the interview

last week i went on an interview; one i didn't want to go on. i know that doesn't make sense, but i inadvertently applied for a position that was title 'finance blah' & in the fine print it said 'works with people'....uh, that's not me.

however, it's at a place that i want to work at, so i couldn't blow them off, i couldn't tell them i already had a job & i've already been told if i want in, i have to start at the bottom. which for the most part, i'd be willing to start pretty low but that whole havingtotalktopeople thing & they don't mean office gossip leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

so i went to the interview & of course bc i wasn't nervous i was awesome. [oh how i wish i could bottle that & save it for another time.] really, i was good, know how i know? bc yesterday they called to get approval before checking my references.
damn!

"so can we call f18 people?" - yes

"what about noems?" - um, yeah [this may be my way out, maybe old boss will give me a bad referral???? not likely, but maybe something will fall out of his mouth before he can stop himself, or his tone might say it all as well...come on old boss, bring it!!!!]

"the golf place?" - all my work peoples are gone, so not a very good source

oh, & there's more to the dislike part, it's a temporary job, only 10-12 weeks. i'm in the works about finding/figuring out how that affects my unemployment but as of right now, it's looking like not a good thing.
although i asked a string of questions trying to figure out how it would work i got one answer being "old claim would end, new claim would have to start". so a new claim based on a short work period at lower pay.

yah for me - as in who can screw things up beyond belief?

work stuff

[yeah, i know i'm unemployed & i'm writing about work...whatever]

i still talk with a few people from my old job, the woman they hired to replace me...well, 6 months later girlfriend still doesn't know word or excel.
my old officemate got tired of helping her over & over & i finally let have it & made her cry. which had to be quite a role reversal for officemate, as she was the emotional one & not that she needed help, but she was used to lots of free time [ie, not being the output lead].

even better, i found out old boss from previous job had to hire another person to run the office; not as in a 2nd replacement as in 2 people to the job. i bet he still thinks he overpaid me...

so i had a dream, before i found out about the 2nd replacement, that 1st replacement quit & i had to go back to work for old boss. i don't remember the details...i just remember being there & telling old boss that i didn't want to be there, that's why i quit before, that i was miserable there.
his response was "well she left & you know the job so i don't have to train anyone new so you have to stay".

GEEZ, i was HAPPY when i woke up!

Broadvison BBQ

today for lunch 1/2 the cafeteria is closed. why because there's a BBQ off the back courtyard. i don't know what the bbq is for, maybe because it's hump-day & this is to get everyone through the week, but anyways it's a good one.
they've got tables out there w/all kinds of food, hamburgers & shish-kabobs, then trays of bbq'ed veggies. the bbq'ed pineapple was hard to turn down but i'm not sure my tummy can handle a hamburger at this point so i ate inside.

i had chicken & veggie stir fry - that was prepared in front of me, not frozen or prepared the night before stuff. the cook threw chicken, onions, asparagus, tomatos & yellow squash in a pan to cook for a few minutes, then the sauce, a few minutes later the noodles. when it was ready he plated it, topped with cheese & chives & cleaned the rim of the plate.

i sat just inside so i could watch the festivities going on outside (voyeur, i know). there was island-type music going & balloons & they even had birds - seriously they did! a few parrots & even a cockatoo. i saw a few people hold them; but i assume they were going to put on a show at some point during the bbq.

update - yup, after lunch the other person taking the training with me said they did have a bird show!

what do i have to do to work here?

better today

training ended about 3pm yesterday & B was here shortly thereafter to pick me up. he kept the car so they could go play while i worked. they went to an arcade/bumper boat thingie for a few hours. B was soaked, he said Z & some other boys ganged up on him! Z had a ball telling me about getting Poppa all wet & then playing arcade games & beating him. thankfully they had a really good day, but i was ready for a big 'ole nap.

& nap i did...for 3 hours. then we got up & went to a nearby park for a picnic w/some food B had picked up at Costco. after that we walked around a bit & took Z for some ice cream because he was SO good at letting me get some sleep.

about 10:30 or so i was ready for bed again. when the alarm went off this morning i thought i snoozed it, but evidently not as it never started again & i woke up about 50 minutes later! good thing i had all that extra snooze time built in! i think i'm all better now - yeah!

figured it out

i didn't feel all that great on Sat's drive up here & on Sun's adventures i just figured i was tired.

yesterday on my drive home from training i was nauseous, then as i got to the top of the stairs i ran into B & Z heading to the pool. B was eating a chocolate chip cookie & it smelled gross.
how could a cc cookie smell gross?
well it wasn't until later that evening that i figured out i had a migraine. i can have migraines without the headache part, just nausea & super duper sniffing capabilities where even good things smell bad.

