The Weekend...is almost over....

The thing that probably sucks the most about working full time is that the weekends just seem so damn short. Here it is 3:30 on a Sunday Afternoon already. It seems like I just woke up and it was Saturday Morning. Oh well, I had a semi-productive weekend.

I spent the first half of Saturday getting a new stereo put into my car. The old one was woefully inadequate, and sounded like total crap. Music is important to me, as is the ability to play the music I own. I got a fairly affordable Kenwood CD player installed. Apparantly one of the national chains, Best Buy, offers no-charge installation on stereos. I'm guessing thats because with the wiring harness kits they have now, its incredibly simple. I was just too lazy to do it myself, and since it was free, why not? I also bought a few new CDs to go along with the stereo. The stupidest thing I did though--I get it in after they are done, and whats the first thing I do? Crank it up to full blast. This in turn blew out the rather ancient fuse already installed in there. Not a problem though, the guy at the service center replaced it for free. I won't be turning it up to full blast anymore, not until I at least get some new speakers (the ones in there are...just crap. I mean its a 100% improvement over what I had with the old stereo, but still...).

After that I went for a drive to the tiny, tiny town of Port Costa some 10 miles away. Port Costa was essentially just a little port town along the Sacramento River, in the hills. Now the main attraction there is a restaurant at the edge of town. Its quiet and peaceful there, but with far too many signs of human interaction about (read--trash littering the waterside). Still it was great to sit there for a little while and feel the cool breeze working its way through the bay and onto the river.

After that, I went and picked my older brother and his daughter (of corse my niece) from the airport. They both went down to Catalina Island for the week. I of course am still insanely jealous, because I seriously wanted to go. Had I not gotten my new job, I would have gone too. In fact I was just working out the logistics of how to get down there before my now-current employer called in mid-July to offer me the position. I'll always take the prospect of a new job over a vacation, but damn, Catalina is seriously one of the best places I know of, and I miss it dearly.

Today was spent doing little of nothing. I went to the store to pick up a few odds and ends, and did some laundry, and thats it. Oh, I am blasting some John Coltrane. Holy shit, was he good.

Heres a few photos of Charleston, West Virginia, from a little over a week back:

I'm going slightly mad

Yeah, I am. This sure is one wild and crazy profession I've chosen! I don't regret taking this job at all, not in the least, although I do worry if they'll have enough patience to put up with me.

Okay, I'm jumping ahead. I don't know, its been really busy there lately, and that does make it more difficult, but still after a month or so, I feel like at times I'm still barely treading water. I am learning more and more about the job in general, and I am at least a somewhat competant employee, or at least I try my hardest to be, but theres such a wealth of stuff to know--paper types, envelope types, different types of printing and copying jobs to do--its totally mind boggling!

And I'm still getting a lot of stuff wrong. They don't get mad at me or anything, but I'm a person that likes to get things right, and when I don't know an answer, about half the time I'll ask a question, and the other half, I'll just try and give it my best guess. Most of my guesses seem to be working out badly. Maybe I should ask more. But by the same token, if I don't try to give an answer based on my own knowledge, or at least make an educated guess, I don't feel like I've actually learned anything. Maybe that sounds weird, but I've usually gotten by on trying things out first, or at least looking at what I have before me. I still ask a gazillion questions per day, although it is a few less than I asked last week, and the week before...so yes, I am learning. There is progress. The question is--is it enough? At least at this point they still like me and still have confidence in me. I guess it's self confidence that I need to work on (hey, theres a shocker!). But honestly, I am really interested in printing, but at this point I'm beginning to think that maybe this wasn't the best avenue to go through. Or maybe I'm just bitching because "boo hoo things are hard!".

Damn, I just saw a clip of the video for Weird Al's new song titled "Don't Download This Song", and the song and video are a riot! It looks like Bill Plympton is doing the animation, but I know John K. is doing another video of his.

