Dayglo Raingear Day

1940h
After half of my dayglo orange rain gear was mysteriously stolen at lunch time yesterday, the sickos pulled out all the stops and ensured that I was gradually introduced to each person/location slowly. I wore the dayglo coat only, and the rain was sufficently intermittent that I didn't need rain pants. But they pulled a "no supervisor" for the first ten minutes that I had arrived in the morning, so plenty of wandering around to find someone. Then with my gumboots on and someone "happening" to be standing next to me as there always is when I am now swapping footwear, I was dispatched to the pickup to wait for the other two. And lo, if one didn't cut himself somehow and give me some five to ten minutes more of wait time in the yellow pickup truck. I finally got out to the kale and cauliflower patch to pick both these vegetables. The perps have a big interest in the dark green vegetables, and at present, have me picking, bundling and packing them.

Later in the day, with my work buddy wearing an old and faded pair of dayglo orange rain pants, I went weeding strawberries with him in the raspberry patch. I was called off in some 20 minutes to help the cabbage crew, as I had been doing it yesterday. I got a ride in one of those ridiculous Left Hand drive Japanese tiny pickup trucks to the field to joing the two E. Indians and one Mexican. Not a whole lot of intelligible conversation takes place in these circumstances is what I learned yesterday. Then there is the nigh impossible set of three specifications to meet for cabbage picking; the net amount is to weigh over 50lb, 13 cabbages per box, and the box must be closable so they can be packed six high on a pallet. And of course, this complexity must be communicated to the multi-cultural crew, and that takes a fair amount of doing when they have decades of bad habits to fix.

The cabbage cutting, weighing and packing took the lunch to afternoon break, and then while still wearing the dayglo raincoat, I was then dispatched to the dimly lit warehhouse to then attempt to re-pack the cabbages into closable boxes. As it happened, the head grower came by, and when he determined that the three way cabbage specification was impossible, I finally learned that the most important specification must be that the cabbage head be smaller, and that the box must be closable. If it doesn't weigh 50lb with 13 cabbages in the box, why, it isn't as important. Funny how we field laborers were sweating out these three nearly mutually specifications for weeks in attempting to get the perfect cabbage box filled with the correct weight and number, and when faced with its unachievability, why, it was more important for two other less emphasized specifications. The joys of being a TI field laborer and put through this bullshit all to be tested while wearing a dayglo orange raincoat (rainpants weren't allowed at the same time because they disappeared yesterday) in varying lighting conditons (outside and dark skies, inside under mercury arc lamps) as well as the varying brown skin content that I was exposed to my way of my co-workers. As always, the perps are beserk over the color brown, and that includes skin content.

2130h
The restlessness imposition is coming on, and that means wrapping up this blog. Without further ado, this is it.