View Full Version : GH's summer job:
GeneralHankerchief
04-17-2009, 19:44
Tolltaker. :smash:
Should anyone this summer find themselves travelling westbound on the lovely Ben Franklin Bridge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin_Bridge) from 10PM to 6AM, make sure to let me know as I'll be one of the smiling, sleepy folks in the booths ready to take your money.
https://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n231/GeneralHankerchief/800px-Ben_Franklin_Bridge.jpg
I'm so excited, I get to actually make decent money! :jumping: Soon I might actually have... *gulp* disposable income and be able to save up and buy stuff other than food, such as a computer than can actually run ETW decently, or an external hard drive, or thousands of possibilities that I thought were beyond me up until earlier today.
On the plus side, the hours mean I get to keep my other job as a camp counselor, so more money that way too. :yes:
On the downside, I will have to go for three months without sleep.
Strike For The South
04-17-2009, 19:50
Yea, You're a working man! 10-6? You're a lucky working man!
Disposable income should go towards alcohol, prescription drugs, and women. I stopped playing total war when I had enough money to get tanked every day. Coincidence? Yes.
Graveyard shift? Ouch. But, money is money I guess.
Ramses II CP
04-18-2009, 03:38
You, sir, are going to need some new tunes every day to keep the time rolling. I hope you know how to procure them at less than the going hourly rate of a toll taker.
:egypt:
Gregoshi
04-18-2009, 03:48
10pm-6am is unlikely and I usually use the Walt Whitman bridge, but I'll keep you in mind should I have reason to use a bridge at that time of the night. Enjoy the income GH.
PanzerJaeger
04-18-2009, 04:17
That actually seems kind of terrible... but if you're happy about it, thats great. Positive attitude and all...:2thumbsup:
seireikhaan
04-18-2009, 04:20
Weird. I've actually been on the bridge a fair number of times. There's a *slight* chance I may end up doing so again this June. However, like any sane person, it will not be at those hours. :laugh4:
Strike For The South
04-18-2009, 04:55
LOL. I thought it was 10 am to 6 pm. Either way good work on finding a job in this eco.
Megas Methuselah
04-18-2009, 09:45
Red Bull will sustain him.
Red Bull will sustain him.
Nah, red bull doesn't do :daisy: It's mother that he needs, tastes like a*** but it'll keep you going like nothing else
GeneralHankerchief
04-18-2009, 19:48
I kinda like the fact that it's graveyard. Yes, there will be monotony, but it gives me time to think. Plus, I'm sure they'll let me bring a radio or a book or something into the tollbooth.
But yeah, the important thing is that it's money. :yes:
I kinda like the fact that it's graveyard. Yes, there will be monotony, but it gives me time to think. Plus, I'm sure they'll let me bring a radio or a book or something into the tollbooth.
But yeah, the important thing is that it's money. :yes:
Good for you mate. I found out a little while ago that I lost my job, so I will be looking again when I get back. Hopefully I will be as lucky as you. :2thumbsup:
Good for you mate. I found out a little while ago that I lost my job, so I will be looking again when I get back. Hopefully I will be as lucky as you. :2thumbsup:
Bugger. That's gotta suck, losing your job while overseas.
You did tell them you were going right? :tongue:
Bugger. That's gotta suck, losing your job while overseas.
You did tell them you were going right? :tongue:
Yeah, of course. :P It would not have mattered anyway, because it was only summer work. (I cannot do work study) The problem is that they needed to lay people off, and they got people who are willing to work for less than me. (two of them, and if I was a cynic, I would make a bet that neither are legal. Both only speak Mexican Spanish, are paid in cash, work for under minimum wage, and have no family or relatives in the States)
Gregoshi
04-19-2009, 01:53
I kinda like the fact that it's graveyard. Yes, there will be monotony, but it gives me time to think. Plus, I'm sure they'll let me bring a radio or a book or something into the tollbooth.
But yeah, the important thing is that it's money. :yes:
Money is fine but don't let the odd hours and lack of sleep take a toll on your health.
So, you can't sleep while in the booth? I mean, when the car comes up to the toll gate, it'll stop and honk won't it? You can easily wake up and take the money......unless ofcourse the bridge is busy at night too......... :juggle2:
LittleGrizzly
04-20-2009, 06:10
That sounds like an amazing job!