Anyway, I guess I just have to work through this stuff. I asked today, kind of half jokingly "this isn't a typical day here, is it?", and they said "definitely not". So I know much of the stress and uncertainly I'm feeling is because of the fact that there's so much activity, its really hard for me to concentrate at this point how to do things properly, because those things just aren't second nature at all. I mean, it is relaly difficult, when you start one thing, and then a minute later you get a phone call, then a minute after you deal with that, a customer walks in with a question or an order, then a few minutes later, more calls, and more customers, and in the meantime, the project you originally started gets piled under a mountain of other orders and tasks.

Oh and on top of all that, I have a nasty cold, so I generally feel like crap.

On the plus side, I got a 91% on the test for the classes I took at the training conference in West Virginia last week. That was good for 9th best out of 21 total. I guess that will at least validate me for a while longer in the eyes of my employees, heh.

And quite honestly, I don't like people. Heh. And I'm supposed to be working in customer service! HA!!! TAKE THAT, WORLD!!!!

Anyway, my car still kicks ass. I'm going to try and get a new stereo for it this weekend, depending on how I feel.

West Virginia

Well it definitely was a memorable trip! A few things I learned that, while I probably could have figured out, never could really grasp the full scope of until I experienced it (as well as other random observations):

Flying is really tedious. Period.

O'Hare International is HUGE, but not all that difficult to navigate if you can walk a fair distance, and can read a map.

The entire midwest looks like a grid pattern.

Everyone in the country has an interesting accent, except California.

It actually rains in the middle of the summer in some places.

Humidity sucks.

West Virginia is beautiful, but there isn't a whole lot going on.

There are a lot of lakes around Wisconsin and Chicago.

There are a lot of rivers back east.

California kicks ass, but it's great to leave it for a while too.

The security in airports sucks, is demeaning to passengers, and not effective against possible terrorist acts.

The people at the airport in Charleston, West Virginia may not look like much, but they actually seem like they do know what they are doing, probably because they have a small staff and many of the workers have multiple duties.

Printing is a crazy-ass profession.

The Marriot Corporation are a bunch of tightwads. If a podunk Best Western in California can offer free internet in its rooms, why can't a 16-story hotel in a state capitol offer it? Their pool and sauna were nice though.

Getting around a town that has an almost non-existant public transportation system is next to impossible. I might have already known that one though.

If you've got money, you'll never go hungry at O'Hare Airport. *If* you've got money....

Airlines are tightwads too. A bag of pretzels and 6 oz of juice is hardly enough for a 3 and a half hour flight.

The seats are totally small too, especially on the tiny 50-seat DC-9 jets, and especially when you are a bigger sized dude.

The people for the most part back there were incredibly nice. No one said in a menacing way "yer not from around these parts, are you". Most (especially the women) were incredibly sweet and helpful, and I hope whoever I came across enjoyed those super generous tips I left (over 25% in most cases...).

However apologies to the bartender at the hotel bar, I was totally buzzed, and the jukebox was too loud. Thanks for the 3 olives though!

I still felt totally out of place, which is actually pretty normal for me.

I totally want to go to Chicago now, and not just to the airport, but I want to see some Chicago blues while eating some ribs or deep dish pizza. I also want to see New York. And Europe. But only if I get to take like triple strength knockout pills to survive the plane ride.

Theres a whole lotta nothing for 100s of miles here out west.

Did I already talk about the printing industry? WTF did I just step into? Heh. But seriously, I learned a lot over the past 3 days, enough to know that I just want to get into this job, and get out as soon as possible. I'd definitely want to do more with printing (more than likely, pre-press), but as a friend of mine that I met there at the conference, Customer Service is not a career.

That being said, I learned more about buisness than I did in the year or so of business courses that I took years and years ago when that was still my college major. And it reminded me completely of why I gave it up.

And if anything, knowing my personality, this job is going to be...uh...interesting. Heh.

Leaving Tomarrow

This post will in all likelyhood be short...but of course tomarrow is the day I'm leaving on my buisness trip. I've got to get up way early, much earlier than anyone has any buisness waking up at night, except maybe to take a leak or something. In fact, I've gone to bed at the time that I'll be waking up tomarrow. Maybe then I shouldn't sleep at all tonight.

