I'm so cool, I wear my hardhat backwards!

In the ongoing file of getting to know me, I present to you a list of my work history, and whatever else I feel like saying about each job.

1. Flyer Delivery Boy: 1987(?)-1989(?)
Don't really remember the dates, but it was around then. I was pretty young, still in my temper tantrum phase. I remember getting so mad one day that I threw some papers down on the ground in someone's yard and walked away almost crying. I was either mad because the flyers wouldn't fold properly, or I had to pee really badly. The pay was amazing though. I think I made less than $20 every two weeks, but when I was six, that was huge money. Heck, I even had a bank account and everything. And then we had to deliver the phone books as part of the job, and that payed double. I was in candy heaven.

2. Dishwasher/Banquet Worker at Canadian Bible College in Regina: 1996-2001/2002
When I was in high school, my older brother was kind enough to get me a job at Canadian Bible College, working as a dishwasher part-time (he was a cook/dishwasher there at the time) in the school cafeteria. It was an okay job, but by the end I was only doing very ocassional work, turning down jobs as often as I was taking them, which annoyed Scott, who was basically the kitchen manager by that time. There's not much fun in being a dishwasher. Sorry for the grief Scott.

2b. Pizza Delivery for Western Pizza: June 24, 1999
This was the shortest job I ever had - one day. Basically I had a car (that week), and a friend of mine hurt his back and couldn't work, so he called me up and had me work for him. I can't believe they actually let me do that, because I had never worked for them before, and they didn't know me. Basically, the qualification was that I had a car. They called me a week later and asked if I wanted to work again, but by then I had crashed the car, so I had to turn them down.

3. Operation: Cleansweep: April 2000 - July 2000
After my first year of college, my brother Chris, a friend of ours named Crystal, and I went up to Saskatoon and started our very own lawn service company. And we shall talk no more of that.

4. Gas Jockey at Petro-Canada: August 2000 - September 2000
This was a job that I didn't really enjoy very much. I didn't really like most of the people that I worked with, and I don't think the managers liked me very much. I wasn't as fast as some people were, which they really got upset about. It all came to a head one day in mid September when it was really busy. I was doing my best, but apparently it wasn't fast enough. And then, for some reason, pretty much all of the problems that we had that day got pinned on me. When the manager started chewing me out, I snapped at her and walked away, which probably wasn't the best decision I had ever made. It didn't help that I was coming down with a wicked bad sickness (bad enough that I actually went to a doctor a few weeks later, something I've only done two other times since I left high school). The next day I woke up with a fever of 42 Celcius (over 100 Farenheit), and I called in sick, and they were unhappy because I was late before I called because I had happened to write down the wrong starting time. They wanted me to come in anyway, which would have been a bad idea (I was unable to stand for more than about five seconds without almost fainting). Then they fired me the next day, which was cool, cuz I hated the job anyway.

5. Sales Clerk at Agnew Shoes: October 2000 - October 2000
I sold shoes for one month. I only got the job because the store was closing at the end of the month and they needed someone to work until then. I needed a job, so I did that for a month and then moved on.

6. Sales Associate at Toys 'R' Us: December 2000 - December 2000
I was hired for the Christmas rush. To this day, I still hate Christmas music, Raffi, and Sharon, Lois and Bram. Shudder

7. Comic Book Guy at Tramps: January 2001 - August 2001
I worked in a store that sold used books, movies, music, as well as comics, role playing games, and card games, among other things. I was in charge of the comic department, and in many ways this was my dream job. There are days when I look back and wish I was still in that job. I enjoy comics, and this let me keep tabs on all of the stories that I wanted to, plus see the weird little ones that I may have missed (hello Frumpy the Clown). There were some downfalls, such as dealing with the people who's entire lives were based on comics or, even more annoyingly, on Role Playing Games and Card Games (stupid Magic/Pokemon). As a fan of comic books, I not someone who is going to say anything to people for enjoying them, but frankly it always made me worry about people when this was all that they ever talked about, thought about, dreamt about, and anything elsed about. They seemed to have lost touch with reality. I hated that. Other than that, things were good at that job. Unfortunately, there were some personal matters that forced me to resign and find a new job.

8. Janitor at Canadian Bible College: September 2001 - May 2002
This was the best paying job (wage wise) I'd had until my current job. A wopping $7.50 an hour! Wooo! The first month of this job was spent cleaning the bathrooms in the dorms. Eight hours a day cleaning up after college guys. The only reason there was a second month was because I was moved into the school itself, where I cleaned offices and hallways, etc etc. No bathrooms. Or, very few bathrooms, and that was mostly mirrors. This was an okay job, and I liked having keys and codes to the entire building. That's a sense of power right there. It was also probably one of the easiest jobs I've ever had. There was enough to do, but it was pretty slack. But in the end, it just wasn't a job that I enjoyed much.
Interesting side note: Mandy Ralph, the wife of one of my very good friends (Peter Ralph, honourable mention) ended up cleaning the guys' dorm bathrooms after I did (either that year, or the very next year), and all I can say is, I can't believe she lasted as long as she did (the entire year). Actually, I retract that. I can believe it, because she is tougher than I am. But frankly, it was a crappy job, and guys are disgusting. O so disgusting. Mandy, I raise a cup in your honour!

9. Tree Planter: May 2002 - Early June (like, the second) 2002
I am a terrible tree planter. I lost money, got little sleep, and spent most of my time alone. And we shall talk no more of that.

