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A group of myself and twelve other co-workers had been asked to go to the Hillary rally in Lewiston on Saturday and screen people, which was an amazingly exhausting event. I'm not sure how many Secret Service people there were - probably lots more than anyone else could tell - but they had set up four walk-through metal detectors which they manned with their own people, and they had us search bags, two to each walk-through. Then they had a Media Entrance and the Handicapped Entrance.* We provided two people for each and I think there was one of their people. In two hours we screened 2800 people. The bag searching was pretty much constant - just grab, paw through as fast as you could, slide it down the table so the person could pick it up on the other side. We found knives (some rather large), pepper spray, I found "drugs and paraphernalia" (just a tiny amount of pot and a little glass pipe), and we threw away hundreds of bottles of water and apples, bananas and oranges - the Secret Service had decided these were throwing missiles and not to be allowed. I think they didn't expect so many Bates College students carrying laptops and bookbags, having come straight from class, and not having cars to go stash things in. Even people who did have cars had to park far away, because there's very little parking around the Armory and the Secret Service had blocked off half of it, so there were a few unhappy people. However, many thanked us for keeping Hillary safe.
The Secret Service is so random. One person would tell us no knives over one inch, another would tell us no knives at all, one would tell us no water, another would tell us to only take glass bottles, but would allow Nalgenes if they were empty, one would tell us that all asthma inhalers would have to be used in front of us in order to go through, another person would just wave them through as fine.
They also do cross-gender wanding-and-patdown, which we were allowed to do, also, for this one event. Mainertoo, our Supervisor, asked if any of us would be bothered by that, as he would be sure to not put us in a place where we would likely have to do that (keep the person on searching bags rather than rotating them to the Media and Handicapped entrances, where they didn't have walk-throughs) but in fact we were all just very amused by the prospect. It's just work, you know? However, ComicArtist (an older guy who has a very sincere face and the biggest grin you've ever seen) got to pat down a bunch of Bates College Media Studies girls, and we all had to tease him enviously. ;>
Anyhow, it was fun hanging wit' the homies - we felt like we were all in our gang, especially when a guy at a convenience store asked several of us (separately) if we were going to a convention (we all gave elusive half-answers, because we've been taught to not talk about things to the public until after they happen), but when I got home from that at 5pm I felt completely wiped out and slightly feverish, but we still had to go grocery shopping, and the next morning I had to hurry up and get laundry done early because we were going to hang out with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
littleredhead and groundctrl in Brunswick. And then we spent the afternoon with them doing a lot of walking through the snow and slush, getting our feet wet and never being able to quite get warm, so I was again pretty much wiped out when I got home. And yet still I woke up in the middle of the night and lay awake for some time being annoyed at my achy shoulder - should have taken Tylenol PM.
Had a great deal of fun withgroundctrl and littleredhead, though, and was very glad we did it. We got to explore Fort Andross Mill quite a bit, wandering through strangely interlinked tiny staircases and long hallways, finding forgotten freight elevator shafts (a good place to get rid of annoying people) and huge office spaces that were unlocked and still had the electricity turned on, which we wandered into and wondered if we should just set up housekeeping there, since nobody would likely notice. And then as we opened random doors we found a woman working in an unmarked office, so we had to wonder if she was a squatter. :) Numerous huge, metal firedoors convinced us that this might be a good stronghold for the Zombie Apocalypse.
We walked up to the other end of the main drag, to Bowdoin College, and investigated their museum with a fine-toothed comb (I'm one of those obnoxious people who wants to read every sign). I realized that I've never before seen, in person, such ancient artifacts - Greek, Egyptian and Assyrian. (Although no vases with surprise buttsex, unfortunately.)
On the way back we stopped at Shere Punjab, a favorite restaurant for all of us, and everything we had there was quite as delicious as it ever is. The only drawback was that the floor was cold and our feet were freezing off. Meanwhile, we returned to discussion of the coming Zombie Apocalypse. :) Seriously, we are pretty much agreed that the U.S. is doomed, in the fairly near future, because of this country's delight in bullying other countries, and continuing downhill slide in the brain department, and we debated whether leaving the country of just digging in and going all survivalist would be the best idea. I said go to Ireland, because I know I'll get eaten right away in the survivalist scenario - I don't run fast.
And from there, of course, a bookstore to end our day. :)
So, today on the schedule is going to the Dr. about my shoulder. Should probably stop at work and get the form for her to fill out, and also take my uniform along since I won't have a chance to come back and change. Also need to dig out the car before I'll be able to go, so... leave at 9:30ish? Sounds okay.