I'll be going to Charleston, West Virginia, to learn as much as I can about the worlds of both printing, and customer service. Somehow I think I'll enjoy the former much more than the latter, heh. I am pretty excited about the trip really, but I'm not trying to get myself too amped up, as I'll be there mostly for work and not for fun. But of course I am going to sneak some fun in there.

I'm not quite sure about the internet situation at the hotel, but I will at the least be bringing my laptop, so theres a good chance I may get a post in here before next Sunday.

Need a new perspective...

Well I've had a busy (and fun) weekend so far. Saturday during the morning and early afternoon, I spent doing some errands (especially laundry), but also, vaccuming my room and getting rid of a week's worth of accumulated trash. Also I went down to the store to pick up another pair of pants and a nice-ish looking shirt, mainly because I wanted something new for my trip, but also to balance out the amount of clothing I have (if that makes any sense, heh).

Saturday afternoon and evening, I went to Altamont Raceway to catch some racing. A friend of mine was doing a "Figure 8" race there that night, so it was great to cheer him on. It's a great track too, and they are trying to rebuild it and gain some local interest.

I was totally stressing out at work on Friday. Things were going really well that morning, and then around noon, it seemed like everything I touched or had a hand in was wrong. The biggest blow to me was a copy job that I had done the day before that ended up being on the wrong paper. I felt really bad about that considering that it was a color copy job, and those are rather expensive. Fortunately, no one at work seemed to give me any grief about it. In fact, I must say they are all really supportive of me, and that really shows their personal character, I think. Ultimately, I'm way, way more tough on myself than anyone else there is . After talking to a friend last night, I think I just need a new perspective on things. Even at the worst case scenario, I still have a while to work out or not. By my coworkers' own admission, this job takes a while to get the hang of.

But lets face it, I'm used to getting stuff fairly quickly, or at least doing fairly well at what I do, and this job has been a definite challenge so far, and I want to do the best I can. While in the last week I have developed to the point where I am doing useful work, I still feel like I'm either missing or not getting a lot of things. But it is difficult when there are so many different things to do, and so many different ways of doing them.

Anyway, my trip to West Virginia is on Wednesday. I have an idea of what to expect, but I'm sure it will be a great experience to boot. Hopefully I can be a better person afterwards too. Plus I can go have a little fun and do some thing I've never done before. Yay!

Getting more and more "in the groove"....

Okay, first an update on the car...the thing still kicks ass! Seriously, this is the best car I've ever owned. But there are quirks to it, like any 15 year old car I guess. For one, the issue with the window...I was a bit freaked out about that Sunday night, but by Monday I was fine with how it is. It still goes up and down, though it does need help. Another quirk--the a/c works, but I think the freon is a bit low, so when you are idling for a long time or on something like a long downhill run where the engine isn't working hard, the a/c will more or less shut off, because there isn't enough pressure in the system. Once you get going on the gas again, it usually fires back up. Today was a good test for the T-bird too, because it was near 100 degrees. According to the people I bought the car from (or at least his mechanic), the radiator does have some clogged cores and could need replacing in the future, however, the cooling system seems to be working just fine as far as I can tell.

The job...wow, just wow. The learning curve has accelerated greatly this week! Or should I say--I'm actually to the point where I'm halfway functional at my job. I'm less and less into learning mode, and going more and more into *doing* mode. I can take orders and enter them into the computer. I still have plenty of questions about paper stock, ink charges, etc, but when there are so many possiblities with every job, its still really hard to really know intuitively what to do. I can help people at the front counter, although I'm still a bit unsure with the cash register and payment methods, etc, as well as pricing things. I can do other stuff like fax out proofs and buisness card orders. No, I don't even know close to everything, but I think I can say I'm starting to finally get what its all about.

And basically what its about is somehow bringing order to chaos. It's a huge irony because, if you ask me personally, I'm probably one of the least ordered people I know. I'm not terribly dicerning either. I still have little clue about how I'm able to be an order-maker, but I think I'm going to be able to do it. Horray, or something.

