achin' · to · be

That said, I'm really enjoying the new job. I was silly to be so scared, but I'm paranoid by nature so I can't really help it. I thought I would be hard pressed to find a nicer, cooler boss than OldBoss, but NewBoss gives him a run for his money in a serious way. Not only is he nice and mellow and such, but he's also into some of the same things that I am (primarily the voracious literary appetite). Anyway, it all adds up to a lovely work envioronment that has put me more at ease in five days than I was after three months at the old job. Of course, none of these people know my father and thus I am not judged as a reflection of him.

NewBoss actually invited me to a Memorial Day get together he and his wife are having tonight. His wife works help desk part-time actually and she's just as laid-back as he is, so there are no issues. They slip into Baby-Honeys sometimes, but it doesn't bother me a bit. It's really very sweet. I can't go tonight, because I have plans (dinner with Nathan's family for his brother's birthday and then Star Wars with Nikki), but it was really cool that he asked.

So I am alive. Just busy and adjusting. :)

See: I am a packrat.

Now I have two copies of Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay. Why did I not remember reading it the first time? It was undoubtedly good both times. Maybe it has something to do with memory permanence and the fact that the old battered edition is a first edition and the one I bought a few months ago is the tenth anniversary edition. My brain has changed a great deal since sixteen.

It was just startlingly odd. In the way you write down ideas you believe to be original, only to discover you wrote them down in your diary when you were 10.

I also don't know why this puzzles me enough to warrant an entry.

Packing is going well. Bosses are, "Very sad to see me go," but "Happy that [I] get to start [my] life." The BigBoss in the corner office knows too and says, "The door's always open." Which is nice in its own way. To know that I will actually be missed and the hills are not alive with empty platitudes. I doubt I'll ever be back this way to take him up on the offer, but I believe he means it and so it means something to me.

The actual physical moving will take place the 21st and I will have more spare hands than I know what to do with. The apartment isn't that big and Boy will be bringing his mom in addition to my mother, father, and brother. Six people to move an 800 sq ft 2bd. This is me boggling. Boggling while being extremely grateful for the assistance.

I've settled into a comfortable state of whelmed. There's no turning back now, so I will do this job and do it well or die trying. Same with the place...get it packed and cleaned and the keys turned over. Resolve is a lovely thing. It calms the panic just enough to let you get shit done. Then again, normal people don't panic as easily as I seem to. It's slightly obsessive, but I'm okay with that.

Got another 7:30-6:00 scheduled tomorrow with packing after, so it is long past my bedtime.

Oh! If anyone has current contact info and would like updated info or would like it for the first time, just drop a comment or email.

I think the battle has finally ended and I can EXEUNT Stage South.

I interviewed with a company in Nashville last September. The dude they hired instead of me already left. I did not realize this until I was sitting in front of them again. I thought I was applying for a PC Support Tech position they posted an opening for. But wait, there's more, if you act now you get to fill the position you originally applied for after participating in an interview which is nothing but a formality.

I am comfortable in saying that I pretty much have the job. This, of course, is contingent upon my passing the drug screen (which is not an issue) and my references checking out. I have my fingers crossed super-hard that I'll hear something this week.

I am trying to be sure I can do the job, but it's hard anytime you change companies/positions. It's hard to know what they expect of you. I heard them rattle off what they want me to do, but there are always things they forget about, you know. And I don't know what the pressure level is like, to get things done.

Anywho, it means I will be more absent than usual for awhile - packing, moving, and whatnot. But after that I should be around more barring serious amounts of overtime with the new peeps.

I'm just dreading telling my boss. He's had a hard couple of weeks, mostly due to his personal life, and I don't want to dump this on him. He knows I've been looking. He knows why. He's okay with it, but is not looking forward to replacing me. I...yeah. I am not looking forward to this conversation. It always feels icky.

But I have to do it, so I should go finish getting ready for work.

Kisses to all.

Thing the First
My grandfather passed away late Friday night/early Saturday morning. It was quick, unexpected, and has left me a little unbalanced. He walked into the hospital on his own steam the previous Friday complaining he was having trouble breathing and it turned out that one of his lungs was so full of fluid it was a miracle he was still breathing at all. They didn't even have time to fully process the biopsy results, but from the masses that showed up on his CAT scan we all think it was cancer. He was a great man, a patriot who fought for his country in WWII, and I am glad - for his sake - that it was quick. He will be sorely missed.

Thing the Second
It's my birthday. I don't feel much like celebrating, but there you go. Seeing Paul in concert this weekend will be my celebrating. Things are so insane lately that I don't even know when I'll see my family for my birthday. At this point I'm thinking Memorial Day.

Thing the Third
Came home to 100+ emails and mixed in with the junk was an email from the president of a company in Nashville who wants to interview me for a Document Imaging/Scanning Manager position. I could do this, totally. Especially considering I pretty much singlehandedly rolled out our doc imaging system last year. I'm as excited as I can be under the circumstances. Honestly, I'm thrilled someone even wants to talk to me.

Anyhow. I should work. I've got a ton of catching up to do.

Feh.

I know. I'm whining. But aside from that first callback I'm getting zero play from prospective employers. Even with the boy's address. I'm doing what I can to fix it, mostly by studying for the certification tests. The idea is that 4 years experience + certs = job. Maybe I'm dreaming.

The goal when I started was to secure a position in Nashville by the end of April.

I don't think it's going to happen.

Enough wallowing.

My Westerberg tix arrived yesterday and I squealed. I saw a preview for Tru Calling during 24, and while I understand and agree that it is not the best!show!evah I want to see what Jane did with it. Goddard is co-writing this week's Alias, Bell co-wrote last week's and this is very good. Boy and I are celebrating my birthday this weekend due to some possible mid-month business travel, so I'll get my presents early, yay.

Um.

Work still sucks the granddaddy of all sucks. Still expected to do the work of two for 3/4 of the pay. Still considered the red-headed-stepchild of the company who has zero representation at managers' meetings so that anyone who rips on us can go on ripping and not a single solitary soul knows enough about what we're doing to say otherwise. Still have to watch the yokels in the adjoining department screw around to the tune of 40 lost hours/wk and hold my tongue. Still have to tell people over and over and over and over how to do something because they can't seem to retain said information for more than three days.

But really, I'm happy. Because the job's just a job and not my life and I'll find something in Nashville eventually.

Still miss you all like crazy...