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I worked the 6 PM to 6 AM shift at Rubbermaid last night, and do it again tonight.  I was depressed going in to work, but was cheered when I arrived and was told I was going to be hired permanently starting Dec. 18th – just in time to get paid for the Christmas and New Years holidays – I’m kind of surprised they would do that.  I’ll also receive a substantial raise in pay, but don’t know how much exactly yet.  It will still be low pay, but any improvement gives me hope.  I need to go in for a drug test tomorrow – will know more then.

I didn’t make it to church today like I had hoped.  I don’t know when my body will get used to this schedule.  A woman at work told me last night that she’s been doing the night shift for 3 years and has never gotten used to it – doesn’t sound promising.  But she’s got it a lot worse than I do – 3 small children that demand her attention during the day, plus she’s working on a college degree!  I don’t know how she does it.

I’ve learned some things about factory workers – at least in the case of Rubbermaid, and it’s probably not much different elsewhere – they aren’t stupid.  Many are foreign, as was the woman last night (she’s from Russia), and they just haven’t had some of the opportunities that are open to natural born citizens.  Others, like me, are just down on their luck.  As a rule, they are all very friendly and helpful.  I’ve noted that the maintenance crew, who no doubt make a lot more money than we press operators, are generally a cruder bunch – use foul language, etc.  Just goes to show that you shouldn’t make judgments about people.

I’ve even had a gospel discussion with a young man named Jodie.  I met him the first night and when I mentioned that I switched to the night shift partly so I could attend church every Sunday, he said he also tries to go to church, but found it very difficult.  I told a few things about my religion.  I was surprised that he’d never heard of Mormons.  Yesterday I gave him a couple “pass-along” cards with a free offer for a DVD I think and a website address.  I hope he checks it out.

I do believe that the workers as a whole smoke more than the average population, which is disappointing, but I’m sure it has more to do with the environment they came from than anything else.

Ruby, the woman I’ve had more interest in, has been difficult to reach as usual.  There’s a lot I could say about that – maybe later.

Amey, who I met while working on the Kirtland Conference,  seems to be interested – I’ve gotten a few message from her.  She really complimented me on my post about Sarah’s wedding – said I’m a “very articulate and tenderhearted guy”  That’s sweet of her.  Maybe there’s something there.

I think Jean, who I also met at the conference, is still interested, but I just don’t think it’s going to work – too bad – she lives so close.

Cheryl, who I also met at the conference, is still interested apparently.  I just got a note from her this morning on Facebook.  On an impulse, I sent back a message asking if I was still welcome to visit her next weekend.  We had talked about that a couple weeks ago.  She replied she is so I might just do that.  I need a little fun in my life.  We did get along very well at the conference, but I guess I felt we were moving a little too fast – getting things out of order.  We will just have to be careful.

I also wanted to mention that I received a message from Pieter Wouden, who served in Fukushima in the Sendai Mission with me.  He found me on mission.net.  It was great to hear from him.  I got a message a couple weeks ago from Ogawa Choro (Elder Ogawa), who was my companion in the mission home – great to hear from him, too.