The baseball game today ended up being a double-header, so that was awesome. At first it was overcast and muggy so we all thought it would end up getting rained out, but it held off and after the first game the sun came out and it got HOT! We got 10 "Crawdad bucks" from our office to get lunch with. The meals only cost $5-$6 soooo we all ended up getting beer too because it was $4! Free baseball + free food + free beer. Just another day at the office, haha. It was a great opportunity to get to know people at work too. I ended up just sitting and talking with all the designers almost the entire time. They're all men in their late 30s with wives and kids and all that but they are cool. I don't know why I can't manage to get more friendly with the girls at work, especially since its almost all women. I'm just shy I guess and these guys are really open and whatever so it's really easy to just have a conversation with them. Also they thought the story about me & my brothers getting in trouble when we were little for trying to rip the tail off Conrad the Crawdad (the mascot) was funny, whereas the women asked if I was the kind of kid who got in a trouble a lot. Oh well.
I am going over in my head whether or not I should be embarassed about one thing though. It was really hot out and when I got up to leave I had a feeling I had a sweat imprint of my butt on my pants, so I went to the bathroom to check and there it was. Is this embarassing? I didn't feel embarassed. Maybe that's what matters. I'm sure people saw but it's pretty obvious it was sweat, and we had to wear nice pants since we had been at work before the game so I was a lot hotter than I would have been if I could have worn shorts. I've always sweat more than usual so I guess I am just used to it now. Oh well. I can't un-sweat, and I also couldn't have just sat there until everyone else left. I feel pretty okay about it. Maybe it's considered gross but whatever.
I don't have work on Friday so I am going to try to get my drivers license changed to NC. It kind of sucks because no matter how old you are, they make you re-take the test to get a new DL or to renew one. So I have to study the stupid little book before I go. I feel like I am 15 again. I will feel like an idiot if I don't pass. At least when I get it I will FINALLY have a horizontal drivers license! No more getting shit for having a vertical one! No more being mistaken for a child?? Well, probs not that. When I walked into the baseball game today it was summer camp day, and a guy tried to hand me my complimentary happy meal. I had to reject it out of pride.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Baseball & Chocolate
I think I have the best job in the world:
Boss: Kari, on Wednesday we're all going to the Crawdads game around noon instead of coming into the office. It goes until 3:30 so you can just come in later instead of at 8 like you usually do.
Me: Oh, okay, so I'll do my hours after and stay here until 6?
Boss: No, just the game.
Me: The game counts as my hours? We're getting paid for it?
Boss: Yep. Technically it's team building. The whole department is going so there won't be any work for you to do here.
:)
The Crawdads are the local baseball team in Hickory. I used to go to their games a lot when I was little so I think its going to be really fun!
Also that conversation took place a few minutes after my boss brought us chocolate mousse cake for breakfast.
Boss: Kari, on Wednesday we're all going to the Crawdads game around noon instead of coming into the office. It goes until 3:30 so you can just come in later instead of at 8 like you usually do.
Me: Oh, okay, so I'll do my hours after and stay here until 6?
Boss: No, just the game.
Me: The game counts as my hours? We're getting paid for it?
Boss: Yep. Technically it's team building. The whole department is going so there won't be any work for you to do here.
:)
The Crawdads are the local baseball team in Hickory. I used to go to their games a lot when I was little so I think its going to be really fun!
