My husband and I are becoming experts at doing things with one hand. We have now mastered the making-a-bottle-with-crying-child in one arm; that's old hat. But we've developed one-handed expertise that we never thought about before. While I was out of town for a weekend recently, he made himself a gourmet breakfast - flipping eggs and cooking bacon - all while holding the baby in the other arm. I've loaded the washer with laundry with just the left hand, caught the remote after my husband tossed it across the room to me (this is a small miracle in itself), and picked up a pacifier from under the baby swing, all while holding E. I've gotten so good that last night my husband tossed his truck keys to me, and I instinctively raised my left hand - even though I'm a righty - and grabbed them with the skill of a professional baseball player.
Throwing things, I still need to work on, however.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
The *new job* update
So I started my new job yesterday. Full-time, good pay with benefits and everything. I could not have a more different experience than what I came from! Pleasant people who communicate kindly with each other and who seem to have some fun together too. And all the tea/hot chocolate I can drink. Not a bad gig.
I am in the Creative Services Department, which means we have 3 copywriters/promotions managers and 3 graphic designers. We create materials for both sales and marketing departments so they can go to trade shows with information pieces and do their sales-y thing. We also write up email blasts and web copy. Thank God I don't have to do sales anymore. I am just not a good salesperson.
The first day was your typical day... got a temporary badge so I can access the building, turned in all the tax paperwork, direct deposit form, parking form, etc. I was also handed a bag of Company P swag (insulated lunch bag, coffee cup, mouse pad, coasters, pen/notepad, and sticky notes). Then I was shown to my cubicle, which actually is in the shape of a stretched out hexagon. The cube dividers are translucent walls and mesh, so we can all see each other and hear each other. But it gives the feeling of privacy. I have a laptop with a desktop docking station, and a large monitor. They even gave me a laptop case. I have a small table in there (about the size of an end table) that can move around for various needs. There is also a locker in my cube, so I can hang up my coat/sweater, and a little shelf for my purse. I have three big drawers and two deep shelves to put personal stuff in as well.
While I was getting settled, I realized there was a basket of homemade chocolate chip cookies on the file cabinet outside my office with a "Welcome, Shannon!" sign (note the punctuation, only copywriters do that). My boss came by and asked how I liked them, and I hadn't tried one yet, then she said she made them for me! One by one just about every person in the department came by for a cookie and to introduce themselves. Several people were out at a trade show and won't be back until next week. (There were a couple of people right off I could tell I will get along with great, and a couple of people I wasn't so sure of. They also will remain nameless.)
C, another copywriter, asked where I was from and when I said Milan, she said she was too! Through the morning we ended up exchanging emails with a couple of other "Milanites" about the high quality of the fireworks display for the 4th. C had applied for a copywriter job at the other company I used to be at, while I was there, and didn't get the job but she said she recognized me from the interview process.
So then I went and got some office supplies from the copy room, got a nickel tour of the place from my boss and saw the cafeteria/Starbucks, and then called the Help Desk so I could log into my computer. I had email already, since they started copying me on some meeting requests (there's a weekly status meeting). I responded to some of those, and to a couple of "Sorry I am not in the office, but welcome to the group!" emails. I found out there that one of the graphic designers had a baby by emergency c-section Tuesday night... apparently she named her son Indiana. Yes, that's right, like the character in the movies. Everyone's OK and she'll be back in 3-4 months. Until then we all have to step up and take over some of her work.
L, the other copywriter, sent me a lengthy email after lunch with some hyperlinks to the network drives, and some internal links to the intranet so I could explore some product descriptions and even try out some of the genealogy databases. I spent the rest of the day doing that. I tried finding some Maclarens, which I did, and my great-grandmother, which took a bit longer, but finally I did (I kept spelling her first name wrong). She was in the 1930 census in Hesperia, MI. Interesting to note that she was 39 at the time. I found out her exact date of death (August 25, 1979), which I didn't know before.
