MAY DAY! MAY DAY!
St. Patrick’s Day at The Factory!
That’s right … The Factory Floor is a BUSY place and there just isn’t a lot of room for monkey business like the dreaded “time off” …
Oh, sure, sure – the benevolent Factory Management has granted at least one paid Holiday (generally Christmas Day) every year and has very generously allowed the staff an extra five (5) minutes of ‘off time’ – generally tacked on to the state-mandated mid-morning 10-minute coffee break, thereby giving our joyous Factory Workers a full FIFTEEN (15) MINUTE break to enjoy some of the standard American holidays that are sprinkled throughout the year.
Why, as clearly evidenced in last month’s post, February yielded four (4) of these ‘extended’ coffee breaks to coincide with the four ‘official’ (to some companies) February Holidays.
March, on the other hand, has never been a big Holiday month – but, there is, of course, March 17th – otherwise known as St. Patrick’s Day – and that day seems to be a big one upstairs, amongst the ranks of Senior Management … so, once again, the true Employee-First spirit, at the very heart of Factory Optic, comes through as the “upstairs team” has (once again) granted one and all an extra five (5) minutes to the state-mandated 10-minute afternoon break – just enough time to get to The Pub and back – and, as the saying goes, “May you be at the gates of heaven an hour before the devil knows your dead!” – it’s a mad rush out the door, to The Pub and back to work, before Freddy The Foreman (with “Ernie The Attorney” standing right behind him ‘Enforcing the Rules’) locks you out for being late!
We’ve posted some photos from St. Patrick’s Days Past – you can just feel the excitement … and tension in the air – and 2023 promises to be even more exciting and more tense because we’ve missed out on this wonderful annual Factory ritual for the last two years!
So, get ready to bolt out the Factory door …
Just as soon as that break whistle blows …
All you Lads and Lasses on The Factory Floor …
Will ‘ya make it back in time?
Only St. Paddy knows for sure!
Oh, and don’t forget to wear your Factory-issued Green Triangle so’s you don’t get pinched! Remember: ‘Pinchin’ slows down yer Drinkin’!
Bottoms Up!
HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY 2023 … direct from The Factory to YOU!
February Seemed Like One Big Holiday at The Factory …
Well, well, well … there you have it!
Yup, it’s true … February seemed like one big month of HOLIDAYS and, you’ll be pleased to note that, even though absolutely ZERO ‘time off’ was granted for any of the wonderful Holiday days that fell within the calendar month of February 2023 (“Time off? You gotta be kidding!” snorted the BIG BOSS from his cushy upstairs office … “Heck, we gave them all 15 minutes off for Thanksgiving … what more do they want!??!”) …
Yes … thanks for that … now, where were we? Oh yeah … ‘Upper Management’ was able to graciously grant and ‘extra’ FIVE (5) MINUTES to the morning break … tacked on to the State-Mandated 15-minute AM break time, creating an unprecedented TWENTY (20) MINUTE break for each and every joyous Factory Worker, on EACH of the February Holidays mentioned below:
February 02, 2023: Groundhog Day
February 14, 2023: Valentine’s Day
February 20, 2023: Presidents’ Day
February 28, 2023: Holi – India’s Festival of Color*
*This year, “Holi” actually occurs on March 08, but, feeling particularly generous and wanting to allow each employee to have that ‘extra’ 5-minute break FOUR times in the same month – or, once a week for the entire month – Upper Management (for once) did the right thing and allowed the team to celebrate Holi a week early … for 5 minutes, anyway.
What a wonderful, thoughtful and employee-friendly Management Team we have here at The Factory! Keep up the good work, all!
Until next time …
Here we go again!
Or, perhaps we should say: “HAPPY FACTORY NEW YEAR” !?!
Well, no matter how we say it, it doesn’t change the fact that the new year of 2023 is upon us and … you know … it is AOK to say “Happy New Year” right up to February 1st … we looked it up! See, the entire month of January is usually spent prepping for a new year’s worth of new activities and innovation … so, during that first 30 (or so) days, it is AOK to wish everyone around you a “Happy New Year” – as many times as you’d like. Heck, we’ve already said it FOUR times, right?
Well, no exception to the rule here, on the Factory Floor! We are busy – Busy – BUSY getting ready for our biggest and best year – ever!
So, WATCH THIS SPACE (as we like to say) … we’ll keep you posted as to the very latest happenings and announcements … beginning with ‘the return of QUICKTC, our super-cool Time Code evaluation device – a tool that you really need to have in your production tool box! By popular demand, we are bringing back a new batch of “QTC” units – with **REDUCED PRICING** as our ‘Happy Factory New Year’ special!
Stand by … Watch this Space for more details in the weeks to come!
Oh, and if you are planning to go out on your bike at night … wear white!
Happy Holidays from The Factory!