Also that conversation took place a few minutes after my boss brought us chocolate mousse cake for breakfast.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Family
My parents & brother Terry came down to visit today and they brought more of my stuff :) It keeps feeling like Friday since they are here and I have to remind myself that I still have work tomorrow! Something in the house is smelling DISGUSTING today and I can't figure out what it is. Normally I would blame our rasta dog Hercules whose hair is usually full of shit from the backyard, but he just got shaved down yesterday so his nakey self can't carry things anymore. I found out my parents moved my brother Terry's MOUSE COLLECTION (science project suddenly became multiplication & sex ed lesson) of eleven mice into my room like the day after I moved out. Can't you just feel the love? Anyway, I think their nasty stink got into everything in my room so the smell is coming from the clothes my parents bought me. My mom claims to not smell it which only confirms my suspicions its from the mice. Part of me is afraid one climbed into one of the bags of clothes they brought me and died on the carride here, which has made me afraid of unpacking. Again my mother claims she counted them all before she left, but they have escaped before.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
My Life is Average
My first experience at a non-UREC gym today was fun. I was shocked when I came in at what the age range was. People were anywhere from 16 to 70+! I spotted a couple fantastic mullets too. I felt really comfortable though, which is important. My fear of already healthy/attractive people at gyms kept me out of UREC pretty much every year of college...excluding when I worked there at a summer camp for children (although a lot of them were easily more in shape than me). Maybe I am weird for being excited there were no good looking people, but I like not being worried that I am dripping in sweat and turning red while I run on a treadmill. Also a huge plus is that it only has one wall of mirrors, so I don't have to stare at myself looking awkward the whole time I am there. It's also cool because they gave me one of those key-ring barcode thingies like you get at the grocery store and all I have to do is scan it on the way in and hang up my keys on a board and I am good to go. I guess if you have ever been to a gym before this is probably pretty regular, but like I said its new for me.
Day 2 of work was good since I actually DID work today. Very fun, no more reading glossaries about fiber optic cable terminology for me! I don't think the other lady I work with could be any nicer or easier to talk to. This is the first job I have ever had where I did not constantly feel awkward or like I didn't know anything. Even after working at Victorias Secret for what felt like long enough to be considered a prison term, I still dreaded being asked any kind of questions because I was very improperly trained (i.e. not trained at all, about anything) and would pretty much just make stuff up as I went along. But since I went to college for what I am doing now, its all coming to me very naturally! SO SATISFYING - I think my parents are relieved their college tuition investment is actually being put to good use.
In other news, one crappy thing about the house here is that there is no washer and dryer :( Now that I will have smelly gym clothes, I can't just leave things lying around my room forever. So it looks like my next big adventure will be THE LAUNDROMAT. Should be interesting. I can only imagine the kinds of creeps lurking around the Hickory laundromat. Hickory isn't a city with very many apartments, meaning very few people need access to public laundry. Which means I am already afraid of the kind of people who DO. Yes, I am a judger. I am going to need to buy a big book to occupy me/keep people from talking to me on days I go over there. I think I see some Thomas Hardy in my future. Or a huge stack of magazines.
Day 2 of work was good since I actually DID work today. Very fun, no more reading glossaries about fiber optic cable terminology for me! I don't think the other lady I work with could be any nicer or easier to talk to. This is the first job I have ever had where I did not constantly feel awkward or like I didn't know anything. Even after working at Victorias Secret for what felt like long enough to be considered a prison term, I still dreaded being asked any kind of questions because I was very improperly trained (i.e. not trained at all, about anything) and would pretty much just make stuff up as I went along. But since I went to college for what I am doing now, its all coming to me very naturally! SO SATISFYING - I think my parents are relieved their college tuition investment is actually being put to good use.
In other news, one crappy thing about the house here is that there is no washer and dryer :( Now that I will have smelly gym clothes, I can't just leave things lying around my room forever. So it looks like my next big adventure will be THE LAUNDROMAT. Should be interesting. I can only imagine the kinds of creeps lurking around the Hickory laundromat. Hickory isn't a city with very many apartments, meaning very few people need access to public laundry. Which means I am already afraid of the kind of people who DO. Yes, I am a judger. I am going to need to buy a big book to occupy me/keep people from talking to me on days I go over there. I think I see some Thomas Hardy in my future. Or a huge stack of magazines.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
First Day
My first day of work went really well. I have my own cubical, but right now none of the lights work above it so today I sat at a table on the other side of it. There is only one other editor at the company so she showed me some basic things today and I read over some documents and am set to start editing tomorrow. Pretty much everyone I work with is a woman, and most are between 30 & 40. Also most of them are either pregnant or just had a baby. Everywhere around the office there are millions of pictures of various people's babies and "artwork" by children. I feel pressure to produce something similar on the walls of my cubical, but Lucy is the closest thing I have to a child. I love her like one at least!
