Don't quit your night job...

As most of you know, Sweden has given Jo and I quite the surplus amount of free time. We initially solved this “problem” by agreeing to coach Ljungby Volley’s “B” team; however, they only practice during the evenings, which merely increased the amount of consecutive time we spent in Sunnerbohallen (the volleyball gym). We coach the team Monday and Thursday evenings before our own practices, and attend their matches when possible. Stefan, one of the girl’s fathers, is acting as coach throughout the season so the team always has an adult present. We have only been coaching the team since mid-November, but have already seen quite an improvement (and increase in numbers!). Both my dad and mom were able to come to practices this year and the girls seemed to enjoy having another American around to help out with advice. They are all really eager to learn and it’s been a great coaching experience overall.

After the New Year, we again expressed our interest in finding jobs to help occupy more of our time. The club spoke with a few sponsors and found that one was able to have us come to help in their factory. Thus, Jo and I have recently begun working at a local graphic productions company called JOMA, GP. We like to refer to it as “JoMeg”. Unfortunately, part of our visa/immigration to Sweden limits us legally working to only playing or coaching in the volleyball club, so instead our work for JoMeg must be part of the company’s sponsorship of the team. Either way, we were pretty excited to begin our factory jobs!

We've only worked 3 days so far, but things have been going pretty well. I started as a lamination specialist while Jo was working as a plastic wrap technician; terms coined by Jo and I, of course. I spent the first day and a half as an LS but upon completion of this task, I joined Jo as a PWT. We photo-documented a play-by-play of Jo's daily job as Plastic Wrap Technician. Sort of tutorial-esque fashion, in case any of you ever desire to go into this line of work. Keep in mind we are trained professionals and you should not try this at home.

Step One: grab stack of handouts

Step Two: slide handouts into the plastic wrap

Step Three: carefully slide handouts onto the grill

Step Four: press the green button
**Note: do NOT press the red button

Step Five (a): remove excess plastic wrap

Step Five (b): remove excess plastic wrap 

Step Six: repeat

As you can see, this job is quite tedious and requires a meticulous eye. If done incorrectly, you can face dire consequences such as steam in the eye, burned fingers/arms/clothes, cuts and abrasions, etc. This job cannot be taken lightly. After joining Jo on this task, I was switched to Postmaster on Friday. I labeled, stamped, stuffed, and sealed over 200 envelopes in just under 2.5 hours. Check out my super sweet workstation:

My postmaster's station

We ended all of our assigned tasks about 45-minutes early, so we were sent to the back of the factory (!) to help tape up boxes. We assembled those boxes and taped them like champions, leaving nothing but a box maze as a trail. 

Tape Master

We got boxed in...

 Until next time, JoMeg out!