so i'm here at training, but not doing so well. thankfully i know portions of this already so i'm not lost. i fell asleep for 30 seconds & woke when the instructor asked me a question - oops!
i told him 1st thing this morning that i wasn't feeling well!

oh city how i miss thee...

let me count the ways.

freeway - yup, missed you, you're not the one i know, but you will do
palace of fine arts, exploratorium & pier 39 - places to go, see people, do things, not stuck with nowhere to go
starbucks, jamba juice, noah's bagels - right outside the hotel, good places to eat without even driving anywhere!

i'm at training now, well lunch break really, but loving it here.

the office is located on a pennisula, a group of 8 or 10 buildings where a lot of stuff is happening.

ever read about how microsoft has it's own little environment? yeah, here too. cafeteria lunch options included a few varieties of pizza, some mexican food, some indian food & sushi. then there's the salad/fruit bar & a sandwich bar, plus all kinds of breads, muffins & chips and 3 refrigeration units filled with all kinds of sodas, teas & fruit drinks.

i had chicken, tofu & vegetable vindaloo over basmati rice with lemongrass tea to drink...nice! i people watched as i sat at the table by myself. i miss working in a large environment.

san clam disco

that's an ode to james...

so we're here. didn't leave home until 12....30, so much for early, it's just not in the bloodline. made good time, about 7 hours...considering a stop for Z to potty, a stop for me to eat, then another stop for me because i was falling asleep & my eyes were crossing (which i hear isn't a good way to drive). Z didn't nap the entire drive but still managed to be a ball of energy once he got out of the car. i have to remind myself that he behaves in the way a perfectly healthy boy would& i have to be thankful for all the energy & non-stop talking (at school they say he doesn't talk much, evidently he saves it all for us).

we had dinner at a WAY authentic asian restuarant, forgive my uneducated self for not knowing what version of asian, but the menu was fricken scary i must say!
one chicken dish, showed the entire chicken (as in head still on) then there was a few frog dishes (not just legs, entire frog on a plate).
B had scallops & broccoli & in a mis-guided effort to please Z i ordered crab & vermicilli. i thought it was good but he didn't like & it took forever to get the crab out of the shell & they didn't give me pliers so i had to use my hands & teeth - attractive i know!
probably won't let any more stupid white people in their restaurant again...

Sun was great. we went down to the exploratorium. didn't realize it, but that in itself is an all day affair. unfortunately we parked in 4 hr zone, so we didn't get to see everything. B suggested we just move to another parking spot, he doesn't realize what a premium parking is in these parts. so we left there & went down to the 39th pier; wasn't what i expected, just shopping & food...oh & parking for $7/hr. we had to cut the day short as i was exhausted & wanted to rest up for training.

forgot to note - it was 57 degrees at 10am, 50 possible 60 degrees cooler than home!

going fast

this week flew by. i've got internet access so i can surf & work (somewhat). tuesday we got the new, scratch that, gently used sofa & chair for the living room. on Weds B had his dr appt (V time) & Z had his birthday portrait taken. last night we had a friend over for dinner. tonight we have a little get together thing to go to & then we have to get everything ready for my training in SF.

yup, leaving as early as we can, which knowing us, we'll be happy that's 10am. have to drop L-Bird off at the kennel & pick up the rental, finish up any packing (assuming we get started tonight!) & on the road.

B & Z are tagging along - YAH!! - so we're going to sneak in some fun time.
oh & it's going to be cold, lows in the '50s & highs in the '60s, we're gonna freeze our pa-tooties off after being used to over 100 lately.
yeah, the other night coming home from town about 9:30pm & it was 96 degrees, so much for cooling down.
remember that day i complained about 80? i'm sorry, i'm spoiled, please come back.

computer luck = bad

finally got everything squared away & working at work but yesterday our home computer died. it's been giving us signals for probably 2 years that it wasn't happy. a few months ago B got extra memory for it & that seemed to help, but yesterday it went kaput.

B worked on it for a while to no avail. So then i had him call D at old job. luckily he had some free time & had B bring the machine over. we were all hoping for a 2 minute fix but that didn't happen. nor did a 2 hour fix happen.

memory = good
hd = good
motherboard = good
so what's wrong? no one knows

weird lady

weird lady at new job

-ok, yes, she's at one end of the building & i'm at the other, but she will call me to talk to me, really, it's not THAT far, it's a small building

-one time she called me & i was at the back desk so it took me a minute to hear the ring & get to my phone to answer it & she told me "this is YOUR phone, YOU need to answer it" - duh! but thanks for the heads up otherwise i would have just let the mf'r ring & wondered what that sound was

-she told me i need to organize the supplies in my office - go away, my office, my supplies

-there was a small cactus near my desk & co-worker (S) told me i could have it because guy before my had left it there. then she told me weird lady had taken her's, that she (weird lady) wanted her plant to have a friend! ok, let's review, weird lady took the plant from someone there, but left an abandoned plant to die...

