I woke up feeling very nervous and anxious this morning. I have no problem training someone, but I’m nervous about being trained, because I’m always afraid I’ll have a problem learning something, or I’ll do something wrong. I’m pretty lucky because I’m going to have a couple of weeks to train before I’m on my own, which is a very unusual situation. Most of the time, temps are just thrown into a job, because someone got sick, or at the most you might have a week to train before a person leaves their job.
I started temping way back in 1977 – yes, over 30 years ago! My father worked for DICTAPHONE CORPORATION at the time and they had their own temp agency – DOT (Dictaphone Office Temporaries). Since I studied typing in high school and really took to it, my father brought me to his office in Rye, NY a couple of times and got me trained on the Dictaphone. I don’t think anyone uses them anymore, but 30 years ago whey were all the rage!
The boss would dictate a letter, memo, etc., into the recorder and then you would transcribe it. I actually enjoyed doing that, and it became my “claim to fame” at PwC. There wasn’t anyone more efficient or faster at transcription than Peppy!
Anyway, I had been in Queens College for 2 years as a theatre major and I was determined to pursue a career in the theatre. Most everyone in the theatre makes their living waiting tables, as it usually leaves your schedule pretty flexible and your days open. I never did that. When I left Queens College in 1977 to pursue my career, I started temping. It gave me the flexibility to go to an audition, or a class.
One of my first jobs was at Reader’s Digest on 3rd Avenue and 46th Street. It was their General Books Division. Do you remember Reader’s Digest Books? They had condensed books, but they also had other books filled with information and pictures. They were entertaining encyclopedias on different subjects like “Into the Unknown,” “Great American West,” or “Stories Behind Everyday Things.”
I worked for the Photo Editor in the Photo Department. It was a small group and we quickly became a family. Bob, the Photo Editor was the father. Adelaide, his secretary was the mother. Dick, who worked under Bob was the older brother. Priscilla, who managed and cataloged all the incoming photos, was the older daughter and I (the gal Friday) was the younger daughter. I’m not kidding. We fell into those roles and it made the job both wonderful and sometimes very trying. Adelaide really was a second mother and worried about all of us. She would make sure you were eating right, dressing appropriately, and had to know what was going on in your life at all times!
The positive was that it was a fun, easy job that I really enjoyed and they were completely flexible about my time off and supportive of my career (they all came to every show I did). I worked there for two years! Unfortunately, in all that time, I never got a paid vacation, or sick day, but that’s the life of a temp! I did get a free Reader’s Digest magazine on my desk every month and a copy of any book I desired (I got them all!).
Anyway, I got to work this morning and worked on a few things for my boss (who was in LA today) until 9:00am. Then, I went downtstairs to Systems Infrastructure to start my training. The first thing they wanted me to do was attend their daily meeting, from 9:00am – 9:30am, where they review all the projects and discuss status and what needs to be done. I felt like I was in a room with 10 people speaking another language. Everything was so technical, and the jargon and acronyms were words I’d never heard before – and they were talking fast!
I sat next to my “trainer” and she had in front of her the agenda for the day before. What she did was edit it and occasionally write something down as they spoke. I couldn’t understand why she wrote certain things down, and ignored other things.
When we left, I told her that I didn’t understand how I could possibly do what she did in there, because I didn’t understand a WORD anyone was saying, and didn’t have any idea what they were talking about!
She said she’d only been in that job for 5 months and that I would get it very quickly. The truth is, she edits the minutes after the meeting and emails it to the guy in charge and he checks it for accuracy. If there are any mistakes, he corrects it and sends it back to her for finalization. So, I guess at first I would be making a LOT of mistakes, and he would be making a LOT of corrections. It really stressed me out, but I can only do the best that I can do, and nothing more.
The other stuff required for this job is relatively easy, because it’s running reports, and the girl who is training me is creating a manual that has every step clearly written. I will start by watching her run the reports, and then I’ll run them while she watches, so I will get experience doing it on my own.
It’s a lot to learn, especially for just a month or two, and the most intimidating part is that then I’ll have to train the new person (although there are 2 other people who know the job, so it won’t really be just me). Anyway, I got back to my desk at 11:00am, which just gave me enough time to work on a few projects and read a few pages of my book (I only have about 30 pages left) before it was time to train.
One of the groups I work with was going out for a teambuilding event today. I knew about it, and thought it sounded like fun, but of course I wasn’t invited, because I’m just a temp. They were going to lunch and then to indoor go kart races. At the last minute, they had two cancellations, so they asked the woman I’m training and me to go! She was really excited, so I thought I’d go, too. I wasn’t dressed for the occasion – skirt and strappy sandals – but I went anyway.
We had lunch at the YELLOW COYOTE TORTILLA FACTORY, which was really great. One of the guys at lunch said the coyote looked like he had the measles. I thought that was pretty funny! I had a 3-cheese quesadilla, but I could only eat about half of it, and had to leave the rest since we would be out all afternoon. Boo hoo!
