Several of you have asked and let it not be said that I am not a slave to the demands of my loyal followers. So, today, I bring you word of what my new work-life is like.
May the tale not bore you to tears (though I happen to find the work riveting and my days just FLY by!).
So I am the new Network Coordinator at a large Northern CA University in charge of maintaining the delicate ratio of data entry going out of my cubicle and the telephone calls coming into my cubicle. So far.
I am also in charge of a certain number of meetings and conferences per year (bigger than a breadbox in size and yes, I will travel) and the maintenance of my department's website, aka it's window to the world.
I have been here a total of 18 business days and I adore my work. I cannot stress that enough. It is a chaos manager's dream.
I get data. I move data along a process pathway until the data is "complete."
I plan/organize/execute meetings, then I write and distribute minutes for those meetings.
I process reimbursements until the reimbursement is deemed approved and is paid.
I shepherd graduate certificates from one eminent physician/dean to another for signatures then send those certificates on to the correct site for distribution to the hardworking physician who earned it.
I maintain and update our department's segment of our website.
I troubleshoot with applicants, colleagues, etc. to solve their particular problems when they arise.
This job is a checky-box lover's dream.
No, it really is. I have taken it upon myself to see how many days a week I can leave the office with all my data entered/moved/processed for the day. I'm competing with myself to see how up-to-date I can be. I enjoy this greatly. I love--love--things that can be finalized eventually. Even if it is an ongoing process, even if the deadline isn't for 12 months, knowing that 95% of my work HAS a deadline is heady stuff.
Efficiency. Organization. Completion. Structure.
Watch me soar. No, really. Watch me.
Now, I know that eventually there will be bad days and mistakes and things I wish had gone better. I know that somewhere along the line, someday, something is going to get overlooked or fall through the cracks or just completely fall apart.
That's okay. That's life. That's what keeps us all from wearing capes and tights and generally being insufferable all the time.
That being said, I see myself working here indefinitely. I genuinely like the people. I love the work. I feel like the position fits me very well and that I have the opportunity to make it grow into something no one has yet envisioned.
Like I said--very heady stuff.
I was telling Amazing GF the other day that I don't know how or even when it happened, but a very long time ago, somewhere in my development, I developed a sense of validation whenever I helped another being. Helping people to solve their problems, helping make systems and structures more efficient and productive, making people's lives easier somehow--all of this is what I love to do.
Seriously, maybe I was an English butler in a past life. I loved the movies Remains of the Day, Gosford Park, and My Man Godfrey not only for their individual merits as entertainment but because I identified with the butler. Let me be very specific here: the butler. Not the head housekeeper. Not ever her (though Emma Thompson did a magnificent job portraying hers in Remains of the Day).
In my mind, the housekeeping staff in those films, while important and critical to the smooth running of the home, did very little to directly affect the efficiency, productivity, and pleasure of the people living in or visiting the home. Butlers, on the other hand, (and to a certain extent, personal maids) made those things their life's work. To the point that Stevens' professional duty even outweighs his personal happiness and he forgoes a relationship with Miss Kenton (Emma Thompson) in deference to his duty (yes, Remains of the Day again--I did mention I loved the film, right?).
Let me be the first to assure you, though, what happened to Stevens is not going to happen to me. I would never, ever place my profession above my love and family. I couldn't do that to Amazing GF, our Babies, or my fabulous family. But I can relate to it. Very much so.
Hmmm... Perhaps I should look for fictional and non-fictional accounts of English butlers' lives to read for a while. If I ever get back to reading.
Okay, it's time for work now. I got here a whole 45 minutes early today, so I thought I'd finish this post.
Love to you all!
Monday, September 12, 2011
Friday, September 9, 2011
It Never Fails
You know that old adage? The one about growing up and becoming just like your same-gendered parent? The adage doesn't really specify whether that happens gradually, like erosion, or suddenly and without warning, like a really bad sneeze. All I know is
a) It's true and
b) It's not a bad thing.
In the short amount of time since I've moved in with My Amazing GF and our Babies, I have become my mother. Or, rather, like my mother to a certain extent.
All right, I'll stop beating around the bush: I get up before 6am, make the bed every morning, and wash dishes every night. A significant amount of my weekly pondering is now made up of thoughts along the line of "How can I make our little home more [efficient, prettier, comfortable, happier] for everyone?" or "We need a [storage shed, outdoor patio set, new lawn mower, garden, quad]." I love to do laundry. Hanging up my clothing in the closet is a joy (especially with my new life-changing hangers, but more on that later....)
Those of you who know me well know what this means. I've become (happily) domesticated.
No longer the wild (Ha!), untamed (HA!) single woman with no attachments, I have become the Happy Little (Lesbian) Homemaker.
Well, it was bound to happen, really. All those years of effort and investment by my wonderful mother should not have gone to waste in the end. I even wear dresses and make-up occasionally now, too, so I can't even claim to be untouched by that societal norm, either. Though that has more to do with Dr. BestFriend than it does my mother. Dr. BestFriend was there when I tried on 25 outfits, most of them dresses/skirts, was there when I purchased $140 worth of make-up, and even bought me a dress for the occasion of my conversion to Judaism. Dr. BestFriend is truly an Eshet Chayil, a Woman of Valor.