Sit down, nice comfy booth, few customers to bother you at graveyard times....
Though i have always loved night shifts and for some reason other people don't like them... which reminds me its like 6am and i have to get up at 7...
I kinda like the fact that it's graveyard. Yes, there will be monotony, but it gives me time to think. Plus, I'm sure they'll let me bring a radio or a book or something into the tollbooth.
But yeah, the important thing is that it's money. :yes:
I worked hellishly monotonous jobs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Document_review) for 2.5 years. The solution: audio books. The public libraries are loaded with them. Take out a whole bunch, transfer to your mp3 player of choice, and your boredom problems are over. :2thumbsup:
I worked hellishly monotonous jobs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Document_review) for 2.5 years. The solution: audio books. The public libraries are loaded with them. Take out a whole bunch, transfer to your mp3 player of choice, and your boredom problems are over. :2thumbsup:
Seconded wholeheartedly! I can bear witness as to what lifesavers they are. :yes:
Man... do you still have that? Actual people taking toll money. It's like a trip back to the nineties. :beam:
Man... do you still have that? Actual people taking toll money. It's like a trip back to the nineties. :beam:
That bridge has E-ZPass (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezpass) I believe, but there are still fools who don't have a transceiver yet (how can you live in the Northeast and not have one these days?). These are usually the same fools that get into the well-marked "E-ZPass Only" lane and back up the whole operation, because apparently that's what you do when you have no idea what "E-ZPass" is. ~:rolleyes: I would expect part of GH's job will be crossing over to that lane and taking money from the random moron while the 10 E-ZPass equipped motorists stacked up behind him give some brotherly love, Philly style.
GeneralHankerchief
04-22-2009, 00:24
Between the prevalence of EZ Pass (yup, my bridge has it) and the fact that it's graveyard, I'm not expecting too much traffic at all. Thanks for the audio book suggestion though, I will definitely be making use of it. :yes:
Gregoshi
04-22-2009, 03:28
I'd be one of those fools without E-ZPass but I know the difference in the lanes. The E-ZPass lanes are the ones where the drivers barely touch the brakes while flying through them at "15mph" (+30). I just don't hit toll roads or bridges enough to bother with them.
GH, whatever you do, do not resort to food to keep you awake. Especially peanuts. Hope for just enough cars passing through to keep you awake.
I'd be one of those fools without E-ZPass but I know the difference in the lanes. The E-ZPass lanes are the ones where the drivers barely touch the brakes while flying through them at "15mph" (+30). I just don't hit toll roads or bridges enough to bother with them.
I've been driving all over the Northeast the past few years, so it's been handy to have. It temporarily hides how badly you are getting reamed for driving through the area, and you can zip through pretty easily (except for the times when said morons can't read). As an aside, I fully expect PA to start handing out speeding tickets to Turnpike drivers based on their entry/exit times though, once that happens I'll be switching to cash again. ~:rolleyes:
Just curious GH, when exactly do you plan on sleeping? Do you have a bedroom area prepped for daytime snoozing?
Quirinus
04-22-2009, 15:37
I worked hellishly monotonous jobs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Document_review) for 2.5 years. The solution: audio books. The public libraries are loaded with them. Take out a whole bunch, transfer to your mp3 player of choice, and your boredom problems are over. :2thumbsup:
Does sound very boring, but it also seems to require a fair amount of concentration..... how do you follow the audiobooks and work at the same time?
I love audiobooks, but I would always fall asleep if I listened to them at night. :whip:
Does sound very boring, but it also seems to require a fair amount of concentration..... how do you follow the audiobooks and work at the same time?
