I went to work today. It’s a toss-up whether I “worked” or not. But I learned.
Got there at 9:30. No, got there at 9:10. Spent 20 minutes outside in the little park area, reading. I hadn’t wanted to be late for the first day, after all. Got a mini office tour (of our mini-office), after which I poked around through my desk, the office supplies, etc.
I had expected to spend time answering the phone, learning to do a few things, but the day went a bit differently. By 10am, we were heading over to one of our sister offices (my job is in property management). There, my boss Bobbie met with her peer as well as their supervisor and the three worked on this coming year’s budget. I spent some time talking with them, learning some of the new protocols (new to them and definitely new to me). Which vendors would have to rebid? What were the guidelines for collecting bids?
Then the receptionist/administrative assistant there, Jenny, taught me some ropes of the job. I learned about putting in work orders for tenants, answering the phone, sorting mail, dealing with invoices, things like that. It was a slow day for her, partially because we didn’t get many work orders and partially because she had me tagging along the whole time. I did some filing for her so that I wouldn’t get bored.
Fortunately, everyone was very nice, even if the senior ladies were periodically frustrated about fiscal matters. So while I felt that I didn’t get much done, I enjoyed the companionship (particularly the lunch we shared) and learning in a non-threatening atmosphere. Jenny was especially nice, since she had to be patient and spend time doing things slowly even though she was able to do them more efficiently. I tried to help her out with the filing, doing misc. tasks, and copy-editing the newsletter she’d prepared for the building.
All in all, a good day. And a long day. I have also acquired a SmarTrip card so that I won’t have to purchase my metro ticket every day. I can also use it on the bus. But I think I’m going to ask Mr. Micah to drive me to the station one more time.
Once again, I am grateful for Mr. Micah. He got up early with me, helped me get ready, encouraged me, didn’t get angry when I snapped at him because I was impatient, and drove me to the metro. Then he picked me up at the metro, heated up our supper while I changed, snuggled me through a tv episode….and did other things for which women worldwide are very appreciative. 😉
I look forward to doing more actual work tomorrow, though I’m a bit nervous about having to take phone calls. I’ll get used to it.
Some cool things I did today:
- Took a scary escalator (sooooo long! but I’m learning).
- Read on the metro. (this is cool because I wasn’t sure how the commute would go. But I found that I can bring books and have enough time to get some reading done. It amuses me and makes me much better at dealing with busy metros. I had Work with Meaning, Work With Joy, which I read on the way there, and Terry Pratchett’s The Thief of Time, which I read on the way back. The first was good preparation and the latter was a good way of relaxing afterwards.
Onward and upward. Perhaps I’ll be able to take the escalator up as well as down. 🙂
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