Beth's Contradictory Brain

Weekend

Nerdstar sums up the weekend pretty well.

And while she may not be, I'm impressed with her bike riding. I know Kansas has a rep for being flat, but the little corner of Kansas/Missouri we're in is all rolling hills. So bike riding around here is not easy at all.

Work is still work. I hope to hear about the phlebotomy program in about a week. In the meantime, my boss called (her office is in a different building) Friday morning to talk about trying to juggle responsibilities so it's not so stressful, but really, until she hires an additional person, it's going to suck. At least three times in six or so minutes she said she was trying to make sure I wasn't going to quit on her. I mostly avoided answering, knowing that if the program works out I'll be quitting by mid December at the latest. But I certainly intend to at least give a week or two notice. The last week at work wasn't as stresful, but it was still a 47 hour week. The boss wants me to take on more responsibility - taking over the most fucked up part of the job in my little office. I was wondering why she didn't have the lady who's been there longer do the fucked up stuff and just let me do more of the worked out stuff. I have a feeling the other lady also refused to do the fucked up stuff and kept the easy stuff - and I don't blame her a bit. So we'll see how this week goes.

Easy Entry

According to the book, a majority of Americans:

• Eats peanut butter at least once a week
• Prefers smooth peanut butter over chunky
• Can name all Three Stooges
• Lives within a 20-minute drive of a Wal-Mart
• Eats at McDonald's at least once a year
• Takes a shower for approximately 10.4 minutes a day
• Never sings in the shower
• Lives in a house, not an apartment or condominium
• Has a home valued between $100,000 and $300,000
• Has fired a gun
• Is between 5 feet and 6 feet tall
• Weighs 135 to 205 pounds
• Is between the ages of 18 and 53
• Believes gambling is an acceptable entertainment option
• Grew up within 50 miles of current home

Thought for the Day

Thinking really should burn more calories. Then I could be a skinny ass bitch!

This and That

The interview yesterday was actually fun. There are two women who work part time to make one full-time person, so they were conducting the interviews together. It was supposed to be a short and to the point process, but we sat and chatted for about 35 minutes. We talked about my jobs dealing with oral history, Nerdstar's job with the military, Mpaquest and how exit signs are also mile markers - which comes in very handy for learning how to get around in a new city. At the end they said they should have me come back once a week just so we can all talk and they can learn more. How nice was that? I certainly hope that translates into getting into the program. They're taking six people this time and they said everyone gets a job at the end of the program who wants one - so that was good news.

They said they'll send out notices within two weeks.

Back at the job from hell... dipshit girl who honeymooned in Branson came in yesterday, gave her two week notice, worked half assed all day, then this morning just called in and quit. Nice. So my day was a little rougher than I would have liked. I didn't get done until 6, and that was only because the non-supervisor lady took pity on me. Hopefully tomorrow I'll know better what to look for to not have the same ton of problems.

Either way, I don't intend to be at that job past Christmas.

Ugh

I really don't want to go to work tomorrow. I ended the work week on a pretty big down note Friday evening. After a long week of feeling like the shit kept rolling downhill onto me, I was dead tired and very frustrated. I had hoped that Friday would go relatively smoothly, I'd get out of there at a decent time (God forbid after only 8 hours) and that come Monday my job would consist of only my job and things would go much more smoothly. But about five or so Friday, (my 8 hours having been up at 3:30) it all went to hell. There was me, the lady who had been training me who's not a supervisor, but has worked there forever and I think is like me in that she just wants to get shit done right and get done. There was our immediate supervisor - who I'm pretty sure thinks I'm a pain in the ass who doesn't want to learn every little detail - even though those details were about a job I won't be doing. Then there was our manager who is really nice, but not always helpful. There were a ton of issues, none of which I could offer any help with, and about 5:30 I saw no immediate end to. I was trying to finish up the issues with one stupid peace of paper, but the immediate supervisor would keep making me wait at least ten minutes before answering my questions every time I'd walk over there to try to find out the right processes. Also about 5:30 the manager came over to our building to try to do what she could to start resolving issues. I think the lady who'd been training me would have been happier to not have to explain every little thing to our manager and just gotten it done herself.

