Yesterday was my second day of industrial work. I had a slightly longer shift starting at 1.30pm. What I love about industrial work:
- Watching the machines and all their intricate working parts
- Seeing the product before and after and being part of the process
- The people
- The routine (clocking in, locker, getting changed) and the reassurance of repetitious activity
- The potential to be as obsessive or creative as I like about how I stack the packs (without breaking the rules of course!)
- The focus and concentration required
What I hate about it:
- The shoes! I'm told it gets easier after the first week...
- Mopping and cleaning - I don't hate it but it's not as much fun
- The physical discomfort after a shift, although it doesn't last
When it gets tough, as it does on a long shift, I let my imagination loose and I tell myself I'm like Jennifer Beals in Flashdance - yes, I know she was a welder but why did she do the welding job?
Thankfully yesterday I was on the same section in the same factory with the same team and a nice new team leader (last Friday's team leader is off for a fortnight having an operation) producing the same product in smaller doses. This work reminds me of another important time in my life. In 2007 after I became stuck in a rut of weddings and peripatetic harp teaching (at one point I had 65 students over 4 days), I gave this life up and went back to the RNCM as a mature student. The extreme nature of my decision was commented on but I saw no other solution than to rent out my beautiful house in Wales and have my lovely cats fostered to pursue my career as a harpist. I was generously offered an Oglesby bursary to assist me in my studies and the majority of my work was in Marketing sticking labels on envelopes. I LOVED it!! Similarly to the industrial work I'm doing now, it gave me some balance and it was a platform for the next phase in my life.
What I've realised is that I love the freedom and variety of my job. Today I have a chamber music rehearsal and this evening, Aquafit. Tomorrow will be different again and I will probably accept another shift if it's offered. I have entered a new, exciting, and sometimes terrifying phase in my life. I get very anxious about being away from my harp and not practising - I admit I have only found the time, energy and headspace for 2 hours over the past 10 days... I wake up in the early hours and my head is burgeoning and bubbling with ideas. Instead of fighting it and lying there hoping sleep will come, I get up and put that energy to good use and get about my business. Looking back 6 months to when I was struggling to crawl from under the duvet, I know which life I prefer.
Helpful hand protection - these gloves really work
Happy feet, though nothing can tame the shoes
I've no idea who Karen is but wearing this feels like having a midriff hug all day long. And yes, it's from my favourite shop
Industrial quantities of industrial strength coffee
