TheBanyanTree: Crossing the River

[Margaret R. Kramer]

It’s like spring – dark clouds are zooming overhead and the temperature is
in the 60s.  There is no frost on the pumpkin this morning.

I made it through my first week of my new job.  I can continue to start
early – they don’t keep people on a clock here.  My drive is short and
sweet – only 12 miles after driving a lonely 32 miles every morning and
night.  I miss listening to music on my morning and evening drives, but I
like getting to work and home so quickly.

The worst part is crossing the river.  I had to cross the Mississippi River
when I went north, too, but the bridges in our northern suburbs were built
to accommodate large amounts of traffic, but our southern bridges are too
narrow to handle all the cars and trucks moving south and north across the
mighty Mississippi and the bridges become parking lots during rush hour.
But I sit patiently on the parking lot and wait to cross, because it’s a
small sacrifice compared to driving so far.

My cubicle is HUGE.  I have so much room to stash stuff.  I sit right
outside my boss’ office, so I can’t screw around too much.  But he’s on the
phone a lot or having meetings, so his door is shut constantly, and he can’t
see me all the time.  Plus, he’s a nice guy.  He has a business demeanor and
he’s nice on a personal level, too.  He’s having an afternoon football party
at his home next week and invited us all to come.  That’s nice.

My coworkers are very nice, too.  They kind of assigned me a “buddy,” who is
training me in on everything and answers all my questions.  My coworkers and
boss took me to lunch yesterday and it was great to get to know them in a
more personal way.

I’m learning a lot about the system they work on.  My head is swimming some
days, but it’s so good to learn something new and at cutting edge levels.
Plus, they promote training and offer classes.  They have a performance
review system that asks employees to accomplish two personal goals.  My boss
gave me the example that he’s a history buff and did an office-wide book
club based on the book, “Band of Brothers.”  I thought that was pretty cool.

This is a workaholic office, as I suspected during my interviews.  People do
work hard.  I don’t hear a lot of personal calls.  They come in kind of
early and stay late.  I think some of them work on weekends and I know my
coworker who is training me takes a lot of work home.  These people don’t
spend a lot of time gathering together and talking about personal things.
They work, work, work.  I don’t think it’s because they’re overloaded.  I
think it’s because they really enjoy what they do and like to go the extra
mile.

I’m learning that it’s OK to stay later than I would normally like to.  They
think nothing of scheduling late afternoon meetings or lunch time meetings.
They have lots and lots of meetings.  I think that’s because they share a
lot of information and that’s good, because my old office never shared
anything.

My major complaint is that I can’t check my personal email.  They seem to
have all email sites blocked.  I can’t check my Yahoo or Lycos mail as well
as my ISP mail.  It’s kind of frustrating, because then when I get home, I
have jammed email boxes that I spend a lot of time after dinner going
through.  But I’ll get used to that, too.  I can surf the internet as much
as I like, but the email sites are blocked.  I suppose it’s to keep viruses
from entering their system.

But I do love this job, as much as I know about it right now.  It was a good
decision.  I guess I knew right from the first time when I scheduled an
interview, and I immediately went out and bought a summer suit, that this
was the one.   It’s like finding the right mate.  All the pieces fell
together.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at comcast.net

http://www.polarispublications.com
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http://www.bpwmn.org
Business and Professional Women of Minnesota

You wouldn't believe
On All Hallow Eve
What lots of fun we can make,
With apples to bob,
And nuts on the hob,
And a ring-and-thimble cake.
~Carolyn Wells