Wow--I can't believe my last post was in January. I am back on board with this! Things got crazy--for a while at work, things weren't going well. My relative and I were bumping heads, again about minor points he seems to want to focus on, but now things have settled into a comfortable routine. Repetition is the key to learning new tasks, and after 6 months, I do have a lot down pat. Now it is time move on to the next phase. I am basically learning every aspect of the manufacturing company, which someday I will co-own. Sometime soon, I will take on marketing duties, which, with my communications background, seems right down my alley. We need to solicit new customers, and I think that would be fun.
However, I might not be able to travel for a while yet because I have one more year of law school left. I am really glad I have all of these interesting things going on in my life.
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I saw a great movie tonight--A Mighty Heart. I had heard great things about it and Angelina Jolie's performance, and I agree. She was wonderful. Being a journalist for many years, I felt a kinship with the characters in the movie. A tiny part of me would like to be a foreign correspondent. You have to really be a true journalist to put yourself in such a situation.
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This is a little old by now, but what did you think about the Sopranos ending? I loved that show. I was frustrated with it at first, but am glad that there wasn't a bloodshed of their family. I have come to like the theory that the viewers were the ones who were killed.
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I just got back from a vacation to see relatives in Western Pennsylvania, also where I am originally from, which is the area where the oil industry was born. I always love coming back here. Not only is it a beautiful Victorian area, but it is slower paced and makes me feel so connected to my roots. I can't get enough of it.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
A New Beginning--a series of posts
1/7/07
About a week ago, I was about to post some frustrations about YOU KNOW WHO.
But now, I think things at work are going to be fine. One thing I have learned is that he may have to think of new ideas as his. Even if I came up with them first.
Wonder why no one is looking at my blog?
(There are a string of entries in this first post. I started a blog, closed it out, started another one, and moved the posts over.)
12/4/06
It has been a while since I have posted. Things are going well--my relative has dropped the "hours" talk. He isn't fretting about a minute here and a minute there. Thank goodness, because I would hate to have to tell him I find that ludicrous. I have never had to worry about my hours at work, and I really don't want to start now. It is a distraction to the work you really have to do. I can be a workaholic, but I like to be able to set much of the stage myself.
Right now, I am trying to remember everything I have to remember. There are too many pieces of paper and too many databases. I have never had to work with these before. I think repetition will help. Billing and accounting are my new friends.
11/12/06
Friday at work was a little touchy. My relative who owns and started the company seemed upset with a few minor points. Coming to work five minutes late and taking too long at lunch. Walking out of his office when someone showed up to to talk, even though I had been there for every other conversation. Hmmmmm.
In my previous job, these were not an issue. Is he just not used to working with professionals, or are those issues more typical in manufacturing firms than I may realize? My sense is that when people are hired for management spots, you don't focus on these trivial matters. If you do, you wear people down and give them a sense you are not valuing them as professionals.
I guess I have no choice than to do what he wants for the present. After all, I am in the learning mode. Eventually, I will need more freedom. I won't broach this subject for quite a while though.
11/9/07
One week into my new job, and what can I say? My head is not totally around it yet, but I am surprised that I am feeling very energized, despite some lack of sleep, and a surprised feeling that I don't miss my old job that much. Which says a lot, because I loved my old job--I was an editor--and the job was perfect for me. But over time and a feeling that in the office we just kept reinventing the wheel, and a recent bad boss--it was time to move on. What a great opportunity to move into the family business. I am glad I am seeing ahead--I feel as if it was not time for me to make this move yet, but if I didn't do it now, it might have been too late before I know it. And if the company had gone out of the family, it would have upset me very much. I realized a few years back that the company is something that makes me feel special. And I would hate to lose that. So glad I am there.
In another dimension of my life, I turned in my last paper in one of my law school classes tonight, which closes out that class. One more down--still a bunch to go until graduation in a year and a half.
11/1/07
Is there really room for the numbers-challenged set in the business world, which is populated by the number crunchers and scrunchers? I sure hope so--there are more numbers in my new field than in my old, for sure. In my old field, I never had to deal with a number, at least not one that wasn't on my own terms. I remember hearing business professors talk about teaching law students who were taking their classes--that the law students would start sweating the second a number was written on the board. I feel like that--well maybe I don't start sweating the second a number is written on the board, but maybe five seconds later.
My first day at the family company went well--I had a real dip in energy, but had my usual second wind mid-day. The hard part today was not being in charge of my schedule (I have been in charge of my schedule for years), not really knowing the lay of the land (even though I have been familiar with the company for years) and not having privacy, in that I don't have my own office or even my own computer there yet. But the eventual payoff is awesome.
10/31/06
Down to D-day--I start my new job at the biz tomorrow. Still doesn't seem real. I went to vote today--democratic, of course! I promised myself I would go to bed early--I am a night owl--but am still up. Met a friend for dinner at a new restaurant earlier, and now am watching the movie Halloween while studying for a law test I will have in a few weeks. I find it amazing that I had never seen that movie before! I will have to rearrange my daily habits and routines before long I am sure.
10/30/06
I am enjoying my couple of days off in between my last job and my new job. My last job was a way of life--what will my new job be? Time will tell.
I went to my favorite pancake place for breakfast--what a treat, as I never have time to go there. Now I am straightening up my condo. With taking law school courses on top of work, a lot of things at home go by the wayside, so I am trying to take advantage of today.
Is there anyway to get tired of chocolate cake? I love chocolate cake, but I am eating left over cake from my going away party from my last job, and am almost saturated with it. Never thought that would be possible!
