Category: Work

Last Day

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My last day of work on Friday was pretty surreal in the respect that I worked right up until the end. But first my team treated me to lunch at Wildfire where my boss expressed how much I’d be missed and that I’d always have a job there. I worked until about a half hour before my normal shift end, turned in my laptop and accessories to I.T., then made my rounds to say goodbye.

Despite what my boss predicted as I left, I did not cry once I made it to the parking garage. That’s not to say I’m not sad – because I am. I just don’t think it’s fully hit me yet. I’ve had my moments this weekend when I’ve silently questioned why I even left when there was so much that was good – the pay, my boss, most of my coworkers, the stellar reputation I built up over the years (you should have seen all the moving replies to my farewell email). Am I crazy to leave that all behind for the unknown? Maybe. I’ve never been a risk taker and this is by far the most risky thing I’ve ever done in my life. But I look at it this way – I’m relatively young and we have money in the bank. If there was ever a time to take a risk now is it. If I fail miserably, then so be it. But I’d rather regret doing something than feeling miserable and stuck in the same routine. I just have to keep reminding myself of this every time I start to panic over what I’ve done. My new mantra is to stay positive. I will persevere. I will find a job that excites and fulfills me and I will work my way up to a good salary again.

In the meantime I’ve got a growing list of goals to tackle during my sabbatical. One of those includes brushing up on my technical skills. I won’t get too much into it right now but will post when I’ve met each goal I’ve set for myself. The last thing I want is to become fat and lazy like I did back in 1997-1998 when I was out of work for nine months. I did absolutely nothing worth mentioning and only sunk into a depression. I vow not to let that occur again.

A Disappointing End to 2012

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I didn’t get the job. :(

I heard back from the hiring manager via email yesterday. It was very nice of him to send me a personal email warning me of the impending rejection letter and also explaining why I didn’t get the job. Basically he liked me but someone else has more experience. I get it, but I’m really sad even though the job was part-time, and while I don’t know what the pay was, I’m certain it wasn’t what I currently make. However, I was alright with that because I would have been working at a local library in the computer services department. If that isn’t the perfect role for me, I don’t know what is! I adore technology, I understand it and serve as the unofficial tech support for my colleagues, and I’m happiest at my current job when writing process/technical documentation or helping someone with their computer. Not to mention the fact that I have always loved the library. While I haven’t spent as much time in the library lately due to my work schedule, I love going there and always have. Even as a kid I would get so excited when we visited the library on weekly basis. As I got older I would still visit the library frequently, sometimes just to sit and enjoy the quiet, relaxed atmosphere.

So yeah, I’m extremely disappointed not to have gotten the job. It has brought to light how much I want to work in a role that serves the community while utilizing my talents. I want to have a job I look forward to going to every day; not just something that pays the bills and/or pads someone’s bottom line. Plus it would be nice if the job wasn’t go-go-go all day every day with lots of meetings and conference calls thrown in.

I’m trying to stay optimistic about my employment future but at this very moment I feel quite down. I guess it’s better to end the year feeling this way than starting it off depressed, right? Tomorrow I will pull myself together, work at my current job until my last day on Friday, celebrate my birthday on Monday, and then get to finding a job that gives me a sense of fulfillment. That’s the 2013 plan because life is too short to spend it unhappy 8+ hours a day.

Catching Up & A Big Announcement

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I know, I know – I totally failed to keep this blog updated every day in November and then I dropped off the face of the Earth for most of December. I have a good excuse though – I’ve been working long hours on a big project. Normally I would completely resent spending 11 hours in the office on a daily basis but I haven’t minded because I could use the extra moolah (I’m hourly) since I submitted my resignation at the beginning of December and my last day with the company, January 4th, is quickly approaching.

I wanted to give my boss a month’s notice because I really respect her and wouldn’t mind working together again some day in a less hectic environment. I’m just burnt out and need a break. I’ve been having trouble sleeping and have been taking too much Xanax to starve off middle of the night panic attacks. After ten years with the organization it was time for a change. Ideally I’d like to work somewhere that involved helping the community in some manner.

