I have an interesting job. (which, totally incidentally, I am leaving after this week)
I go to peoples' homes after they've had a house fire that was bad enough that they have to have renovations done on their home to be able to live there again.
We pack up the peoples' salvagable stuff, and take it back to our shop, where we clean it with super-nifty chemicals that actually get the soot and soot smell out of everything. (Did you know that soot is actually quite corrosive?) Then we ozone the stuff... sorry, that part of the process is still beyond my comprehension, but it really makes sure that there is no soot smell left. Then we pack everything back up, and store it for the customer until they are ready to move back in. Then they get their stuff back, and sometimes we help them unpack it all. ((The home insurance people pay for our services, so that part is up to them if we get to do it or not.))
Anyways...
It is a fairly interesting job for quite a few reasons.
1. You get to help people
2. You get to go to different places
and 3. You realize how much stuff everyone owns, and how horrible it is to have a fire. Consequently, you learn to be extra careful with candles, christmas lights, toasters, fireplaces, and ceiling lights that burn out too often.
But the job isn't perfect.
1. Sometimes it is hard to find a place to eat lunch, and there is no microwave to nuke leftovers.
2. Sometimes, there is no running water or electricity. Going potty involves driving, and if there isn't enough light, you had hope someone brought a flashlight.
3. In bad fires, where there is a lot of soot and fire damage, you get a headache just from the overwhelming smell of burnt stuffs.
4. Sometimes you go to a place and are unloading the supplies and some random theif walks off with your backpack, which had your wallet and lunch and water in it.
And on days where all four things happen... well, that's when Rose has a really really terribly awful day and decides to do something akin to a rant in her journal and ignore her impatient storylines. All of them.
Because Rose is going to have to replace her season pass to Magic Mountain. And somehow get a new Costco card. A new library card, a new paypal card, a new college id card, a new bank card, a new bank account (since the checks are gone) and spend hours at the DMV waiting to get a new license. And there is no replacing personal photos that are in wallets that you have no backups for. That, and there was stuff in the backpack besides the wallet.
Damn you, Baldwin Park. Damn you, and your overabundance of crime.
scream
View User's Journal
 |
