Week one at my job is done! There is so much still to learn, my head is spinning.

Apart from Thursday night, the commute has been pretty good. I usually leave my apt around 8am in the morning and have been getting there in under 30 minutes. Luckily the parking garage has amazing cell reception, so I'm able to reply to emails and send texts while I'm killing time waiting to go up to the office (the gal training me doesn't want me there until 9am). I usually leave the office between 5-5:30pm and was home either before or close to 6pm each night.  

Thursday evening was a nightmare! I FLEW through Brentwood and Westwood, but when I got to Beverly Hills, I hit a WALL of traffic. Of course it was also the day that my phone fell under the seat where I couldn't reach it, so I couldn't log-in to Waze and find another way home. It took OVER AN HOUR to get from Canon to S. San Vicente/Wilshire Blvd. I muscled my way over and made a left and took every tiny street I knew to get home. When I finally got home....no parking. I had to park three blocks away!  I was exhausted and cranky. I treated myself to a pink grapefruit juice Greyhound while I was fixing dinner. I think it was well deserved!!!! Anyway- Lesson learned! Always have my phone handy!!!!

Training has had its ups and downs. I think the only big issue I have is that I prefer to complete things from start to finish when I'm learning and that just isn't happening. It's more a case of bits and pieces here and there, so when I have to figure out the next step, I'm sometimes at a loss. 

HEAVILY REDACTED AT THIS POINT- a lot of funny (and totally immature) trash talking was at this point. If you would like the HUGE portion I cut out, let me know!!! I thought it would be best to cut it out since I've been pretty good about not doing it up to this point, no matter how much I wanted to!!!!

Everything else is going well. We've had a few bumps, but nothing major. Hopefully, I will get the hang of stuff and it will get easier.

I will try to explore the neighborhood soon. I'm just not comfortable enough to venture out yet. Ive been told there is a CVS down the way that I may walk down to one of these days. I've also got a few people who used to work with me at my last job who either live in the area or who now work there that want to either go to lunch or cocktails after work (if I go for cocktails I'll take the bus in).

Fingers-crossed I can learn everything and also get acclimated to the fancy neighborhood. :-)

Well, it's the end of the day after my first day at work and I'm exhausted. It was non-stop information overload. But, and this shows how great my new bosses are, I was told, in no uncertain terms, that I'm not expected to know and learn everything in one day. Being the people pleaser I am, I want so bad to do everything right and impress them....... Right off the bat with little instruction. I know that's an unreasonable expectation on my part, but it's in my DNA. It's what I do.

As I have said before, I'm really not that familiar with the area, but it seems nice. I, of course, got there early, so my commute was less than 25 minutes this morning and it was about 35-40 minutes going home, which is better than I thought it would be. Each way, to keep it easy, I took Wilshire straight to San Vicente.  

It's so weird, my goal was always to get a job on the west side, but I never dreamed I would be working where I finally ended up. I count myself so fortunate that my reputation and work ethic was so well known that I was recommended for this job so out of the blue. The application and interview process was long and arduous, to say the least, but it was my reputation and people recommending me that got me in the door.  As far as I know, this job was not advertised, so I'm flattered.

The best part of the day was when I was told "I am so happy you are here". That made me feel so good! So, as of day 1, I'm happy!

I guess I'm in what they call the honeymoon phase. :-)

Guess who got up at their old wake-up time this morning? Me, nervous? Nah (yeah right). I was finally sleeping in until 6-6:30 and I got up at 3:45am today. :-(

I start my new job tomorrow and I've started to get really apprehensive.  In addition to the actual job that I'm nervous about, I'm not very familiar with the area the office is located, apart from getting there and getting home.

I really want to do well at this job. I've failed at a lot of things, but I've always been able to exceed expectations at work. I don't want that to change.   It's scary!  I'm excited but very scared and nervous.

