Stay in Detroit

Stay in Detroit

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I have really loved the work at Hi Tech (surprise, surprise). This picture is too dark, but until I get to a library with image editting software, there is not much to do about it (I can lighten it digitally eventually). This is the 'line' I work on which is mostly a machine to paint the interior of cylindrical auto parts with primer and then adhesive. The line is run by a team of six to eight people. A couple of people remove and break down the parts and special holders (as they are painting the interior which is more complex than the exterior). Then one person inspects the parts (throws into the good or bad bins) while the rest reload, reassemble, and feed in the holders. I have done all the jobs except quality control and we work pretty well as a team. It could be more automated, but it would be hard because of the variations in the parts we are using (different holders and such) and the fact that paint and adhesive tend to gum up the work making exception processing pretty common. My guess is that they are spending about $80 an hour for labor (I only get $6.25 an hour or about $5 an hour after taxes and such) which works out to about three or four cents a part with about 2000 to 3000 parts an hour. Larger parts are stacked two high instead of three and require a smaller team, but less are done per hour (or course) It just isn't worth it to automate it further it seems.
Here is the office where I applied for temporary work. If you don't have an existing assignment, you commonly show up at 5:30AM (in the dark) to get in line for when they open at 6AM. Then the woman gives out assignments as they are called in (presumably mostly covering no shows, many more on Monday and Friday than on Wednesdays). If you are on an existing assignment, you just drop your completed assignment sheet off at the end of the day to get paid and to get your assignment sheet for the next day if they ask you back at the same place (much preferred over the early morning wait for an assignment). The people I work with are about 75% black, 15% white, and 10% Asian (mostly from Laos). I have been pleased at how friendly everyone has been even though I don't speak or move like my co-workers (though I am quite informal in my dress, speech and mannerisms). At this point I could probably duplicate their speech and mannerisms pretty well but haven't as that would probably seem artificial. Nobody seems to pay any particular attention to me other than just being quite nice and friendly which is great!
Well I am getting nicely settled into the Detroit area, mostly the suburb just north of Detroit, Warren, MI. Here is the police department in Warren, MI. They have a really nice parking lot with trees and such. So, on Sunday September 4, 2001, I was eating my lunch in their lot. It turns out they have a problem with community relations (they are purported to be corrupt, though I have no evidence of that) and that was a really bad idea as the officers have had their cars vandalized. Anyway, an officer was suspicious and gave me a pretty hard time while I thought what I was doing was perfectly innocent (but hindsight suggests avoiding behaviour which is strange/suspicious even if innocent). Anyway, after work on September 7, I went back to inquire about any ordinances against sleeping in a vehicle and the same officer was there (I never saw his until then face) and he said 'loitering'. After I used the restroom briefly, the 'desk sergeant' then told me to leave immediately and if I came back he would arrest me (trying to intimidate me, I presume).
I then looked up the ordinance on loitering and it doesn't apply at all. Basically it says that if an officer tells me to move along, I have to move along (well, duh)! So, then I tried to set up an appointment with the Chief of Police about whether it was legal to sleep in a vehicle and the threatened arrest. I finally got referred to the Watch Commander and we had a nice talk. He mentioned the problem with vandalism and suggested a nice park close by. Here is Licht Park in Warren, MI where I sometimes go after work to have my dinner (just as legal as anywhere else, has a restroom, and is not strange/suspicious). I usually have a peanut butter sandwich (pita bread or whatever comes in smaller packages than a full loaf of bread) and fruit (maybe a banana). I always have KoolAid (OK, actually FlavorAid, a KoolAid clone), soda, and water in my car.
I then shower at Bally's and buy a frozen dinner (mostly either Banquet Mexican combo or Swanson's Fried Chicken) and head to Hi Tech Coatings. I put my lunch/dinner into the freezer, use the restroom and then head back to my car for the night. I am then ready to start (after eating my breakfast and meditating) at 7AM. For breakfast I usually have cold cereal and instant cocoa mix (mixed with water, not heated, it makes OK chocolate milk, at least good enough to put on cereal, anyway). Here is my car in the parking lot at Hi Tech Coatings. I have also found that on weekends (and other times when I don't have access to a micorwave, the dash of my car can heat dinners OK and after driving a bit, the exhaust manifold (part of the engine) works great to heat dinners (I have not been so bold as to use the engine to heat a dinner while I am driving).
Lunch is from 11:55AM to 12:40PM. There are no other breaks scheduled, though there will be times when we switch parts, add paint, or whatever if we are lucky. I heat my lunch in the microwave and then sit out under the trees to have my lunch. I usually sit with three Laotian women while I have my lunch. They mostly speak in Mung so I don't understand hardly anything they say (just quietly eat my lunch), but I am learning a little Mung from them (one word a day).	This last week my friends switched to the evening shift so I haven't been able to take their pictures or learn more Mung. I sit under the trees and eat alone for now. What to do?
A couple of evenings a week there are get togethers of the local Mensa group and I often do that on the weekends and in the evenings. Here is one of the local restaurants where they meet on a monthly basis. As Detroit proper is so depressed, most of their get togethers are in the suburbs where they mostly live and work.