It's amazing how fast time moves. It seems like only yesterday
my first article was published here, but it was two years ago. I
can hardly believe it.
I've been writing for Low End Mac for two years as of today. My
first article (Bigger, Faster, More:
Enough Already!) focused on older Macs and how they can be just
as productive as new ones.
When Dan Knight first hired me to write Vintage Mac Living for Low End Mac, I
wrote about older Macs and how to make use of them. Since then I've
also written about the Intel Macs (and the things I don't like
about them), computers I've acquired, my views on rap music, the
"30 days of old school computing"
series, and so many others that I can't remember them all. It's
been a lot of fun!
Stress at Work
However, this past month has had my life completely filled with
stress. I've been so preoccupied that I haven't been able to think
about computers, much less write about them.
Last month I decided to take some vacation time. I was to be off
work from the 16th of April until the 25th.
At 11 p.m. on the 21st, one of my coworkers called. He asked if
I could cover his shift from midnight to 6 a.m. I wasn't too happy
about it; in fact, I was down right mad. I was on vacation, for
crying out loud!
I asked him if he really needed me to come in, and he said yes.
I said okay, but he would have to give me a ride (my car broke down
a few days earlier). He agreed, and he picked me up.
On the ride to work, he told me that our Store Manager was
quitting. I didn't believe him at first (this guy is always making
stuff up), but when we got to the store, I couldn't believe my eyes
- there was his letter or resignation. That kind of upset me.
A few days earlier he had said he was going to talk to his boss
about giving me a promotion; now that wasn't going to happen.
But what really made me mad was when I got there, the manager
who was running the shift wouldn't let me work. She made the guy
that called me work his shift anyway (it turned out he didn't clear
the change with the manager; he just expected her to be okay with
it).
Fortunately a friend of mine was shopping at the
Walmart where
the McDonald's I work at is located and gave me a ride home. If it
hadn't been for her, I would have been stranded there all
night.
Needless to say, that was one hell of a night.
When I got back from my vacation, the new Store Manager had
already taken over.
There was some more bad news: Our Assistant Manager (who was a
good friend of mine) was being transferred to another store. That
really sucked, because she and I were both hired at the same store,
at the same time, and we were both transferred to the Walmart
McDonald's at the same time when it first opened.
Out of all of the original crew people at my store, she and I
were the only two left. We're still stay in touch, but it's strange
not having her around.
Things Are Getting Better
Even though there has been a lot of change in the last few
weeks, things seem to be working out. Our new Store Manager has
seen my work, and she is promoting me to Crew Trainer. The
promotion takes effect June 1st. I'm really looking forward to
being the store's new Crew Trainer (at McDonald's, a Crew Trainer
is kind of like a supervisor - a step above crew and a step below
management). I can't wait!
With all of the distractions during the last month, I haven't
had time to think about computers. However, I have had lots of time
to think about work.
I know this article has nothing to do with Macs (or computers at
all), but I thought I would give you all a glimpse into my
life.
After all, there is more to life than Macs. 
