Tired but Good

So I have started my job at Van Bell Nursery and I just finished my first 50 hour week today. I work 7:00-4:30 Mon - Fri, and 7:00 - 12:00 on Sat. Coming home this afternoon I felt like I could take on the world.....after all I was home by 12:15. Sweet, I thought!

I only made it to 5:00 and then I hit the pillow. It's not that I'm sore, or uncomfortable, or cold, or achy; I was REALLY tired. I've been a good little worker and I've been going to bed at 10:00 every night so that I get my 8 hours before getting up at 6:00. (It's kind of weird but we have to be there by 6:50....so that we are 'working' by 7:00) Yet I'm still tired.

I've learned that if I don't leave my place by 6:39 and if I am not in my parkade driving out by 6:40, then I have to rush like crazy to get there on time.

I don't like rushing that early in the morning. I've learned that too. :)

Wow, I've learned a great many things. I am quite fast with a pair of clippers now, and can clip one or two nodes from a plant with quite a bit more efficiency than a few days ago. I've learned that my hands will stop cramping up if I just push through it and try to go faster. I've learned that the rows between the plants are very narrow (stomach/waist height), and I have a bruise on my a** to prove it.

Oh bruises. I have a lovely one on my arm, which came from doing who knows what; a lovely one on my shin, and a chunk taken out of the other shin.

I wear purple or baby blue work-out pants under my rain gear, to wick away any sweat, and or to keep my heat in. I bet you all wanted to know that one. Right now I wear 6 layers on top.....two tank tops, a fleece hoodie, a t-shirt, a cotton hoodie and then my rain jacket. Two pairs of gloves.

How on earth is it May!!!!

I do the same thing every day all day. Essentially. I harvest the 'new growth' off of a bunch of plants (one plant is called Princess Beatrix Hydranga). Then I take my bucket of 'new growth Princess Bea' and take a stool at the cutting table to cut each 'acceptable' (correct size, decent leaves, proper thickness, proper length of stem) piece into the correct shape for planting. I finish my bucket and sometimes I repeat and go harvest OR I am given more 'new growths' by someone that is harvesting them all day. I will likely be rotated bewteen this job and 'sticking,' which is planting the new growths. These two jobs are called propagating. (sp) The options are endless! :)

We have to write down each tray of 650 that we have cut because they keep track of our speed each day by dividing how many trays we have done by how many hours we were sitting there cutting. Us new guys are quite often reminded about the little details that make cutting an art.....we are told how to do it better. I didn't have any reminders this morning though, so I think I must be improving.

There is a lot of diversity at the greenhouse. There is a staff of about 100 between the two locations, and about 30-40 of them are Mexicans that come up and work the season for 6 months before going back home. They live right at the nursery in some brand new apartments that were just built above one of the garages. There are also several East Indian women, one of which is my supervisor. I think our manager is Peruvian. There is pretty much an equal mix of men and women. All of us 'propagators' are women except for one. Maybe that's because we are considered more nimble with our fingers.

Anyway, that is the story of my work for the next 8 weeks. One down and 8 to go. Think about it this way. If I work a 50 hour week....as compared to someone who works a 40 hour week, in a month I would have worked an extra 40 hours more than the 40 hr/week guy. It's a whole extra week of work!

I think its ok that I'm tired. There. I've justified it. I AM TIRED! I think I will get used to the work though so it will be fine. :) Work is work. I needed work and I have work, so who cares if I'm tired at the end of the day.