friday the 27th

I walked in at 10:07 (seven minutes late), sat down in my cubicle, started processing "Opt-Outs"*. My "boss"** was on the phone when I first walked in, and a little bit after a while she heard me tapping away and asked if that was me...

I wanted to establish "my routine" as quickly as possible. With my old boss, I used to go to her cubicle as soon as I got to work, and I found I don't like to check-in as soon as I get in (it gives me a few minutes to be late), so I gradually phased that out. I'm sure it was also annoying for my boss, to have me interrupt her and ask what needed to be done. And I like to start with something light, like checking my e-mail or doing those Opt-Outs. It means I don't have to be fully alert until 10:30ish. It's also better for everyone, since it means that I'm not doing really important stuff unfocused and I'm not as bitter as the guy in the cartoon. Today, the whole thing felt kind of awkward and pushed, but hopefully, it'll just come to be expected.

When I did go over to see what needed to be done, I almost laughed out loud when I saw her with her iPod doing data entry stuff (see my last post!). Apparently, I'm not the only one that uses an iPod as a surival tool. I did that cool stuff until lunch time.

As I ate my lunch, I brainstormed what kind of stuff I could put on the SalesBoard (decorating the middle of it is one my responsibilities). I wanted to put up pictures of our customers with blurbs about them since right now, it's just a boring list, but when I went over to my boss to feel things out a bit more, I decided that they didn't want/need me to change the format of the customer list- I should do "fun stuff" for the middle. A lot of our customers are in the Healthcare industry, so I spent some time surfing the Net for good healthcare jokes for a "joke of the week" section. The challenge was finding appropriate, yet funny jokes. Most of the ones I found were either too dirty or too cheesy. But this is next week's joke:


Jon's working at the lumberyard, pushing a tree through the buzz saw, and accidentally shears off all ten of his fingers. He goes to the emergency room.

The doctor says, "Yuck! Well, give me the fingers, and I'll see what I can do."

Jon says, "I haven't got the fingers.

"The doctor says, "What do you mean, you haven't got the fingers? It's the year 2000. We've got microsurgery and all kinds of incredible techniques. I could have put them back on and made you like new. Why didn't you bring the fingers?"

Jon says, "Well, heck, Doc, I couldn't pick 'em up."
(Alternate ending: Jon says, "Well, shit, Doc, I couldn't exactly pick the fuckin' things up!")

At some point, I went over to my boss and asked if there was anything she actually needed me to get done that was more pressing than my searching for jokes. And that's when they gave me my assignment (insert scary music here)...

TO BE CONTINUED

first day

What I did today was EXACTLY what I did on the first day of my last job: basic data entry, cleaning of lead lists and stuff. Ironic? Honestly, it's the most boring thing in the world and puts me to sleep, so tomorrow i'm bringing my dangerous iPod to keep me awake (which my last job gave me...).

We went out to lunch, which is one of the big perks of marketing. The thai restaurant was the one that I used to go to with the old company. I got my "usual": CRAZY NOODLES. I felt guilty.

I decided not to bring up the money issue. And I still have to figure out how I'm going to split my time between the old company and the new company. (My old boss taught me everything I know, there's no way I could just leave.)

My one concern: my new cubicle is right in the middle of the office, where everyone passes through. I would be fine, if it wasn't for the fact that my cubicle only has three sides! It's missing that standard half of a fourth side that everyone else has. This means that anyone can see what I'm doing at any time.



According to a Washington Post article, "My Cubicle, My Cell", 26% of U.S. companies have fired employees for misusing the Internet on company time, while 25% have done the same for e-mail abuse. Although I don't think that checking my mail or reading the news will get me fired, I don't like the fact that I don't have the privacy to do it.

Some would argue that I shouldn't be doing either of those things on company time. However, I think that taking a five minute break and then re-focusing on my assignment is much more productive than me trying to just get through it.

feeling a bit uneasy...

So, I had my interview on Tuesday and tomorrow is my first day of work. I've been thinking a lot and I feel like I should ask for $12 instead of $10. They obviously really want me, and if they could afford to have me 40 hours a week and I'm going to be coming in at the most 35 hours, they should be able to pay me that.

The thing is, I've been working for $10 an hour since I graduated high school, now that I've got two years of college and a whole lot of experience under my belt, hasn't my work value increased at least a little bit?

My mother says that I should've said something at the interview (I agree) and that there's really nothing I can do at this point. I think I should go in tomorrow, see how it goes and at some point bring up the subject, either face-to-face or by e-mail. I could maybe say something along the lines of, "my old company has offered me $12 an hour, i know that your advertisment said $10, but is that something we could look into?"

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

interning in dc

A visitor (unclejohn.mindsay.com) directed me to this article, commenting "Unless you want old guys hitting on you all the time you don't want to be any kind of intern in Washington DC." I had three initial reactions:

1. Old guys hitting on young interns? I wish they would just GROW UP, but I think the Monica Lewinsky syndrome happens pretty much anywhere. At my internship, I was never inappropriately approached, but there were a few (rare and hopefully innocent) comments that made me go "hmmm..."

2. The only person I know who is actually any type of political/governmental intern in Washington, DC is a guy who is spending the summer working with Barack Obama. Hopefully, he won't have any trouble. ;)

3. At this point (of being home two days) I think that I might rather deal with fifty-year-old men hitting on me than having to deal with my mother for the next three months.

miscommunication

I thought today was my first day on the job, but apparently, I was just going in for an interview. From what I understand, I will be working closely with two women (one a recent grad, the other older). They were really excited to have me: "we were overwhelmed by your resume". I'm nervous that I won't live up to their expectations.

The company is really young, experiencing recent rapid growth with a lot of potential. The workplace itself isn't as nice as at my old company. My cubicle is right in the open and doesn't have any type of fourth wall, so no privacy for me...

The whole time I was there, I was comparing this new company with my old one. I felt like I was comparing a new boyfriend with my first love.

My first real day will be on Thursday. I told them I'd be in at 10:00am. I'm still trying to figure out the logistics of how many hours I'll be working there (I'm going to try and still work at the old job at least one day a week...)

Options for tomorrow:
- enjoy my day off
- going in for a day to my old company

first day worries

Tomorrow is my first day at my new internship. I'm getting a little nervous, although I don't think it's quite hit me yet that I won't be going to my old job (where I have worked for more than two years). This sounds horrible, but I think my biggest worry is that I don't really have anything to wear. I got home late last night and all of my clothes are dirty. That doesn't matter anyway... since I only work fulltime in the summer, all my business clothes are suited for warm weather and the forecast calls for rain and cold for the next ten days. I'm going into work at 1:00pm, so maybe I'll try to get up early and do a little shopping. Oh the woes of being an intern!

Interview: To Go or Not To Go?

I have the interview in Boston tomorrow at 12:00pm. I've given it a lot of thought and I don't think I am going to go. Not only do I just not feel like trecking all the way there on my first day home, but I don't think the internship will be better than the one I've commited to.

The question now is: will I wake up in time to call and cancel?


(Obviously, I will.)