-one more, the other day i walked down the hall to use the bathroom, but she walked in before i got there. not a big deal i turned around & was almost back to my office when she hollars at me "DID YOU NEED TO USE THE BATHROOM?"....yeah, thanks!

access finally - pt 2

although i have internet access, my computer for accessing the internet was dead. (i have 2 computers at work, one for working, one piece of crap for internet.)

there's a running joke around the office about how i brought a black cloud & have broken everything around me....although that computer was broken before i got there. the guy who worked there before me had problems with it but didn't bother getting it fixed, so the 1st time we tried to turn it on, blue screen on death & that was it.

last week we called for computer help. they said they would be out Fri to pick up & return it on Tues. Fri boss let me out early & closed the office. Mon no one came by or called. Tues i called & asked what was up. they said they ran a diagnostic remotely & the computer needed a new hard drive that was on order. on Weds the guy showed up to take my computer & said he'd be back Thurs. true to his word he did, HOWEVER, the darn thing wouldn't take my stupid card!

although i had a card that worked, a computer that worked, my keyboard wouldn't take my card. close but yet so far! he returned shortly before the end of the day & i finally, finally, finally have internet access at my desk.

watch out internet, on Monday we're ON! did you miss me?

i'm here

i'm at work & i have access here - cool!
however, don't have access to a lot of other things - msn looks weird, no pandora, no sirius (what do you mean it's not work related?)

if you're wondering how good it feels to have internet access again - it feels so good i feel dirty!

access finally

once i finally got my access card & returned to the office...only to find out the bugger didn't work. once again investigations were needed, but it was determined they had asked someone to set up my account May 15, but it hadn't been done yet. so i call the help desk a few times to figure out how can i make someone do something if they've already been asked a few weeks ago but neglected to do it & of course all they can say is "there's nothing we can do" - thanks!

so boss re-submitted his request & she finally called & said she "forgot" to set up my account....for 3 weeks....but she would get right on it.
i got an e-mail this morning that she did her part, then i had to call the help desk back again. that took some effort too, but finally got it done & about 4pm this afternoon it was official.

however, i can't access e-mail/internet from my computer because it's broken & i have to use someone elses!

ping pong ball

Tues 7am appt didn't work. i showed up, we tried, but the system said i wasn't a US citizen - am i?
well, does CA still count?
born, raised, been a citizen my entire life....evidently they're rather particular about it, so i was told to return to my h/r office to fix it.

so i went there (on my empty tank of gas). the person who does this stuff is off for the day, the person who is there can't help, the other person who may be able to help won't show up until 8:30 - just go to work.

i got in the car & headed back to the office. now my car, to open the trunk is a true feat; you have to press the button & send mental thoughts "open, open, open" just right, not too fast, not too slow, don't hold the button too long or too short in order to get the damn thing to open.
however, the cursed thing can also accidently be set, how i still don't know, but to make things worse, the 'open trunk' thingie doesn't register until you've driven about 1/2 a mile.

so i leave the office, drive down the road & the buzzer starts going off that the trunk is open. i decide to go get gas & i'll just close it then. i approach the gas station only to find it enclosed in fences as the pumps are being dug up.
that's the only gas station on base, so now i have to wait & the darn open trunk buzzer is going off & i'm sure my car is in the midst of a panic attack & curious if it will just shut off the engine so i'll close the trunk. i made it to work though....then walked off forgeting to close the trunk.....but remembered just as i approached the office door.

when i get there boss says i must have missed that box on the form. how, i'm not sure it only has about 8 questions & i reviewed it probably 3X to be sure everything was correct, but who am i to argue. so i use his computer to retrieve my e-mail to get the website, then try to log in, but alas after a week at the beach my brain has dumped all passwords. that's what a vacation is for right?

so he has to send an e-mail to someone requesting my password & he tells her what's up. she contacts him shortly thereafter & says she reviewed my application (again) & it's fine, i didn't miss anything, she re-submitted it & i should return to the office.

i go back to the office (stop & get gas finally), but still no luck. the system still says i'm not a citizen. so i call the review lady that said it was fine but she says it's good on her end & there's nothing she can do, then i talk to the lady in the office & i know, i saw the pop up saying my citizenship is missing, but she says there's nothing she can do either.
somewhere something is screwed up but nobody can or knows how to fix it. so the lady at the office says review lady needs to call for help. that wasn't an easy phone call as review lady isn't very nice & i'm pissing her off (not even on purpose, but i'm a thorn in her side).
office lady is leaving for lunch so she tells me to either go back to work or take lunch (yeah, it's LUNCH time now) because she'll be away & nothing's going to happen anyways.

