On the job

I have now been working for All Star Striping for 3 weeks. Many of you have asked what the job is like and what I think about it. Initially I put down a few thoughts, I am going to be more candid here.

First off, right now All Star Striping is a small company owned by a 25 and 27 year old. They work extremely hard and do a very good job. My own opinion is that with a little help they would be more effective and not have to work as hard. The adage, "work smarter, not harder." would fit appropriately. Ben is perhaps the hardest worker I have ever worked with. You literally have to run to keep up, and he never wears down. He works just as hard at 4:30 pm after a hot day in the sun as he does at 8 am. Jay is the other owner he does more of the business side of things, I ahve only worked with him once; he did work hard. Will is mainly who I work with. he is thorough, detail oriented, hard working, and kinda stinky. The new guy Gary is a hustle machine.

In the 3 weeks I have worked we have painted new parking lots, restriped old ones, we have put in signs, painted crosswalks, built shelves for the trailer, and so on. I personally have done some things I never thought I would ever have done. For instance Friday we painted crosswalks, I threw these glass beads onto the lines as soon as they were painted so they would stick, so at night the lights would reflect off them and they are easier to see. By the end of the day I had these tiny tiny beads all over me. Cause I was sweaty they stuck to me, cause I was working with them they were in my socks and shoes. I also had to wear a green vest and direct traffic.

I have layed out a parking lot using chalk lines. Basically what you do is measure stalls 9 feet out and 18 feet long and do your best to get them to fit. It is more tricky than that to get lines straight, especially if the parking is angled or curved. It is neat when youare done and paint the lines you have layed down in chalk. I haven't been asked to use the machine yet, I mainly do the handicap stalls. Which means I have this big heavy plastic stencil I drag to the stall, trace the outline, paint it blue, and then after the paint drys, put the stencil on and paint the figure in white. Not too complicated. Just work. So far the signs have been my least favorite. Apparently not all signs were like the ones we have done that weigh 300+ lbs and use 250 lbs of cement. Good thing.

Ovearll the experience has been rewarding. Certainly the extra cash is nice, the guys I work with are easy going hard workers, the work isn't too bad. It is just hot. Really that is the only drawback. Oh and one the vehicles has no AC. I definitely have a much greater appreciation for what goes into parkiing lot striping.