Work smarter, not harder.
12/11/2024
My bangs were sticking up terribly this morning. Water could only do so much. I had a Walmart trip for the Nerf gun, Playstation gift card, Roblox gift card, and wrapping paper. It didn't leave me with much time. The driver was sweet enough to wait for me at Walmart and my trip to the transit center. I saw a kitty running by as I waited. I thought I would be late. I always get so paranoid about it.
I had to listen to a woman say during the first ride, "Is there any more real woman on this bus, or is it just me?". As I was getting off, she told me not to be myself, and I turned around to figure out if she was talking to me, I guess she got scared and told me to be myself. Then, as I was waiting for the walk light, some weirdo behind me noticed my jacket. He thought the design was about giving hotshots or a syringe. He accused me of being a cop in training because I ignored him. I ran for the hills when I could. I caught the second bus by the skin of my teeth.
It was mostly smooth crossing on the way over. Believe it or not, I had a turning car stop a few feet away for me. The receptionist, volunteer receptionist, and I chatted as typical. Even the receptionist got yelled at for going in the warehouse I heard. I ran into head honcho 2 at the front door and filled him in about the jacket story. I eventually had to adventure to the nfh area. Todd came over as I was chatting with head honcho 3. He made 72 boxes. I commented that I was glad to see him using the boxes I made. He responded, "Ah, it was you who made them.". I also recounted the story about my jacket to 3, and he joked that I would have to start worrying about what I wear. I bumped into Celeste and then another fellow nfh volunteer after in the bathroom. Me and the fellow volunteer shortly chatted about how it sucks to leave your phone in there.
I heard some of the volunteers had to hunt for food this morning. Some mango box was hogging the normal trash can. The mixed dishes dried up, so I had to wing it. I jested to head honcho 3 that I could feed them granola bars and just give them bread instead. He gave me permission to do just that. Eventually, we started running out of granola bars, too.
They plan to record the last training for people who couldn't make it. Something something either they are building or using holiday boxes for the nfh. Celeste was not going to be here next week. I just barely caught the second bus. I had to deal with another older person trying to chat me up. Like, leave me alone, I am just trying to vibe. After a student took her phone yesterday, mom got her phone back. I made sure to track it. It's not really smart to steal an iPhone.
Super crunchy heaven and the new training!
12/10/2024
I woke up with a painful leg cramp. Ouch! There was too much to do this morning. I had to take a shower, install 11, find the missing cherry blossoms legos, and get to the training. 11 finished installing around 11:30ish. I hunted for the legos in the recycle cart. That's why I hate not being home when packages arrive. The amazon message yesterday was very funny to get. I mentioned this on new merch, but the seller messaged me to inform me that this was a Japanese copy, and I had 48 hours to tell them if I wanted a refund. It must have been a problem with other buyers. I replied that I knew what I was buying, lol.
Man, it was freezing this morning. I'm just too weak to weather. The other kind of connect van drove me to the transit center. I was in luck since I just narrowly caught the first bus by a few minutes. I noticed that one of the nearby streets was closed for a Netflix shoot downtown. I wasn't in luck when I didn't realize it was the one driver who always makes a smart comment as I get off every time.
It's funny how when you ride the buses, you get used to the gross shit like bus stops with bird shit on them. The second bus was packed, so I had to go to the back. I appreciate that a work truck stopped for me as I was crossing. I stopped for a gas station peppermint cappuccino. I got a bit worried when I saw a city truck near the crossing light, but it didn't affect the light.
I observed head honcho 2 heading in the new building while I was doing some crossing. I had to wait at the other crossing light and did a little speed walk so I could figure out where to go. I teased that they had to pick a day so cold when I got there. He replied that I had options. I answered that I booked this weeks in advance. He mentioned that he had an extra flannel if I needed it. We caught up after I reminded him of my vacation in the break room. He noticed my already short hair was cut a few inches shorter. I mentioned that other than my parents, no one else noticed, so I was really happy that he saw. I talked about the mess of the cart distribution I went to. There was apparently a meeting about it. He put me in the conference room and wondered off to help head honcho 3 clean up after the distribution.
