My Second First Day

Today I went to work for a Giant Document Company inside a law firm that I used to temp at when the firm was at a different location. When my new position was created, the manager tracked me down on the internet and offered me the job. We had an obligatory interview and now I've got a picture ID that makes doors open. Neat!

Boss was giving me a tour of the new building- it's very nice. The building is less than a year old and everything is new and shiny and hasn't broken yet. This is a real change from Bank o' Generica. (The fax machine at BoG had a tag on it that proclaimed it to be " Y2K Compliant". I had to think a minute -what the hell is Y2K? Oh)

We went to the kitchen for some fresh, free coffee and I saw Larry. Larry's about a million years old. He used to serve coffee at the Psuedo-Starbucks in the lobby at the firm's old building.
Now he works for the new building management.
His new job? BreakRoom King.
Larry makes sure that all 20 break rooms are clean and supplied with four varieties of fresh, hot coffee. He changes the Co2 for the soda fountains. Larry makes the world a better place. Without Larry, no work would get done.

After seeing the usual copy room, mail center and supply room stuff , it was paperwork time. I hadn't filled out an I-9 or W-4 in a long time. It felt good. No more temping!

I've been temping so long, that I'd forgotten what a "real" office job was like. Temps never get called into slow-paced environments. This place is less than hectic by my standards.
I'm used to noise and chaos and bad tempers. Instead I get coffee and invited to join the football pool. The Bank wouldn't even allow a 'for money' football pool. What's the point without the money?

The work itself is mundane, but pleasant. I sit at a computer and move data around. There's no hurry. Sometimes I print something and attach a cover sheet with a name printed on it. I put it in an outbox. Every 30 minutes or so a young woman with freakishly long and brightly painted fingernails comes by and scrabbles them up. It would be easier for her to do things if she didn't have 8-inch curlique nails. I bet she's a Temp.

On an enviro-note, the bus stop directly in front of my living room window is a straight shot to within two blocks of the new office. I can literally sit inside and watch for the bus, and I don't have to deal with traffic or parking.

Oh yeah, did I mention that the job comes with free membership in the full-size fitness center (gym) on the lower floor? It does. If I had a family, they would also have free memberships. Sadly, it doesn't have a pool. I need to get in shape- now I have no excuse for not exercising. Dammit! Every job has it's down side, I suppose.