That link makes it sound more engaging than it actually is IMO. Doc review is essentially quickly scanning a document to see if it is relevant, then marking it accordingly. It's all computerized these days, and mainly consists of emails or pdf style documents. Once you know what kind of content you're looking for, it's not difficult to quickly scan a page and see if it contains anything useful. 95% of the time, there's nothing remotely relevant and you just mark of the appropriate check box and move on to the next document. No brainpower is required for this. If you do see a word or phrase that looks a bit relevant, then you pay more attention to the document before making a decision. At worst, this makes you rewind the audio book a little bit. :shrug:
If you wonder how a document can be deemed irrelevant without much effort, I'll give you an example. One project I worked on was a defense of an investigation by (at the time) NY AG Elliot Spitzer into market timing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_timing) at a company that will remain nameless. I was personally on this project for 11 months, though some people were working on it for 2+ years. On the first day of the job, we were informed that we had approximately 4 billion pages to review (that is not a made-up number, that is the number we were told). We finished the 4 billion mark well before the job was done, so the final amount was in excess of that. Nearly everything we reviewed was personal email stored in backup archives. Much email was of a personal nature (i.e. discussing home renovations with the wife) or otherwise irrelevant (spam, porn, etc.). It doesn't take long to figure out that an email with someone's divorce attorney has nothing to do with the investigation. Of the stuff that was business related, most was administrative in nature and easily identified as such. It usually came in chains, so you could be reading the same irrelevant email chain 137 times as it got longer and longer from multiple equally irrelevant replies. My last day on the job, I brought in a copy of Office Space and watched it on the computer instead of working. It seemed appropriate.
GeneralHankerchief
04-22-2009, 21:31
I've been driving all over the Northeast the past few years, so it's been handy to have. It temporarily hides how badly you are getting reamed for driving through the area, and you can zip through pretty easily (except for the times when said morons can't read). As an aside, I fully expect PA to start handing out speeding tickets to Turnpike drivers based on their entry/exit times though, once that happens I'll be switching to cash again. ~:rolleyes:
Just curious GH, when exactly do you plan on sleeping? Do you have a bedroom area prepped for daytime snoozing?
On the Philly bridges at least, the EZ Pass lanes are modified toll lanes (and very lightly modified, at that), so the limit is 5 mph through the booths. I believe there are still gates as well, which pretty much forces you to obey the limit.
As far as the sleeping thing, I have no idea when I'm actually going to sleep aside from "whenever I can". Sleep has always been an important provision for me, so I'm definitely going to get my 8 hours per night (day?). This will allow me 4-ish hours to spend with family/friends/the .Org for the three weeks that I'm doing double duty as a tolltaker/camp counselor.
For "where", I know my bedroom is inadequate as it lets a lot of light in, is the hottest room in the house (day and night), and the walls are paper thin. My basement's actually nice; it's finished, cool, and dark when it needs to be, so I'll probably just hit the sofa down there most days.
Here we have AutoPASS which is this cool "Toll ahead, do not stop" thing. New cars are fitted with this RFID chip and old cars can put a sticker/platform at the top of the windshield and screw a chip to it.
It is a national thing which works on every toll road in Norway. If you don't have them, there are cameras that takes a picture of your license plate and sends a bill to the residence of the owner of the car.
A few benefits and a major drawback.
No more queues as you can drive through them at the speed limit.
If you pass another one within the hour, your account is not debited for the second pass.
Big Brother is watching, and the government could use the toll data to map your whereabouts in a space of time.
Which leads to another slight advantage. If someone steals a car, the police will use the data from the toll system to track the stolen car, which incidentally happened to my father. He had his car stolen by someone going through the pockets in a wardrobe and found the keys to his brand new Volvo S60. The police could tell us that the car hadn't passed a single Toll booth which narrowed down the search pretty much. This lead to a fast recovery of his car.
Vladimir
04-24-2009, 17:01
Ha hey! I'll be by to sneak you some whiskey. :barrel:
GeneralHankerchief
05-18-2009, 17:54
First day on the job last night. It wasn't too bad, but then again I did have somebody else in the booth training me. The breaks we get absolutely rule. Time definitely passes by faster if there are cars you need to take care of.
Gregoshi
05-18-2009, 19:01
You must have started your first shift with some decent traffic from the MMR*B*Q at the Susquehanna Bank Center last night, no?
GeneralHankerchief
05-18-2009, 19:04
Surprisingly, no. Being a heavy listener of MMR, I was expecting a crush of people (especially as I was driving to work and heard that ZZ Top still hadn't taken the stage yet), but either they just took other ways back or blended in with the rest of the pre-midnight traffic.
Gregoshi
05-18-2009, 19:19
Too bad. That might have given you some good stories to tell. :laugh4:
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