Segue with me, won't you? Did you know that there is no feminine equivalent for the Yiddish word mensch? Dr. BestFriend and I decided that was not acceptable and the closest I could come to a feminine alternative was Eshet Chayil, A Woman of Valor.
There you go. Your language lesson for the day.
Segue again, yes? You know what I absolutely love? I love having lunch during the workday with My Amazing GF. Do you know what that's like for me after having been on opposite sides of the country for so long?
Anyway, we now return you to your program, already in progress....
What was I talking about? Oh. Yes. How I've begun exhibiting signs of becoming like my mother.
Let me reiterate that I do not, in any way, consider this to be a bad thing. In fact, it's a very good thing. But it does occur to me that I will be sending a very long T'shuvah letter to my mother this year, apologizing for all those years that I dismissed her teachings as...unnecessary to my life. Clearly, I was mistaken.
So, let this be a lesson to you, my lovelies. Never say never. Some lessons ripen in time and after much experience.
I will try to give you all an update on my new work life in the next few days. The more I learn there, the more I love my new job and my new department.
Have a great weekend!
Love to you all!
a) It's true and
b) It's not a bad thing.
In the short amount of time since I've moved in with My Amazing GF and our Babies, I have become my mother. Or, rather, like my mother to a certain extent.
All right, I'll stop beating around the bush: I get up before 6am, make the bed every morning, and wash dishes every night. A significant amount of my weekly pondering is now made up of thoughts along the line of "How can I make our little home more [efficient, prettier, comfortable, happier] for everyone?" or "We need a [storage shed, outdoor patio set, new lawn mower, garden, quad]." I love to do laundry. Hanging up my clothing in the closet is a joy (especially with my new life-changing hangers, but more on that later....)
Those of you who know me well know what this means. I've become (happily) domesticated.
No longer the wild (Ha!), untamed (HA!) single woman with no attachments, I have become the Happy Little (Lesbian) Homemaker.
Well, it was bound to happen, really. All those years of effort and investment by my wonderful mother should not have gone to waste in the end. I even wear dresses and make-up occasionally now, too, so I can't even claim to be untouched by that societal norm, either. Though that has more to do with Dr. BestFriend than it does my mother. Dr. BestFriend was there when I tried on 25 outfits, most of them dresses/skirts, was there when I purchased $140 worth of make-up, and even bought me a dress for the occasion of my conversion to Judaism. Dr. BestFriend is truly an Eshet Chayil, a Woman of Valor.
Segue with me, won't you? Did you know that there is no feminine equivalent for the Yiddish word mensch? Dr. BestFriend and I decided that was not acceptable and the closest I could come to a feminine alternative was Eshet Chayil, A Woman of Valor.
There you go. Your language lesson for the day.
Segue again, yes? You know what I absolutely love? I love having lunch during the workday with My Amazing GF. Do you know what that's like for me after having been on opposite sides of the country for so long?
Anyway, we now return you to your program, already in progress....
What was I talking about? Oh. Yes. How I've begun exhibiting signs of becoming like my mother.
Let me reiterate that I do not, in any way, consider this to be a bad thing. In fact, it's a very good thing. But it does occur to me that I will be sending a very long T'shuvah letter to my mother this year, apologizing for all those years that I dismissed her teachings as...unnecessary to my life. Clearly, I was mistaken.
So, let this be a lesson to you, my lovelies. Never say never. Some lessons ripen in time and after much experience.
I will try to give you all an update on my new work life in the next few days. The more I learn there, the more I love my new job and my new department.
Have a great weekend!
Love to you all!
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
The Land of Free Avocados
So, I thought I should blatantly steal take inspiration from my friend Stefanie and her amazing blog (http://onelifepercustomer.blogspot.com/) and start a blog of my own to keep everyone caught up on the goings on here in Sunny Northern California without having to make 17 phone calls a week. Difficult to do unless I make Very Good Use of my evening commute. I mean, it's long, but not that that long. And, frankly, I don't want it to be any longer.
Really, I don't.
The Babies and My Amazing GF need me to be home at a reasonable hour. Well, that's what I tell myself. In actuality, it's completely the other way around. Selfishly, selfishly so.
So what shall I update you on?
The Big Move took three nights/four days largely due to My Amazing GF's superhero-grade driving skills. No, you don't understand. We did 1000 miles in one day and she drove 700 of that all alone. Well, I was there, obviously. But I was just sitting. Like a lump.
That segment of the trip included the entirety of Utah, which apparently was having an off day or something because it--well--it smelled. The whole way across. Four hours of construction cones and a really weird smell do not make for easy driving.
Yes, of course I'm knitting her a cape for Chanukkah. What do you take me for?
We got home on the evening of 8/17 to much fanfare and applause, but very little unpacking. We held off on that until the next day because we had a few days before My Amazing GF's new semester started and before I had to begin the New Hire Gauntlet at the office. I'm so glad we had that time to transition, as brief as it was. I needed it to become accustomed to our new routine and to get to know the area better via my new TomTom, named River Song.
