Monday April 10th, 2017

The exercise:

Write about: the hiatus.

Because at the end of this week I say farewell to the bakery, at least for now. Possibly for good, but I guess we'll see where everything stands in six months.

In the meantime...

Mine:

I recently applied for, interviewed for, and was offered one of two six month contract positions with the Town of Osoyoos. It's not at all what I want to be doing long term, but as far as short term financial solutions go it's pretty solid.

I'm going to be cleaning town offices at the end of each weekday (rotating between Town Hall, Public Works (the division I'll be working for this summer), Planning and Development, Destination Osoyoos, and the brand new Fire Hall). But that won't be my main responsibility.

No, that'll be the parks around town.

I'll driving around in one of the Town trucks and opening up all of the public washrooms first thing, then going back around to clean them all. Once that's done I'll be collecting garbage in the parks themselves, along with the public beaches, while also monitoring supplies and cleanliness in the washrooms until it's time to end my day at one of the offices. Weekend shifts will be spent entirely in the parks and beaches.

Again, not exactly what I hoped to be doing while working for the town, but there were a couple motivating factors in wanting the position. Money being foremost, unsurprisingly. Basically if I had chosen to stick with the bakery and somehow managed to continue getting the hours I've been getting recently (as in never selling out early and always working 8 hour shifts), I'd be looking at making approximately half of what I'll be making with the town over the next six months.

Considering how unlikely that is, I'll be making a lot more than double in this new position.

The other bonus is the schedule: I'll be working four days on, four days off until mid-October. So instead of having just three days off between my four day week at the bakery, I get an extra day every time around. And timing wise, it's also going to allow me to attend the Penticton farmers market when our strawberries are ready without having to take any time off work.

I had my training/orientation session today (along with the lady who will be working the other side of the four day shifts) and I think it's going to be all right. When the parks get busy during peak summer months it'll be tougher going, but the rest of the contract should be pretty manageable. Spending a good chunk of my day walking the parks and beaches picking up litter is rather appealing, assuming spring arrives some time soon and summer isn't too crazy hot.

I'll find out soon, anyway. My first round of shifts begins April 18th.

And come October? I guess I'll see if the bakery is in need of my services again at that point. Or maybe another option will have come my way by then. We shall see.

Either way, this will be the last week of bakery stories for you guys. I'll try not to replace them with too many gross public bathroom stories.

No promises though.