retirement place. I have tried to call her a couple of times, and she refuses to sit still long enough to answer the phone. That's how we work in this family, we move away and fully immerse ourselves in whatever's available.

Sure, like most of my weeks aren't crazy

This really was a strange week. I was the most rested I'd been in two months, so on occasion at the BRO I was really nice to people. I didn't even look like a walking zombie. I had strangely been scheduled not to go in until 6, which meant I could even go home and squeeze in a nap on occasion. Job prospects all continue to improve. A higher up at The BRO called me in to his office to make sure I was still interested in moving up there, because 2 positions would be opening up in the very near future. I said it might come down to who made a bigger move first. My supervisor at the MOHP also said this week that one of the other higher ups decided he'd really like me to get hired, and If I could master one particular task it would be very easy for the 2 of them to convince the director I was needed on a full time basis. To make matters even more interesting I fielded two job offers while standing at my register this week, one from a financial services recruiter wanting me to sell life insurance and mutual funds for him. (yeah, we know where that one leads; No thank you) The other came from a guy in human resources at a hardware store.
Here's how our conversation went:
Him: Are you new here?
Me: Me, I've been here about 2 months
Him: O.K.
Me: Why, are you a regular here who notices these kinds of things.
Him: No, I just am the kind of person who notices when people are doing a really good job
Me: (Flattered, Grinning and maybe blushing a little) Well, thank you very much.
Him: So are you a student or something?
Me: No, I have a real job during the day and just work evenings and weekends here for some extra money
Him: Well alright, Keep up the good work
Me: Thank you, Your total is...
Flash forward past his payment and he's frantically digging through his wallet. I move on to the next customer. He eventually moves to the empty register next to mine while continuing to search. Finally he walks back over leaves a card on my register and says "if you want to make more money part time give me a call".
So suddenly a guy who went a whole year without a real job offer is about to have to make some very difficult choices.
Choice 1, Accept potential offer from Transportation department at MOHP
Choice 2, Apply for really great Finance position at MOHP that has been open and staring at me for a while
Choice 3, Accept potential middle management job at BRO and have to leave MOHP
Choice 4, Assume that I won't stay at BRO for much longer leave for more cash at the new offer
Assumptions
1. Job in transportation Department at MOHP will pay more than my temp position there, but not as much as the job in finance
2. A single rung up the ladder at the BRO will still have me earning much less than I currently make at the MOHP, but would offer stability and certainty about the future.
3. The newest part time offer would yield me a bigger discount, in a Hardware store!!!!!! That might be worth the price of admission on its own.

Plus there is the final question of will I be happier as a guy who sits at a desk all day staring at a computer doing spreadsheets but has a nice set schedule or as someone who is up and moving around all day interacting with people but has to work holidays, weekends and nights.
Alas, nothing is ever simple

Your chance to browse our personal Ikea catalog

Here is the long awaited picture of Mr Hemnes in his daytime mode he's a wonderful place for a nap

Reason # 2 you should come visit me

Yes, you also miss having me around but the guest bedroom amenities are suddenly very nice. Here it is in sleepy time mode , extra comfy

Our newest thing

Say hello to my lil friend! This is the newest addition to our home ikea showroom, the matching night stand to Mr Hemnes. He came to us as a gift from W's parents who took the new stuff on its maiden voyage

The view from the park to the top of oakland city hall. Sometimes its hard not to feel a little small in the big city 

This is the little park/ampitheater where I usually eat lunch. on this day there happened to be a presentation for children going on. 

This is the view from the cube next to mine. (I'll need a solid promotion to get here) The music on Wednesdays comes from a band playing under the blue tent. There are restaurants and shops along each side. I still haven't managed to eat everywhere yet.