Next, we went to K1 SPEED indoor go kart racing. I had never done this before, but was excited to try it. We discussed our driving techniques over lunch, and I told the group that I DO like to drive fast, but I’m not reckless at all, and not very competitive either.
My words turned out to be completely true. Although I didn’t win any of the races, I did go fast, but was careful enough to never crash or spin-out, which almost everyone else did!
When we first arrived, they made us fill out information online and sign a release saying that we won’t sue if we are maimed, killed, etc. Then, they make sure you’re all dressed for the occasion, and – since I wasn’t – they gave me a pair of black/white keds in my size and a big t-shirt to put over my lap (since your legs are kind of spread, since the gas is on the right with your right foot, and the brake is on the left with your left foot. I wasn’t uncomfortable at all, and the sneakers fit great, but everyone was laughing, because they had never seen me in flats before. Someone took a picture of me, but I don’t know if I’ll ever get to see it (and I don’t know if I want to!).
The first race, there were eight of us. We did 12 laps and I came in dead last. You have to wear these “head socks” that are yellow cotton and go over your face so that just your eyes and nose are exposed. I guess they protect your head from the smelly helmets, since you really sweat in these things. Let’s just say it’s not my best look.
In between races you take off the head sock, drop it in a basket, return the helmet and get a print-out of your scores and race results. The second race you get a new head sock and use the same helmet. This race was also 12 laps, and there were only 6 drivers. One of the girls crashed in the first race and didn’t want to drive anymore, and another guy had to get back to work (he’s a young partner!).
In the second race, I was in third place – out of 6. I was pretty proud of that! I found it really funny and was driving and laughing at the same time. It just struck me as really funny that, not only was I doing this crazy thing I had never done before, but I was racing with people I hardly knew. I just had the best time. Whenever someone would pass me, it would make me laugh even harder, and I tried to keep up, but I was too nervous to pass anyone.
The last race was 16 laps and was a true race, instead of being judged on time, it would actually show the first 3 to pass the finish line. Another guy dropped out, because he was exhausted, so there were just five of us, and I came in fifth. Boo hoo! The first, second and third place winners got a trophy, which was really cute. Then we went back to the office, arriving a little after 4:00pm.
All of us were complaining that our arms were killing us, because it is really hard to control the karts, so you are using your arm muscles a lot. I also feel it in my pecs. I’m sure it’s going to hurt even more tomorrow. My neck feels stiff, too. I see some Advils in my future!
It was well worth it, because the new girl got to bond with everyone and, as I told them, I got to have my "last hurrah" before leaving the department. We all had a lot of fun and it was a wonderful afternoon. BTW – I was – by about 10 years – the oldest person there!
When I got back to the office I called my boss (who was driving back from LA). He seemed pleased that I got to go out with everyone and just wanted to check in with me. He’ll be in tomorrow, so it should be pretty busy. I’m not going to training tomorrow morning, since he’ll only be in tomorrow and out again Friday, but I will be training the girl from 12-3. I can’t wait to hear if her neck and arms were hurting her like mine are tonight!
When I got home, Eric informed me that his cable TV was out completely and they are coming at 7:30am on Saturday. He told me that he had a game on from 6-9, so I took a nap while he watched basketball in the bedroom. When I woke up, we had more salad (that Eric had made yesterday), and then I worked on the computer until his game was over. When it ended I watched the AMERICAN IDOL season finale.
First of all, I have to say to Sergio – YOU WERE RIGHT! He swore that David Cook would win, and I would have bet $1,000 that David Archuleta would win. I can’t believe I was so wrong. David Cook won by over 12 million votes. There were over 97 million votes all together – 56% for David Cook; 44% for David Archuleta. So, it wasn’t even close!
It doesn’t really matter who won, because they both have big futures ahead of them, but I really thought that David Archuleta would be better molded by the American Idol machine than David Cook, but I’m sure he’ll be a huge success. Cook’s adorable, he’s a great singer, and he seems like a really nice guy.
The show really was star-studded – Seal, Donna Summers, ZZ Top, the Jonas Brothers, Bryan Adams, Carrie Underwood, and George Michael, among others – along with the top 12. I enjoyed the whole 2 hours. Unfortunately, the show ran long and my DVR didn’t record the whole thing. In fact, I was nervous that it would end before they announced the winner. It ended up that Ryan Seacrest said, “David Cook!” and just as David had a shocked look on his face, the recording was over! So, I missed the whole “reaction thing” and his final song. I guess I’ll be able to see it online, or on the news. Anyway, I have to be careful about that – when it’s a show like that, that could run long, you have to add some time to the end!
Tomorrow should be a little less hectic, because I will only be training my replacement in the afternoon, but I won’t go for training in the morning, so I’ll get to finish my book! Eric already got me another out of the library today – FIELD OF THIRTEEN, which is 13 short stories by Dick Francis. I want to read everything he’s ever written, so the short stories will be a nice change. The good thing is, sometimes I can read an entire story in one sitting!