Stress!

So far this has not been the best of weeks. I arrived at work Monday to discover that my supervisor had decided to go on vacation for this week and not tell me.

Now some of you might be thinking "Big deal, the boss being away is a good thing!" But not in my case it isn't. You see I work at a CNC Lathing and heat tempering plant as a quality inspector. Mostly we make axles for the big three. And this week we're working on a prototype part that might lead to the company getting more work. Usually my supervisor would be working on something like this while I handled the regular day-to-day inspections. But now he's on vacation and I have to handle the inspections for the prototype!



It's not that the part itself is so bad, it's a little more difficult than say a part we do every day but still not too big of a deal. A big part of the problem is working with one of the Production Manager's named John. John is a very loud opinionated man who is VERY impatient and unforgiving of mistakes. He wants everything done NOW and he wants it perfect the very first time!

John also loves to place blame. If something goes wrong it's NEVER his fault. It's always yours. Several times in the past he has laid the blame on me and caused problems for me. I know that I'm not supposed to hold a grudge and I try my best not to. But even forgiving him the best I know how doesn't keep me from trying to watch out for the next thing that I might be blamed for.

Setting up a part doesn't work that way however. John is the one who sets up the lathe to run the new part and NO first setup is ever right the very first time. So I have this manager who loves to blow his top looking over my shoulder all the while I'm measuring a part that I'm unfamiliar with.

Now, to his credit, John has been very good to work with so far this week. He hasn't blown his top so far. But that's the key phrase, "so far" I've worked with John for almost five years so I generally know how to deal with him. But from that experience I know that he could blow up at any time and it's usually something small that you'd least expect that causes it, that keeps me on my toes.

Any of you who know me know that I don't like to argue and that I don't have the best temper myself. So the last few days have been very stressful trying to do my regular work and at the same time help with setting up this prototype.



Now add to this situation the heat. It's been 88+ degrees the last two days and very high humidity. Now, my shop heat treats parts in large ovens and that means that whatever the temperature is outside it's 15-20 degrees hotter inside. Were all melting in there! The heat was so bad that yesterday I was ill after returning home after work.

Luckily this morning I woke up feeling fine. The last thing I wanted was to go to work and already be sick in this situation. And with my boss on vacation there would be no one to cover for me so I couldn't have called off.

God has definitely been a big help through this. I believe that it is He who is causing John to be so easy going. Also when things at work have been at a hectic pace, I've felt His calming presence with me. If nothing else I believe that this week is definitely teaching me to lean on the Lord more heavily to help me get through my day.