I chilled alone for a few minutes. I spotted my last name on the sign in sheet was Yams after my email. I was really, really happy about that. Eventually, some of the Tuesday crew, including the ones who do Wednesday too and the other days volunteers, filled in. I most likely have worked with the other days volunteers in the past, but we don't remember each other since it was only a few times. I can only vaguely recall since I don't really interact with other people. The staff there was Emma, all three head honchos, Miles, Lucas (resource guy), and Mae (chief programs officer). Some only succinctly spoke and left. There was a costco pizza, coffee, water, and pieces of some dessert that some volunteer made. I waved to dry goods lady and one of the fellow wednesday people was next to me. The drawing of the future layout was really confusing too.
Head honcho 1 had us introduce ourselves. Mine was awkward since I get a bit shy doing things like this. The key points of the training were:
1. The new building itself will be renamed. They are still looking at ideas for it.
2. The program will also be renamed to the community fare cupboard and aid resource hub.
3. No good acronym for it with the F in there. One of the staff called it alphabet soup of a building.
4. There will be different food from quite a few funding sources, which means no more donated products only.
5.Potentially appointment system for cilents.
6. The building itself will house various resources like housing assistance.
7. The new building is now the highest priority, and they are aiming for mid-January.
We had a little tour of the warehouse. The door got delayed until mid-March. One of the volunteers and two of head honcho chatted about the sad excuse of the cheap freezer they got. I did a bit wandering off to see what junk they had in there.
Head honcho 2 said if I stayed late, he would give me a ride to near a bus stop and save me some leftover pizza. I think I "tidied" up the room for tomorrow and bought it to the main building. I remember wasting hours taping boxes. In due course, it was time for me, head honcho 2, and head honcho 3 to leave. I guess head honcho 2 promised a ride to head honcho 3, too. The seatbelts in 2's truck were being a pain.
I overheard those two dreading the next two training sessions for the rest of the volunteers. Some of today's group were frustrated with the changes. Head honcho 2 wondered who is in the group tomorrow. I told him I had a picture of it. He responded that, of course, I would have it. I answered that I only have it because of the Yams last name. They both groaned when I read out the list. Head honcho 2 stopped at a gas station and all 3 of us went our separate ways.
The story of Yam: Head honcho 1 will call me Yam sometimes. She was the one who apparently made the list but didn't know my last name. I joked that my last name is a secret. She replied, "Really?". I responded no and that I shared the last name of a department store. They were surprised and said she never expected that.
Bringing up to speed
12/9/2024
According to head honcho 1 on Dec 2, they have one more internal inspection before they can call the Health Department for a formal inspection for the new building.
I signed up for the Christmas distribution at the state's fair/event ground the day it opened(Quick tangent, I saw on the news that they want to move the state fair to a new location or city so they can make the grounds affordable housing. I just don't see this plan working out since a lot of people don't put their money where their mouth is. It has problems, but it isn't a terrible area. I call it by one of its nickname "Warzone". There are two potential locations if it was to stay in Destiny Islands. One is too far or the other is too close for my tastes. I just wish they went after landlords or companies to make rent more affordable instead. Them saying "Affordable housing" is so fake, and there are better solutions to handle this. Man, I guess I have to go back another year to the state fair so I can see it one last time before they potentially move.). Registration, traffic, loading, walk-up distribution, and community resources are the jobs this time. I mean, they had these jobs before, but this is the first time people can sign up for community resources and walk-up distribution. My memory is really terrible, but a walk-up and car big distribution is really rare. I don't think I have done the combo before. My first shift is community resources from 7-10:15 am, and my second shift is helping with the walk-up distribution from 10:30 to 1:15 pm. I wanted to do community resources again, but the time over lapped. Loading was already full, so I got stuck with walk-up. I later decided to do a holiday delivery box build a few days before
"HELLO OUR VALUED VOLUNTEER ASSOCIATES OF THE NUTRITIOUS FARE HUB.". This is how the latest email started, lol. Volunteer associate? I don't think that title really fits me.
The NFC has a new hire, apparently, and it sounds like I won't see her much. I'll call her Sally if I do run into her. She's the new quality assurance hire and has worked the role across multiple industries. She will begin her biweekly QA inspections on Thursday afternoons.
I already picked Tuesday/tomorrow to do the new mandatory nfc training, but it's time to talk about it! "Just one hour and a half training, and you can reap all the benefits of our wonderful new pantry in the new building.". It seems that head honcho 2 has drawn up schematics to show everyone how they will lay out everything. "New location, new personnel to work with and newly forklift certified coordinator and manager to boot.". I hope this transition goes smoothly. Peace out from Fish heading back to Destiny Island.
