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It's so cool knowing that I'm one of the steps to getting animals their food. On the other hand, it's a LOT of hard work. sweatdrop I'm supposed to take two fifteen minute breaks and a lunch. over the week I've only managed three fifteens total (out of 10) and two of those were combined into a thirty at the end of my shift. In fact, the other fifteen was at the end of my shift, too.
Why am I so busy? Well, there is a lot of sorting and weighing and scooping and mixing and bagging of various food items. Everyone has things they need everyday; and every day there's something special to add. And if there isn't, by golly, there's still plenty to do: Restock items in your cart, clean the bug barn (oh, yeah, it's not just fruit and veggies, man - there's meat, mice, crickets, mealworms, nightcrawlers, egg diet, rabbits and more!) break down boxes, do dishes... the list goes on and on. But, you know, my day goes by quick, and I'm making better hours and better money.
The nicest part of the day is deliveries. I get to go out to all the bird kitchens and deliver their box of bulk food so the keepers can divide it even further into the bird's special diet trays. Luckily I already know a bunch of the keepers, since I love birds and would like someday to be a keeper myself. My favorite are birds from the Family Corvidae (crows, ravens, jackdaws, and jays) but I've worked with a range from Ostrich to Parakeet. When I worked for a summer at the Avian Propogation Center as a janitor I was given the opportunity to pet a rare Island Brown Kiwi. They look odd. They've got feathers like fur, nostrils at the tip of the beak, can't fly, are nocturnal, and lay an egg nearly 70 percent of it's body size!
Sorry, sometimes I get on a rant... I am passionate about the subject, y'know. Back to my first week.....:
All of our items go into cold storage. We have three rooms for that: one freezer for meats only, I read the temp. to be 0-negative 5 degrees farenheit; one fridge for the meat to thaw in, kept around 30 F; and one mostly produce room - I'm not sure how cool that one is, but it feels soooo nice to me. Why do I say mostly produce? Because we also keep the worms and kiwi diet in there, as well as temporarly store our finished boxes to be delivered.
This week, I had another person with me every day to train me on my duties. Sometime next week I'll be working alone. I keep missing some things, because each person has a way they work, and when there's two of us doing things, that means there's something I'm not doing and, consequently, learning. SO, that said, let me tell you about the three people I've worked with....
All mighty fine people! smile The first person had been working in the forage warehouse (where the food is) for a long time, so I was eased into the job nicely. Although, she did do half the things while I worked on the first/major set of things, and missed all she was doing while concentrating on "the list." 3nodding The second person I worked with worked well with me, even though she was just temporary, like me. She trained animals for a living, and came from EATM - a college degree program I'd like to be a part of. Again, she did things while I did things, but she did at least stop me and take the time to show me briefly what she was doing so I'd know when it was my turn. The third person... stare she worked with me. Which is cool, 'cuz I'm not missing out on anything.... but we kept bumping into each other. stressed And when it came to driving, it kinda made me nervous... I drove horribly. She was fun to talk to, but hard to work with. She also came from EATM.
Eh, I think I've bored you enough. I must have... I'M getting tired. Goodnight!
 Valleah · Fri Feb 08, 2008 @ 11:55pm · 0 Comments |