back to work once again. again (why can't new boss just call me?) as soon as i walk in the door he tells me i need to take my birth certificate to another office. apparently although EVERYTHING was fine on my application, the system pulled in some info because i'm a military spouse & it's f-ing everything up! luckily i know where my birth cert is so it wasn't a problem. i took it in to the 2nd office, he checked the box, then sent me back to 1st office. it finally worked...i finally got it!

or so i thought....

starving

for some 'net....

so not only were we at the beach all last week with no wifi, but at new job, i still do not have internet access - the horror, i know. sorry, but i am compulsive about checking my e-mail...for those of you who don't know that. so to sit at the computer for 9 hours a day with NO surfing, NO e-mail, no blog reading, no myspace checking, no shopping, is pure torture.

i believe my privlidges will be granted tomorrow though. YEH! internet & e-mail - whoohoo!

work was ok, edited a 900 pg doc today...2x because fricken adobe 8, no matter how cool it is, is still crap & lost all my edits! bugger!

on the way to the beach

this was my first real work day as the person who trains me was there...so she actually walked me through some work. looks pretty easy, but it was just a first impression, i'm sure they're not going to scare me right away.

we were trying to get out town early so B brought me lunch & we ate at my desk because it was raining out (love it!). i had the blinds & door open so we could watch & smell the rain as we ate.

got out of work at 2, came home, packed up, left the house a complete disaster but were on our way before 5pm. on our way to the grocery store that is...
the drive down was easy, considering it was friday before a holiday weekend, very little traffic. we stopped off in mission viejo somewhere (exit Alicia) & found a nice mercado that carried great pollo asado that B bbq'ed for dinner.

the redheaded family of Z showed up shortly there after & M&C arrived within minutes of them. we were set for our holiday weekend get together at the beach.

1st day

i made it before 7 - yeah!

had to go over all the security & h/r fun stuff. then they sent me on my way to the badging office & just as i was about to walk in i realize that oh yeah, my car registration is expired!

so i call B & he says to come get the registration from the truck, not like they're going to look out in the parking lot right?

i'm heading out of the parking lot to go meet him at work when i realize - duh, i can't get to his work, i don't have a badge, that's why i'm at the badging office. (as a military wife i can get on base, but i can't get to where he works). so i call him back & tell him i'm going to have try w/the VW registration.

luckily, i got a newbie & he was all flustered with my paperwork, then taking my pic, that he totally did not even remember to ask for id, registration or ins!

then i drive out to where i'm going to work. B met me out there, that was sweet. it's close to where he works. i walked around & met everyone, then sat down & practiced on some reports. my access is totally limited so i can't really do anything yet & the person who's training me doesn't work Tu/Th because she goes to school those days. my boss did have me go work on his computer though, so i could do some online mandatory training stuff.

overall it was a good day, slow, but i'm exhausted. the stress of everything has really taken its' toll, i can't wait for the beach even if that's causing me some stress too (having to get all packed up & such). oh well, i know it will be good!

change is in the air

so things are weird, ok i'm feeling weird
i have 3 days left of old job, i'm good with leaving, the time has definitely come, but i am anxious about new job. they said no one comes in knowing the job, everyone has to be trained & that's why they chose me, i'm trainable. my resume showed that i went to college while i worked & that's what made me stand out.

we head to the beach in a few days, although i'm totally excited to go, it's to celebrate Z's 6th birthday (WOW!), i can not believe how quickly they grow up. it really does not seem that long ago that he was just a little bitty thing completely dependent on me. or that i was enormously pregnant that long ago, but it's true.
Z only has a few weeks left of kindergarten, then it's official, babyhood is so over, elementary school, 1st grade.

ok, good thoughts for the week, it's going to be an emotional one.

bittersweet

i thought i knew bittersweet...being a military wife & all.

you learn to accept those loving welcome homes, knowing full well it's only a matter of time before they are off again....
you learn that uprooting your family & leaving everything & everyone you know to be so you can be together, is better than the alternative...

today's lesson in bittersweet = the thrill of a new job, new challenges, new work, new people, new environment, better pay juxtaposed against one big negative, having to leave for work so early that i no longer get my mornings with my family. no more "time to wake up the baby" songs, no morning snuggles, no helping getting dressed or brushing teeth.

i will have to be at work before Z even wakes up.

i think i got it

interview went well. talked to the current employee, job sounds weird - a lot of multi-tasking & setting priorities, very similar to TMaG.
bonus - they're willing to pay me what i used to make! whoohoo!