Breaking the Streak

Today I'm not going to work. Why should you care? Well O.K. maybe you don't, but its important to me becuause I have worked for exactly 60 consecutive days. Why did I chose 60? I didn't acutaully, Today is W's aunt's birthday and since W's parents happen to be in town, its kind of a big deal. I haven't been feeling well the last couple of days, so I definitely don't mind the opportunity to rest. I only had to work from 4-10 on saturday, so that means two consecutive days to sleep in and relax. And it even gives me a little time to blog, something I feel bad about neglecting. So what's been going on with me? Well, I am still plugging away at both jobs working as many as 70 hours per week. That means I don't sleep much during the week and often live from caffiene dose to caffiene dose. My new favorite thing is a Venti Cafe mocha from starbucks, or from the little coffee shop thats right below the building I work in. I'm also drinking a little more mountain dew than I'd like to admit out loud. I think the Big Retail Outlet (BRO) is getting ready to make a move to promote me which would mean that It might start to be worth going there. Things at the Manufacturer of Household Products (MOHP) are also going well, So I'm still hoping they'll decide the can't live without me soon. I'v really learned to love downtown oakland. There is live music every wednesday from noon to one. On fridays a drumline plays to earn money for its trips. They make an amazing sound you can hear throughout the city echoing off the tall buildings. Then there's the Friday Farmers market, This week someone had Live crawfish that I managed to walk past, but the guy in the next cube just couldn't resist. Last week I got referred to the coolest little korean place (in oakland's china town) that has really great sandwiches for $2. It had really fresh ingredients and made me really mad that I'd spent $8 at Quizno's the day before. I've also spent way too much time/money at Ikea lately but W's parents are raving about how well they are sleeping on what we affectionately call Mr. Hemnes. (expect picture later, He's already out of season on Ikea.com.)

A bad week for public transportation

First the threat of a BART strike, and now bombs on trains. Yikes! If you're worried about me, you can at least be assured I am already long out of the train station by rush hour, one of the few advantages to my early early schedule. I hadn't even heard about the goings on in London until I was already at work, so it saved me having to think about it the whole train ride. I was having a really bad morning anyway. I couldn't find my wallet to save my butt this morning. It had a bart ticket and my bus pass in it. At the last second I found a ticket with 1.40 on it, and 3.00 in quarters. That was enough to get me a bus ride, a one way ticket to work and a coke, but i desperately could have used another shot of caffeiene in the afternoon when I was falling asleep at my computer. Fortunately W had the day off, so she could come get me from work. We went straight to Ikea to eat and look at a new bed for the spare bedroom. We found a great day bed that we like, but have to raise a little capital before buying it. Its off to bed for me I'm behind on sleep for the week so i'm falling asleep again at 10:00

She looks familiar

Things are going full throttle around here as usual. For a couple of days last week W was dog sitting for a couple of friends. First there was Rocky, a little tiny dust mop of a dog that is notorius for escaping from things. W came to pick me up from work and we ran a few errands. W had tried to lock him in the kitchen, but as I came around the corner to our condo I thought, Whose annoying yapping dog is that I hear? Only to look up and see him staring out of our bedroom window barking at some neighbors who were working on their car. W and I laughed about that for a long time. We then dropped him off at his home and met Luerne and family at the Fort Mason Center to see BATS (Bay area theater sports) a group that does improv comedy as a competition. We had some doubts going in, but were often found laughing histerically. After a little bit of lost wandering through the city, we made it to one of our favorites, Tommaso's. The H's loved it almost as much as we did, with the tiramisu living up to all of our hype. Saturday it was off to work, and then we spent some time at W's friend Kelli's house in Burlingame watching her dog Kona. That meant we had access to Kelli's grill, so we grilled up some steaks and some Tandoori chicken and have really been enjoying it at lunches for the rest of the weekend. Unfortunately the refrigerator door got left open for 24 hours meaning we had a lot of stuff that had to go when we got home yesterday. What did I do for the fourth of July you ask? I worked. The BRO was open and paying time and a half, so I went, and still earned less per hour than I make at the MOHP. So its back to the grind again this week, I'm putting in for an hour cut at the BRO since the MOHP says I'm on for 6 months, and I'll have enough work to do that i need to stay for 8 hours a day. If you're the praying type please pray for a resolution to the BART labor dispute. If they go on strike on Wednesday I am in so much trouble.