I named her River Song because My Amazing GF's GPS is named Hermione already (because she knows everything) and because my GPS keeps leaping off the dashboard of her own accord, suddenly and without warning. As The Doctor would say, "Yeah, she does that."
What else shall I update you on?
Oh, the weather. Yes.
While you on the East Coast battle record highs, outrageous humidity, earthquakes, hurricanes, and tornadoes, I have had the exact same weather every day since 8/18: sunny and 95, low humidity, cloudless skies. Hence, the name of this blog.
Do I go to the pool as much as humanly possible? Yes. Do I feel guilty about that? Hell. No.
However, according to my mother, my recent relocation from the East Coast caused its complete destabilization, leading to the earthquake specifically, and I am now under orders to send someone back to NC who is my approximate weight and height. I'm not certain I can fulfill that order, really. Why would anyone who has experienced summers here in Northern California suddenly want to trade that in for wading through warm orange Jello on a daily basis until the end of October?
Everyone here is positively wonderful!
Of course, it goes without saying--but I will anyway--that My Amazing GF and the Babies (of the furry feline variety) are the most wonderful, most amazing, most loving family a girl could ever have and I am--quite simply--head over heels in love. No apologies, no confusion, no doubt.
My new extended family--Super SIL, Everyman BIL, Farrier Nephew, Farrier Nephew's GF, Awesome Niece, and MIL--are as amazing as they always were even now that I've moved into their lives more permanently. Awesome Niece even brought me a banana milkshake yesterday, which shows you exactly the kind of person she is: a KEEPER. ;)
The office is wonderful, too, with wonderful people and free avocados in the breakroom, the same way I'm used to seeing free zucchini and tomatoes in NC. FREE AVOCADOS, PEOPLE. Seriously. What's not to love?
Okay, that's enough for a first post. I'll try to update somewhat regularly so all those people who I love in NC don't have to call each other up on the phone and say, "Do you EVER hear from Erin? What is she DOING out there?"
Love to you all!
Really, I don't.
The Babies and My Amazing GF need me to be home at a reasonable hour. Well, that's what I tell myself. In actuality, it's completely the other way around. Selfishly, selfishly so.
So what shall I update you on?
The Big Move took three nights/four days largely due to My Amazing GF's superhero-grade driving skills. No, you don't understand. We did 1000 miles in one day and she drove 700 of that all alone. Well, I was there, obviously. But I was just sitting. Like a lump.
That segment of the trip included the entirety of Utah, which apparently was having an off day or something because it--well--it smelled. The whole way across. Four hours of construction cones and a really weird smell do not make for easy driving.
Yes, of course I'm knitting her a cape for Chanukkah. What do you take me for?
We got home on the evening of 8/17 to much fanfare and applause, but very little unpacking. We held off on that until the next day because we had a few days before My Amazing GF's new semester started and before I had to begin the New Hire Gauntlet at the office. I'm so glad we had that time to transition, as brief as it was. I needed it to become accustomed to our new routine and to get to know the area better via my new TomTom, named River Song.
I named her River Song because My Amazing GF's GPS is named Hermione already (because she knows everything) and because my GPS keeps leaping off the dashboard of her own accord, suddenly and without warning. As The Doctor would say, "Yeah, she does that."
What else shall I update you on?
Oh, the weather. Yes.
While you on the East Coast battle record highs, outrageous humidity, earthquakes, hurricanes, and tornadoes, I have had the exact same weather every day since 8/18: sunny and 95, low humidity, cloudless skies. Hence, the name of this blog.
Do I go to the pool as much as humanly possible? Yes. Do I feel guilty about that? Hell. No.
However, according to my mother, my recent relocation from the East Coast caused its complete destabilization, leading to the earthquake specifically, and I am now under orders to send someone back to NC who is my approximate weight and height. I'm not certain I can fulfill that order, really. Why would anyone who has experienced summers here in Northern California suddenly want to trade that in for wading through warm orange Jello on a daily basis until the end of October?
Everyone here is positively wonderful!
Of course, it goes without saying--but I will anyway--that My Amazing GF and the Babies (of the furry feline variety) are the most wonderful, most amazing, most loving family a girl could ever have and I am--quite simply--head over heels in love. No apologies, no confusion, no doubt.
My new extended family--Super SIL, Everyman BIL, Farrier Nephew, Farrier Nephew's GF, Awesome Niece, and MIL--are as amazing as they always were even now that I've moved into their lives more permanently. Awesome Niece even brought me a banana milkshake yesterday, which shows you exactly the kind of person she is: a KEEPER. ;)
The office is wonderful, too, with wonderful people and free avocados in the breakroom, the same way I'm used to seeing free zucchini and tomatoes in NC. FREE AVOCADOS, PEOPLE. Seriously. What's not to love?
Okay, that's enough for a first post. I'll try to update somewhat regularly so all those people who I love in NC don't have to call each other up on the phone and say, "Do you EVER hear from Erin? What is she DOING out there?"
Love to you all!
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