2002-11-25 - 9:58 a.m.
Doing the Happy Dance

Well, today was sort of the first day of my new job. Someone, somewhere, got their wires crossed; I was told to report in today at 8:30 AM, but it turns out the gal who's going to train me isn't available until next Monday, December 2nd. So no go. But the guy who hired me said that as long as I was there, why didn't we go ahead and do the formal interview, since I'd only had a phone one, and he'd like to have a little more to tell the other managers about me.

It went well. I had answers to all the questions, and smiled, and he gave me coffee and told me he liked what he heard and that he'd pay me for two hours today even though I was only there 45 minutes, to make up for the confusion about when to start.

I felt good. I won't know for sure until I meet my other new co-workers, but I think I could stay there. I liked the job description, the building, the location, even the drive out there. (It's beautiful and about 18 miles long, most of it back roads).

Let's face it, I'm never going to be able to afford to uproot myself and go to graduate school. But this job pays enough that I can work on paying off my bills and have enough left over to start taking night classes or distance learning courses towards a master's degree. $12.00 may not be "high" pay, but it's better than the $10.44 the previous company was paying me, and it sounds like the duties are going to be far more interesting.

Plus, the office is a lot smaller. That makes working conditions a lot more flexible and friendly, which will be a big improvement -- it's been nearly a year since I had a job environment I could relax in, even the slightest bit.

In short, WHOO HOOO!!!! Shell is one happy camper. And it only took two and half months of Ramen noodles and paying bills late and panicking to get here. *grin*