In any case, I have no time to really look for a job while employed so after much deliberation and agonizing I decided to make the leap. I’m very lucky that Joe is so supportive because we are going to be short on funds on a monthly basis without my income. Luckily we’ve got money saved up thanks to our frugal lifestyle. My manager has been amazingly supportive – she even encouraged me to use her as a reference. I already had one interview recently, but I don’t want to get into the specifics right now as I want the job so so bad and don’t want to jinx it. Once I find out one way or the other whether I got the job I plan to write about it since it ties into what I see myself doing with my future.

Anyway… Christmas was good. We spent Christmas Eve at my parents’ and then Christmas Day at home with E and my SIL. Joe and I didn’t really exchange gifts other than some stocking stuffers. I attended a fun Christmas party thrown by my employer at Bahama Breeze and they had a photo booth up; I got a nice memento of some of the members of my team (which I can’t post for privacy reasons, sorry). I’m going to miss many of my coworkers so this decision is definitely bittersweet. I’ll probably be posting a bit more often after the 4th since I’ll have so much time on my hands (although I hope not too much – I’d like to find a job sooner rather than later).

Staycation Day 9 – The End

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Ugh. Our staycation is over and I’m a sad panda.

Our morning started like every other typical Sunday – a trip to Target where we always seem to travel through a time warp; we were in the store for nearly two hours. Luckily we didn’t spend all that much – only $60 which included groceries, a new sweater (on clearance) for yours truly, and some cool LED Christmas lights they had on sale for $8 which we strung across the top of our blinds on our patio door. All our Fall decorations are still on display along with the new Christmas lights. Classy.

After dropping off the groceries at home we decided to grab lunch at Red Lobster. They have a 4-course meal that is pretty good, although I swear it was $14.99 last time we had it and now it’s $16.99. Either way you get soup, salad, a full entree, and a mini dessert. The dessert is perfectly sized, though, in my opinion. I got the brownie ala mode which was awesome. The warm chocolate mixed with the creamy vanilla is the perfect combination. My soup was the creamy potato which was just ok but I loved my entree which included a skewer of pineapple grilled shrimp, four jumbo coconut breaded shrimp, rice and broccoli. Yummy! Between a $4 coupon and $26 left on a gift card our out of pocket cost was under $10. Gotta love that!

After lunch we stopped at a place called Savers. It’s like Goodwill except better organized. I actually found two shirts I liked which only cost me $10 total. Gotta love cheap clothing! Why pay full price when your money can go further on previously worn clothes? As long as they are in good shape I don’t mind that they aren’t new. I always wash them thoroughly before wearing them anyway.

Tomorrow begins what I’m anticipating will be the single most stressful three weeks of my career. Suffice it to say I’m dreading it. My apologies to anyone whom I work with who may stumble upon this blog but it’s the truth. I’m looking forward to a more laid back 2013 and will do whatever it takes to make that happen…

Staycation Day 5

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Today I was finally productive. The day still flew by but at least I have something to show for it, including finally figuring out how to get my computer to display thumbnails and previews for the RAW image files on my camera (I just had to download and install a codec from Microsoft). I haven’t backed up in a long time (bad, bad, bad I know) so I’ll be doing that tomorrow as I still need to rearrange and go through a few more things first, but at least I’ve made progress. I also signed up for a stock photo site, although I have a feeling I’m not going to make much, if anything, because the list of rules is ridiculous and I don’t think the majority of my photos fit within their requirements. I had to upload a sample of my photos as part of my application so I should know more soon.

I’m really really really stressed out about work this holiday season and it sucks because it’s essentially ruining the holidays for me. I don’t know how to turn off my mind. I wake up thinking about problems I need to tackle when I go back to work and worrying about how there’s too much to do in too little time to meet these very tight deadlines for a project I’m working on. It sucks and I literally feel sick so I’m going to end this now.