I had a very busy and productive day at work today, I’m proud to say! My trainee was only working with me from 9-12, because she was participating in a teambuilding event in the afternoon. Remember when I went Go Kart racing with my team? This is the same kind of thing with her department. They were going lawn bowling at Balboa Park. I think it’s a great thing that the firm does, having each department do something fun as a group outside the office. My ride told me today that her group went to the horse races one year.
Anyway, I worked on a couple of projects with my trainee all morning and then, after she left, I had lunch and read my book. At 1:00pm I went down to HR to help them for the rest of the afternoon. I was trained for a few hours and then did some filing for them. All the different jobs I will be doing in HR are easy and fun. I learned a couple of things I’ll need to do on the computer, and then a few other projects putting together packages for new employees. They get folders filled with all sorts of forms, brochures and instructions.
I really think it’s going to be great in HR. Everyone seems very nice and there’s lots of work, but it’s not stressful. You’re not under pressure to get something done, like a presentation that has to be shipped. It seems to be a very efficient, hard-working group that works together without pressure.
When I got home Eric wasn’t yet back from his ride. I did some dusting and cleaning for a while, until Eric got home. I took everything off my desk, dusted it and then put everything back. It looks nice and neat – for a change!
He went riding late in the afternoon, because he had gone to COSTCO in the afternoon and got some food and drinks. He looked for a folding shopping cart for me, but they didn’t have one. I got so frustrated that I went on ebay and bought one in five minutes. It’s exactly what I was looking for – a black metal folding cart. I should have known to do that right from the start, instead of running around like an idiot searching everywhere. The internet is the ONLY way to shop!
You know how they have those little old ladies cooking in COSTCO (or BJ’s or SAMS CLUB)? They give you samples of turkey burgers, or tuna fish or spinach and cheese ravioli. Eric tasted some spinach and cheese ravioli and bought a box. We had them for dinner with some fresh-steamed broccoli. They were delicious. They’re fresh, so they take just 5 minutes to cook. Delicious!
Tonight I watched SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE. There are a few couples on the show that are SO divine -- just breathtaking to watch. The talent on this show is amazing and I recommend it highly. This is one of those shows that, like American Idol, is all about the talent. It’s not like PROJECT RUNWAY, or AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL, or LEGALLY BLONDE, where the contestants are living together and you get to see how horrible they can be to each other.
LEGALLY BLONDE is very entertaining, but it’s hard to root for someone when they’re being interviewed privately and you can see what a heartless meanie they are. Then, they’re out on stage and they sing great, and dance great and you think they’d be perfect to star on Broadway, but you don’t really want them to win, because you think they don’t deserve it. Why can’t we all just get along?
I always tell people that I’m not very competitive. I want to do well, but I want everyone else to do well, too. I was always the one at dance auditions who was teaching the steps to people out in the hall. I know I might have ruined my own chances by helping someone else, but that never bothered me. I hate when people hold back helping someone else – either in real life or on a reality show, because they’re SO competitive that they want others to fail. The way that I compete is I want everyone to do well, but I want to be the best!
Tomorrow I will be finishing up a PowerPoint presentation with my trainee. She’s been doing the slides she learned how to create last week. She’s getting a lot of experience working on them the last few days, as she first did one presentation and is now working on another. I do other parts of the presentation, which are less technical. I think they never wanted to teach me how to do these difficult slides, because it’s so complicated and they knew it would take hours and I was just a temp.
The girl who trained my trainee in this process was getting frustrated, because it was taking her so long to get it all, but that’s because there are about 30 steps! I explained it to the boss and told him she was doing a fantastic job and that I don’t even think I could have done it!
He’ll be back on Friday and I’m hoping that we’ll have everything completed. I am going back down to HR tomorrow to work on the files some more. They’re a mess and I’m making them look be-you-ti-ful! It’s funny, because I was organizing the files and making them look good and easy to find what you’re looking for. I realized that my talents working in my shop – arranging and displaying stock – is something that I put to good use in the office. I have tidied up messy cubicles and rearranged files. I just like everything to look nice! The best part is -- everyone seems to really appreciate my efforts!