33 / Two Years with Nicole / Week Alone with Trainees
Eek so I'm 33 now! My early thirties are fading away and soon I'll be in my mid-thirties! Truthfully, that doesn't bother me much right now. My birthdays have become merely just another day and I hardly notice they come or go. I like it that way. A few surprising things happen though, such as being bombarded with well-wishing on Facebook from dozens of people and Nicole preparing an entire chocolate cake for me complete with lit candles and a song. She's an amazing woman and I sometimes playfully wonder when she'll realize just how out of my league she really is.
So yea, I'm 33 now. Today, the 20th, is Nicole's birthday as well. I've had such a rough week at work (Discussed later in this entry) that I haven't had a chance to get her something for her birthday. Today we're going out to a few special meals and then a day of shopping, so it should be a good day.
Also this week was our two-year anniversary of becoming a couple. It occurred to me at the time that this relationship will soon become the longest serious relationship of my life. It's amazing to think about that since it certainly doesn't feel like two whole years have gone by. More like two months. I can still vividly remember the first few months of our courtship and those memories still feel fresh and new. I don't see the relationship ending anytime soon, either, (Sorry ladies! ... And men) and each day just seems to bring us closer to being even more inseparable. As we were together last night drifting off to sleep, we each agreed that this has been the best two years of our lives.
Things at my job have been good and bad. I just passed the six-month mark and although I'm still a temp-to-hire, I remain confident that I'll soon be hired into the company. As time goes on, I'm getting more and more confident and people are really seeing me as capable, knowledgeable, and dependable. It's not all perfect though. The highs of helping someone solve a computer problem and seeing them able to get back to their own work are peppered with the lows of challenging days where I can't solve a problem and there's no one to go to for help. This week was one of those low weeks.
The guy who trained me six months ago is now merely a coworker. We work different shifts and pass down to each other. I still look to him to solve the real complex problems and whenever he's out for a day or anything, it's stressful. Well, this week, all week, he was on vacation. He's also been training one of the two new hires who will help us flesh out the remaining shifts when we switch to the compressed work schedule, so he's very important to our tiny department. The second new hire was in orientation this week but on Wednesday, he was required to shadow someone in the department, and that someone was me. So all week, it was me and the trainees. It was a real test of our abilities and although each day was scary and times got rough, we appear to have survived. Our manager had us shift our schedules a little so that the trainees could see more of what I did. That made it tough to work since I had to slow down and show them things. Heck, half of the stuff I wasn't even truly sure of myself. After six months, there's a lot I'm not sure of...
Truthfully though, I'm kind of proud of the work we did this week. The next time one of us takes a week-long vacation, however, both the new-hires will be good and trained and the impact of someone taking time off won't be so harsh. We'll have more backup and more help amongst ourselves. This one was a unique week and I hope to not have to repeat it soon. It's such a relief that it's over and things should go back to normal on Monday. It's strange to think that I've never looked forward to a Monday more than I do for this one.
So yea, I'm 33 now. Today, the 20th, is Nicole's birthday as well. I've had such a rough week at work (Discussed later in this entry) that I haven't had a chance to get her something for her birthday. Today we're going out to a few special meals and then a day of shopping, so it should be a good day.
Also this week was our two-year anniversary of becoming a couple. It occurred to me at the time that this relationship will soon become the longest serious relationship of my life. It's amazing to think about that since it certainly doesn't feel like two whole years have gone by. More like two months. I can still vividly remember the first few months of our courtship and those memories still feel fresh and new. I don't see the relationship ending anytime soon, either, (Sorry ladies! ... And men) and each day just seems to bring us closer to being even more inseparable. As we were together last night drifting off to sleep, we each agreed that this has been the best two years of our lives.
Things at my job have been good and bad. I just passed the six-month mark and although I'm still a temp-to-hire, I remain confident that I'll soon be hired into the company. As time goes on, I'm getting more and more confident and people are really seeing me as capable, knowledgeable, and dependable. It's not all perfect though. The highs of helping someone solve a computer problem and seeing them able to get back to their own work are peppered with the lows of challenging days where I can't solve a problem and there's no one to go to for help. This week was one of those low weeks.
The guy who trained me six months ago is now merely a coworker. We work different shifts and pass down to each other. I still look to him to solve the real complex problems and whenever he's out for a day or anything, it's stressful. Well, this week, all week, he was on vacation. He's also been training one of the two new hires who will help us flesh out the remaining shifts when we switch to the compressed work schedule, so he's very important to our tiny department. The second new hire was in orientation this week but on Wednesday, he was required to shadow someone in the department, and that someone was me. So all week, it was me and the trainees. It was a real test of our abilities and although each day was scary and times got rough, we appear to have survived. Our manager had us shift our schedules a little so that the trainees could see more of what I did. That made it tough to work since I had to slow down and show them things. Heck, half of the stuff I wasn't even truly sure of myself. After six months, there's a lot I'm not sure of...
Truthfully though, I'm kind of proud of the work we did this week. The next time one of us takes a week-long vacation, however, both the new-hires will be good and trained and the impact of someone taking time off won't be so harsh. We'll have more backup and more help amongst ourselves. This one was a unique week and I hope to not have to repeat it soon. It's such a relief that it's over and things should go back to normal on Monday. It's strange to think that I've never looked forward to a Monday more than I do for this one.