Of the first week
So I started the new job.

It's been a week and a day, and the only way to describe it is... badly managed, disorganized, negative, and hopefully I will be out of there soon.

I arrived on day one only to be told the person I was meant to meet wouldn't be there until at least an hour after I'd arrived. And all the managers were in Ottawa for the week, so no one had any idea what to do with me.

So for the first hour I sat on the couch in the reception area and read. And then HR came and made me fill out paperwork. And more paperwork. And then I took their respectful workplace online training course. And then I did more paperwork. And then I started scanning.

Day two I shadowed another worker. Day three I started working on callouts and that's all I've been doing since. 7.5 hours a day on the phone.

They haven't told me when I'm actually going to get formal training (I'm supposed to get a week, apparently). I don't even know who my direct supervisor is right now. The people I've been shadowing have only been there 2 or 3 months themselves. It's like a giant revolving door, with people always moving onwards or upwards. One of the people who interviewed me has only been there since January. They're short staffed, but they can't keep anyone. A guy made a joke that he doesn't bother learning anyone's names until they've been there for 6 months. He wasn't entirely joking.

People are overwhelmingly negative about their coworkers, the situation, life in general. I'm trying not to let it get to me, but it is starting to. And that's after only one week.

I've run into some people from a past life (ie: from high school) there, as well, which isn't helping the emotional/self-esteem issues. I didn't like them, they didn't like me... it's like they've all come back to haunt me.

On the bright side, one of the other people doing the same job as me started today. She's Quebecois. I've been tempted to talk to her in French so that half the other people in the office won't understand us - she seems quite nice. We talked about BOOKS, for God's sake. Dumas. French literature! I haven't seen anyone else in the office read anything more than a newspaper. Obviously I don't know what they do when they're not at work, but still...

I still have my fingers crossed that they send me out to Vancouver for training. Yeah, it's 8 hours a day in training, but my evenings will be my own...

Anywho. I am volunteering again this year at everyone's favouritest Hallowe'en event (it's my one token volunteer thing... which reminds me, that one perk of the federal government is that they give me one paid "volunteer" day each calendar year... maybe I'll take it off on the Friday of Spook... ) Looking forward to it, although I feel a bit old. They do seem to get younger each year.

First choir concert is coming up on the 4th of October, as well. Details are at www.richardeatonsingers.com, should you require and or desire them.
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