I also met with C to take over a weekly e-newsletter, which is a sales-based info piece. Gathering the content seems to be the hard part, but I think I have an idea for an incentive to get around that. Free candy bars to all, if ALL of them get their stuff in on time. It will cost me a few bucks since there are 18 people contributing, but I doubt it will happen each week. And for consecutive weeks that all of them get their stuff in on time, the incentives will get better. I don't know what I will do after that, but if we can get this going, I think it will work in the long run.
The best part of this job, the hours: 9:00-4:30!
I am in the Creative Services Department, which means we have 3 copywriters/promotions managers and 3 graphic designers. We create materials for both sales and marketing departments so they can go to trade shows with information pieces and do their sales-y thing. We also write up email blasts and web copy. Thank God I don't have to do sales anymore. I am just not a good salesperson.
The first day was your typical day... got a temporary badge so I can access the building, turned in all the tax paperwork, direct deposit form, parking form, etc. I was also handed a bag of Company P swag (insulated lunch bag, coffee cup, mouse pad, coasters, pen/notepad, and sticky notes). Then I was shown to my cubicle, which actually is in the shape of a stretched out hexagon. The cube dividers are translucent walls and mesh, so we can all see each other and hear each other. But it gives the feeling of privacy. I have a laptop with a desktop docking station, and a large monitor. They even gave me a laptop case. I have a small table in there (about the size of an end table) that can move around for various needs. There is also a locker in my cube, so I can hang up my coat/sweater, and a little shelf for my purse. I have three big drawers and two deep shelves to put personal stuff in as well.
While I was getting settled, I realized there was a basket of homemade chocolate chip cookies on the file cabinet outside my office with a "Welcome, Shannon!" sign (note the punctuation, only copywriters do that). My boss came by and asked how I liked them, and I hadn't tried one yet, then she said she made them for me! One by one just about every person in the department came by for a cookie and to introduce themselves. Several people were out at a trade show and won't be back until next week. (There were a couple of people right off I could tell I will get along with great, and a couple of people I wasn't so sure of. They also will remain nameless.)
C, another copywriter, asked where I was from and when I said Milan, she said she was too! Through the morning we ended up exchanging emails with a couple of other "Milanites" about the high quality of the fireworks display for the 4th. C had applied for a copywriter job at the other company I used to be at, while I was there, and didn't get the job but she said she recognized me from the interview process.
So then I went and got some office supplies from the copy room, got a nickel tour of the place from my boss and saw the cafeteria/Starbucks, and then called the Help Desk so I could log into my computer. I had email already, since they started copying me on some meeting requests (there's a weekly status meeting). I responded to some of those, and to a couple of "Sorry I am not in the office, but welcome to the group!" emails. I found out there that one of the graphic designers had a baby by emergency c-section Tuesday night... apparently she named her son Indiana. Yes, that's right, like the character in the movies. Everyone's OK and she'll be back in 3-4 months. Until then we all have to step up and take over some of her work.
L, the other copywriter, sent me a lengthy email after lunch with some hyperlinks to the network drives, and some internal links to the intranet so I could explore some product descriptions and even try out some of the genealogy databases. I spent the rest of the day doing that. I tried finding some Maclarens, which I did, and my great-grandmother, which took a bit longer, but finally I did (I kept spelling her first name wrong). She was in the 1930 census in Hesperia, MI. Interesting to note that she was 39 at the time. I found out her exact date of death (August 25, 1979), which I didn't know before.
I also met with C to take over a weekly e-newsletter, which is a sales-based info piece. Gathering the content seems to be the hard part, but I think I have an idea for an incentive to get around that. Free candy bars to all, if ALL of them get their stuff in on time. It will cost me a few bucks since there are 18 people contributing, but I doubt it will happen each week. And for consecutive weeks that all of them get their stuff in on time, the incentives will get better. I don't know what I will do after that, but if we can get this going, I think it will work in the long run.
The best part of this job, the hours: 9:00-4:30!
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