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.

So Wednesday was my birthday. It was good. There was lunch at Tucano’s (a Brazilian steakhouse) and yarn shopping and other shopping and See’s chocolate and Backer’s Bakery cake and Litza’s pizza. I bought enough yarn to make a sweater. I finished knitting a Dalek. I watched Doctor Who.

And my sister got a phone call from human resources at her work, asking if she’d thought about applying for the Administrative Assistant position. She said no, she hadn’t really thought about it, because she liked her job very well. And then she hung up and told us (we were shopping) what the call was about, and I said “. . . I need a job, Lisa.” She hadn’t even thought of it. So she called them back and said that while she didn’t need the job, her older sister did. And Kathy (the human resources person) asked if I could come in for an interview yesterday.

Of course I could!

So after I opened the Sonic Screwdriver that Pam, Susan, and Rachel sent me for my birthday (yay!), I went in for the interview. And she seemed very impressed.

And then I came home and proceeded to get very nervous. You know, the longer you have to wait, the more you start second-guessing yourself– did the interview really go as well as I thought? Will someone else wow her more than I did? Did I seem overeager? GAH! I was good for absolutely nothing today.

And at 4:30, I got the call. Offering me the job.

YAYNESS!!!

So. I’m now working at Jordan Commons, as an admin assistant for the human resources department. I’m earning $2 more an hour than I was at New Life. I get to go to movies for free (even in the “no passes or discounts” period). I’ll have benefits and paid holidays and sick leave. I start Monday.

I’M EMPLOYED!!!!

Yesterday, I had two job interviews. I was picking up lunch after the second when my mom called my cell.

My grandmother had fallen when she got out of bed, and had broken her ankle.

Great.

So I spent the afternoon in the emergency room. Grandma’s ankle would definitely require surgery. But she’s 83 years old, has had diabetes for 40 years (that’s why she managed to break the ankle in the first place– she was in low blood sugar), has heart trouble (had a triple bypass 15 years ago), and is just frail in general, and surgery would be dangerous. So they delayed surgery until this morning.

Luckily, she did fine with the surgery. 8 pins and a plate later, and she. . . won’t be able to stand on her foot for 2 months. Lovely. Because my 85-year-old grandfather surely can’t lift her in and out of bed. Plus she’s stubborn as all get-out (although today she insisted that she’s not stubborn, she’s persistent). We’ve found a good rehab facility for her (Aspen Ridge, I’m sure Nicole is wondering– the new one is our first choice, but the Wheeler one is second on the list, so maybe she’ll see your dad) where she’ll hopefully be able to stay for at least 21 days. And they said they won’t let her leave until she can get herself in and out of bed and into a wheelchair. Now we just need to find a solution for their super-skinny bathroom door.

What is up with the medical stuff lately? First my aunt has heart trouble, then my sister-in-law has a baby (at least that was good news, but, still, it’s a hospital), then my paternal grandmother gets vertigo, then my mom’s surgery, then my nephew gets pneumonia and my niece gets bronchitis, then my cousin falls out of the sky, and now my maternal grandma breaks her ankle getting out of bed. Fantastic. Now all we need is for my dad’s kidney to go into a sudden decline, or my sister to get into a car accident on the way home from work.

Long time, no update. I’m so bad. Really must get back into the groove of doing this. Because it’s not like things haven’t been happening.

We had a fabulous time in Disneyland. Seriously, it was one of the best trips ever. The only damper on the thing was that I got tendonitis in both legs (it’s the tendon that’s on the outside of my calves) and in one foot (I think it was the pereneal tendon, which is below your ankle and on the bottom of your foot), and it was bad enough on Saturday that even the 3-minute walk from our hotel to the gate was enough for me to be nearly crying in agony. Not a good thing. So, we rented a wheelchair. I felt like an idiot, and felt badly that Sarah and Lisa had to push me around Disney, but it made it possible for us to actually go on rides. So I guess it was worth it. I didn’t go so far as to use the disabled entrances and jump the queue– instead we parked the wheelchair and I walked on to the rides like a normal person. The breaks between the queues was enough to keep the tendons from cramping too awfully much, so it worked out. $10 well spent.

