Overworked and Underpaid

I realized as I was channel surfing through multiple anniversary tributes this evening, I’ve only been in the United States for one other annivesary of September 11th (it was in 2003). Overseas, things were different.

In Germany, on September 11th, 2002, our entire group from Oregon was down at Lake Constance touring around the city of Konstanz and some of the old castles across the lake. Some of the more religiously inclined among us stepped into a local church to pray, but that was the extent of it. In Japan, the anniversary usually garnered a quick 10-second mention on the national news, but then people just continued on and went about their day (except in 2005, when September 11th was election day).

The way the cable news networks here decided to just show hours of old footage was… creepy. Has it always been this weird at home?

I’d forgotten it was coming up, actually. In the rest of the world it’s on May 1st (and in Germany, the night before is when the entire country gets tanked).

Anyway, from the North-West Labor Press:

On St. Patrick’s Day, the custom is go to an Irish pub. On Cinco de Mayo, Mexican restaurants are full. So where do you go to celebrate Labor Day weekend? To a union restaurant, of course! Here’s a list of restaurants in Oregon that have union workers represented by Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Local 9:

Brite Spot/Space Room: 4800 SE Hawthorne Blvd., Portland

The Semaphore: 1639 SE Holgate, Portland

Nite Hawk Cafe & Lounge: 6423 N. Interstate, Portland

Dan & Louis Oyster Bar: 208 SW Ankeny, Portland

Alexander’s/Bistro 921 at the Portland Hilton: 921 SW Sixth Ave., Portland

London Grill/Lobby Court at the Benson Hotel: 309 SW Broadway, Portland

Phyllis & Bob’s Labor Temple Cafe: 939 Duane St., Astoria

Porta Terra at the Hilton Towers: 545 SW Taylor, Portland

So, today Greg and I went to check out the apartment. It’s pretty badass, though kind of dirty and stinky ATM. Martin said that we can move in probably by Sept 15th. It does in fact have two living rooms, but there isn’t really much of an eating area so I think we will consider making the second living room a dining room (or at least make it able to be a dining room should we need one). One uncool thing is the bathroom is in a room off of the kitchen. I mean, there’s a proper door and everything, but after Kisarazu I’m not super stoked about that. It’s also a long run in the case of midnight toilet needs.

The really great thing about it is that we have the whole north side of the building without sharing a wall with another unit. This means that our only potentially annoying neighbors are upstairs. That’s a big potential for sucking, but I’m hoping that it will work in our favor. ALSO, because the intercom system is housed in our unit, we only pay for the electricity in the first living room and our kitchen. This is awesome. The bedrooms aren’t huge, but they’re pretty big and have a lot of closet space. The kitchen could use some work, but it’s probably more the last people not using it to it’s full potential rather than it just being bad.

I didn’t take any pictures because the last people there obviously didn’t clean up at all for the visitors and I thought it would be a bit rude. Same with measuring rooms. But here’s my gimp image editor version of the layout. (Click the thumbnail)

I have a number of things that I have to take care of at my job. I take care of them quickly and I do it right the first, or at least second time. Two of the things that I have to take care of are accounts payable and accounts receiveable. This is where I have some problems.

Accounts payable is fairly simple. When we receive a bill, I enter it into the books and file it. After that, it’s out of my hands. It is not my job to make sure that these bills are paid and that’s an issue. The people who are supposed to be making sure that our bills are paid are very busy people. I literally have to corner them and say that our electricity is going to be turned off for them to make a second in their very busy schedule - I’m serious, they’re really busy - to check the bank accounts and write a check.

Accounts receiveable is a little bit more difficult. I have to look at our projects and then check the agreement we have with the client to figure out how to bill. Sometimes there are small mistakes (certain clients want things a certain way that I didn’t know), but overall it’s not a problem. However, sometimes I have to hound clients to pay us or enter a downpayment into an invoice. I do not have access to the received payments to get check numbers. I don’t know if or when clients pay unless I am lucky enough to be the one to pick up the mail and see the check.

Basically, my job relies on my ability to ask my boss what is going on. He is, as I said before, really busy and often doesn’t get back to me within what I believe is an acceptable timeframe (note: my timeframe is really short because I literally cannot continue to work without answers to my questions and often the bill paying is URGENT). I don’t have the access - I don’t know why - to take care of this stuff myself. Here comes the kicker: all three people who have access to this stuff are leaving for 10 days starting on Monday. So… I guess I’ll be taking some naps at work?

I suppose in happier news, we’re moving! We have a super badass apartment on SE 20th. I’m so excited!

In the 503 area code, the exchange 666 covers a large part of east county (Eastern Multnomah County, that is).

I find this strangely appropriate, and I suspect others who know the area will as well.

-Greg

I checked with my boss (a first), and I’m allowed to talk in a slightly limited fashion about where I’m working and what I do. My new employer is the group Oregonians for Health Security. They advocate reforming the American health care system (which the system could benefit from, don’t you think?). When we eventually get our collective asses in gear and do something about this problem, it really won’t be as hard as most people seem to think. I’ve lived in two other countries that did just fine extending health care to their populations (not having a huge standing army helped in both cases, though).

Anyway, my actual duties are still a bit nebulous (so far I’ve just been helping to organize a public forum for this Friday), so for now I’m describing my job title as “忍者” (ninja).

I’ll tell you rapt readers more as soon as I’m able.

-Greg

I handed in my notice at the restaurant today, much to the chagrin of the sous chef. Apparently, he had fired one of the daytime cooks over the weekend when Sam and I were camping, and one of our dishwashers is departing after the end of this week. Add to that another cook who is currently off performing his National Guard duty, and the restaurant is becoming short-staffed.

I offered to stay until our guardsman returns from duty, my new employer understands and accepts this. The restaurant accepted wholeheartedly. I’m apparently one of the more reliable people at the place, and they profess sadness at letting me go. Not a bad feeling at all, even if they were only paying $10 an hour.

-Greg

I got offered another job, one day after accepting the first.

Luckily, it was for a position that paid about the same and didn’t sound as interesting. But still, from begging and pleading for employment to having to tell people, “Sorry, I’ve accepted another offer” is a nice transition.

It’s like the inverse of the when-it-rains-it-pours concept.

-Greg

It took three months for me to a) actually post to this blog and b) find a real job.

Anyway, mission accomplished on both fronts. I start Monday, and will be working at my new job during the day and at the restaurant (which I haven’t told any of you about) in the evenings for at least the few weeks.

I’ll write a little more about what I’ll be doing after I talk to my new employer about just what sort of things I’m allowed to write about publicly.

-Greg

Sometimes my job is full of terrible and badness, but sometimes it’s full of joy and joyness. Today was a joyness.

It’s Cooper’s birthday! I bought a brownie and candle for him and he was so overjoyed that he took a picture to email to me. Yay birthdays!