Spreadsheets and Shotguns

I’ve been way out of touch lately, and for that I apologize! Life got pretty hectic for a while for several reasons. First, my company did some consolidation and my position was eliminated (ie, I was laid off). So I was running at about 100 miles an hour working to find something new in a month. The great news about that is I found a new job within 5 weeks! Although that’s a little over my goal, it’s a lot better than the average in the nation of 12 weeks.

The first few days went great! I've learned a lot and have been able to be extremely helpful in the end of the month reporting process. This month I’m told we got the reports done a day and a half sooner than they did last month. I think I can make a lot of changes here that will save everyone time. They haven’t had anyone in this position for the past 2 years, so there’s a lot of cleanup work to do. The last guy they hired stayed for 6 days, was offered a job from another company, and accepted that. So the joke around the office is I just have to last 7 days to be a success!

Wednesday was intense because my new boss, Angela, found out we needed to turn in our 2010 forecast by the following day. I was a bit freaked because that meant I not only needed to forecast what my department would be doing (without the benefit of seasonal trends since the department really bombed last year). But I also needed to divide that forecast up by the 24 main sites that my department got its subscriptions from. So I worked like mad, Angela got us a second day, and I’m now feeling pretty good about my numbers. After reviewing them Angela said they looked aggressive enough but at the same time reasonable (which means perfect in my eyes)!

I like the environment here, a lot more laid back than the last job I had. Not that I don’t think there will be stress (every job has it), but the atmosphere is a just a nice change. The people are extremely friendly  too. There are only two ladies in the office (with a third out on maternity leave). They're all low maintenance girls that won't be hard to get along with.

The guys are also nice. One popped his head up over the cubical to ask me if I owned a bike. My uncle James would be proud of me for rattling off my "Yes, a Garry Fisher Sugar Three Plus" which lead to an "Oh, mountain or street?" I guess the company has a street biking team. Maybe I have to get a street bike to build team unity or something. That could be fun.

The benefits are fabulous! We get free life insurance (Dave will get one year of my salary if I die), and free Disability insurance that covers 6 weeks of maternity leave, plus all the regular benefits (with pretty great medical). My favorite part is the PTO, I accrue 10 hours PTO a month, so by the end of the first year I’ll have 120 hours or 15 days to use as I see fit!!!

The commute isn't too bad, usually 40 minutes to work and an hour home, but I made it home in 35 minutes Wednesday… I attribute it to the tunnel vision that occurs when you stare at a spread sheet for far too long. I can handle that, even if the sun is down when I leave as well as when I get home (curse the winter).

Apart from that life in general has been pretty hectic with Thanksgiving down at the cabin (near Zion’s National Park), and worrying about my Grandpa Yoder’s intestinal surgery. Fortunately he’s recovering, although the process seems slow. I was able to stop by a few times over the holiday, and each time he seemed better than the prior visit.

Thanksgiving was tons of fun with lots of traditional food and Chinese food, hiking in Zion’s, petrified wood collecting, checking out the ghost town, and shot gun shooting. So I couldn't get my shotgun shooting pic to post, but you can see it on my facebook page. I'm a great shot, and it shows me killing a clay pigeon!!!