My last day at my old job is tomorrow (Wednesday). I’ll start my new job full-time on Thursday. In the meantime, here are a few thoughts about the transition:
Ten Things I’ll Miss About My Old Job
1. My zippy Apple Macintosh G4 with gigantic 22'' monitor.
2. The professional respect I’ve earned while working here.
3. The tons of free food.
4. My 25% discount on merchandise at our stores.
5. My rather large private office with tons of workspace (no windows or a door, but hey, it was mine).
6. Working so close to home that I could (and did) ride my bicycle to work.
7. The regular 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. hours.
8. Working so close to home I could eat lunch with the Petite Filet and the Cutlet nearly every day.
9. The really nice people here whom I can count as friends.
10. The ability to blog a little while at work (via a superfast T-1 Internet connection).
Ten Things I Won’t Miss About My Old Job
1. Giving up two weekends a year so I could travel out of town, stay up all night and count things during inventory.
2. The petty, corporate office politics that pervade the company.
3. Having to recreate an ad seven times because the front office couldn’t get its story straight.
4. Being chained to the office (and at times, my desk) for most of the day.
5. The weekly onslaught of work we’ve come to know and love as an All-You-Can-Eat Crapfest Buffet.
6. Fearing that at any time to company will start to sink (or start sinking faster).
7. The few but obvious not-so-nice people.
8. The repetition that marches to the beat of seasonal events and holidays.
9. Knowing that what I do is important in a small way for the economy, but doesn’t really matter.
10. Having to work on holidays or any weekdays immediately following holidays. Ugh, retail!
Twenty Reasons Why I Took the New Job
1. Having an updated Mac with OS X.
2. The chance to earn professional respect within a larger circle (such as the entire town).
3. Less free food – T-Bone tries to eat healthily, but he isn’t immune to the goodies.
4. The 25% discount with the old job means we’ve racked up debt we’d not otherwise have.
5. I’ll have a larger office (“the newsroom”), but I’ll have the joys and pains of sharing it with others.
6. People drive like such fools, my bicycle was not a safe mode of workday transportation.
7. The hours will be more flexible.
8. I’ll miss eating lunch every day with my family, and really nothing can replace that. But I took the job anyway.
9. The people at the newspaper seem really nice, too.
10. The old job blocks Blogspot blogs, so I’ve already been weaned, sadly, from some of my favorite former daily reads. Maybe this further step – not really having time to do it – is a good thing.
11. Most weeks I will work Saturday mornings, then have Sunday and Monday off. This creates more time with my family.
12. The paper is locally owned, so there won’t be corporate office politics.
13. On the editorial side, I’ll be the “boss”, although I will answer to the publisher and the paper’s readership. That is staggering, but nothing I haven’t done before.
14. I’ll be able to get out of the office, meet people, do stuff and get some more sunshine.
15. The pace will be a little slower, though with more responsibility. I think that’s a good mix.
16. The paper has been profitable the entire time it has been published (23 years).
17. The not-so-nice people should be easier to avoid.
18. There are some natural rhythms at a newspaper, but there are more surprises. I love surprises.
19. Whether what I’ll be doing matters to others, it will matter more to me. I'm a journalist, not only the typing monkey I have been.
20. The newspaper staff works ahead when necessary to avoid working holidays or immediately after them.
In other news, Chad was kind enough to remind me about the Texas T-Bone’s Dinner Project Cookbook. It is 98% complete. I need to read over it one last time, turn it into a PDF, and then offer it to those who are interested. I have been, understandably I hope, preoccupied.
Gotta go! Must pack up my remaining junk today so I won’t have to make three trips to the car tomorrow night. It's hard to make a grand exit while lugging a stack of heavy cardboard boxes.
Happy Tuesday, all!
Good luck with the transition, T-bone!
Wait a minute, your old office had neither windows nor door? How strange...:o)
*here's to a happy transition!*
good luck dude!
-dew
Good things are worth waiting for!! This hopefully will hold true with the new job, and I know it will be true with the T-Bone Cookbook!!! Best of Luck!
Best wishes and good luck with the new job! Can't wait to read all about it. Count me in for a cookbook!
Best of luck on the new job, Boss! ;0)
I saw *what I think was your* old one in the classifieds Sunday night- I laughed out loud and told Joseph- "hey- I read in this guy's blog about how he was taking a new job, and here's the old one in the paper!" He just looked at me funny. I guess you have to be a blogger to get it!
Congratulations and good luck on the new job! It sounds like a good choice.
Yes! A grand exit. Smile, wave hither and dither and smile and nod. Try not to do the whole hug thing. Get those out of the way before your Grand exit. You want to walk straight out! Again, Congratulations on the new job and can't wait for the book!!!
T-Bones been weaned from blogs? :(
*sigh*
They grow up so fast.
.
Good luck with the new job. It sounds like a much better fit for you.
Congrats on the new job and good luck with the transition! Meanwhile, I will be selfishly hoping that you will at least have time to blog, as I love reading your site.
Also, this is a very important thing to evaluate:
Is the bathroom a single shooter or is it stalls? Because I think a single shooter is the #1 factor when determining whether you can comfortable drop a deuce at work, or if you can look forward to speedily driving home praying to all the gods that you don't have an "accident".
Being the boss is the best. Just think, now you can put your feet up on your desk if you want to. Just don't forget about all the little people, okay?
This sounds like such a positive thing - I'm very happy for you and your family, and wish you all the best at the new job.
btw - does this mean you'll be able to reacquaint yourself with blogspot blogs?? I really do miss you.
p.s. I put something in the mail for you today. Be on the look-out!
Best of luck on your transition. A good indicator is your positives for the new job outnumber the old. Also, you can always return to supermarkets if the going gets tough...
No no no! Now that your new place of work will not block blogspot blogs, I expect to get regular visits from you, especially since I'll be making the effort to be more regular in posting!
But seriously, I'm happy for you and this new job definitely sounds like it fits you!
Well, congratulations. I just got promoted, so I know the feeling of moving from one section to another - and in your case a whole new place. That is awesome.
I am happy for you. And don't worry, there will always be free food somewhere.
Hope you'll blend well into the new office.
best of luck T!
Congratulations on your new job, T-bone! I'm glad to see that you are back in the newsroom, and better yet, the Boss! I'm sure you'll do a fine job. They are lucky to have you.