Bay area cultural experience #372

Saturday after working a 5 hour shift at the BRO, I got a nice afternoon to snooze in the chair. W called and said we were invited to a friends retirement party, I need to jump on the train to meet her at the airport. I needed to catch a train long after the bus stops running, so I took my first bike ride to the Bart station. It went pretty well, the air is still cool enough that a bike ride is not a terribly sweat inducing activity. (In FL, breathing this time of year outdoors is a sweat inducing activity) I arrived at the airport just as W was getting out of work, and we took off and went to scott's house. He has a cool make-shift wine cellar in his basement,the concept of which I'm still trying to get used to. (Never having owned a basement before) Scott took us into the city where we went to a cool place called Cafe do Brasil. I can honestly say I'd never had Brazilian food before, but I definitely enjoyed. I also had my first caipirinha, a drink I would definitely have again someday. But even better than the food and drink was the authentic Brazilian music, which is mostly percussive and voice, with very catchy rhythms. Add Brazil to my list of places to visit someday. Sunday was another day another dollar, working the morning shift at the BRO. I put in 8 hours, and W picked me up so she could do a little shopping. I visited a Panda Express for the first time and although the food lacked the spiciness or depth of flavor I would have liked in traditional Chinese food, they really did a good job keeping the veggies at an acceptable crispness level. I have been craving some sweet and sour pork for a while now. ( I ate it almost every Friday at Auburn) Speaking of Auburn I heard from my old room mate Dale yesterday. He and the wife are headed to Vegas next week. If he had warned me I would have tried to make it there, but I'm still shooting to make it out is direction for the Auburn vs. Georgia Tech game. I was only supposed to have Monday and Wednesday nights off this week, but since I negotiated for Friday night off, I actually expect to be fairly rested throughout the week. I may not know what to do with all that free time.

one more post, since I do pretend to have a life outside of work

Today the nice folks at the BRO managed to schedule me from only 8 to 12:15, so i get a whole afternoon to nap and catch up on things. When they realized their error they asked if I could stay late. I gave them until 1, but am taking the rest of the afternoon for myself. Last week W and I managed to have a Saturday evening off at the same time so we actually went on a date. I drove and opened doors as is customary, and even paid thanks to my newfound personal wealth. It turns out that if you spend 2 weeks doing nothing but working and sleeping you get some cash to jingle around in your pockets. So we went out to our favorite sushi place and just enjoyed some unrushed quality time together. I have been at the MOHP for 3 weeks now and still hadn't gotten my pre-employment drug screening taken care of, so we decided we were going to make it happen last week. (The MOHP requires it, but decided I could start working before I took it and could stay as long as i passed) I had been to one place that advertised it did the tests on saturday last week, only to find it closed. I was starting to panic about getting fired for attempting to duck the test. So wednesday W and I ended up having to go all the way to mountain view to get it done. I am relieved that I won't get canned for that, and the way things are going they might keep me on board up to 9 months at this point. I'm phasing myself out a little at the BRO so that I actually get some sleep at night. I am getting a really quality experience at the MOHP, so i'd like to hold on to it as long as possible. There are a lot of things I love about it too. Its in a great spot in downtown oakland, Its close to great food in Chinatown, There is a Farmers market every Friday only 2 blocks away. My commute is great: I can walk out of the house and be sitting at my desk an hour later. Friday was the fillipino-american festival right where I usually eat lunch, so I watched that for a few minutes, which reminds me that my 4 favorite fillipine-americans are coming to town next week. My friend Luerne (and family) are dropping into SF this weekend and I've already scored a little time off to play. A big congratulations goes out to My cousin Scott and his wife Heather, who this week proudly announced the birth of Ryan Scott Butler. They have officially broken the seal on children for this generation of my mom's family. At this point I'm the 3rd oldest, and therefore "next in line" for marriage, and 2nd in line for kids. Nothing like a little pressure. I had a brainstorm about a better way to blog today, take a look on monday and I'll take a poll to see if its actually worth doing.

How did all these cob webs get in here?

