Holiday Party

It's been another six months since my last post. I've just been busy with my online accounting class and I also had my side job (which is thankfully almost over). Since my last post, I've been promoted, started working a new desk (I didn't actually move anywhere, but I have different duties now). I also got a raise (actually the majority of us got raises because of the new contract).

Today was our department's holiday party (but since the department's so big, the ones downstairs had their party on Tuesday). I'd heard about how last year's party wasn't that exciting. It ended exactly an hour after it started and they mostly just ate and had a raffle.

Even though I wasn't part of the holiday party committee, I somehow got roped into helping set up for the party. We had matching red t-shirts that BB had printed. We first set up the tables and then had to put the centerpieces and party favors onto the tables. Then some people wanted to get the salad ready, but others worried that it was too early (it was around 10 something and the party wouldn't start until 11:30).

It was finally decided that the salad should be mixed and wrapped in individual bowls now because it would take a long time. So there were two people who mixed up the salad and put them into bowls, while two others wrapped up the bowls. I was in the center of the two salad mixers and I helped open the packages of salad, put out the bowls and whatever else the mixers needed. There was two other people who took the wrapped bowls to the tables.

By the time we finished, it was already 10:20 and there were already some people lined up. We were all given badges with our name and division and told that this would be our ticket into the party. I kept watching the door for people from my division because I was given specific instructions to only hand out pencils (for the holiday movies quiz) to them and that the other divisions were told to bring their own pencil or pen. But the people from my office took their time so other people were asking me for pencils and I gave it to them because I felt bad about saying no.

The party lasted almost 3 hours and it seemed like everybody had a good time. I kept hearing people say that this year's party was good. There were a lot of prizes given out in the raffle and I was one of the lucky ones. It seemed like everybody in one certain division got a prize. Even though nobody asked me to, I decided that I'd stay and help clean up. This way I could get any leftovers and whatever party decorations that were left.

TGIF

It's been six months since I last blogged. Not much has happened in that time. I started my new job, which is in a more relaxed envrionment than my old job. Something that I hadn't planned on was going back to work Saturdays on my old job during tax season. I agreed to help them because I kind of felt bad about leaving them so quickly, but then after a few weeks, I started dreading Fridays because I'd have to work the next day instead of enjoying my weekend.

So when Boss told me that I was welcomed to continue working Saturdays (since they still had the 1st quarter reports), I didn't really have to think it over. I politely turned her down telling her that I was thinking of taking Accounting classes and wouldn't have time to come in. I'm sure that she was shocked by my answer but I liked having time to relax on the weekends.

My co-workers at my new job are friendly, not that they weren't friendly at the my last job, and I don't feel stressed out at the end of the day like I would before. For the first four months or so, I didn't have a direct supervisor so I was kind of on my own. Of course if I had any questions, I could ask the other supervisors. I really enjoyed that time. So when they told me that N was coming back, she had transferred to a different department, I wasn't as excited as some of them were. What made it worse was that N chose the cubicle next to mine so now she could see everything that I was doing.

I did get some great news today. K, the head of our section, congratulated me and told me that I passed probation. The passing part didn't really surprise me since it's really rare for people not to pass, but I was under the assumption that probation lasted for six months. K, she always seems happy and loves to joke around, told me that now I was out of prison. Now if only there were a way to get N to move back to her old cubicle...

End of A Chapter

This week, I've been able to really relax and not have to worry about anything work-related. My last day at my old job was last Friday (the 23rd). Boss bought a cake and we took some pictures. It was kind of sad to be leaving, especially since my new co-workers made going to work fun (at least they made the day seem to fly right by). And since the office usually closes the week between Xmas and New Year's, I got to have a week off before I start my new job on January 3rd.

