17 posts tagged “dispatch from the cubicle”

After three days at the new job I've decided...I LOVE IT!!! 

I did the right thing.

I waltzed into work on Monday, sat at my desk and typed my two weeks notice and hit "send."  Since then I have had the most relieved feeling as I've gone about wrapping up my last three articles.  Two of them are done and on their way to public release and the last one is just about there.  I've been sorting through my desk and carrying a few things home every night.  I just can't wait to start the new job.

I'm surprised by how many people keep asking me if the new job comes with a big pay raise. I'm a little embarrassed to answer "no" but once I explain what I'll be doing, everyone thinks it's a perfect fit.  I'm a little nervous about what the actual difference is in the paycheck but I think I can make it work.  I'm not spending any money, sort of stockpiling it.

I do feel bad because my very close friend at work is very sad and has even shed tears about my leaving.  I really wish I could take her with me.

I was able to talk my salary offer up a bit so I took the job!!!!!

I'm really happy that I will be working in a more relaxed and more creative environment.  Seriously, the fact that this place has colors on the walls and windows and a flipping patio, where I will be allowed to sit, BLOWS MY MIND!!!!

I'm very relieved and grateful to the universe!!!

Jury duty did not happen because it snowed a couple of inches, then we got some freezing rain which turned into a quarter of an inch of ice, then it snowed a few more inches on top of that.  So I deferred until May.  But at least my work was closed for two days, so I haven't had to go anywhere.

I had that job interview last week and the company was very cool, a small marketing/advertising firm run by some younger people with all that cool modern furniture.  I wouldn't just be copywriting, I'd be doing project coordination also.  I got an email from the boss asking for some creative writing samples and with some positive feedback.  Then today he sent me another email and told me I was the frontrunner for the position and gave me some info about the company and the benefits.  But unfortunately the annual salary he listed would be a HUGE paycut.  I really want the job, I think I could be really good at it, but I can't commit financial suicide.  I was expecting a paycut but with my experience and educational background, I wasn't thinking it would be that much.

The universe has teased me with the perfect job!  DAMN!!!

On an unrelated note, I watched that movie P.S. I Love You today.  And Holy Shit!!! I cried like a baby.  I knew it would be sad but some of those scenes were heartbreaking.  And Gerard Butler?  Holy Shit!!  HOT!

My husband's workplace is closing.  He's a graphic designer and works for a small Kinko's type place.  The lady that owns the store has decided that she isn't making enough of a profit since she is renting the space and equipment and so she is throwing in the towel.  I think it's pretty lame since she never worked on marketing of any kind or tried to build up their business. The good news is that most of the clients only wanted to deal with Jay anyway because he does all the graphics and printing anyway.  Jay has decided to start his own thing because he already has a built in client base and his Dad owns a building with some empty space, so Jay won't have to pay rent.  So right now he is working on his business plan and getting everything together.  I'm really happy that he is doing this, I think he's really going to be a success.

While my husband is seeing the light and the possibilities, I am dwelling in the dark cubicle land of a job I hate.  I've been looking for other things and applying but so far I haven't had much luck.  Today I applied for a copywriting job at a small marketing/advertising firm.  I actually got to talk to the guy and it sounds like something I might like.  THe problem is that its quite a bit less than I am making now.  There's always a catch right? It does have benefits and a 401K, though. 

I just don't know how excited I should be about the meeting I'm going to have with this guy.  Should I take a pay cut?

Opinions?

When I got back to work today after 5 days off (two due to the flu, three for Christmas) there was an email in my inbox from my boss.  I have come to loathe these emails because he always says the same thing (We need more stories) but he never has any constructive or new ways for us to complete this task.  The way he keeps suggesting I do this is by roaming the halls of the building and hoping to run into someone that has a story they want written.  It's not a very well laid plan. I have tried other ways and have reached out to several people to try and get stories, but there is no incentive for these people to help with these stories because it is not a job requirement for them.

So this email was no different I thought, but when I got to the second paragraph I realized that he had come up with a brilliant new plan that would keep him "informed without micromanagement."  So starting January 5th we have to keep daily logs that list everything that we do each day and the amount of time it takes to complete each task.

OH. MY. GOD.

I find this extremely annoying because my work is a slow process with alot of steps and how fast these stories get written usually depends on the person I'm writing it for and they usually make me wait a little while before they do their part.  I have quite a bit of down time and this log is just going to make it look like I do nothing and that is not good.

