Two Week Reflections

Well, I have been working for two full weeks now...and here are my thoughts...and a lot of them :)

I think that I have never been more frustrated with hitting walls in a job than I have in these last two weeks. I have called IT so much that I am starting to get the same people (and that is pretty amazing since you never know who in the whole WORLD you might talk to). I think almost everything is resolved now...but I STILL do not have email. They keep saying that I "should get a call back by the end of the day" but that was several days ago, and they said the same thing today, and still no email. It was funny because in some of the online training I have done, one of the courses was on security, and they specifically said never to use emails such a AOL, Hotmail, etc. Ha! That is all I have been able to use the last two weeks, and I have sent at least a hundred emails for work in the last two weeks...my boss laughed at that too, because there is no way I could really do my job without some sort of email. So using my personal email account continues for now.

I have been pretty impressed with their systems - everything is automated and clean. We reconcile credit cards similar to how we did at IWU, but all you do is fill in the information, print out a bar code, fax it in, and keep the receipts. Done. No waiting for your billing cycle, no keeping track of budget numbers, etc. They show you almost anything you want at a click of a button. Even our time sheets are automated - I simply fill in my hours and save it (and that's only if I have changes to a normal 8 hour day, otherwise that part is automatic, too), it automatically goes to my boss to approve it, and ta da - done. So easy. They also have a training system called NetLearn and it keeps track of what courses you have done and keeps a record for each person. I was pretty impressed with the whole thing, even thought I was bored to tears watching all the training.

As I have continued to get used to terminology and methods, and the huge list of people to contact for each thing, I am slowly getting it - and actually I am afraid that I am going to be really bored in my job. But it is a job, and I am thankful. Already I am reformatting some of their documents to make them look better just because I have time. I am pretty much done with that now, in just two days. I am in trouble. I sure hope that it picks up when I get my email account.

Verizon has very strict rules for computer usage. At IWU, when I had a break or if I took my lunch hour on campus instead of going home, I could get on the Internet, check my email, blog, etc. I can't do anything at this job - ever. I can't even give out my email address. Maybe IWU was stricter than what was practiced and it was just our office that said we could do personal things on breaks, but this took me by surprise at Verizon. I definitely see their point, but I was surprised how strict they are. So if you ever need me at work, call me!!!

I am getting more concerned with the switch to Frontier in July. The other Verizon employees that have been with Verizon for years are panicking, so maybe they are just rubbing off on me. I am trying very hard to stay positive. To trust that God would not have brought me to this job just to lose it two months later. Trying to trust that He did not start working out the details of this house (which as a side note is not as big as what some of you are thinking - I know, the picture is deceiving. It is 1800 square feet, but we are assuming the basement is not included in that total - far from a huge house in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, it is not small - but it is not huge either), just to have us lose it. It is hard to not get pulled into the negativity when there are comments day in and day out. Frontier could be better for all we know! But it is hard when the company is not communicating anything with those of us that are caught in this transition. Will we get less days off? Will they take our personal days? What about vacation days? Salary? 401K matching contributions? Health insurance? Will we even have a job???? etc, etc, etc. The list could go on and on. I am really trying to be at peace and accept the worst...just hopefully I will know the worst before we get much further on the house. I would rather lose what we have already put into it than buy a house and lose the whole house because I am out a job.

It is also very different being in a non-Christian environment. I think I have yet to meet someone who does not swear. I mean, I know even some Christians that swear, but since I am one that does not, and have not really been around people who do swear on a consistent basis since I have worked at IWU, it is very different to be around it all the time now. I definitely am not one who expects people to change how they talk around me - I mean, would I want them to try to get me to swear just because they do??? No! I just get tired of hearing it all the time. In my opinion, most of it is just laziness because they don't want to take the time to talk intelligently. Anyway, off my soap box. It is not just the swearing, it is hearing people talking about getting drunk, and other lifestyle choices that I do not agree with. It is the "Oh" comment when my boss finds out that Stephen is a pastor and we go to church (he is a nice guy, don't get me wrong). In fact, whether or not this is a good idea or not, or whether you agree with me, I honestly have been keeping silent on that part of my life right now. I want people to get to know me before judging me when they know nothing about me. I don't want them to get a negative wedge in their life about Christianity before they even know what I am all about. I am not sure I am making sense. I know that at some point (at least I hope so!) I will be able to be more vulnerable and open up, but for now I think it is better to stay silent. Maybe I am using this as a crutch, but deep in my heart I don't feel that way.

The cleaning situation is still a mystery to me. I think occasionally (once a week??) someone comes in and cleans the bathroom (which is a two stall male and female bathroom by the way - but thankfully there is a lock on the door so you don't have the awkward situation of a guy in one stall and a girl in the other), but even that is questionable. Last week I had to take out my own trash and vacuum the floors. I still just think the whole thing is strange. I am definitely NOT above cleaning - I did it every day in much nastier situations when I worked at the park in Grand Rapids. I just think it is strange in an office setting to have to do it. It makes me more thankful for the cleaning ladies at IWU even though at times we weren't happy with their cleaning. At least they still cleaned!

It has been nice having a flexible schedule in the midst of working 30 miles away from home. I have worked straight through from 8-4, I have worked straight through from 7-3, and I have worked 7-4 with a lunch in the middle. This week I am working straight through from 7-4 so that I can take a half day tomorrow for our house inspections. It has been great having that flexibility. A lot still depends on my boss, but for the most part he doesn't care as long as I get my 40 hours in.

Anyway, this is a whole lot longer than I thought it was going to be...and now it is time for me to get to bed and wind down for the night, or I will not get the 8 hours of sleep I need to function (which is still an adjustment for me). Have a great night everyone!