Yes I know, It has been far too long since I last posted. Lets take a look at what a day in the life of Jason looks like.
4:30 a.m. the alarm goes off for the first time. I generally snooze until 4:45
4:45 a.m. Face the reality that I really do need to get up, shower and dress.
5:30 Bag check: Keys, phone, BRO appoved shirt, 2 lunches (one for each job) BRO name tag, MOHP name tag, Bart ticket, and 1.50 for bus.
5:35 Walk (run if later) to bus stop
5:47 Bus arrives
6:01 a.m. Arrive Bart Station
6:08 a.m. Get on Train heading north
6:21 a.m. Train arrives at station in Oakland
6:23 a.m. Pay 1.25 for bagel and if late in the week buy coffee
6:30 a.m. Arrive at office begin work
11:30 a.m. Lunch I usually walk down to the steps of oakland city hall where there is a litle ampitheater at which people gather for lunch (pictures next week)
12:15 p.m. back to work
2:00 p.m. Leave MOHP
2:14 p.m. Board train headed south
2:31 p.m. Arrive Bart station
3:00 p.m. Begin work at BRO
7:30 p.m. Dinner time
10:30 p.m. Finish work at BRO wait for W to leave work
11:00 p.m. W leaves work calls me on phone, this is usually our longest sustained discussion of the day. Somehow we're back to having a phone relationship.
11:30 p.m W arrives at BRO
11:45 p.m Arrive home. briefly check email, phone messages, pack up lunch for tomorrow, iron if necessary and get in bed before 12
12:00 a.m. crash and burn the alarm is only four and a half hours away
I'm open to suggestion about where to fit in a post there.

only 6 hours of work? what gives?

Today I'm enjoying a rare relaxing evening. Yes, I did walk out the door at 6:00 a.m., but I get the rest of the evening to spend curled up in the living room with my old slacking partner Calvin the dog. He's in town until tomorrow. Things are starting to look up at the MOHP. I came in trying so hard to impress that I kind of wound myself up too tightly. But just in the nick of time, with the other temp who trained me out of town, I figured out how to produce a report that had baffled me for three days. The process involves SAP, Access, and Excel, and takes about 2 hours for someone who knows what they're doing, so i ended up spending most of the today and a good portion of friday afternoon on it. Now that I've got it down, i get to do it all over again tomorrow. My immediate supervisor seems to think pretty highly of me and has already admitted that she hopes I stick around since my personality seems like a good fit. Apparently regular turnover in the 2 temp positions is to be expected, but she's rooting for me to stick around a bit. That of course sounds like a great plan to me. So now I can add to my resume production of daily reports using the above mentioned programs, which makes it sparkle just a little bit more. I really like the feel of working there, I take the train into the heart of a big city from the suburbs, work in a tall building (24 stories) and return to a tail wagging dog who just wants me to pay attention to him. I'd say I have it pretty good right now. Things are still good at the BRO too, except that the last bus from there leaves at 7, which leaves me to either take the 3 mile walk from bart, or to wait until W makes her way back across the bay which usually doesn't happen until an hour after I'm done working. But if I continue to have this many jobs I won't be that far away from some meager transportation of my own. Now back to resting.

This is what I've been waiting a year for?

Tuesday was supposed to be my first of three whole days off, but that changed real fast. On monday my rep from the newest temp agency called and asked if I could come in Wednesday. Wanting to triple my salary sooner rather than later, I of course said yes I could. Unfortunately W and I had planned to make a day of it, since we didn't know when our next day off together would be, so we had to scrap that plan. Tuesday morning at 8:45 the phone rings, and its the BRO asking if I can come in at 10:00 I said yes, wanting to acquire the cash while I had the day off. My day was highlighted by someone filling out a survey card saying that "Jason is handsome, courteous and efficient" You should have seen the cheezy grin on my face the rest of the day. I worked my first 8 hour shift there and was exhausted but still found myself awake at 2:00 a.m. For most of the past 6 months that would have been no big deal. But today was my first day at the MOHP. I felt like I was dragging about for the better part of the afternoon, and will have to work hard to continue to impress there. Most of the people that I talk to think that the person with whom I interviewed typically under-estimates the amount of time temps will be needed, so I should expect a pretty lengthy stay as long as I'm happy and cooperative. (or as I have been described, handsome, courteus and efficient) I'm learning the job from a guy who's going on vacation next week, so I have to have it down by the end of the week before he leaves. He's another new MBA looking to get started, and the next supervisor up from him is another MBA. So there are a lot of us running around there, and at least I'll get an MBA sympathy vote if I ever am fighting for my continued work there.
So I'm really really tired now, since I've now been working for 7 days straight. I'm not due for a day off any time soon, so I have to throw myself into better sleeping habits soon or face consequences I'm not willing to put in print here. I woke up to a dark and stormy morning today, which combined with some mechanical trouble down the track left the trains running late and absolutely jammed. My building is right above the BART station which means that I didn't even have to go out in the rain to get from the Train to the office, not too shabby. W was gracious enough to give me a ride to Bart at 7:00 a.m. despite the fact that she had the day off.
I get one more evening off, and then friday comes the big 14 hour day. Wish me luck!