10. Knife seller for Cutco Knives: July 2002 - July 2002
Nine days that I will never forget, without years of therapy or many drugs, both legal and illegal. Essentially, I joined a cult. People were way too chipper all the time. The worst was my second last day. I went to the district conference in Saskatoon (does anything good ever happen for me there?), and it was spooky. We clapped for everything: when someone went up to the front, when they walked down from the front (and if someone came up as someone went down, we clapped for them both seperately), when someone was introduced, when someone said anything positive ("I'm happy" clapclapclapclap "I just killed nine cats, but I used our knives to do it" clapclapclapclap, and so on and so forth), when we were bored. I'm pretty sure there was a chant or two somewhere in there. It's all lost in a haze. The knives themselves were pretty good, but that sort of job is just not my thing. I'm not much of a salesman, and I really don't like using the phone very much. That was basically my entire job, so I decided to give this one a pass.

11. Waiter at Humpty's: August 2002 - October 2002
This was the first restaurant that I worked at, but it wasn't the last. I mostly worked the graveyard shift, which was 11pm-7am. I didn't really mind that, since I am a night person anyway, but it got old fast. Especially since I was going to school for the last couple months of that. I would work all weekend at night, sleep all day, and walk around groggily during the evening. During the week, I would be at school all day, and I spent a great deal of time at or around the school in the evenings too, hanging out with people. The worst was Thanksgiving - I slept through the extended family being over for a big meal, and I had a turkey sandwich before I went to work that night. That was my Thanksgiving. And then I quit.

12. Waiter at Swiss Chalet in Regina: April 2003 - August 2003
This was one of the better jobs I have had. It was good because I really enjoyed the people that I worked with, way more than most jobs. Actually, that place may have been the best place I've worked in regards to that. The work itself was okay, as good as a restaurant can be (which is only okay at the best of times). I always enjoyed getting the tips, but it is a great deal of stress and work for not a great deal of money. But all in all, I was happy where I was. And then I quit. But, I only quit because I was leaving the province, and that commute would have killed me.

13. Waiter at Swiss Chalet in Calgary: September 2003 - April 2004
In direct contrast to Regina, I pretty much didn't like anyone I worked with. There were a few people I liked, but most of them I didn't really like all that much. I never felt like I was part of the group, but never really made the effort. The one manager was the most high strung person I have ever seen. He obsessed about the food getting run out from the kitchen. I know that it is important to get the guests their food, but he would be yelling at people about it even before the food was actually finished cooking. He didn't even care if we all had eight tables and needed to get them all drinks and clear plates and other things, if there was food being cooked, then we had to be running it. Frankly, I'm pretty sure he's had a heart attack by now. One of the other managers was fired for hitting on one of our fifteen year old hostesses. I was happy to leave.

14. Swiss Chalet in Regina: May 2004 - August 2004
I went back to Regina and ended up back at Swiss Chalet. I still enjoyed the people there, and didn't really mind working there. It was a little different, but all in all, it was pretty good. And then I moved back to Calgary.

15. Chili's Texas Bar and Grill in Calgary: January 2005 - October 2005
This is the job that I have held for the longest, at least, full time job. My first three jobs were only ever part time at the most. I didn't mind working here too much for the most part, but by the end it was really tough. Frankly, working in a restaurant loses its charm very quickly. I don't understand how people can do it for as long as they do. The tips aren't that good. I enjoyed the people I worked with, for the most part, but I was also perpetually irritated with many of them. Apparently whining is a requirement for working there, at least by many people. The worst was the cooks who would complain about having to cook food. And many of the people there had a work ethic that was lacking. I don't want to say that I was perfect, because that is completely wrong. But I can say that I tend to work hard, and it bugged me to see people not working hard. By the end, I just didn't care anymore, and it started to affect my work in ways that I noticed, even if no one else did. I really needed to get out of that job. And I did.

16. The Sign Guys in Canada: October 2005 - present (it's been a whole week now)(of which, four days were spent doing nothing because we didn't have any signs to put up)
So far, this is a pretty sweet job. Basically, we go in to Home Depots and put up signs. There are lots of signs that we do, including banners, wall signs, aisle numbers and signs, aisle violators (signs in the middle of the aisles beside whatever the sign is for (example: Beside the hammers is a sign that says 'hammers')), and, umm...more signs. There are more, but since I've only been doing this for a week, I don't really know everything, or even how to describe the various signs and things. But it's been pretty good so far. As of Thursday night, I had worked 30 hours in three days, which is ten hours a day. But I don't mind because I'm enjoying it, even though I'm spending the entire day on my feet, and my arms and legs are sore right now, and I have to get up early (six in the morning sometimes, which is WAY early for me...I've had days in the past month where that would have given me less than an hour of sleep). And, I will get to travel eventually, which is sweet. I've always wanted to travel, and to get paid (well) to do it, that rocks. Also, it's not just Home Depot. One of the guys I work with has being doing signs at the Science Centre, and in the new parkade at the Foothills hospital. Also, because it is a construction zone, I have to wear a hard hat. That amuses me, though I can't really say why. I guess I just don't feel like a hardhat sort of guy.

So those are all the jobs that I have had. From April 2000 to October 2002, I had nine jobs. That's a new job every two months, on average. Since then, I've managed to slow the average to a new job every six months. I hope I last in this job for a while. Or at least I figure out what I'm going to do as a career (although this is a possibility. Who knows).

Now, I gotta get some sleep. Another early morning beckons.