New Job - Week One

It feels like the employment stars have aligned themselves in my favor, finally. It's only been a week, and a short one at that, and I feel like it's a good job that I'm going to like for a while.

My boss is spending lots of time training me. Uncommon in most places of work. In my opinion, very good and vital to ensure long-term success (for the employee and supervisor) in reaching common values and goals. He's giving me important information on interpersonal relationships among co-workers. He seems to genuinely be a good person and seems to do the right thing, even in hard times. I semi-trust him. My experience tells me to be cautious in this regard.

My co-workers are interesting. I'm taking my cues from them as to how to behave - not too close, not too distant is my goal. They aren't overly communicative or friendly (at this point). In fact, none of them say "hello" in the morning, or "bye" when they leave. This is strange to me. I guess I could be described as "social-service-ey" in this regard (there are probably better descriptions for this type of interpersonal/social behavior of mine - I'd love to hear your thoughts). Actually, now that I think about it, my mom had major issues about people presenting themselves when entering or saying goodbye. It would totally piss her off if someone didn't. Needless to say, it's hard for me to enter or leave the office without greeting the people I am 40 feet from for 8+ hours per day. But, do as the Romans do, no?

My office is a disaster. It seems that my predecessor never filed anything and recycled and/or purged even less frequently. He was in his position for more than 3 years. I have had to clean up a bit - the clutter makes me feel claustrophobic. Three days of reading, reviewing, and organizing for 8 hours per day last week, and there's still the better part of a week's worth of work to be done to get it semi-functional- I'll post a photo of how things looked at the end of the first week in a couple of days. The process has been good in that I have read things that were private. Cards, draft emails, etc. This may very likely give me a bit of an edge in developing good boundaries with the people that I have to develop working relationships with. I've seen into the eye of the storm, and am somewhat armed, so to speak.

I've got lots of work on my plate already. It doesn't seem like it's going to be a difficult job in terms of the actual work I'll be doing - once I understand all that needs to be done. It's just that it's not been done for a while so I have a bunch of catching up to do. It's going to take a while.

I haven't personalized my office at all. I'm thinking that I may not. I'm thinking that the photo of Hubbie and Won and any other personal items will be kept in my drawer... only for me to see. Maybe that will help with compartmentalizing work vs. home vs. friends, etc. and help me to keep my professional distance, boundaries, etc. what with the reportedly challenging colleagues and all. Hopefully those challenges will not be too tough to overcome and the workload not to heavy. I think I can do good things here.

Just before the job started, Hubbie and I had a long heart-to-heart conversation about sharing workloads during the second shift. After months and months of conversation, he finally agreed (begrudgingly, but I'll take what I can get) to pick up Won from daycare every day of the week! This has lifted a huge burden off of me - he's really helping out a whole bunch more in terms of kid care and household responsibilities (and I know I've got it pretty darned good in this department)! Turns out he was resisting (pick up) for reasons even he isn't aware of but doesn't want his family to be secondary to everything else in his life. It's such a tough transition, this whole married, white picket fence, and 2.5 kids thing. Sure am glad I married him. Some people I know don't got it so good.

Regardless of all of the wonderful things happening I probably won't be able to write and post as frequently as I'd like in the coming weeks and/or months. Working, compartmentalization, two year old, cooking, cleaning, sleeping and such might get in the way a little bit. But know I'm thinking of you often, and would love to tell you more.