This really is a nightmare

Yesterday I was scheduled to only spend 4 hours at the BRO, but I am apparently doing a good enough job that I got asked to stay an extra three and change. I got home exhausted but spent a big portion of the night dreaming about sending people through my checkout lane. It was not a good nights sleep. I think its time for my first ever blog rant:
/begin rant

1. If you shop at my store and you come in my lane, take the stuff out of your cart and put it on the belt, that's what its there for. I don't have time for you to take things out of your cart one at a time while you watch your total climb steadily.
   
2. If you are paying with credit or debit, the card reader is sitting right there. Don't wait until you see the total before beginning to dig for your wallet.
   
3. If you just had your check cashed and have an enormous wad of bills, start unraveling them before I'm finished with your items. No one else wants to watch you spread your money out all over the counter.
4. I know, you don't want to carry around your change. Well, do us all a favor and don't stand here for ten minutes trying to count out 97 cents. We all have better things to do.
5. There are scanners every 15 feet in the store if you can't figure out how much something costs, take it to one of them, don't waste my time with it.
   
6. Be decisive. If you think you don't want something put it back where it came from don't bring it to me and admit that you're flaky.
7. Why do I care about these things? From the moment I scan your first item I'm being timed. The computer knows the number of items and the relative difficulty of packaging them, and calculates when the transaction could be finished. It does not stop ticking until the transaction is completed. So if I bust my butt bagging your stuff but you spend 5 minutes fumbling with pennies or the credit card machine, guess who gets blamed. That's right, the cashier sitting on his MBA suddenly looks lazy and uninitiated.
   

/end rant

Thank you, now that I've gotten that out of my system I feel much better. On a much more positive note, my real job at the MOHP should start on Thursday. I can't wait to have a nice relaxing sit down at a computer job. Yes I know, I will probably eat those words some day, but what fun is life if you don't poke fate with a pointy stick every now and then.

My cup runneth over

So thats how this is going to work? The minute I sign up at the Big Retail Outlet (BRO) the phone starts ringing. One of those phone calls has come through and I am officially fielding an offer from the Manufacturer Of Household Products. That means on many days I will be arriving at the MOHP at 7:00 a.m. working until 2 and then scrambling off to the BRO to work from 3:00 to 10:00. The best part part is they are 20 minutes apart on BART, and both within easy walking distance of a station. Dress at the MOHP is business casual so I will require a minor wardrobe change during my free hour, but other than that it sounds like a quick way to make up for not working for 5 months. When I talked to the guy at the temp agency he laughed when I told him the assignment might only last 3 weeks, saying it is never that short and they always need someone to do this job. So the threat of it only lasting 3 weeks may not stand up but either way I pick up a qulity experience. Its my last day home alone before W returns from Vegas. Its a good thing we live at the same place or we might not see each other very much for a while. She intends to come back and pick up some hours and I have (in my best jamaican accent) "Two Jobs Mon". That's right, I'm no longer a Lazy good for nothin'. To make this deal even more interesting I might even try to pick back up the personal training class teaching. I did spend $2oo on study guides for it, I should at least work enough to get that back. And yes you have done the math correctly, that would give me "Tree Jobs mon!"

There's always a catch

I barely managed to get out of bed on time for my interview this morning, catching the last train to San Francisco that would give me more than one minute to find my destination. I walked in right at 9:30 breathing a little hard and went through my interview. I apparently presented myself well enough and managed the Access and Excel tests well enough that I was passed on to a manager at the big household products manufacturer for a phone interview. The time was set for 4 O'clock so I waited around the house anxiously until then. At 4:30 the call finally arrived and I think I presented myself well again. The job is only supposed to last for 3 weeks which would mean burning my bridges at the Big Retail Outlet (BRO)would be a bad idea. So we may have worked it out where I could work from 7 to 2 and then head off to the BRO. I should know something by Friday. Tomorrow its off to my full time job or at least 4 hours worth of it.