My boss took me out to lunch and we went to a restaurant called Flat Rock on the same road as the office. It was mostly seafood which frightened me when I first glanced at the menu because I didn't want to be rude and say anything (I HATE seafood), but I also didn't want to submit to ordering chicken tenders in front of business associates. For a moment I seriously considered ordering the fish with the most other ingredients to drown out it's flavors so I could quickly force it down, but luckily there was a sandwich menu for lunch time. Crisis averted! My picky eating habits have put me in uncomfortable situations before and I was glad it didn't ruin things today. For an appetizer my boss ordered COLLARD GREEN WONTONS. I had no choice but to eat it, and to my surprise....it was really good! And I don't like collard greens or wontons, haha.
After work my aunt and uncle took me to their country club called Rock Barn. It's part of the neighborhood where they are building their house so they were showing me some of the ammenities and wanted to take me out to dinner. We went to McAllister's (I think that was the name) and holy crap, it was the best food EVER! I got chicken parmesan, which is one of my favorite foods, and it was the best I'd ever tasted. Everything about it was amazing. As a present for me we also got this triple chocolate cake for desert - so divine! I seriously thought I was going to explode at the end of the meal. The whole place is beautiful and I hope when I retire I can live like that too. My uncle is trying to get me golf lessons there for next week - we'll see how that goes! I've only been to the driving range once, and during that trip only a select few of my balls went more than a couple feet. I am absolutely not athletically inclined. At least I would be making the instructor truly work for his money.
And since almost all I have done is talk about FOOD I think its necessary to share that I went ahead with my plan and joined a gym today! It was only $99 for the whole year, which when I compared prices other places I realized was a really good deal! So I am going to head over there after work tomorrow and start working on getting svelte, haha. Also during the lunch today a coworker suggested that I join the book club at the library by my house, so I am going to head over there sometime tomorrow too and see when it meets and what they're reading and all that. All of my english classes in college basically felt like book clubs, so I think it would be good for me to be back in a similar environment. Plus I have tons of leisure time for reading!
Today was a day with a lot of firsts, and I had a really good time experiencing them all. Let's hope its a sign of more good things to come!
My boss took me out to lunch and we went to a restaurant called Flat Rock on the same road as the office. It was mostly seafood which frightened me when I first glanced at the menu because I didn't want to be rude and say anything (I HATE seafood), but I also didn't want to submit to ordering chicken tenders in front of business associates. For a moment I seriously considered ordering the fish with the most other ingredients to drown out it's flavors so I could quickly force it down, but luckily there was a sandwich menu for lunch time. Crisis averted! My picky eating habits have put me in uncomfortable situations before and I was glad it didn't ruin things today. For an appetizer my boss ordered COLLARD GREEN WONTONS. I had no choice but to eat it, and to my surprise....it was really good! And I don't like collard greens or wontons, haha.
After work my aunt and uncle took me to their country club called Rock Barn. It's part of the neighborhood where they are building their house so they were showing me some of the ammenities and wanted to take me out to dinner. We went to McAllister's (I think that was the name) and holy crap, it was the best food EVER! I got chicken parmesan, which is one of my favorite foods, and it was the best I'd ever tasted. Everything about it was amazing. As a present for me we also got this triple chocolate cake for desert - so divine! I seriously thought I was going to explode at the end of the meal. The whole place is beautiful and I hope when I retire I can live like that too. My uncle is trying to get me golf lessons there for next week - we'll see how that goes! I've only been to the driving range once, and during that trip only a select few of my balls went more than a couple feet. I am absolutely not athletically inclined. At least I would be making the instructor truly work for his money.
