I feel like I passed a test or something

Two things happened today that make me feel like this project has turned a corner, even if the petty oppressiveness continues, which I believe it will. As I have said before, your seat is all you have. Hell, it's Rule No. 7. When they moved me on Monday to a much, much, much worse seat, I was seriously pissed.

And the more I thought about it, the more I was pissed that the hours we are getting, while good for a 6-day project, really kind of suck for a 7-day project. To work 7 days a week for only 73 hours, which you clearly could get in 6 days, sucks in a giving-up-my-time kind of way. The paycheck is good, but the lack of a day off is not. Toss in the petty oppressiveness, and you have a recipe for hate and discontent.

Well, like Job, I have been rewarded. Having spent four days saying not a single word to anyone in the shit-ass room I was moved to, I have been returned to the most excellent seat I had at the beginning of the project. This is because new people are coming on, and I wisely suggested that the new people should be in the "privilege room" rather than someone like me, who had already benefitted from the advantages of being in the presence of such privilege-oriented wisdom. Bullshit on my part, but it worked. Squeaky wheel, people.

So I am back in the seat I chose, as insulated as is possible from the random horseshit that comes from being a temp, with people I chose sitting next to me. Suddenly, I feel like I might survive the project, especially since I no longer have to sit next to Stinky Joe, who has a mouse nesting in his scalp. Mouse aside, he has a really irritating voice, apparently is very stupid and clearly is a lazy sack of shit. Glad to see the last of him.

Unexpectedly, though, when I got home tonight there was an email waiting that helps explain why I am giving up sleep to post this. It read:

Team,
Starting Friday June 20th the review center will be open between the hours of 8am and 10pm Monday – Friday. The weekend hours have also been extended from 8am to 8pm. Because of this change we have revised the cap in hours as well. You are able to work up to 13 hours during the week and 11.5 on the weekends. Please understand that you must take a 30 minute break for every 6 hours that you work. If you work a 12 hour day we require that you are on break for at least an hour. There should not be anyone who bills 12 hours and has less than an hour break. I’m sure you will have plenty of questions tomorrow which we are happy to provide answers for. Thank you for your dedication and hard work.
Thanks,

This just boosted the hours possible from 73 per week -- good hours, especially these days, but only marginally worth having no days off -- to 88. That's just good hours. If you have to work 7 days a week, 88 hours makes it worth your while -- more than half your hours are time-and-a-half. And that's very good indeed.

The song always reminds me of New Orleans. Before I was a temp, I had a client who was in the French Quarter, and when I would go there on business, there was a piano player in a bar who would have me come up and sing "Money." We were talking one night, I told him I was in a band, and one thing led to another. It was a blast.