Car Groomer
As mentioned in the previous post, i am now working in a carwash shop(sounds weird) as a car groomer (learnt it from a friend the other day, sounds so dignified than car washer). so here’s some thought about it.
i got the job through SJS, a uni -based student job recruiting agency. i saw the ad hiring a guy to wash cars for the summer. though the location is at Green Lane, which is a bit far from downtown, i took it anyway as i want to secure a job ahead of the holiday. I went there and guess what, i was hired. i worked a few days first before i went full time after i finish my exam. The pay was not really good ( minimum wage pay) but still by working long hours, which i usually get to, i can still earn money enough for my now confirmed Christchurch trip and also the WYD 2008 trip to Sydney.
The job was a bit tired at first, as i was practically stuck in the wash bay washing cars after cars, my shoes and socks were always wet and i am afraid that my feet will grow fungus, then it will be disastrous. However, thank God for an Indian man called Ayyapan, who despite his heavily-accented English, managed to taught me a lot of other skills, i learnt how to apply polish, take them off, oil cut the car and also the machine buffer, where i actually know how to polish a car using a spinning machine and i tell you the results is fantastic, the car practically glows and looks brand new. As i have learnt more stuff i am now more needed at the dry bay, helping out with polishing apart from other stuff that i did not have to learn like vacuuming and also drying the car. New guys who came in after me help as well, as they were new and that the first thing they learnt is always how to wash the car, there is always people around to man the wash bay, unless there are no cars at the dry bay and you need to go help wash cars.
The company, Car-fe, is owned by a guy named Matthew Ridge, who is a TV celebrity and also and Ex- Rubgy star. working as a new team leader is Tony/Toddy a.k.a Brent Todd, another ex-OZ rugby star who pleaded guilty in a fraud case. I was shocked to learned that i worked with people who constantly get the pages in newspaper, guess my work place is not so boring after all. My supervisor is a small man called Greg, nice guy who is always on his feet working. He actually works everyday with no off day, wonder why he does not feel tired? We all wear a worker’s outfit, which looks quite nice and i feel macho. My colleagues are quite diverse in ethnicity, we have a few Pakehas(Johnny, Dion, Andrew, Adam, Hamish, Daniel, Reece, Matthew, Michael). some are old guards and some came in for the summer like me. then we have a few Maori and PI-ers (Throne, Morgan, Junior, Paora, Curtis). Ayyapan, a Korean guy Leo and I made up the Asian folks. recently a Chilean called Luciano joined in the crew. we also have a few PI girls (Mina, Angelina) in the crew too, if you think the job is only for guys, you can be quite wrong, these girls are quite good at what they are doing. We have great fun working together. Not sure about them but i have always enjoyed working in a group. I also start to pick up the PI boys talking slang, sounds like Afro-american way of speaking with a twist of Kiwi accent. quite cool.
Another perks of doing the job is the chance to drive cars, i mean good cars. even when i have a Malaysian licence, i always find myself being asked to move the cars into the washbay, to the drybay and also out of the garage for final checking and nappy down. the coolest car i have ever drove were convertible BMWs and Mercedes-Benz. i personally like Holden Commodore, cool cars and very nice interiors, Volkswagen Golf too looks good to me, small, compact and very easy to drive. European cars are quite advanced, most stuff are automatic and computerised. i sometimes get confused when i look at the console. There was once when i had a chance to drive a Porsche but i did not know how to start the engine!
in all the job experience is good, yes i do get tired after work but it helps kill the time during summer, plus with the money i make i channel into some travel plans that i have in mind. I also hope to save some to bring back to malaysia, promise my mum we will go shop in December 2008. good fun, earning money, kills time, what more can i ask for?