Well, all things considered, it would have been better to maybe NOT come in to work on Christmas Day … but … deadlines are, in fact, deadlines, so … thankfully, our Happy Factory Workers know how to “make the best of it” (it’s what they do for a living, you know) so, all is well. Why, Senior Management was even kind enough to pop for a ‘mini’ Holiday Tree for us – just one for all to share, so … because of its diminished size, we just sort of move it around – each department gets it for an hour and a half and by morning, the entire Factory staff will have had the joy of sharing The Factory Tree for a bit. How thoughtful … and efficient – like everything else we do!
Special thanks to ‘the guys upstairs’ for thinking of all of us – down here – and, of course – ‘All the Best’ from US (always) … for YOU!
Have a healthy and safe Holiday week and, we’ll see you on the other side. Don’t worry … we’ll still be here. We run three shifts, 24/7.
Happy Factory – (Belated) – Thanksgiving, Everyone!
Yeah, sorry … we ALMOST missed this one!
Busy … busy … busy! Almost forgot what day it was! Unfortunately, due to backed-up delivery dates and an over-abundance of product demand, we all had to work straight through the Thanksgiving week – and yes, even on Thanksgiving Day!
No worries – Freddy The Foreman – the kind-hearted Leader that he is – allowed us listen to a radio broadcast of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade – and that really helped!
Oh, and even though our BOSS has left the country (traveling to parts unknown … or maybe he was just looking for ‘parts‘ that we can’t seem to find around here …you know, ‘foreign parts’ … imports … well, anyway, he surprised us all by having a load of Vegan Turkey Sandwiches – heck, almost enough to feed everyone – delivered to the Factory Floor at lunch time on Thursday! Wow! What a guy! What a treat – he always rewards us for our hard labor …
You know, we can still see those Vegan Turkey Sandwiches come rolling down the line – some already bitten by certain eager workers, up the line, who were too busy to stop, grab and enjoy a whole one!
And, this year’s awesome treat certainly qualified as a fitting reward for us all having to come in and work the Holiday Week … Yeah, who cares that he failed to include any of the fixings and garnish … like maybe, at the very least, potato salad or macaroni salad – or, bread … or water … and napkins …
Well, no matter – sometimes a good, well-made Vegan Sandwich is just enough, you know what we’re sayin’ over here?
Well, enough of this chit-chatting- it’s back to work for this crew! Here’s hoping that all of you, out there in Internet Visitor’s Land, hand a safe and peaceful Holiday … like we did – the Factory Floor is one of the safest places to be … when free food is in the air!
Happy Factory Thanksgiving Week to all of you!
P.S. We’ll be here if you need us!
There’s Nothing To Be Afraid Of!
Just another fun-filled, action-packed HALLOWEEN ROMP at The Factory!
Well, okay … since everyone came in wearing costumes … and NO ONE is working ANYWHERE on the Factory Floor … well … ah … um … er … OK … MAYBYE there might be a little something to be afraid of …
Heck, rumor has it that even THE BOSS (and we aren’t talkin’ Springsteen, here) has run off and left the country!
Oh well, don’t worry about production deadlines and shipping logistics … it’ll all be over soon … and everyone will be back on the clock … and on ‘the line’ … and working for YOU!
Happy Halloween 2022 from THE FACTORY!
Virtual Production Is Changing How Movies (and Careers) Are Made
Yeah, we know it to be true, here, on The Factory Floor …
You don’t have to look hard to see how virtual production is taking the film, TV, and streaming industries by storm.
And like all new developments, the demand for qualified talent is high, while the availability of skilled people is low. This situation is compounded by roles that are constantly being refined and redefined.
So let’s take a look at what’s driving this incredible demand, and where opportunities can be found for newcomers and veterans alike. Starting with how we got here…
We found a pretty cool article to share with you … now, we can’t really tell you whether or not some of these productions (or all of them?) are using various models of Factory Optic bespoke products and inventions … well, that is, a lot of it is top secret highly sensitive stuff that we aren’t supposed to discuss in public forums or on our website – so, really … we can’t say anything – one way or another …
… without getting into some kind of proprietary information leak trouble.
… and other bad things.
Plus … it’s almost lunchtime here at The Factory – and, rather than keep writing, WE’D rather go eat … while YOU read on … Deal?
So, maybe you should just read the article because we know that you’ll enjoy it … because we did … READ IT HERE
More Humor from the Factory Floor …
Freddy The Foreman was making his daily rounds inspecting how all of the workers were doing their jobs.
Upon entering the Shipping Departmenthe spied an ambitious worker moving at a very fast pace …
“Well”, he said to this particularly studious worker, “I see you are doing a very diligent job stamping all of the boxes ‘THIS SIDE UP‘.”
“Yes,” the worker enthusiastically replied, eager to please (and get that promised raise) , “and just to be extra sure, I’m stamping the bottoms also!”