Two days before we left for California, my mom had back surgery. This was planned– we got out of the house while mom was still in the hospital, and then were home and available when she was home. Luckily, instead of the vertebrae fusion that had been recommended, she qualified (and was randomized to) a research study for a new product called a <a href=”http://www.appliedspine.com/”>Stabilimax</a>. She actually got a level 2 Stabilimax, meaning that she’s been stabilized on two vertebrae instead of just one. She also had a herniated disc repaired. This surgery has been nothing short of amazing. If she’d had a fusion, she’d still be flat on her back right now. There would have been no bending for 6 months. Full recovery might have taken as long as a year. Instead, she’s up and walking and even drove herself to physical therapy today. The doctor expects her to be back to normal activity in 4-6 weeks. And mom’s so happy. Instead of being in constant pain in her back and down her leg, the only pain she’s feeling is from the incision. She feels better than she has in more than a year.

But while Mom is improving apace, we’re really worried about my cousin. She was in a paragliding accident on Saturday– fell 80 feet after hitting a windshaft. She has a crushed ankle, a broken pelvis and arm, and an abdominal hematoma that they’re worried about. Truly, she’s lucky to be alive. She went in for surgery this morning, which apparently went much better than expected, but she’s still not going to be able to stand for at least 6 weeks, and they expect at least a 6-month recovery. Rebecca is 9 months older than me– she was my “can I PLEEAAAAASE have a sleepover?” after every family event cousin– and has a 5-year-old little boy who saw the accident, saw the ambulances, saw the LifeFlight helicopter. The day before Mother’s Day. I can only imagine how horrible that must have been for him. It’s been an anxious weekend for us all, and it’s far from over.

In the meantime, I’ve been working out my anxieties by doing DDR for about an hour this afternoon. My sister bought my brother’s Wii from him (with 2 kids, he just doesn’t have time to use it), and I went out and bought the pad today. I haven’t moved that much since I went to the Keane concert.

Still no job. Still little progress on the thesis. But things are looking up.

You know why? ‘Cause I just spent the last 12 hours (give or take a few breaks here and there) walking around Disneyland. Yup! Lisa and Sarah and I have escaped to Anaheim, and boy are we happy about it. We’re also completely exhausted. My feet hurt, my back hurts, the back of my heels are bleeding from wearing shoes I only bought last week (I know, I know, but they’re trainers! That look vaguely Doctor-ish! And they match!), and I’m having a fabulous time.

Today we used a RideMax schedule to go on all our favorite rides. And it worked really really well. It helped, I suppose, that the wait times were usually less than predicted (and occasionally were even significantly so), so we got to go on everything we’d planned for the day, plus a few extras. We went on Pirates 3 times (planned for two, but had enough time and we were literally able to walk on), Space Mountain twice (only planned for once, but the last time there was only a 15 min. standby line), Indiana Jones twice (planned, but the line was so short when we came back to use our second FastPass that they weren’t even accepting them. Total wait time: 10 min.), and the following once each: Buzz Lightyear, Star Tours, Winnie the Pooh, Splash Mountain, the Matterhorn, Jungle Cruise, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and the Haunted Mansion, plus the Disneyland Railroad and the Monorail. The only item that was on our itinerary but that we didn’t actually go on was the Finding Nemo submarines, but we’d always had that penciled in, because even RideMax warned us that there would be an hour wait time, and the line we saw bore that out. I’m not positive we’ll get around to it, honestly, mainly because we’re all slightly claustrophobic, and we watched the ride while we waited for the monorail. It took forEVER to load those things. I think we’d go nuts. So, we’ll see.

In between all of that, we had lunch at the Hungry Bear, dinner at the Rainforest Cafe, and an unplanned trip during our planned break to the Long Beach Airport to retrieve some items I’d accidentally left on the plane (including my contact case and solution. Oops).

We all wore shirts that say “Lots of planets have a North” and were pleasantly surprised when a gentleman from Australia actually recognized their source while we were standing in line for Indiana Jones. We spent the rest of the queue discussing the TARDIS and the sonic screwdriver and which Doctor was our favorite and which Bad Guy was our favorite and wouldn’t it be great if we could all just take the TARDIS to Disneyland whenever we felt like it. It was fabulous.

We saw a sight we don’t often see while walking to Disneyland (our hotel is very close to the Park– it only takes about 5 minutes to walk from the hotel to the main gate). Six nuns in a white Toyota Previa. Hee.