Now for breakfast. Which will involve ham, since the fridge is full of it. I can't believe I also stole all the Indian food leftovers, aftergroundctrl paid for the meal - I'm such a greedy child! However, they will provide welcome relief from the steady diet of ham - some of which must go in the freezer, I'm afraid, since it was on a manager's special (almost ready to throw out) when we bought it.
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*The Lewiston Armory is a structure from I think 1929, so sticking an elevator at the back of the building was all they did for people in wheelchairs. Maine's odd bit of historical trivia - the Lewiston Armory is where Cassius Clay fought and won against Sonny Liston for the second time.
The Secret Service is so random. One person would tell us no knives over one inch, another would tell us no knives at all, one would tell us no water, another would tell us to only take glass bottles, but would allow Nalgenes if they were empty, one would tell us that all asthma inhalers would have to be used in front of us in order to go through, another person would just wave them through as fine.
They also do cross-gender wanding-and-patdown, which we were allowed to do, also, for this one event. Mainertoo, our Supervisor, asked if any of us would be bothered by that, as he would be sure to not put us in a place where we would likely have to do that (keep the person on searching bags rather than rotating them to the Media and Handicapped entrances, where they didn't have walk-throughs) but in fact we were all just very amused by the prospect. It's just work, you know? However, ComicArtist (an older guy who has a very sincere face and the biggest grin you've ever seen) got to pat down a bunch of Bates College Media Studies girls, and we all had to tease him enviously. ;>
Anyhow, it was fun hanging wit' the homies - we felt like we were all in our gang, especially when a guy at a convenience store asked several of us (separately) if we were going to a convention (we all gave elusive half-answers, because we've been taught to not talk about things to the public until after they happen), but when I got home from that at 5pm I felt completely wiped out and slightly feverish, but we still had to go grocery shopping, and the next morning I had to hurry up and get laundry done early because we were going to hang out with
littleredhead and groundctrl in Brunswick. And then we spent the afternoon with them doing a lot of walking through the snow and slush, getting our feet wet and never being able to quite get warm, so I was again pretty much wiped out when I got home. And yet still I woke up in the middle of the night and lay awake for some time being annoyed at my achy shoulder - should have taken Tylenol PM. Had a great deal of fun with
groundctrl and littleredhead, though, and was very glad we did it. We got to explore Fort Andross Mill quite a bit, wandering through strangely interlinked tiny staircases and long hallways, finding forgotten freight elevator shafts (a good place to get rid of annoying people) and huge office spaces that were unlocked and still had the electricity turned on, which we wandered into and wondered if we should just set up housekeeping there, since nobody would likely notice. And then as we opened random doors we found a woman working in an unmarked office, so we had to wonder if she was a squatter. :) Numerous huge, metal firedoors convinced us that this might be a good stronghold for the Zombie Apocalypse.We walked up to the other end of the main drag, to Bowdoin College, and investigated their museum with a fine-toothed comb (I'm one of those obnoxious people who wants to read every sign). I realized that I've never before seen, in person, such ancient artifacts - Greek, Egyptian and Assyrian. (Although no vases with surprise buttsex, unfortunately.)
On the way back we stopped at Shere Punjab, a favorite restaurant for all of us, and everything we had there was quite as delicious as it ever is. The only drawback was that the floor was cold and our feet were freezing off. Meanwhile, we returned to discussion of the coming Zombie Apocalypse. :) Seriously, we are pretty much agreed that the U.S. is doomed, in the fairly near future, because of this country's delight in bullying other countries, and continuing downhill slide in the brain department, and we debated whether leaving the country of just digging in and going all survivalist would be the best idea. I said go to Ireland, because I know I'll get eaten right away in the survivalist scenario - I don't run fast.
And from there, of course, a bookstore to end our day. :)
So, today on the schedule is going to the Dr. about my shoulder. Should probably stop at work and get the form for her to fill out, and also take my uniform along since I won't have a chance to come back and change. Also need to dig out the car before I'll be able to go, so... leave at 9:30ish? Sounds okay.
Now for breakfast. Which will involve ham, since the fridge is full of it. I can't believe I also stole all the Indian food leftovers, after
groundctrl paid for the meal - I'm such a greedy child! However, they will provide welcome relief from the steady diet of ham - some of which must go in the freezer, I'm afraid, since it was on a manager's special (almost ready to throw out) when we bought it. --------------------------------
*The Lewiston Armory is a structure from I think 1929, so sticking an elevator at the back of the building was all they did for people in wheelchairs. Maine's odd bit of historical trivia - the Lewiston Armory is where Cassius Clay fought and won against Sonny Liston for the second time.