And since almost all I have done is talk about FOOD I think its necessary to share that I went ahead with my plan and joined a gym today! It was only $99 for the whole year, which when I compared prices other places I realized was a really good deal! So I am going to head over there after work tomorrow and start working on getting svelte, haha. Also during the lunch today a coworker suggested that I join the book club at the library by my house, so I am going to head over there sometime tomorrow too and see when it meets and what they're reading and all that. All of my english classes in college basically felt like book clubs, so I think it would be good for me to be back in a similar environment. Plus I have tons of leisure time for reading!
Today was a day with a lot of firsts, and I had a really good time experiencing them all. Let's hope its a sign of more good things to come!
Monday, July 20, 2009
New Things
The last few days have been busy and exciting. I got a job! I had been looking since February, before I even graduated, hoping it would be a fast process. Thousands of resume submittals and five interviews later, here I am, sitting in my new (and also old) bedroom in Hickory, NC.
It's old as well as new because this is the same bedroom I lived in from when I was 2 until when I was 10. My father's job moved my family from my birthplace in Rhode Island to here, and then later to Virginia. My parent's bought the old house back a few years ago, and it was vacant until my aunt and uncle moved in a few months ago. They bought a house in Conover, the next town over, and are staying here until it is finished. I am excited to be able to continue my rent-free lifestyle. It is almost like living at school again...except my roommates are almost 60, watch golf on TV, and go to bed at 9:30.
Since the house was all ready for me to move in to, my transition from VA to NC happened over a 48 hour time period. Who would think two days could change my entire life? I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to my friends, just a text or a facebook message to most, because it almost felt like I was leaving for vacation. Only now, the night before my first day of work, is it setting in that this move is going to be permanent.
Athan was able to come up on Friday and leave today, so at least I had some familiar company during my transition. I kept thinking how nice it would be if he could live here too so that we wouldn't have to drive so far to see each other. Also, with him here it's easy to forget that I'm in a place without any friends. The town is familiar but I can't say any of the people are. Even if I saw someone I recognized, how do I begin? "Hi, I think I remember you from when I was 8." Not exactly cool. Sort of screams "CREEPER!"
I know developing friendships will take some time, but I have a few plans for meeting people:
1. Work. There are a lot of under-30s from what I saw when I came by for the interview, so I am confident there will be people I can bond with beyond just a coworker level.
2. Joining a gym. Not only do I need something to keep me from melting into the couch and spending my evenings alone with Food Network and a tub of ice cream, I have heard the gym can be a place to make friends. At the very least it will provide interaction with people my own age, even at a very basic waving-only level.
3. Church? The question mark is there for many reasons. I haven't been to a church I was actually a member of since I was 10. My mom wants me to go to our old church here, not so much for religious fulfillment as nostalgia. Athan and I went to church when he was here, but he's Catholic so we went to a church I had never been to when I lived here. I liked it, but can you join a church that belongs to a religion you are not part of? Everyone here goes to church so at least it would give me something to do on Sundays. Also every church has free coffee/donuts aka delicious breakfast. The penny-pincher and recent self bill-payer in me loves anything free. We'll see if I ever get the guts to join a congregation.
The hardest part about all of this is that I have to do things...ALONE! I have never been much of a loner, and I prefer to try new things with a partner. Living here is going to require me breaking out of my shell and leaving my comfort zone, and all other kinds of cliches about change. Even in the first few days of college I had a roommate I could convince to follow me around (although, for those who know, that ended up backfiring in the long-run). I already know that I am going to learn a lot in the next few weeks as I get settled.
As this is the night before my first day as an editor, I thought it would be fitting to read The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. & E.B. White. It's a fantastic reference for any writer and I know I will be utilizing it for my job. I have five grammar and compostion related reference books I plan on bringing to work - hopefully it won't make me appear either a) overzealous or b) poorly trained.