About 6:00 I was physically and mentally done. I was shaking and frustrated. What sucks is that all three of these women have been putting in 80+ hour weeks for a month or two. It's not that I expect sympathy, but I was asked to do way too much last week with zero training on at least half of it. So I went over to our manager, told her I was about to pass out and that I was sorry, but I was going home. At that point if she'd said "then don't come back on Monday" I would have jumped for joy.

I don't really feel bad for looking out for myself. But it's just damn frustrating. I'm smart and I'm a hard worker - and it was partially those two facts that got me fucked over last week. I'm sure they thought I could handle the other person's job on top of my own, but they just never gave me enough information to do any of it well or right.

I'm also pretty sure that the immediate supervisor and the lady who's been there forever were pisssed that I left. So working with them tomorrow won't be fun.

On top of that, I have to leave tomorrow at 2:30 for an interview for a phlebotomy program. (Keep your fingers crossed on that for me, I really want that to work out!)

We'll see how this week goes. I'm trying to not be a quitter. If I have any luck at all, I'll get accepted into the phlebotomy prgoram that starts in January and I'll work this stupid job until Christmas.

Work Is Not My Life

Week three of the new job, and I'm finally all set up at my own desk, with a working computer and such. Nice. But, because some chick is out on vacation for her honeymoon (to Branson, Missiouri - which tells you all you need to know about the women I work with) and because of the rollover to the new computer system, this week is still a little crazy. I worked over ten hours yesterday and just under nine today. I fully expect it to be better next week.

I work mostly with five or six women. And while I know things have been busy, they all seem to enjoy working eleven + hour days. Um, no thanks. I swear they don't even take lunch breaks, they work at their desk and eat. Um, no thanks.

I don't mind working hard. I'm all about getting my job done, and done right. If you ask me to do something, I'll never say no. I'll never ask you to do my job for me. I prefer to live and let live at work. This job seemed nice in that I should have a set routine every day that I work through without much interaction. I hope that next week that's more how this job ends up being.

In the meantime, I'm not sure I'm making the best impression. (Thank God I'm there to make money and not impressions!) I take my lunchtime away from my desk. I generally bring my lunch and a book and read in the breakroom. Today one of the ladies came in and joked about me not eating at my desk. I said, "no way!" Then, because I was as done as I could be for the day, I left about 4:15 (not 3:30 which is 8 hours) and a different lady said, "well, aren't you special." I said, "Yep, always have been."

I do understand there's not much to life up here in the void of the midwest, but I would NEVER prefer to be at work when I could be ANYWHERE else! They don't seem to share that philosophy.

Oh well. While I'm glad to have a job, I'll never be sad to see this one end.

Charles "Chuck" Schwab

I'm a stock investor. Back when we loved going to Vegas, I figured that investing in the stock market wasn't so different than gambling. On one trip to Vegas I won about $400 and turned around and invested it in some stocks. I've used Sharebuilder for over four years and love it. I've even gotten little Zach an account and a few investments, and finally got Nerdstar into a Roth IRA. I've stuck with the "buy what you know" and have had decent returns. Two big misses were not buying Apple when it was about $16 before the term iPod had even been invented, and not buying Whole Foods at $44 when I knew how solid a company it was.

Anyway. I've seen a couple of versions of the new Charles, no wait - call me Chuck, Schwab commercials and think they're insulting. Obviously, they want a younger demographic to start investing with them. That's smart. But thinking that going from Charles to Chuck and using animated people to sell me on their product is hip and not talking down to me, well, I'm not so sure. Then again, I'm not big on paying someone else to do what I can do for myself.

If you were looking for someone to trust your money with, would these new commercials gain your business?