Got the car all settled...

Well my Thunderbird is registered and insured in my name, and it only took a few hundred bucks to do so. That all went pretty smoothly. My stepdad went down with my because I had never done that process before, and lo-and-behold, the insurance agent was the husband of someone he knew years back, so it was all very friendly and casual. Not only am I a proud new AAA policy holder, for signing up today, I got a free $50 gas card, which I promptly used because the thing was only on a quarter tank.

I repaired a few of the nickel-and-dime things it needed. For example, it needed a few lightbulbs in the tail lights, it needed new gas shocks so the hood would stay up on its own, and it needed a flasher unit so the turn signals could work. That thing was actually a bit pricy--$60 from Ford, because it was a dealer-only part. What a rip, but it's something the car kind of needs, heh. The last thing it needs is new wiper blades, as the rubber on the wipers now is kind of...peeling off. Ooops! I'll probably pick those up tomarrow.

I took it for a little drive, then washed off the exterior and interior, giving the dash a nice coat of armor all. After that I switched batteries with the one already in the car for I just bought a month back for my former car, the Aerostar van. I hated the fact that I spent $100 on a nice new Die-Hard gold, then a week later I more or less had to stop driving the thing. At least now, I'll get my money's worth out of that thing.

After that I drove it down to get dinner. The thing rides supurbly, and while it may not be a hot rod, it has a fair amount of power under the hood. I was a bit miffed though, the drivers-side power window started acting a bit tweaky. Maybe some moisture from the car wash got in there, or maybe the motor or switch ss starting to go, which wouldnt be unexpected for a car of its age. I'll see how it does tomarrow.

I think I've said as much as I could about my new job, except that I should add I am learning a lot more. I actually did some stuff like filing, answering phones, and even filling out an order on Friday. Part of me thinks I'm totally failing though, because I can't get everything right away, and of course the side of me that demands instant gratification is really frustrated with that. But the people there assure me that it takes a few weeks to get the hang of the job, and that I'm definitely qualified to do it.

I sure hope so!

Yeah...!

I got the car this evening. Maybe I'm overestimating things here, but the fuckin' thing kicks ass. It's got all the niceities--Power brakes, steering, windows, locks, seats, tilt wheel, cruise control, and air conditioning (man its been a while since a car I've driven regularly has had that, or at least has had working a/c...). A couple downsides--the blinkers aren't working right now, however the hazard flashers are, so I know at least the bulbs are good, so its either a fuse or something else. Also, the hydrolics that keep the hood up are dead, so you've gotta hold it up with a giant metal pole, heh. Likewise, it has those annoying automatic shoulder belts that almost every car had in that era. Lastly it still has the old ford stock radio, which is kind of crummy, and I intend to replace. But those are *minor* complaints, at least. For the kind of car it is, and for the price, I think I got a good little car that will hopefully last me a few years. Right now I'm very happy with it. Plus, since I spent way less on it than I intended to spend on a car, I still have money in the bank! Yay me. I'm going to get it registered and insured in my name (hopefully...AAA says they are open that day) on Saturday.

Update on the job--things are going better. No, I still don't comprehend everything, not even enough to really do my job properly. But I am at least achieving one goal, and thats learning what exactly printing is all about. Today I spent the morning with the folks in the press room, so I got to actually physically see them do stuff like make plates, load them on the press, and do a run. They were doing pretty simple stuff too--just letterheads and envelopes, but even that takes a lot of skill, experience, and work. The next part of the day I spent in Bindry, which is basically the assembly portion of printing--gluing together mass books of forms, stapling booklets, cutting, binding, etc. Actually, pretty simple stuff, just a lot of work. After that I went back up front and did some stuff like fill out a few job envelopes (Ive got the hang of those), then I actually attempted to bring up a customer order on the computer, and run a credit card transaction even. I don't know if I did all that great either, heh.