And as a final note: have any other working girls noticed that female office attire is somewhat of an enigma? All day I have been mentally dressing myself for work tomorrow not knowing whether the office is business formal or business casual. Everyone was dressed so differently at my interview I don't know which person to base my attire after. I know to err on the conservative side but honestly, there is no easy answer for what a woman wears to work. This is good in the sense we aren't bound by annoyingly rigid rules, but also bad in the sense there is a very fine line between appropriate and inappropriate.
It's old as well as new because this is the same bedroom I lived in from when I was 2 until when I was 10. My father's job moved my family from my birthplace in Rhode Island to here, and then later to Virginia. My parent's bought the old house back a few years ago, and it was vacant until my aunt and uncle moved in a few months ago. They bought a house in Conover, the next town over, and are staying here until it is finished. I am excited to be able to continue my rent-free lifestyle. It is almost like living at school again...except my roommates are almost 60, watch golf on TV, and go to bed at 9:30.
Since the house was all ready for me to move in to, my transition from VA to NC happened over a 48 hour time period. Who would think two days could change my entire life? I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to my friends, just a text or a facebook message to most, because it almost felt like I was leaving for vacation. Only now, the night before my first day of work, is it setting in that this move is going to be permanent.
Athan was able to come up on Friday and leave today, so at least I had some familiar company during my transition. I kept thinking how nice it would be if he could live here too so that we wouldn't have to drive so far to see each other. Also, with him here it's easy to forget that I'm in a place without any friends. The town is familiar but I can't say any of the people are. Even if I saw someone I recognized, how do I begin? "Hi, I think I remember you from when I was 8." Not exactly cool. Sort of screams "CREEPER!"
I know developing friendships will take some time, but I have a few plans for meeting people:
1. Work. There are a lot of under-30s from what I saw when I came by for the interview, so I am confident there will be people I can bond with beyond just a coworker level.
2. Joining a gym. Not only do I need something to keep me from melting into the couch and spending my evenings alone with Food Network and a tub of ice cream, I have heard the gym can be a place to make friends. At the very least it will provide interaction with people my own age, even at a very basic waving-only level.
3. Church? The question mark is there for many reasons. I haven't been to a church I was actually a member of since I was 10. My mom wants me to go to our old church here, not so much for religious fulfillment as nostalgia. Athan and I went to church when he was here, but he's Catholic so we went to a church I had never been to when I lived here. I liked it, but can you join a church that belongs to a religion you are not part of? Everyone here goes to church so at least it would give me something to do on Sundays. Also every church has free coffee/donuts aka delicious breakfast. The penny-pincher and recent self bill-payer in me loves anything free. We'll see if I ever get the guts to join a congregation.
The hardest part about all of this is that I have to do things...ALONE! I have never been much of a loner, and I prefer to try new things with a partner. Living here is going to require me breaking out of my shell and leaving my comfort zone, and all other kinds of cliches about change. Even in the first few days of college I had a roommate I could convince to follow me around (although, for those who know, that ended up backfiring in the long-run). I already know that I am going to learn a lot in the next few weeks as I get settled.
As this is the night before my first day as an editor, I thought it would be fitting to read The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. & E.B. White. It's a fantastic reference for any writer and I know I will be utilizing it for my job. I have five grammar and compostion related reference books I plan on bringing to work - hopefully it won't make me appear either a) overzealous or b) poorly trained.
And as a final note: have any other working girls noticed that female office attire is somewhat of an enigma? All day I have been mentally dressing myself for work tomorrow not knowing whether the office is business formal or business casual. Everyone was dressed so differently at my interview I don't know which person to base my attire after. I know to err on the conservative side but honestly, there is no easy answer for what a woman wears to work. This is good in the sense we aren't bound by annoyingly rigid rules, but also bad in the sense there is a very fine line between appropriate and inappropriate.