How The Recession Affected Me

At the beginning of 2008 my workload was reduced by four hours on Fridays leading me to react by feeling an apprehension that the company was slowing down in production which actually happened for the next four months. It was at the middle of the fifth month when the plant manager began to move some equipment to the other unit and no one ever gave me a clue what was going on until one week before the finishing unit where I worked moved to the production unit so all workers (moulders and painters) worked altogether now

What a big change for me physically.  Male workers operate a cement mixer (imagine the noise) to fill the moulds manually of different intricate designs I called it " a unique art work involving rough sculpture and rough painting in producing firelogs".  Considering one set of firelogs compose of eight pieces packed into seventy boxes or another set compose of seven pieces packed into eighty boxes piled up on top of each other into a skid binded by a transparent plastice wrap.  Each set would be mounted inside a fireplace contracted by subdivisions, condominiums and apartments under construction.

Since this is the third year that I've been painting the same set of firelogs, two skids a week, hundreds of fireplaces had been produced, adding ten more skids done during the week by my co-workers, thousands of fireplaces were being installed in the above properties in Canada and the U.S.

Until the end of the year, production of our small company never went back to normal at all since the unit we vacated was listed for lease.

For months I was thinking of how I could recover my lost hours when another cutback occurred having less and less income.  Then one afternoon last September a rare opportunity came by when I dropped my application to become a merchandiser of a large pharmaceutical company who accepted my application as a part-time worker.

Now I worked day and night.  My night shift seemed to be lighter than my day shift but the only problem was my sleeping pattern.  If I have a night shift between two day shifts I felt so tired That I had to slump at the couch upon arriving home,then I felt rested working the next day. I get my other night shift on the weekend.

My shifts seem to work but don't know the long term effect to my health. The secondary reason why I took my second job is to leave my first job immediately when my first retirement pay check arrives a few months from now.