Friends. People. How wonderful they are… Yesterday at work was rough. Most of us in the engineering department got fussed at in our proper turn. Bob’s computer is on the fritz, and the air conditionning wasn’t working properly, again. There were a lot of little annoyances, which, collectively, ended up grating on everyone’s nerves and layering an atmosphere of tension in the room. Rick asked me to bring a printout of an engineering drawing and a sample piece of metal barstock to the conference room at one point in the morning… I had to figure out where the heck the fabrication shop was, and find the particular piece he wanted, all immediately, of course. I felt a little bit like a gofer or errand boy, but you gotta do that stuff sometimes. I found a piece that was exactly the right size, but when I got the conference room, I had to take it back since it was aluminum, not steel. I found a steel piece and brought it to them, but later discovered that Charlie (a bigwig) had gotten upset because I brought aluminum the first time. This guy seriously needs to lighten up, otherwise he’s going to end up driving all the good employees away. Geno’s been looking through the want-ads as a direct result of things that Charlie instituted, and Bob Gould even walked out yesterday in the aftermath of an altercation with him. Who knows if he’ll be coming back on Monday. He was the manager of the tooling department and ran the CNC machine. We were beginning to have a real rapport, him and I, about things that needed to be done. I understood his timeframe, and he understood what he could expect from me and when. He also didn’t swear nearly as much as everyone else. I guess we’ll see what happens.
Tim and Erica arrived around 5… Things were awkward at first–I’m not the most adept when it comes to showing things off, like my apartment, my car, and the town–but I drove them around for a bit and we chatted about their trip and little things like that. I left around 6 to drive up to Jacksonville for the singles’ group meeting. It’s a long drive, but it would seem quite a bit longer if it weren’t for my car. It ticks away the miles so effortlessly, so serenely… It’s quite a blessing. I was a bit apprehensive when I showed up, not from nervousness about meeting new people, but because the parking lot was chock full on account of (as I later found out) a graduation service. Everyone was dressed up in slacks and the like, and I felt more than a bit underdressed with my t-shirt and shorts. It turned out that I was one of the first people to arrive, and of course the dressed up folks were attending the graduation, so my apprehensiveness came to naught, like it usually does.
I met a lot of people, really friendly people. There were about 50 college-age and early career-age people there, of all varieties. Interacting with people and simple conversation isn’t something I’ll take for granted again. I met a few guys I might be good friends with years down the road. Who knows…
Erica had already gone to bed when I returned at 11, but Tim was just getting started on his night. We had a great talk outside in the beautiful night and horsed around inside for a bit on his computer (which he brought in order to finish up some last minute homework). It reminded me why we’re such good friends.
Now, to find some breakfast…