Just started reading an amazing book called "Ladies and Gentleman-- Lenny Bruce" by Albert Goldman and Lawrence Schiller. I'm not done yet, but I highly recommend it. I got it used and there was a sweet inscription at the front "August 25, 1996-- Happy Birthday Nick! Lenny Bruce - The best ever.  Love, Mum X." I love stuff like that.

I love my Kindle and IPad for reading books, but there's nothing like trolling through a used bookstore finding treasures like that. Notes from a mum to her son, photos hidden within pages, flowers dried to remember a special moment, yet forgotten and donated.....

I've been a fan of Lenny Bruce for a while (and a big fan of Bill Hicks after him), but I never really delved into the drug-induced torturous existence he lived.. It's all so sad, yet really interesting.

I used to love the Easter holiday. Candy! Time off from work! I hope I can get back to enjoying it again one day.

Just got back home from visiting my parents. I forgot how long that drive is!  They live approx. 520 miles away and my poor car is filthy and tired (me too!).

It was really nice to visit my folks. I had a great time and am so glad I took advantage of my time off between jobs to spend time with them. Next time, if I drive again, I think I'm going to take Gotham with me and see if their cat will get along with him (he was really mad at me when I got home a little while ago...still is).

I'm glad to be home though.


PS: all the drivers on the road on the way up and the way back home were bitches.

I am BORED!!! I'm also getting fat because, what do I do when I'm bored? EAT!!!! This is ridiculous, I have to find something to fill my time with.....maybe I will go visit my parents.

Wow, I guess I'm unemployed for the next couple of weeks!!!  It's so weird that I don't have any chores to do or early morning alarms to set for tomorrow morning. All I have to do is make sure I move my car by 8am for street sweeping tomorrow morning.

My last day at work was hectic! I came in at my regular time hoping to be able to get work done before my replacement came in an hour and a half later at 6:30am. Unfortunately, when I got there, I found streamers, balloons and signs making it impossible to get to my desk. I was told that I could not take them down, unless I wanted to die. I decided to try and clean out my replacements desk (she isn't going to be using mine), but that took longer than I'd hoped. Plus she arrived early! Then the day long food crammed party started. I haven't seen that much food in a long time! Plus the people! So many people!!!  I was touched that so many came by to wish me well, but I felt bad because just about everyone said that she has "big shoes to fill". She doesn't need to hear that on her first day! I told her not to listen and that she would be fine. I finally had to send her home so I could get some work done!! I'd hoped to be further along than I was!

Mid-morning was the time I had to go down and see Human Resources.  I took the high road in my exit interview and I hope I was able to wrap that part up with a little bit of grace. It's funny, they were surprised that I planned on staying the entire day getting work done. You'd think that after all these years that they would know me well enough to realize I'm not going to leave a load of work for the new person to handle. At least not on purpose.

I got most everything done in the end. Sadly, our IT dept was super-efficient and turned off my phone access early. I saw I had four voicemail messages, but hadn't been able to listen to them yet. By the time I got a chance, all gone and deleted. Plus, I couldn't look at the call history to let the people know I wasn't able to listen their messages.

I left later than my normal time, but that's ok. Saying my last goodbyes was hard. I was exhausted by the time I was hauling the last of my stuff to the car. Luckily, Sam was with me to help carry things! We made good time home and were up at EC early. Delicious margaritas and good food!  A perfect way to end my last day at work.

I can't wait for this new chapter to start. It's scary and uncertain, but at least it's a change.

Tomorrow is the day!!!  I found out that a party is being thrown for me at work and I still have tons of work to do before I leave for good.....to go to E.C. after work to have cocktails. :-) those of you who know the place I'm talking about should stop by and say hello. Get there early though, because we're planning on arriving before most people are even out of work and heading home when the joint gets crowded around 8:30-9:00pm. That way I have plenty of time to hydrate and take aspirin before bed, in hopes of not having a hangover my first day of being out of work.

I'll try and post during the day, but realistically, I don't know if I will have the chance.