Shift work

Ok, so I've been at my job a couple months now.  I've got in the groove of things, I had my appraisal today, and just one week ago today would have been my last day of work with the company if I didn't get my new job.

First I have to say how sad I am for the hundreds of people that didn't find new jobs and will be leaving.  Some had been there for 10 or 15+ years.  Some had families and were the only providers.  Some will be taking the opportunity to start or finish school, or actually use their degrees in the correct industry.

Anyway, things have been going well with the new schedule we have had to adjust to.  I started out leaving at 5:45am, dropping off the kids, sitting in traffic, working 8 hours, sit in traffic again, and get home.  Due to rush hour, I'd sit in traffic 4 1/2 to 5 hours a day.  It was really hard at first, but I started to get used to it after a week or two, and actually enjoyed the drive listening to the Bob Rivers show in the morning.  Traffic can be SO different day-to-day that I am very lucky to have a job and boss that doesn't really care when you come in as long as you work 8 hours.

I decided to ask my boss if I can start to work four ten-hour shifts instead of five days a week and it was a GOOD decision for these reasons:
-I eliminated 5 hours of driving just by taking a day out of my week
-I get another full day with the kids/family
-It puts my drive home (which took the longest) from 2-1/2 hours exactly to 1-1/2 or sometimes faster since I am no longer in the heart of i-405 rush hour.  This means I am only away for another hour tops.
-Andy started taking the kids to daycare so I get there earlier too
-My week is split so I pretty much have 2 Fridays.  It is easy to get through the week only having 2 days tops at a time before another work break.

Andy also decided to change his days off.  He now is off Tues/Wed so that is also a GOOD decision for these reasons:
-Our day off together isn't at peak days so we can visit things like museums and other places without massive crowds
-He gets home super early on weekends anyway, around the time we are getting ready so we aren't losing much those days
-The kids have another day off daycare.  They only go 3 days now which is actually good because they enjoy going and playing with their friends, but the majority of their time is with us now. Saves us money, too!

As far as actual work goes- it is good.  I actually really like it, even though I have a hard time sitting still for so long.  I get to talk to the stores and figure out their deposits and transactions when they are not what they should be. I am in charge of about 90 stores from AZ to AK, but mainly in So. Cal, AZ, and UT.  I am actually doing really well and got a good appraisal today.  He said I am actually doing better than everyone else in my group at the moment which is nice, but of course they all help me.  I think their stores have harder issues, but I also think they are all old and watching them work shows me how slow they do everything so I think part of it is just me being fast at that stuff.  So that's good :)  I am technically "management" now so I am also eligible for bonuses.  It's funny because half the stores are terrified of me and the other half are more like "ugh, whatever" haha.

I finally got to move my cube the other day.  I had been waiting forever since me and someone were supposed to switch and we had been waiting since my first day to move.  All they had to do was switch our phone numbers to the right desk and it took forever!  Turns out my boss was supposed to do something to approve it that he had no idea even existed because they didn't tell him.  Anyway, I was finally able to decorate a little, so that was nice, but I also lost my window view.  Oh well, the glare was annoying, it was smaller, and it was a bit distracting.

My old cube

New cube/pictures up

Still bare, but a few more things (on the left is a mood chart thing, the right is awkward family photos calendar.  Both courtesy of my old store :)