work and the weekend!

Dang. It's Friday. FINALLY! Last night at work was one of the craziest nights I've had. I was alone, on nights (which usually isn't the case) and I got slammed with work. It wasn't quite as stressful as the night that I cried in the lab (because a test I was trying to run kept failing over and over again), but for the first 5 hours I did not leave the lab, I did not eat anything, drink anything, pee, sit down, or even stop moving. I think my ankles are swollen! Then there was a lull for about 2 hours where I got all of my paperwork done, cleaned up the whirlwind of destruction that I left trailed across the lab, did a ton of dishes, and set up for tests that would be coming in a little later.

Just to give you a insight into what I do at my job without violating any kind of J&J "confidentiality" - I do quality control testing on a product (that is used on medical devices) that our company makes. The speed that I do my testing at DIRECTLY affects our ability to make the product and get it on the shelf. If I am slow, mess up, or don't know how to do something, I hold up the entire process - because the product absolutely CANNOT get made until my test results pass. And if we have to hold up making something, the company loses money. Which pisses everyone off, a LOT.

Hence - when I am alone and very busy, I get really, really stressed out because I'm afraid that I won't be able to get everything done in time, or I will have problems that I don't know how to fix (and who am I going to call at 3 am?) or (god forbid) something will require a test that I don't know how to do (because we have literally thousands of possible tests that we might have to run and it's just impossible to train on them all).

So if you're wondering why I once cried in the lab? That's why. Add to that the constantly rotating shifts, and you can probably see why my job contributes a giant amount of stress to my life. I try to control stressers but unfortunately, I can't do much about my job other than try to take deep breaths and have confidence that I can do it without screwing up.

Anywho.

The week is over. Our factory is basically shutting down for the next two weeks because of the holidays so I get to work days and not be as stressed. The week between Christmas and New Years I will be holding down the lab by myself because the other 4 lab techs all have vacation time left, whereas I do not.

So it's time to relax and chill out for a few weeks before we get hammered at work, and I get hammered by my training - starting in January.

I think I will start that tonight by going to see "Black Swan" which is directed by the guy that did "The Wrestler" and "Requiem for a Dream" which are both great. And the trailer looks freaking awesome! AND it's rated like 9 stars on IMDB. I also have my FIRST EVER yoga class on Sunday morning! Wow.. crazy weekend for this girl!

I will reward you for reading this rambling blog entry with a triathlon joke!

Q: How many Ironman triathletes does it take to change a light bulb?



A: One, he holds the bulb up to the socket and the world revolves around him.