small doses: PAML

i was given the blessing and privilege to be employed this summer by a wonderful company called PAML (providence associates medical laboratories). it is a medical laboratory where specimens are sent to and tested. i worked in the accessioning department from 10pm to 6am, monday thru friday. yeah i know sounds like sucky hours and they were rough. i mean my nights were shot except for saturday and sunday, but it was difficult to adjust my sleeping just for the weekend. i quickly became accustomed to the hours and was working like a mad man. i love being myself no matter where i am, i just take a little bit of a transition time (normally just a day) to see who the people are i am associating with. i remember the first night was long and i was really tired. the most distinct and vivid thing i remember though was how genuinely nice and helpful everyone, and i mean everyone, was from the get go. they were so willing to help me with anything and everything i needed and more. that is the biggest lesson i learned and hope to implement in my life is to be a nice person on the inside and make it show on the outside with my actions. i made many great friends that i hope to keep in contact with them. there was tony "two-face" dent. he was quiet yet witty and made me laugh with the simplest yet silliest things. tony and i spent our lunches together until he got hired in another department and started working days. eric "tall man" hansen didn't talk too much when i first got there. when tony left, eric and i became lunch buddies. he started to talk more and then things just got outrageous. he was so random and came up with the most ridiculous and bizarre conversations. i just laughed my head off every single night. his singing of "right round" and remix of "fire burning" were hysterical moments that seemed to lighten the stresses that work would cause. the blitz twins were just crazy. first, meagan. she was an extremely hard worker who didn't quite until the job was done. and she has one of the top 5 best laughs i have ever experienced in my life. when eric would get going, she would laugh and laugh and laugh, and never stop. she was also always blamed for making others sick because that was her special, magical power. her sidekick and partner in crime, amber "ambar mendez" were always together. when they weren't i was worried. amber was the one we could count on to make fun of someone in just the normal everyday conversation. i would be saying something serious and she would just make me look like a fool. it made me feel good though. those two, meagan and amber, would also spend many lunches with eric and we caught them stretching on the elevator one day, it was creepy but fun. stacey "patty cakes" did the same thing as i did during a lot of my tenure at paml. she would laugh and talk very loud, as if she had an amplifier always with her. i am not saying that as a bad thing, that is who she was and i wouldn't have wanted it any other way. she was willing to do anything to get the job done. scott "golden stallion" was a character. his laugh was so funny and made my day if i was having a bad one. he was the proud owner of a grocery store, hotel chain, along with many other successful businesses. finally there was k. k was the trainer who helped every newcomer and those learning new things the 411 on what was going down. he was friends with everyone and was always willing to listen to whomever had a question (although i rarely asked him anything). there are many people that i am forgetting and that doesn't mean i forgot about them or didn't learn something from them. i have a positive memory from everyone i worked with and am grateful for what i learned from each and every one of them. now for some pictures! if there are some below this it means i have gotten it to work and if not then i still need to learn how to use a computer.