A Job is a Job

Sorry for the lack of posts. I was not informed when I agreed to take this job that the hours would be from 7 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. (I'm hoping for 8 hour days soon!) IF I had been informed of the hours when the temp agency first let me know the job existed I would have said thanks, but NO thanks. I was never a morning person, but two years of getting up around 9 a.m. is making it damn near impossible to now get up at 5:50 a.m. And I'm afraid that next week they'll want me to start being there at 6:30. UGH! Other than that it's a perfectly boring job. That, too, might change Monday. They're switching over to a new inventory system (sort of) and the way it affects what I was hired to do is that it totally fucks it. Nice. Not that I care enough to be stressed.

It's a job. I'm not looking to quit any time soon. But I am hoping for a good reason to quit - like Nerdstar getting a better job in a different state, or a program I've applied to to be a phlebotomist. We'll see.

In the meantime, I'm dead on my feet and my eyeballs feel like they're going to fall out of my head.

Bad Influence

What tv shows do/did you watch as a direct result of a blogger you read writing about them?

It's a decent list for me, Carnival, Lost, The Comeback, Threshold

I'll have to see if I think of others.

And if you're not watching Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends on Cartoon Network, you really should be!

Excuse me?

I can't even say how much this pisses me off.

Republican lawmakers are drafting new legislation that will make
marriage a requirement for motherhood in the state of Indiana,
including specific criminal penalties for unmarried women who do
become pregnant "by means other than sexual intercourse."

The change in Indiana law to require marriage as a condition for
motherhood and criminalizing "unauthorized reproduction" was
introduced at a summer meeting of the Indiana General Assembly's
Health Finance Commission on September 29 and a final version of the
bill will come up for a vote at the next meeting at the end of this
month.

There's info in the linked site to contact relevant state reps, etc.

Found via Jeff, check out his post and the comments.

$$

Now that it appears my financial situation is changing, let’s see if I can manage to write about some things I’ve been reluctant to write about. It seems it’s easier to write about sex than money.

It’s been 22 months since I quit my last job. Ten months of that Nerdstar was in Iraq. A month or so on the road. Then the holidays. Then the move seven months after her arrival back in the states. Did I look for a job during any of that time. Yes. Vigorously? No. The time Nerdstar was in Iraq was harder on me than I thought it should have been, but that’s how it was. Then there was the uncertainty before the move.

Do I feel I have to make excuses for 22 months of being unemployed? Sometimes. I know Nerdstar’s sister and one of her friends from college feel I’m taking advantage of her. I feel I stood by her through some damn hard times.

But it’s been hard. For both of us I’m sure. (Nerdstar has her own blog if she cares to weigh in.)

We’ve also talked a couple of times about if things would be different if: 1. she was a man, 2. if we were married and/or 3. if we had kids. I think it would have, but how I can’t articulate.

We’re not into gender roles and all the associated issues. But I still end up feeling guilty for not holding up my end of this partnership financially. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t feel that way if I were straight.

Before she went to Iraq, when we both went through times of employment and unemployment, we split most things 50/50. The exception being food bills – my girl eats at least twice as much as I do. When she was being deployed, we consolidated everything to make it easy to pay all the bills, and “just in case.” I used up my savings and such paying “my” bills as long as I could.

Now, as I mentioned in the last post, I joke with Nerdstar about being her indentured servant. Like I’m somehow responsible to pay her back for the past 22 months. But will I really feel any less bothered by the whole thing a year from now? I guess I hope so.

Day One

I work in the office of older ladies with very bad hair. It's almost bad enough for me to get a camera phone just to show you guys, but, that would be rude. Heh.

I think the job will be fine. Getting up ass early won't be fun, but oh well. After two years of a pretty leisurely schedule, I can't complain.

New Kid

Well, the new job starts tomorrow. I actually intend to keep this one more than a week. I'm still not entirely sure exactly what I'll be doing. I know they're getting a new computer system starting tomorrow, so at least I'll be in on the ground floor for training. The temp agency mentioned my hours might end up being from 6:30 to 3 or so. Ummm, I sure hope not. But, I guess it wouldn't be the end of the world.

I have mixed feelings about finally working again. I told Nerdstar I kinda feel like I'm her indentured servant for the next six months to a year.

So, we'll see. See how the job actually is, how the co-workers are. Things like that. I know they needed to hire three or four other people, so at least I won't be the only new kid.