Autism and Employment (another PennSilverTaco thread)!

It’s not just you. I know “entry level” people who have went years unable to find a job.

The irony is we need workers for service industry and stuff, but those industries have become very stringent on who they hire.

Tried to go to my favorite restaurant in my local downtown area today. It closed up shop. “Due to decline in Main Street, we closed this location. Please visit us at our other locations.”

 

@ABA180
@ColoradoTJ
@shakerhood
@Speedytech7
@steelcity2
@Steves104x4
@TnShooter

I’ve heard they’re stringent because there’s a bias about people my age being lazy, and they want “older” people who are “more experienced”. There are a lot of people under the age of 25 at my work, and they are definitely lazy.

All I need is a tolerable full-time job, making at least $15 an hour, that can get me through the next six months to a year while I get my EPA certs and look for an HVAC job.

Hanukkah starts on Christmas morning this year and goes to January 2nd of next year. As if it wasn’t bad enough that we’re are both scheduled to work those holidays, Jewish holidays at a Jewish nursing home mean more work; I could care less if we get time and a half on both of those days. I make $15 an hour, and overtime pay is $22.50. That adds up to $180 for an 8-hour shift on a holiday, and that’s before taxes. I can more more than that, in CASH, in less than half the time by stripping and scrapping a complete central A/C system!

If I can’t find a job that I actually want by the middle of November, I will be putting my two weeks in; Amanda applied for a full-time position at the brand new Wawa right near my house. I have applied for so many jobs over the last few weeks that I have lost count. If I do end up just putting my two weeks in without having found a new job, my last day should be in the first week of December. That should leave with about three grand in pay through mid-December, and this will more than enough to pay the insurance on the Tacoma, buy some new Christmas lights for the Tacoma, and get Christmas gifts for my parents and Amanda while still putting some into savings; I refuse to go back to DoorDash or Uber Eats, but I still have a healthy side hustle scrapping. This will hold me over until I get more suitable job.

Another issue is that I work 12pm-8pm at my current job, and Amanda works 11am-7pm (though things are so busy most of the time that she often ends her shift well after 7pm). Most employers seem to prefer late morning and early afternoon interviews, which doesn’t work for me. I have every other weekend off, and I have Fridays before and Mondays after off on the weekends I do work. This was Fred Beans’ choice and not mine, but I ended up waiting for more than a week to have an afternoon interview at the parts warehouse on my weekend off. If I don’t get this moving job, which will likely require me to drive to Norristown for an interview even though the field office I applied at is in Warrington, being able to interview immediately for a job that I I actually want will be another reason that I end up quitting the dishwashing job.

 

And how the hell does a piano end up in a lake?!?! Was it a grand or an upright? I’m assuming that it was on wheels…?

 

You thought of expanding your side hustle into more? Obviously scrapping more valuable metals makes money but you can make it the other way too, hauling junk off for folks as long as the dumping fees are covered by what you charge plus some for your labor of course.

 

On the way to pick up Amanda, Thompson Toyota called me, and I go in on Friday at 1:30pm to interview for the full-time lot attendant position that I applied for!

 

@6 gearT444E
@ABA180
@Bishop84
@ColoradoTJ
@Just_A_Guy
@Lt. Dangle
@shakerhood
@steelcity2
@Steves104x4
@TnShooter

As stated above, my prayers have been answered because Thompson Toyota called me while I was headed to pick up Amanda and then go to work! The position is full-time valet attendant, so I just greet customers, give them a number and log the vehicle’s mileage, and bring their vehicles around back for the service department; I’m hoping it’ll get me behind the wheel of a GR Corolla!

Anyway, I have wanted to work at Thompson for years, and this could finally be my way in. Even if it is only an entry-level position, I would not mind a career at a Toyota dealer! Once again, it is full-time, and I believe the pay is $17 per hour (so more than what I make now).

Another obvious benefit would be the ability to get genuine Toyota parts for my truck not only with Thompson’s 200K mile discount, but an employee discount!

Thompson Toyota is also within walking distance of my mechanic, The Fix Autoworks (owned by Pete Grenata). I went to high school with a girl my age named Ashley who started as a valet attendant at Thompson and worked her way up to service writer. She presently works as a service writer at Faulkner Honda (directly across the street from Thompson; Ashley has worked there since they were still Keenan Honda, and I have no idea why she left, but it probably has to do with salary), but this gives you an idea of where one can go career-wise.

Even if I don’t end up staying there and go into HVAC or some other career path, valeting cars at a Toyota dealership 40 hours a week for $17 an hour is far more appealing to me than washing dishes at any salary!

 

Good luck and good job. You'll enjoy that one a lot more than moving furniture.

 

One of the guys working for Pete at The Fix is a former Toyota tech named Joe who owns two Toyotas himself (a 2007 Sequoia SR5 and a 2007 Camry Limited Hybrid formerly owned by my friend’s mom); I just got off the phone with him, and he thinks that I would probably be great in the parts department because I am (A) really good with numbers, and (B) so passionate about the Toyota brand. He is right, but Thompson Toyota is not hiring in the parts department that I am aware of; I got passed over for a job in the Thompson Lexus parts department last winter, so this job is more about getting my foot in the door at a dealership that I’ve wanted to work at since before COVID. Like with my former classmate Ashley, I believe I can advance to a more lucrative department after a while.