10/29/06
Who says you can't go home again? This week, I will go to work in my family's manufacturing company full time, something I never thought I would do. It's not that I didn't want to--I just hadn't planned on doing that. I have had a very fulfilling career in writing and editing and loved every minute of it. Even though I have loved it and done well at it, I knew deep down I didn't want to do it forever. Over the last few years, I started thinking about a career switch and enrolled in night law school, thinking law would be my next career.
Now that working at my family's company is going to be my new reality, the law career has been put on hold. However, I am going to graduate and get my law license anyway. You can use law in running a business, and I can still do pro bono work.
I have worked part time at the family firm over the years, but never dreamed I would want to work there full time, learning every little detail of the firm. It will be a challenge for sure, leading to small changes as well as large changes in my life. Someday, I may run the company. I wanted to start this blog to chronicle my thoughts and feelings as I head down that path, along with including various and sundry other parts of my life. More later.
About a week ago, I was about to post some frustrations about YOU KNOW WHO.
But now, I think things at work are going to be fine. One thing I have learned is that he may have to think of new ideas as his. Even if I came up with them first.
Wonder why no one is looking at my blog?
(There are a string of entries in this first post. I started a blog, closed it out, started another one, and moved the posts over.)
12/4/06
It has been a while since I have posted. Things are going well--my relative has dropped the "hours" talk. He isn't fretting about a minute here and a minute there. Thank goodness, because I would hate to have to tell him I find that ludicrous. I have never had to worry about my hours at work, and I really don't want to start now. It is a distraction to the work you really have to do. I can be a workaholic, but I like to be able to set much of the stage myself.
Right now, I am trying to remember everything I have to remember. There are too many pieces of paper and too many databases. I have never had to work with these before. I think repetition will help. Billing and accounting are my new friends.
11/12/06
Friday at work was a little touchy. My relative who owns and started the company seemed upset with a few minor points. Coming to work five minutes late and taking too long at lunch. Walking out of his office when someone showed up to to talk, even though I had been there for every other conversation. Hmmmmm.
In my previous job, these were not an issue. Is he just not used to working with professionals, or are those issues more typical in manufacturing firms than I may realize? My sense is that when people are hired for management spots, you don't focus on these trivial matters. If you do, you wear people down and give them a sense you are not valuing them as professionals.
I guess I have no choice than to do what he wants for the present. After all, I am in the learning mode. Eventually, I will need more freedom. I won't broach this subject for quite a while though.
11/9/07
One week into my new job, and what can I say? My head is not totally around it yet, but I am surprised that I am feeling very energized, despite some lack of sleep, and a surprised feeling that I don't miss my old job that much. Which says a lot, because I loved my old job--I was an editor--and the job was perfect for me. But over time and a feeling that in the office we just kept reinventing the wheel, and a recent bad boss--it was time to move on. What a great opportunity to move into the family business. I am glad I am seeing ahead--I feel as if it was not time for me to make this move yet, but if I didn't do it now, it might have been too late before I know it. And if the company had gone out of the family, it would have upset me very much. I realized a few years back that the company is something that makes me feel special. And I would hate to lose that. So glad I am there.
In another dimension of my life, I turned in my last paper in one of my law school classes tonight, which closes out that class. One more down--still a bunch to go until graduation in a year and a half.
11/1/07
Is there really room for the numbers-challenged set in the business world, which is populated by the number crunchers and scrunchers? I sure hope so--there are more numbers in my new field than in my old, for sure. In my old field, I never had to deal with a number, at least not one that wasn't on my own terms. I remember hearing business professors talk about teaching law students who were taking their classes--that the law students would start sweating the second a number was written on the board. I feel like that--well maybe I don't start sweating the second a number is written on the board, but maybe five seconds later.
My first day at the family company went well--I had a real dip in energy, but had my usual second wind mid-day. The hard part today was not being in charge of my schedule (I have been in charge of my schedule for years), not really knowing the lay of the land (even though I have been familiar with the company for years) and not having privacy, in that I don't have my own office or even my own computer there yet. But the eventual payoff is awesome.
10/31/06
Down to D-day--I start my new job at the biz tomorrow. Still doesn't seem real. I went to vote today--democratic, of course! I promised myself I would go to bed early--I am a night owl--but am still up. Met a friend for dinner at a new restaurant earlier, and now am watching the movie Halloween while studying for a law test I will have in a few weeks. I find it amazing that I had never seen that movie before! I will have to rearrange my daily habits and routines before long I am sure.
10/30/06
I am enjoying my couple of days off in between my last job and my new job. My last job was a way of life--what will my new job be? Time will tell.
I went to my favorite pancake place for breakfast--what a treat, as I never have time to go there. Now I am straightening up my condo. With taking law school courses on top of work, a lot of things at home go by the wayside, so I am trying to take advantage of today.
Is there anyway to get tired of chocolate cake? I love chocolate cake, but I am eating left over cake from my going away party from my last job, and am almost saturated with it. Never thought that would be possible!
10/29/06
Who says you can't go home again? This week, I will go to work in my family's manufacturing company full time, something I never thought I would do. It's not that I didn't want to--I just hadn't planned on doing that. I have had a very fulfilling career in writing and editing and loved every minute of it. Even though I have loved it and done well at it, I knew deep down I didn't want to do it forever. Over the last few years, I started thinking about a career switch and enrolled in night law school, thinking law would be my next career.
Now that working at my family's company is going to be my new reality, the law career has been put on hold. However, I am going to graduate and get my law license anyway. You can use law in running a business, and I can still do pro bono work.
I have worked part time at the family firm over the years, but never dreamed I would want to work there full time, learning every little detail of the firm. It will be a challenge for sure, leading to small changes as well as large changes in my life. Someday, I may run the company. I wanted to start this blog to chronicle my thoughts and feelings as I head down that path, along with including various and sundry other parts of my life. More later.
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