Bit of Ivory

I’ve now officially been working at my job for a week and one day. I like it. There are still some things I’m unsure about, but most of it is starting to become familiar. At the moment I’m concentrating on the front desk, although there is a strong possibility that I’ll move to the actual HR department in a more traditional admin assistant role, concentrating on insurance and benefits. The girl I’m replacing did both, but she was filling in until they hired a replacement, and they always planned on hiring two people. At first they tried to teach me both roles at once, but I was feeling overwhelmed. It’s not that the front desk job is particularly challenging, because it isn’t really, but it is considerably more complicated than my last receptionist job. Since, you know, the last company I worked for had 40 employees total, whereas Jordan Commons is responsible for 5 theaters, two restaurants, and a number of administrative staff. Plus we coordinate with several of the other Larry H. Miller companies. There’s a lot more bureaucracy to deal with– more making of copies (under department codes) and logging and cross-checking and this going to this place and this other very similar thing going to a completely different place. And my predecessor was spreadsheet-happy. And she’s not the only one. But it’s still good. I’m starting to remember what things need how many copies and where they go, and everyone I work with is really really nice. So, I’m satisfied.

I finished knitting my Dalek. It’s really funny to have a nice cuddly friend who can kill you in an instant (and wants to!). I took a picture today, but haven’t had a chance to upload it. I’ll try to do that tomorrow.

The day I found out I got the job, I went shopping. In the past week, I have bought 3 shirts, 3 pairs of pants, 2 pairs of shoes, and a purse. They were all needed (well, maybe not the purse, but I tend to buy purses every season change whether I need them or not :P)– I’ve gained a few pounds since last spring/summer, and I’d planned to buy new work clothes when I lost my job. Since there was no real reason to buy business clothes when I didn’t have a job (and I didn’t have the money anyway), I put it off. But now that I have the prospect of a paycheck in a couple of weeks, I felt justified in spending a couple of hundred of my hard-hoarded money. I actually put my stimulus check aside for just such a purpose.

I am trying to be more conservative with my money, though. I hope to keep a nice cushion in both checking and savings, just in case I should find myself unemployed again. It’s not very likely– business is booming for the theaters– but it’s better to be safe than sorry. I also want to pay off my credit card balance as quickly as possible.

In the meantime, I haven’t been able to work much on my thesis. My body is still adjusting to getting up at 6:30 again, and I just haven’t had the mind power. But I hope to set aside at least a couple of hours every night to work on it. I really, really, need to get this off my plate.

My grandma is coming home from her rehab facility tomorrow. She’s getting a bit stir-crazy. I hope she does well at home.

<i>Midnight</i> was amazing. Much looking forward to the last few episodes of Series Four. Oh, and David Tennant can sit by me.