I am picking up on the minor stuff though, like keeping an eagle eye on the copiers to see if there are paper outages or jams, and getting into the thing when it jams to unclog it. It's pretty straight forward, because the little readout on the copier tells you exactly where the jam is, heh. Likewise, if I see people who need help loading or carrying or cutting I offer to help. If there's nothing evident for me to do, I ask what can I be doing. Of course, there is still a bit of sitting or waiting around, because without experience theres little I can do.

I can do this job though, I just have to work through the ins-and-outs of their bereaucratic system. What forms go with what types of orders, and at what stages of hte production process should those forms be filled out--and likewise, where do those forms when I'm done processing them. Likewise, I need to figure out their database system--how to pull up orders, what goes in which box, etc. But I think I am getting the basics of printing itself--the different papers and what they do and what they are good for, different inks, etc. And for what its worth, the people I work for do seem to have confience in me, even if I don't have much in myself at times. Then an hour later I laugh off those negative feelings. Then an hour later, they come back, heh.

Anyway, they must think enough of me to send me to some printers conference/workshop all the way in West Virginia! Yes, in two weeks time I'll be spending....ehh about 3 and a half days in the lovely city of Charleston, West Virginia, set alongside...I dont know, some river? I know a bit about geography but I don't know stuff that obscure. Maybe its the Chattanooga. I'm not sure if the trip will be all that "fun", because I will be there to do work, but considering I've never been out of the Western US, I am looking forward to the experience. The flight will be gruesome, and will include a 2 to 2 and a half hour layover in Chicago each way. Just enough time I bet to stop at a crappy foodstand for a pizza, and go to the crappy gift shop for some postcards.

I don't know...obviously I am a bit frustrated because I love to know *everything*, I'm just such a nerd that way, but I have to be realistic because everything isn't just going to come to me in one day. People who have been at that job for months, even years, still ask probably a dozen questions per day. But it's pretty cool the way my life has changed over the past few weeks. This time last month, I had basically nothing. Now, I literally have a real future ahead of me. And it feels GREAT.

Getting better...!

Yeah, I may have sounded like doom and gloom disaster in my last post, but you know, whenever I start something new, and the the tasks are just the slightest bit challenging, I *always* freak out in a storm of negativity. It happened every first day of the new college semesters--I would look at the syllibus and freak out over all the book reading and paper writing I would have to do. I would worry and worry about how the hell I'm even going to pass this class. Then a week later, I would just be *cruising*.

I think thats whats happening with this job.

No, I still don't know a lot of the stuff that goes on there. But I can genuinely say that, unlike at the end of yesterday afternoon, I now feel like I can do this job, at least eventually. It helped that for most of the morning, I got to hang out with their inhouse typesetter/designer, so I got to be with someone who really spoke my language--not this "fill in the form blah blah stuff goes here there and everywhere" speak that I got the day before (which of course will soon enough be my job). Likewise, it helped that it was considerably less busy than yesterday, so the people I work under could actually take the time to go through some stuff with me, and yes, even have me do a few things myself.

Plus, they all seem like good people overall, and very encouraging. I was told I was doing great so far, although the cynical self-hating side of me blurted out "well, I don't think I'm doing that good...". Of course like always its said with a half-smile, so who knows if I'm actually even serious!

Then a cool thing happened when I got home. As I was driving down my street, I saw a nice little 1991 Thunderbird (yes, the Thunderbird, my favorite make of car!) sitting for sale on the road, for only $1200. Now I've told of how I need a car, and I wanted my neighbor's Toyota, but it was looking highly unlikely that I would get it. Well I called the number on the for sale sign, talked to the guy just now, and a sale was made. The Tbird will be mine tomarrow evening when I hopefully give him the money, and he gives me the pink slip. The car was fan-freaking-tastic, especially at that price. It was fairly clean and well maintained. About the only downside I could think of, and this is pretty minor, was that the blinkers don't work, but I imagine it can be fixed. It could just be a simple fuse which takes all of a second to change. At any rate you aren't going to find a great car for slightly over a thousand bucks, but I think I'm getting a good deal here.

Possibly, more tomarrow...