Worse Before It Gets Better

Rick
Originally uploaded by currtdawg

Finally! Some of those picture things I've been promising...but not too many. I gotta give you some reason to keep coming back here, right?
So, yeah, today is day thirty-something, though it seems we've been here longer. It's weird how the days go by so quickly, yet when I think back to last Sunday, it seems like forever ago.

Paucar & Joel
Originally uploaded by currtdawg

Our project really kicked into high gear this week. We now have to show up to work even earlier, and our PT time has been taken away. I understand management wants the job to get done, but they obviously don't care much about our morale.

Steven
Originally uploaded by currtdawg

Still, we find ways to have fun on the job. We got two new guys on our crew this week, and they both seem pretty cool. The goal set for us is to finish two buildings by March 1st, and we're well on our way. The biggest hurdle is not having the parts we need, but we manage to scrounge around and still get stuff done, somehow. We've got a long way to go, and I just hope we can all maintain our sanity.

Trudging Forward

To say work has been killing me would be an overstatement, as I'm obviously alive enough to write this. Exhausting would be a better term. It's not enough that I've been putting in more than my required 12-hour days, which included a trip to the office today--my day off. I've also been trying to motivate and maintain the morale of my crew, keeping two of my crew members from attacking each other, and showing one of my bosses how to use that little click-y thing attached to his computer. (He even asked, "If there are two of them, do I call them 'mice'?" First, let's conquer the cut-and-paste function; then we can get into semantics.)
But there's an upside. We're already a month down, and the time is flying by, so far. The guys in my shop from other bases are all pretty cool. And the project we're doing is a great learning experience, not just in construction, but also in managerial training. I'm still working on pictures, but I'll have them up eventually.
Something keeping my morale up is the media drive on our intranet. There are tons of movies and television shows available to watch anytime. (Normally, I'm against pirating unauthorised media of any kind, but I just told you I'm working nearly 80 hours a week, so cut me some slack, okay?) Lately, during lunch, I take a few minutes to catch an episode of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. It's one of the most depraved shows I've ever seen, and it's hysterical. It definitely lifts my spirits enough to move into the second half of my day.

Boiling Over

Sorry I haven't been posting much, but there really hasn't been much to write about. I wake up each morning at 4, run, go to work, come home, shower, then read until I drift off to sleep. The key to deployments is getting into a routine and sticking with it.
At first, I thought my job here was gonna be challenging and fun. But lately, I worry the fun is going to get sucked out of it. The commander said our project is the top priority in the squadron, which means he'll be putting a lot of pressure on my boss to put a lot of pressure on us. If there's anything I hate, it's micro-managing. It makes me feel like they don't have enough faith in me to do my job, which is frustrating when things are moving along really well. On top of that, there are now two people sitting in the superintendent's office, so I have two people looking over my shoulder all the time. I'm just doing my best to keep my crew happy, make the right decisions, and maintain a low stress level.
Also, I've been taking a few pictures at the job sites, and I promise to post them once I get a few. Patience, please.