Now, for those of you who don't know what a florator is, on our example unit -- which isn't one of ours, but is similar-- the florator is that thing underneath the header assembly with all the skinny copper tubes and the brass bit at the end.
That's what Psycho hit me with, on the side of my left arm.
Those who were there say I cussed her good after she hit me, but I don't remember any of that. I was too stunned that she'd actually hit me. All I remember is her shrieking something unintelligible at me and hitting me again, this time on top of the shoulder, hard enough that there are still tender spots there two weeks later from where the brass met bone.
The really discouraging part was how far the HR department twisted everything to make this my fault. They said when I pulled the units back up the line -- she'd pushed them past my work station before I could braze them, so I pulled them back about 10 inches so I could reach them to do my job -- they "brushed up against her", and that's what made her mad enough to hit me, therefore I was the instigator. They wrote me up for -- get this -- destruction of company property, and gave me a one day suspension.
I told my friend that, and she said, "Wow, they were really reaching, weren't they?" Yeah.
I spent that one day seriously debating whether I really wanted to work for a company that would treat its employees that way. In the end, I decided I am still too much in debt to quit a steady job. Notice, I didn't say a good job, but a steady job. So, back to work I went, even though I hated doing it.
A few days later, my Production Superintendent came out to talk to me. He'd been out of town when it happened, and wanted to see if I was OK. He thanked me profusely for keeping my cool (I know, right? I'm shocked, too!) and not hitting her back, and asked if I needed anything. I felt a little better after that. A few days after that, second shift Production Superintendent told me that he'd laughed when he heard that. He said, "She picked the wrong person to start something with. She's lucky you didn't beat her" um, let's say "booty", this being a family blog after all.
Oh, and yes, Psycho got fired for it.
That evening, which was a Saturday, Cody stopped by the house and announced that he has decided to move to Texas. He still wants to go to seminary, but isn't able to put any money back where he is working now. He is barely able to pay his bills as it is, so he's going to move in with Beverly and James, and get a job down there for a year or so. I tried to put on a brave face. It's not like we really saw each other that much, but just knowing he's no longer a hop, skip, and a jump down the road any more...well, it's harder than I though it would be.
I mean, I'm glad he still wants to go to seminary, and is taking those steps to make that happen, but dang, he's going to be so far away. But still, mama birds have to let the fledglings fly.
It has taken me a long time to process all this -- it's an INTJ thing, you know -- but now that I have finally gotten to the point I can talk about it, maybe I can get back to regular blogging.
Speaking of birds, I had another one get into my wood stove. I managed to get a picture of this one before I let it go.
Poor thing was so exhausted that when I opened my hand and it tried to fly, it just fluttered on down to the ground. Whereupon the dogs promptly pounced on it. I hollered at them to leave the bird alone, and it eventually made its way up a tree.
I hope it's OK. I need to get one of those things to put on the top of my chimney so birds can't get inside.
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