The weather has been really crazy lately. I spent last weekend in the Bay Area, visiting family and a friend. It was almost 70 degrees, wonderfully sunny and delightful there. I went to the coast and saw a whale in the distance. Then I flew home and got off the plane to snow flurries. For the past few days, it's been snowing overnight, then raining all day. Tonight, the prediction is for 3-7 inches of snow, but mostly at an elevation just above where I live. So all that snow will fall as rain. And all that rain will fill up the river. The river forecast website we use is currently showing that the river is almost a foot above the prediction, and is projected to rise rapidly over the next few days.
This evening, the boss called, and walked me through how I should set up the ferry for overnight. The concern is that when I come to work tomorrow, the river may have risen so quickly, locks, clevises and ropes may be underwater. So I moved the locks up as far as I could, unscrewed the clevises, and crossed my fingers. I have to admit, while I've got used to working in the dark, to dealing with the wet and cold of winter, the combination of bleak darkness, massive rain, and impending flooding totally creeps me out. I know that in reality, nothing bad will happen, but it's just tense and a bit stressful. I was very glad when 7 pm came this evening and I could head home.
In addition, because of the snow last night and the fact that most schools were either closed or delayed, I only had 12 cars today. That's 12 cars in 12 hours. I think it's hard for most people to fathom that level of boredom. You're stuck in a very small box, in the pouring rain, for 12 hours, without a break. I'm training again today and tomorrow, the same gal as a few weeks ago, which is nice. There's someone to talk to, but it's still boring to an amazing degree. I'm really looking forward to the weekend. Plus, I've decided that when the boat closes for high water this time, I'm going to do the shop days instead of use up all of my vacation time. What I'll do though, is take sunday as a vacation day, giving me 4 days off, then three 10 hour days in the shops. It appears from the forecast that the ferry might be closed for over two weeks. I like the idea of a 3 days on, 4 days off schedule.
I know that level of boredom. It's mind-numbing. It's demoralizing. I used to work temp jobs where, for 8 hours a day, I'd have to sit at a small reception desk in an office no one ever visited or called. People would always joke that they'd love to get paid to sit and do nothing. But that's not how it is. We work because we want to feel useful. Staring at the wall isn't useful.
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