7.26.1994

Employees at Bill and Dave's company have a bad reputation here at the Optical Lab. At this company they've hired a bunch of us former Bill and Dave employees and very few have made the grade. I've felt like since I've been here that I'm being judged and watched much more than someone who has been hired in from anyplace else. I can understand some of the apprehension. People who work at Bill and Dave's company are allowed so much freedom that they routinely take advantage of it there. If they weren't lazy and complacent already, by the time they've been working for a few years at Bill and Dave's they will certainly learn how to be lazy and complacent. Having a job there isn't reality. It's like being inside a bell jar and working inside a total vacuum. It's weird and difficult to explain but most people over there can't handle a real job. They've been institutionalized to an extent. Here, the Optical Lab is very real. They fire people for non-performance unlike Bill and Dave's. The Optical Lab is also stupid in it's own way though. It's not well organized. I want to succeed here but it's an extra uphill battle. So many former Bill and Dave employees have been hired here and then get promptly thrown out for all sorts of infractions and reasons. I've felt alot of pressure since day one, as if I am going to become a failure no matter what I do.

The late night hours are making me miserable. There's another Bill and Dave employee here and he's still employed over there in the PC board department so he's working both jobs. I feel like he's always reporting back to my former area how I'm doing here. I don't trust him at all and I try to avoid him as much as possible. I have a bad feeling about him.

I work with a really cool guy from the Philippines named Red. Red is always making me laugh and he's really put alot of extra effort into making me feel welcome. We talk alot out on the shop floor when we have downtime between T/As and there's nothing else to do. Subjects of chatter have ranged from favorite beers to what it's really like in the Philippines. We've yapped about World War Two history in the Pacific campaign and General MacArthur in particular. The General really was seen as a true hero there. I have some silver coins with the image of MacArthur on them. I brought them into work for the guy to check out and he was totally happy to see them. He's told me about his uncle back in the Philippines who likes to play in marching bands. Every year his uncle tries to come up with some crazy uniform for his band members to wear. I suggested we hit some of the military surplus stores around here to come up with some simple stuff like U.S. Air Force shirts that his uncle's band could get cheaply. He thought it was a great idea and we've made some plans to make it happen soon.

The last day of our work week Red organizes a breakfast gig at a restaurant not far from here. It's an old 60s joint that last remodeled the interior around 1973. It's dimly lit inside and all the booths are black leather with bright yellow frosted glass partitions between each booth. Shade plants are hanging from the ceiling all over the place. It almost has a tropical jungle feel to it. I hate the 1970s shit, but the food is pretty good so I try my best to ignore the tacky surroundings while I'm eating. There's plenty of buffet style grub ready and waiting for us when we show up around 7am each week. The waitresses know we're coming and they generally have a bunch of stuff cooked up for us. It's pretty cool. They've set it up as sort of an all you can eat deal and I appriciate that a hell of a lot. After a week of 12 hour shifts my family-sized stomach is ready for some serious grubbin'. I usually hit the scrambled eggs and the pancakes hard. Just can't get enough. Unfortunately this end of week get together is about the only thing I look forward to at this job anymore.