One Job, Two Jobs, Three Jobs!

After all the expenses with the new house and the down payment which drained our savings, I thought I should get a second job. My part time from home thing is great and brings in a nice amount of money, but I knew I had time on my hands.

When I got the job at Fry's working in the Starbucks, I thought it would be great. Not so much. The pay was lousy, just .20 above minimum wage. I figured I would work my butt off and advance quickly, but it doesn't work like that. It's a union, and you don't get a raise until you work 800 hours and you get a dime. What? That's almost like an insult. We couldn't take tips either as we are Fry's employees, not Starbucks.

I was the person with no seniority, so how their schedule work is the person whose been there the longest takes what shifts the want, then, the next person and so on. The new person gets whatever is left. I get it and it wouldn't be too bad, but there was no rhyme or reason to any of it. In one work, I'd close at 8:30, open at 4:30, work mid shift; sometimes 4 hours, sometimes 6, sometimes 8. I'd end up with 6 days a week and close to 40 hours most weeks. Um, I signed up for part time. I think I worked under 32 hours twice in the 3 months I was there. My part time job at home is about 15-20 hours a week. There were many weeks that I was easily working 60 hours. I was exhausted.

The good part is the kids really had to step up. I brought out the easel from when they were toddlers and I'd leave notes. They'd have to pack their lunches most days and get ready for school as I was up at 3:30 to go to work. Yes, I know they should be doing that anyway, but when I was home and only worked one part time job, I enjoyed doing it.

 

I really wasn't happy at Fry's. I loved the people, both my co-workers and customers. I loved making delicious coffee for people and it brought a smile to their face. I didn't like the crazy hours, pay and other things. 

I had applied for Costco when I applied for Fry's. But, they didn't call me. When we were on vacation in Newport Beach, a manager from Costco called and wanted to interview me for seasonal help. She said they lay off all seasonal help at Christmas and hire back all of their best workers throughout the next year. By the time I got the interview, several weeks had passed, but they hired me on the spot. I wanted to give Fry's two-weeks notice. But, then Costco wanted me for orientation a week after they hired me, and that was their last orientation for seasonal workers. I had to go. So for about 4 days, I was juggling 3 jobs. One day, I worked over 16 hours with an hour in between and I brought a pillow in the car for a nap. I tucked the kids in on a Wednesday night, and I wasn't going to see them until Saturday. It was crazy.

So Costco.... they pay really well with time and half on Sunday's. I'm in the Food Court, which I like as it's a good mix of people and hustle, and boy do we hustle. There isn't a lot of down time and we are constantly busy. Time just flies. It was so much easier to learn than Starbucks. Costco's register has about 9 buttons. Starbucks had 9 pages with about 20 drinks on each page. No joke. It took a month to get Starbucks down. I had the basics of Costco figured out in about 15 minutes. I've mostly been in the front, but this week, I got to go in back and learn to make pizzas, salads and sandwiches. I really like it and hope that I can get on with them in the future. There are several people who work in the Food Court with me who were seasonal last year. One got called back in March and two in July. So, I could end up with a nice long vacation after Christmas. But, that's ok. I can't stress about it. The hard part is I feel like I already have a permanent job. I like the people I'm working with and it seems weird that in 4 weeks, I won't work there anymore. It never even crosses my mind that it's temporary.  

That's where I've been over the last month and why blogging has been the last thing I was thinking about. Hopefully though, things are simmering down a little. At least that's what I keep telling myself.