I got another job! Ratchetyratchet

First off, some clarification: I have three jobs. At my first job, I sometimes help college professors with computer stuff but mostly I sit in front of a computer:



Some of you devoted THE readers will remember when I talked about my first graphic design job, and posted a photo that appears to be taken from the same vantage in the same room. Correct! The graphic design job, in which I make posters and things for the university career center, takes place in another building entirely. I was just using the camera at my first job.

Now the thing about the graphic design job is that I don't work in the summer, only in the spring (for training) and next year (for actual work).

So I got a third job. Extra sharp readers will note that this isn't a third job in the Barbara Ehrenreich sense ("I'm getting screwed by everything and I fold shirts at one job so I can wash my pants to wait tables at another job so I can take the bus to clean bathrooms at another job so I can have breakfast before I fold more shirts.") but just a second job.

Anyways, I work in the basement of a local bike shop. I turn boxed bikes [imagine a long tall box] into built bikes:



This may seem like lowbrow assembly work in the same ballpark as barbecues and swing sets, but I assure you it is not. First off: look at all the beautiful and interesting tools:



Second off: I've been doing this as a seasonal job for six years now. I work with guys (yeah, almost always guys) who are building bikes for their first time and show them stuff when they're perplexed and frustrated. This makes me feel seasoned because I remember being perplexed and frustrated also. Now I just build bikes really fast and really well with everything adjusted and working beautifully.

And third off: bicycles assembled at bike shops are built better than bikes built in places where they build barbecues and swing sets.

Anyways, I like being good at making things.

UPDATE 7/21: When I first wrote about this job I was a little unsure if I was being too defensive about the skill-level of my job. Well, maybe. But it's good to have pride in your work! I bring this up because I was reading the Wikipedia article about bicycle mechanics and thought their description of builders was totally lame! I have made the suitable amendments.

Also, this has got to be what wikipedia is made for (writing about one's occupation).