January 24 Update

We finally got called for flagging again today.  We were on Geneva Road in Orem -- same place I was overnight a while back.  Turned out there wasn't a lot of activity, but there was some.  It was about 25 degrees out there when we arrived at 7:30 am and my feet started getting cold.  My left foot was colder than my right and I discovered the zipper on the left leg of my snowsuit was up about 3".  Wouldn't have thought it would make that much difference with  insulated boots and insulated socks, but it was noticeable.  I zipped the leg all the way and then both feet were about equally cold.  We could actually feel the difference when it warmed up a couple of degrees  and by the time it got up to 29 my feet weren't cold any more.  It eventually got up to about 44 degrees, almost too warm for the way I was dressed (snowsuit).  I think I actually felt better out there than I did on the blistering August days last summer.  And for sure we felt colder the day we got caught in the rain!   For one thing, I didn't ever feel sleepy like I did on hot days. 

We had two different breakers came to make sure we were getting enough breaks.  The breaks weren't long -- just bathroom breaks and lunch was only 20 minutes (by being less than 30 minutes we get it as a paid break instead of going off the clock for half an hour).  Larry was handling northern Utah County and Carrie was handling southern Utah County.  Turns out Geneva Road is the crossover point.  They came up with the idea of meeting in the middle so we could both get our lunch break at the same time.  Usually, there is only one breaker and we have to take turns.

Both the gals that schedule the flaggers for PRC drove by us today and waved and gave us big smiles.  I think we still have a good reputation with them.  Cynthia is the boss, and Lori, her mom, works for her!   They're both really cool to work with.

We think we'll be called again tomorrow, but it hasn't been confirmed yet.  We're supposed to just show up at Labor Ready about 7:00 am so they can hand  us out "tickets" (time cards) as soon as PRC calls in their requests for the day.  Lori should be asking for us by name.   One thing we found that is disappointing is that Labor Ready doesn't pay quite as well as Strategic Staffing -- almost 10% less!  But we may get more hours so the net may turn out to be better.   Labor Ready also pays every day so we immediately have funds for tomorrow's fuel and flagging supplies. 

Suffice it to say, we'd a lot rather be doing PPS someplace warm for good money than standing around in the cold for peanuts.  Still working on that, but nothing solid happening yet and we are grateful to have jobs at all.