CC told me to enjoy my week off because once I start my new job, I won't get more than one or two days off. Not that I really mind, since for the past five years I've only had one or two days off and it never seemed to really bother me before. And with my new job, there will be more holidays where I won't have to go to work. And I'll also be accumulating sick and vacation days, something that I didn't really have at my old job. (I did have a week of vacation and it was going to be increased to two weeks since I had been there for five years, but it wasn't easy taking time off.)

I am a little nervous about starting the new job, since I don't really have any idea what exactly I'll be doing. But I know that I probably have nothing to worry about and I'll get the hang of things by the end of my first week.

Last Week

Even though I should be feeling excited about my new job, there are times where I feel sad about leaving. Which is kind of strange because last year I was unhappy at work and couldn't wait to leave. When Boss first told me that she and Other Boss had decided to merge their offices, I had thought that it wasn't a good idea because I didn't like change. And even though it's only been four months since we moved to the new office, I will miss my "new" coworkers. They, along with Other Boss made the workday interesting and I didn't dread coming to work like I did back at the old office.

A couple of weeks ago, Boss had told me that she told ConstructionGuy know that I was leaving and that she'd tell the other clients that I regularly had contact with that I was leaving so that they'd become more familiar with SGV and Y. But to my knowledge, she only let one other client know that I was leaving. Except instead of telling the client directly, she told his office manager and she told the client.

I emailed two clients this week to let them know that I was leaving and that Y or SGV would be handling their account as of January 2006. One client emailed me back wishing me luck in my new job. Then today I had to tell two other clients that I wouldn't be working here anymore. PainterGuy was like, that's fine and didn't really seem to care either. But BarGuy was stunned when SGV told him of the news. He commented about the short notice and it was kind of weird to see a different side of him. Other Boss told me to reassure him that I was confident that SGV would do as good of a job as I had done. Later Coworker was telling Y that BarGuy probably reacted the way he did because he's developed a trust with me since I've handled his account from the moment that he became a client.

Since Other Boss has assigned the accounts (both her original clients and the ones that were Boss's clients), I haven't really been doing any work this week. So it's been an easy week for me, except for the fact where I have to look like I'm actually working instead of just sitting there waiting for the end of the day. And then since the office is closed next week, I will get one week off before I start my new job.

Still Here

I know that it's been a whole month still my last blog entry. So much has happened since November 18th. The Monday after the exam, I got a call wanting to schedule an appointment for an interview. The department had to find someone by December 1st, so they were in kind of a tight schedule. At first I was a little worried about what Boss would think, since I've always felt that she thought that I'd work for her for many years. But I knew that it was my future and that I would be better off working for the county, where I would have more opportunities for advancement.

I had thought that I would be interviewed by M, who had called to schedule the interview, but instead I talked to a guy and some other lady. The guy kept telling me about how there was a lot of work and that hopefully I wasn't the type that got bored easily or something like that. When the guy stepped outside to talk to a co-worker, the lady told me not to worry and that the job wasn't that difficult. He asked me when I could start work and I told him that I would have to give my current job a two week notice, He seemed a little concerned by my answer. The guy told me that they'd call me the next week after they had made their decision.

Then when I thought the interview was over, the lady introduced me to another lady. The second lady led me to M's office, where I was interviewed a second time. M seemed to like my answers. She told me that they had a deadline of December 1st, which is why everything was rushed. The person they hired didn't have to actually be working by that date, but they had to have someone ready. M had asked me to write down a reference and they would contact my reference the following week. And then M got a call and the second lady took over. She told me about the $70 monthly allowance for either parking or public transportation. (The guy had mentioned the monthly allowance earlier.) She told me about how she took the rail line to work and since the pass was only $40, she got to pocket the remaining $30. And then the interview was over.

On Tuesday, the first lady from the interview called asking to speak to Boss (who I had written down as my reference). She obviously did not realize that I was the person that she had interviewed the week before. About 10 minutes or so after Boss finished talking to the lady, the second lady from second interview called the office. SGV had answered the phone and I was a little curious why they would be calling back so quickly. The lady called to offer me the position. I asked her if she knew how long it would take, since I knew that I'd have to know when to give my two week notice. The lady estimated a month, but she wasn't sure. She told me that there would be fingerprinting and a physical exam before I would actually be hired.

