Monday, May 24, 2010

Census Work

Hi all. It's been a good while since I posted anything, but life has been truly crazy right now. I've been trying to get back in touch with one of my friends, and it's been difficult because a lot of people I know don't trust her because of her criminal record (she used drugs at some point in her life, but only to try to numb pain which may be caused by porphyria, which none of her doctors helped her treat...) I've been trying to help save her from harassment by authorities, but she's in some seriously deep s***, and trying to help her has been very difficult, partly because of her addiction to cigarettes, one thing she could definitely do without, and she even admits it. So, for her sake, I've been trying to get a job. And guess what? I found one! After quitting my lousy paper route job, the U.S. Census Bureau called me and offered me a temporary position as a NRFU enumerator. The job is a lot of work, because it involves trying to get in touch with people who are difficult to get a hold of, due to either being scarce, or just not wanting to fill out their census forms (in fact, I think one guy blew me off today, claiming that I called a wrong number...) Well, it only lasted a month for me, but the pay was good ($11.75 in my region, but larger cities get paid more.) Anyway, today is my last day, and I'm going to turn the last of my work folders in when my supervisor comes down this way to visit me. But, even with all the money I made, she isn't any better off. What's more, I need to pay my parents $160 insurance as well, seeing as they were reluctant to put me on their insurance. I had to bargain with them to get away with that. I would expect that from a total stranger, but my parents!? Anyway, I say the job is tough because it involves dealing with people, sometimes difficult ones, but the pay more than makes up for it, and with the way I'm trying to move out of the area, it helps that the job is only temporary. However, the government only does a census once every 10 years, so I was lucky that I caught it when I did, because with the economy suffering like it is, we kind of need some way to create jobs, and this is one way. But now that it's over, I have one thing to show for it; A work reference. And I know stuff about my supervisor so I can put her as a professional reference whenever I need to fill out any applications. But, I feel like I could have done more work. COULD HAVE, but I wasn't very experienced, and this was the first time I had to do any detective work, and given the rules that governed my job, I think I handled it better than some people in my situation would have. All things considered, it was worth it. Hopefully maybe I can use this to get a permanent job that pays just as good, where I can do work that doesn't involve social interaction, if I want that I have friends to talk to. So what does the future hold in store? We'll see...