Tomorrow we’re getting up early-ish for a sit-down breakfast at the Carnation Cafe, then we’re spending the day at California Adventure. I’ve never been, so I’m excited. I may even brave a ride on the Tower of Terror. The meclizine my doctor prescribed seems to be helping my motion sickness– I didn’t even throw up on the plane, which is amazing considering my track record of late. So maybe I’ll be able to handle the up-and-down motion better than I’m expecting I will. Then Saturday we’re planning on doing the less popular rides and Disneyland (with a few exceptions– we’re doing Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain and, of course, Pirates, again). Sunday we’ll take the day off from the parks and maybe do a bit of sightseeing before meeting up with Kirk at the Cheesecake Factory. Then it’s one more day in the parks, going on our favorite rides again, before flying home on the 8:00 pm flight.

I’ll be lucky if I get out of bed next Tuesday. But I’ll love it just the same.

Say hello to Molly Elizabeth, born on Saturday, March 29, 2008, at 5:32 a.m. 6 lbs. 9 oz., 19 1/2″ long.

I haven’t been able to post before now, because we’ve been taking care of her big sister while mom and dad are still at the hospital.

Anna’s not so sure about this whole little sister thing.

They’re coming home today! Hooray!

I don’t do this often, but I’m particularly proud of the three projects I most recently uploaded to Flickr and Ravelry, and so– I’m showing off here, too.

Behold, my three most recent Finished Objects (click the thumbnail to see the big pictures at Flickr):

Mitt Envy, fingerless mitts with a cable, knit with Koigu Painter’s Palette Premium Merino, which is meant as a sock yarn. Knitted on size 1 needles, in the round. Those needles were TINY. But I was glad for the practice on the teeny tiny needles when my sister in law asked me to make these for the new baby girl who’s due any day now:

Saartje’s Booties, made with Bristol Yarn Gallery’s Lyndon Hill (a cotton/silk blend). In order to get gauge on these things I had to go down to a size 0 needle. Lucky I bought circulars in all the sock sizes from Knit Picks a few weeks ago. These were knit flat and then seamed. Amanda picked the yarn and the buttons, I picked the pattern. They’re all ready for the new baby girl to come home in.

And now, my proudest moment:

The Spring Break Bag, made with Cascade 220 wool. I designed this. All by my own self. I test-felted my yarn, to see how much it would shrink. I did the math. I just spent the last hour or so typing up the pattern. I made it both as a bag to take with me to Disneyland and as a good beginner’s project for the knitting group I started in my neighborhood a couple of months ago. I’m going to distribute it tonight Hopefully, I’ll be able to post the pattern online after my knitting group beta-knits it for me.

Look at the needle felting detail!

And yes, I admit that the needle felting could be a bit more felted. I’m planning on doing that tonight, so the gals can see exactly what needle felting entails.

I’m excited.

Number of resumes submitted: 12

Number of responses recieved: 2

Number of interviews had: 1

*sigh*

One of the responses called for an interview, but then called again the next day and cancelled it. The other one I actually had an interview at a dentist’s office, and I think it went pretty well, but I haven’t been called back for a second interview. I’ll call them tomorrow (which will be a week from the interview) to see if the position’s been filled yet or not, and to let them know I’m still available and interested.

And today I’ve got a bad cold and feel terrible. So I only applied one more place (for a podiatrist’s office, and I would have applied for more except there haven’t been any good jobs posted since Friday) and checked on whether or not I’m going to get paid for my accumulated vacation (looking like the answer is no) and then played around on the internet all day long. And I’ve hardly eaten anything because nothing tastes at all good. Gah.

Oh, I guess I’ve read a few chapters of thesis-related stuff. Hopefully I’ll feel well enough tomorrow to do more. I mean to put all this free time to good use. Yes, precious.

On the other hand, I have successfully made my friend Pam into a Doctor Who fan. Go me.

