Thursday was Graham’s last day at the job site he’s been working on. He’s been working at a new Lowe’s store here, where they’ve recently begun to make their debut in Ontario. You know, because Home Depot AND Rona aren’t enough, we also need to have Lowe’s to choose from when we need to buy, say, a new bath tub.
We knew that the job he was on was only going to be short term. The company on the site was responsible for installing all of the shelving inside the new store, and Graham spent about a week and a half on a crew drilling holes into the concrete floor so the shelving could be bolted in place. I was glad he was working indoors for a change, since on his previous job he was down in a muddy trench building concrete forms.
On his way home from the last day on the job Thursday, he wasted no time calling his union to let them know he’d been laid off, and asked to be put back on “The List”, which is what you do when you’re a carpenter, evidently.
When this whole process started for us, the end of one of Graham’s jobs was stressful for me. I’m what you call a bit of a Control Freak (in case you didn’t notice), and if I can’t enter his income into my pretty little spreadsheet, I get nervous. I’m getting used to a little bit of uncertainty where Graham’s job is concerned, though, so on Thursday when he came home and said he was an unemployed bum again (his words, not mine), I just shrugged. I knew he’d be called as soon as a new job opening became available. And it certainly helps to have the second restaurant income to keep us afloat in case the next job is a little while away.
Fortunately, the union called just yesterday and Graham will be going to work on a new job site on Monday, so he’ll only have missed a day’s wage. It’s a new company, a new skill for him to learn, a new group of guys for him to meet and work with. It’s actually quite amazing, this ability he has to be so flexible, so willing to tackle what is literally a new job every few months. I’m extremely grateful that in a time and place in which many people are likely to lose their jobs (if they haven’t already), we will probably be able to maintain gainful employment for the foreseeable future.
In any event, I’m really proud of him for being so proactive about all of this, for his willingness to keep plodding along, to keep getting up at 5:00 in the morning to meet each new day with such a great attitude. And he looks pretty cute in his coveralls, too.
It’s the tool belt that gets ME.
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That is a cool job, I think. But I’d be nervous like you about the income, sounds like so far, so good, though.
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Hee I’ve never seen him before. He does look good in his coveralls (not hitting on husband but where can I get a pair for SB?).
katie ~ motherbumper’s last blog post..no cigar
I think almost EVERYBODY is nervous about job security at this point. My fiance wants to quit his current job but doesn’t know where he could go. My sister’s husband was lucky – he quit, started truck driving school, and got his permit and a job offer in the first week.
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Nice pic! That’s a pretty good-lookin’ husband you’ve got yourself there, Ames.
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