Did I also mention that there afre two office logs already in existence?  One which keeps track of all the stories being written and the other, which keeps track of all the other projects (graphic design) that others are working on.  So if he wants to know what is happening in the office, why read those logs? 

And how is making us keep a daily log that records every task that we do and the amount of time it takes to do those tasks not micromanaging?

I've been spending alot of time with my own thoughts lately and I can't stop thinking about writing and how I seem to be stumped in that area.  It's like I have lost my words.  I've started doing some writing exercises, word association and journaling.  I'm really hoping this helps.  I'm also thinking about taking an online writing course.  Have any of ytou ever taken a creative writing class online?  What did you think?

I also started taking yoga lessons for relaxation and reading about breathing and reading about Yoga Nidra.  I'm hoping this helps with the anxiety.  I'm hoping to develop skills that I can use during attacks and stressful situations.  My yoga teacher is really cool, she's this little tiny pixie type lady who has this inner peace about her.  She's been so encouraging and helpful to me.  I think this is going to be a good thing.

In other news, work has been so slow that I spent an entire day last week reading about the history of the presidents of the United States. It's like as soon as the holiday season starts nobody will do any work and that makes it impossible for me to do any work. I also read about Jonestown since there was all this stuff on CNN about it and I wasn't really sure what it was.  And jeez, that was a huge clusterfuck!  That guy was insane.

I also saw snow this weekend.  Boooooo!

So today we had our annual performance reviews at work.  As you may or may not know, my boss has had a real case of assholitis and he made it known that some people weren't going to by happy, so you can imagine that I was really looking forward to this.

Usually bosses take their employees into an office and they have a conversation about these reviews, but my boss just walked up and handed me the paper, told me to talk to him if I had any questions, then sign it and give it back to him.  So this is a very helpful and informative process.

We are evaluated in seven categories: Job knowledge, Work Results/Quality, Work Habits/Methods, Customer Focus, Teamwork, Communication, Ethics.  Last year my overall score was a 4.1 out of 5.

This year I got a 3.6.  In the category of teamwork I went from a 5 to a 3 with no explanation, which is ironic because I may be one of the only two people who ever try to help anyone else in the office during my down time.  So that's just an example of what I am dealing with here.  Under Customer Focus, he wrote, "Strives to understand her customer and provides quality products."  But he gave me a 3!

In his descriptions in other categories, he made some comments just so he could get a little dig in.

What's annoying about it is that last year I wrote and published more tech articles than I ever have.

A few of my coworkers were saying he did it to them too and we are kind of mulling over what to do about it.

What would you do?

A few months ago, inspired by my sister Angie’s impending summer totally off work, I looked into what I need to do to get my teaching certificate.  I applied to one of the local universities that has a certification program geared towards people who have to work full-time while going to school.  I learned that I needed to take six classes and then do student teaching.  Student teaching would of course require that I quit my job, because it’s full time for five months.  Jay was pretty supportive of this plan.

I filled out the financial aid paper work and officially applied.  I’m supposed to be taking one class this fall but I haven’t heard from the school.  Yesterday I received an email from the financial aid program (FAFSA) and they basically said, “jeez lady you are pretty close to maxing out on how much you are allowed to get in financial aid from the TWO degrees you already have.” 

 It became pretty clear to me in that moment that I may have majored in all the wrong things in college, if I have a bachelor’s and a master’s and still am not sure what I want to be when I grow up.  That is totally depressing.  I should have majored in social work or human services since I’m really into the idea of helping people and for all the jobs that I find interesting that are available in my area, I need a SW degree.  But no, I majored in English, because nobody told me that all I could do with that degree was live and die in a cubicle or work in retail.  And my master’s degree?  Totally useless.

What decisions do you look back on and wish you had known better? (Besides the bad boyfriends.)

Well I managed to get myself totally down in the dumps today while doing a job search.  There are just no jobs for me in this city and then I made the mistake of going to Media Bistro and looking at all the jobs posted in other cities.  Jobs that seem interesting, jobs where I may not have a boss who spends his spare time crushing my self esteem with a big metaphorical angry fist.

I realize the logical conclusion here is to move but that’s not an option for us.  Jay and I are both really close with our families and we don’t want to move away from them. 

Our city’s employment options just really suck right now and it’s not exactly swimming with options for writers.  On top of that there are a lot of people out of work right now. We have fallen victim to the great automotive manufacturing closures, so the unemployment rate is high. I guess I should put my personal daily happiness and fulfillment aside and be thankful that I even have a job when so many other people don’t.  I try to tell myself that but some days I fail at having a sunny outlook.