• I woke up far too early (8:30) despite my best intentions of being lazy today. It seems I am now incapable of sleeping in. Oh, well. More time to get stuff done.
• I applied for unemployment
• I updated my resume
• I found a few more connections on LinkedIn (thanks for the tip, B.K.) and even sent a message to my former manager at Deseret Book
• Asked one person to be a reference
• Applied by e-mail for 4 jobs and by fax for 3 more

Stuff I still need to do:

• Laundry
• Break down boxes from the new bookshelves I’ve put together, so there’s room for one more
• Move computer desk, computer, and as many of my books as possible back into my room
• Figure out something fun to do tonight, because it’s my parent’s 30th anniversary (congrats, folks. :P) and my sister is working so otherwise I’ll be all alone
• Look for more places to apply
• Contact 2 more people for references

Keeping busy is at least keeping me from getting too depressed. So, I’ll stay busy.

Today at work has been– interesting. We’ve all moved past the shock of coming in and hearing “We’re closing. As of now. As soon as we can get the patients moved out. Friday, hopefully. Monday at the latest.” We’ve done the depression and the anger and the sadness, and now we’re all just kind of– making the best of the situation in which we find ourselves. Most people wore jeans today (strictly against the dress code). They’re cleaning out their offices. They’re joking and laughing and talking about where they might go next. I brought Pride and Prejudice with me and am sitting with my feet on my desk when I’m not answering calls. And we are still getting calls– we’ve got at least 3 patients that we’re trying to transfer to another facility here in the state, plus all the vendors and insurance companies and other folks who we work with and who are trying to figure out the situation. One guy who works with one of the local insurance companies chatted with me a while, saying how sorry he was about this all (because we really are a very valuable resource here in Salt Lake, and, indeed, for the country as a whole– it’s not like we’re not needed, or couldn’t turn a profit if we tried hard. Our owners just gave up, is what it amounts to), and saying that I’ve always been friendly and competent and his company has lots of openings.

The company is really doing precious little for us. No severance packages. It’s even kind of up in the air as to whether our accrued vacation/sick leave will be paid out (it’d better. I’ve got at least a week’s worth of paid leave sitting there). The best they’re doing is allowing the 16 employees who are on the company benefit plan to work one full-time shift in the month of March, thereby extending our coverage until the end of March instead of having it end today. So I’ll be working on Monday, probably, as my very last day here. Unfortunately COBRA isn’t an option, since our company will no longer exist as an entity. So people are kind of taking their severance as they can find it. I think the plan right now is to raid the marketing closet for New Life-branded stuff (which won’t be of any use to anyone. They’ll just have to throw it out). I think I might snag one of the little keychain flashlight thingies. I’ve already got a water bottle, and I don’t particularly want an apron. I feel worst for our head dietitian, whose husband is still in school and who just found out she’s pregnant.

I was too depressed last night to actually update my resume, but I have done a bit of job searching. Luckily I now have a year of experience under my belt (I just got a $.40 an hour raise with my annual review) and therefore qualify for some of the better receptionist jobs. Many of them pay anywhere from slightly more to significantly more than I’m currently making. So this may end up being a positive move. It sure doesn’t feel like it at the moment, though. I liked my job. I liked the people I worked with. I especially liked that we were actually helping people, rather than just selling things to people that they don’t really need. And I really hate searching for jobs. I wish I had my brother’s luck. Great jobs just tend to fall in his lap. I do have the advantage of being in Utah, at least, where the economy is still pretty strong and unemployment still pretty low. There’s lots of jobs out there. I just need to land one.

Because the company is closing, we’re all eligible for unemployment. I haven’t quite decided if I want to file yet. According to the calculator, I’d only get about $175 a week, which is better than nothing, I suppose. But doing all the paperwork and such seems like such a hassle. More trouble than it’s worth, almost. I can’t see that I have a time limit as to when I have to file after losing my job, so I might just start the job search. If nothing turns up after a couple of weeks, I’ll file.

I’m planning on doing my taxes tomorrow and e-filing, so I can get my refund quickly. It should be a goodly amount, which will at least help me pay my minimum payments on my credit card (luckily I only have one with a balance at this point) and my student loan, until I can get a job. And I do have a bit of money in my savings account, so I’m not left completely high and dry financially, at least.

And if my job search extends for some time, or if I have to wait for 90 days or something before the benefits kick in, I can at least go back on BYU insurance. No prescription benefit, but it’s better than nothing. BYU requires that all students have health insurance, anyway. And I’m still technically a student.

Anyway. Happy birthday to my uncle Kevin, who I believe is turning 13 this leap year. He’s the only person I know who is younger than all of his kids. Also happy half-birthday to Jen, ’cause I know she looks forward to those.