So I told Boss and she told Other Boss about me getting the job. I started reviewing notes on the accounts that I work on. Other Boss told Y about me leaving, which she was surprised by this news, and she told SGV the next day. SGV told Y that she had kind of figured it out based on things that Boss said to me. So I started to train Y and SGV on the accounts and payrolls that I worked on. Boss was a little worried because I could work on my own and so there were some stuff that Coworker and Boss never were aware of and Boss wanted to make sure that things would run as smoothly even though I wasn't there anymore. Even though I could have trained Coworker on some of the payrolls or bookkeeping, I didn't because I felt that it was a lot easier to train the other two. Coworker doesn't pick up things as quickly and the other two actually took notes as I showed them stuff.

TGIF

This week has gone by quickly (then again this whole year has flown by). Last Thursday, I got a letter informing me that the exam for the Account Clerk series (I had applied for the position again even though my eligibility hasn't expired from last year) was on Friday, November 18th. I was kind of surprised that the letter came so close to the exam date, but it turns out that so many people applied that they had to start scheduling exams, even though the position didn't close until this past Monday, to accomodate all the qualified candidates. So there were two exams scheduled for today and one for Saturday.

I didn't study as much this year, just one hour or so each day. I emphasized my studying on word problems instead of the definitions. Because Boss and Other Boss were at a tax seminar on Monday and Tuesday, I decided to wait until Wednesday to tell Boss that I wouldn't be coming in until 12 or so on Friday. I dreaded having to tell her because I pictured her freaking out that I was applying for a job somewhere else. CC had suggested that I tell Boss that I had a dentist appointment instead of telling Boss about the exam. That idea did sound tempting but part of me felt that it would be better if I was honest with Boss.

I waited for the "right" time on Wednesday and told her. I used CC's suggestion about mentioning that my mom wanted me to take the exam so that I would be able to help her study. Boss asked if I was looking for another job and when I told her about wanting to help my mom, she seemed to be fine with me coming in later today. I don't know if she told Other Boss right away, but she did ask me how I did on the exam when she saw me after I got back. (The questions were the same as last year and I think I even stumbled on the same word problem. And I still couldn't believe that people can't seem to follow directions or ask the stupidest questions.)

When I was checking my email, I saw that I had gotten $10 from ING Direct because one of my referrals had signed up for an account. That cheered me up a little after my semi-exhausting week. A few weeks ago, Y was talking to SGV and she asked her if she'd ever heard of ING and then I piped up that I had an account there. Y had read an article and it had mentioned that the interest rate was a lot higher than at most banks and she had thought about switching her savings account to ING. So I told her about how if a current ING customer referred her, then she'd get $25 (and of course I'd get $10, but that wasn't the main reason why I told her). Both SGV and Y thought was a nice bonus to having an account there and Y asked me to send her a referral link. She told me that it might take her a couple of weeks to sign up because she would have to close out her account and stuff.

That's Not Nice

When I was getting ready to leave for work this morning, my mom told me that it was sprinkling a little. I grabbed a jacket before I left and didn't take an umbrella with me. It was barely sprinkling as I walked to the bus stop and waited for the bus.

After I got off the bus, it started to rain and even though I had my hood on, my face still got wet. I could barely see because the rain was covering my glasses and I could feel my jeans getting wet. Then when I was almost at the building, it stopped raining. After I came into the office, SGV took one look at me and asked if it was raining. Since she sits away from the big windows, she didn't even notice the change in the weather.

I hadn't brought an umbrella this morning because yesterday I brought an umbrella and it didn't even sprinkle. I had also checked the weather forecast online on Sunday and the chance of rain was just 40%. How was I supposed to know that it would go up to 80% today?