 

Gotta start somewhere, you'll be working close enough to parts and service that you can learn some stuff to have a leg up when they do hire for a parts person

 

This will be great. Congrats, Charlie!

 

I don't know exactly what preceded.
But I know he said it was a steep driveway.
Two of the guys were unloading it out of the truck on to dollies.
It started down the driveway and into the lake it went.
The lake was at the bottom of the driveway.

That's all I know.

 

That's great news.
I was really hoping you didn't take the moving job.
I have a feeling you would HATE it.

 

X2

 

The pendulum swung from not being able to get anyone to apply (or if they did, they sucked). Think too that some places have gone the way of self checkout, apps, etc in recent times and now don't need the amount of hands they once would have.

Ageism is a thing, no doubt. I applied for a job assembling bikes when I was 17, it was one of a few things this company was looking for. You'd be working for stores like Bradlees, Child World, etc where they needed you. The rest of the applicants were mid 30s and up. I was the only one who even tried to answer the questions about the bicycle section of the application that wanted that job, much less that I got them all correct. Never got a call. I think they looked at me as too young, or since it was a recession probably figured those other guys had families to feed and I didn't.

 

Bicycle assembly sucks. In my school days I worked for Oshman's. My managers hated the time it took me to build a bike - an assembler could get it done in less than 15-per, I took just under 40. The main difference being that I spent my time tuning the bikes and verifying the true on the wheels. So my bikes were ride-ready when they hit the showroom. I thought about doing the assembler job, but to be any good at it you're slapping them together so fast you don't even notice when you install the handlebars upside-down. That does not speak to my personality. Ageism hits you on both ends - either you're a know-nothing youngin or an unwilling to learn codger.

 

I took about 2 hours to assemble the 2012 SE Quad I bought new and had shipped to me. That said I was very picky about setting it up to my personal self which isn't a thing for a store, for instance.

That bike also has a lot of stuff you wouldn't find on a department store bike 30 yrs ago.

My favorite is when some dingleberry puts the forks on the wrong direction.

 

@ColoradoTJ
@Just_A_Guy
@shakerhood

I am sick of this COVID thing, and cannot believe that it still has the ability to make our lives miserable nearly five years after it first started!

There was a COVID outbreak on the floor where my girlfriend works most of the time, and as a result the dining room on that floor is closed, and even COVID-negative residents are being forced to eat in their rooms. Okay, fine.

Masks have been optional for employees since long before we started working there, but Amanda had to test today because she recently got a hug from a resident who tested positive. Thankfully, she tested negative.

When I had a sinus infection in August, my one manager wanted to me to wear a mask; Amanda had bronchitis and was ordered to stay for a day by both the doctor and our bosses, but was able to get paid sick leave. I flat out refused to wear a mask, citing sensory issues, and my boss relented because I stayed downstairs and didn’t come into contact with residents. Back in August 2022, I was out of work at NAVMAR for probably two weeks because both of my parents had COVID, and NAVMAR policy at the time stated that I had to wear a mask even if I tested negative just because I live with my parents; I refused to wear a mask, and my dad helped me out financially during those two weeks so I didn’t have to go into my savings.

Yeah, I don’t masks anymore…

 

I’ve also witnessed the darker side of nursing home life since I started the job. Being the car enthusiast that I am, I can easily differentiate a “first call” vehicle from a regular minivan or SUV. When a resident passes, they are taken out to the hearse via the same network of hallways that I use to take out the trash and recycling. One time, I passed a couple of guys wheeling a stretcher with what appeared to be a velvet body bag on it (empty). One guy was a nursing home employee, and one was in a suit (obviously the mortician). I was on my way out with the trash when I passed them the first time, and I saw a black Chrysler Pacifica parked out back near the chiller. On the way back in with the empty dumpster, I passed the two guys on their way back out, now clearly with a body in tow.

 

In early September, this 1994 Dodge Grand Caravan picked up a resident, and I convinced the mortician to let me take some pictures for a Facebook group I’m in (Underappreciated Survivors) on the condition that I black out the front plate bearing the name of the funeral home. He said he would have shown me the inside, but he already the “customer” in the back; I have a serious soft spot for older Chrysler minivans…

 

Most recently, Amanda and I were headed out to the truck through the main entrance after work, and it was dark out. There was a black Toyota Sienna parked out front, and I thought nothing of it, assuming it was a wheelchair van. As we were heading to the parking lot, Amanda said “Honey, look” and motioned back toward the van…

I was a bit annoyed because I thought it was just a wheelchair van, but then I noticed a man in a suit loading a stretcher with a covered body on it into the back of the van; I’m guessing they use the front entrance at night.

Death is unfortunately a regular part of life at a nursing home, but it’s still rather eerie knowing that I have been that close to a dead body on three occasions since August. I don’t deal with residents nearly as often as Amanda does, as most of my workday is spent in the basement, but at least one resident who Amanda was particularly close to has passed away since I started working there (she started in late April and I started in late June) and it greatly affected her.

When a resident is dying, they are kept as comfortable as possible by staff until the moment comes.