weekend may be here, but I look forward to Monday!

I love my job! It is hard work, and I'm on my feet all day, and it is taking time to get into the swing of things, and I make little mistakes here and there, but I'm learning! And learning quick. Need to remind myself it has been 3 days at this job. Just 3.

I cleaned squeegees and floodbars, and used this chemical to clear out a screen, but mostly I caught shirts and sweatshirts as they came out of the dryer. Hundreds of shirts. And did quality control. Julie helped on my end. Chris did the printing. He's got the rhythm for the speedy stuff. I got to work at 10:30, a bit earlier. Don't have to come in till 11 on Monday. I like the variety and flexibility of it all. I snacked through the day, and got some dinner as I fueled up my wheels.

It is also a fast paced day, something I've always liked about printmaking. It just moves right along and you can really see the progress you've made. I can't wait to get better and learn more and increase my confidence with the machines.

Now I just need to move to Santa Cruz, and before I know it, my life will find a new routine!

Hopefully a routine that included Yoga.

Left at 9, got back at 8. I get my first paycheck next Friday! And then every Friday, because I get paid on Friday's. Whoo! Now I'll need to get a local bank account in which to put my moneys.

long days are rewarding days

Wooof, I am tired! Really need to work out. Build up my strength, especially in my arms, because this is a labor based job. If you ain't in shape, labor will make things tricky. Sure I'll get in shape as it goes along, but I should hot step it, ya know?

First, I need to move to Santa Cruz.

I think I did pretty well today. Did a bunch of shorts, changed out the pallets, cleaned some squeegees and floodbars. Lots of work. All on my feet. Loved every minute of it! Can't wait to become uberly good at what I do, so I can just get right to it and print print print. I've learned quite a bit in these two days, and I can only go up!

Toon, aka Lindsay, aka my first roommate, is engaged! Ahhhh!

Oh no, now I'm at the stage of life where all my friends are getting married! (Cherish and Isaiah, Jade and Cory, Jenn and Steve, to name a few). In ten years, they'll start having babies.

Got myself a waffle for dinner. Yum! I need to make a big macaroni salad or something. Easy lunch, ya know? Something to snack on as the day goes on.

I start tomorrow at 10:30. Today I started at 11. A lot needs to get printed, and it prints oh so fast.

achievement unlocked: employment

Yesterday, I was anxiously awaiting hearing back about my job. Today I learned, at my new job, how to use an automatic screen printing press.

Booyah.

Tuesday:

I spent the day anxiously awaiting a call in regards to employment. Ma & Pa were up in the redwoods, so I decided to meet them for dinner, and to spend the night, and to return to San Francisco the next day. Needed to get out of the house because sitting by the phone wasn't doing me any good. Earlier in the day I did more laundry (pants) and all that good stuff. I went to Sheng Kee and got a bunch of pastries for Ma & Pa, because they like sweet treats.

Left at around 6:15ish. At 6:30, as I was crossing Golden Gate Bridge, I got a call from Chris informing me that, if I still wanted that job, it was mine. So, yes, I took it. I'm employed! I have a job! After, oh, two months? I got a job! And a job in the field of stuff that I enjoy doing! HURRAY!

The first thing I told Ma and Pa, when I arrived at their campsite. A triumphant "I GOT THE JOB" followed by hugs and happy dancing and a burger and a bevvy and several s'mores. Perfect! They also got me a totally sweet banana slug paper weight (it's glass, not real) and taffy. Love my parents, they understand exactly the things that I like. We played some games, and then at 9ish, we tucked into bed.

I had a fairly restless night sleep, what with the anxiety of starting work tomorrow. LEGIT WORK! AHHH! Chris (my new boss, who is really nice and high fived me several times today) asked when I could come in and I said Wednesday because I was ready to start. Anyway...

Wednesday:

I said I would start today, but not until 1pm. Come in a bit later. I got up at 7:30. Ate poached egg on toast with melted cheese, and had some tea, and some of the pastries I brought. Left at 8:15ish. Gassed up the car. Headed back to San Francisco. Paid the toll on the bridge (there was no toll when I left). Got in at around 9ish. Had some more tea. Showered. High fived Josh (who was leaving right as I arrived) and happy danced some more. Carmen is back! She goes away, and I interview and get a job! Woaaah! Things move fast.

At 11:30, after packing a sandwich, I left for work! My job! And I arrived right on time, well, with time to spare! With no traffic, it is about an hour and fifteen minute commute. With traffic it goes to hour and 45 minutes, though most of the traffic happens around San Francisco, so I think the coming back is more the cluster than the getting out of. Need to move to Santa Cruz, though I do quite enjoy living with Carmen and Josh. And the commute ain't so bad, because 11/22/63 is quite the awesome audiobook! It is nice and lengthy too, but moves at a good pace.

Anyway. Work! Love it. My boss is Chris, my coworkers (that I've met, there might be more) are Julie and Andrew. Julie showed me how to start up the automatic press and clean the vents in the dryer. Chris showed me how to work the press. The heat, the putting on the pallet beds, the spray glue, the system of it all. It went by quite quick, and I'm sure I didn't get it all, but I got enough that I was able to run the press and print a bunch of sweatpants without needing Chris to make sure I was doing it up to snuff! YAY! I can only go up from here, and for my first day I think I started at a pretty good place. And pants are apparently really hard to load and unload. There will be shirts tomorrow. Multi color layer shirts. That will be INTENSE I'm sure. And I can't wait! I can't wait to get uber proficient! I can't wait to get better and all that wonderful awesome stuff.

AHHH! I have a job. I went to art school. I learned how to screen print. I graduated. I got a job (13 months later) using my skills. How great is that?

YAY!

Anyway, Carmen and Josh are playing Kinect. I'm going to join them.

North, Ho!

Gone camping for the night with Ma & Pa. Will report back tomorrow.

Still no word on the job.

monday

I was going to be all "time to sleep" but then I realized I hadn't blogged. So yup, down to it.

Haven't heard back about the job. Buuuut he was interviewing two more people today. Always good to sleep on your decision? Hopefully tomorrow I'll get a call. If I don't, I may give him a ring on Wednesday. That isn't TOO pushy? Right?

So I spent the day hovering near my phone and being nervous. I did laundry. Looked up some more jobs, but the prospects were meager. My enthusiasm for the hunt is waning, especially when I feel like I am SO CLOSE to employment. I can practically taste it!

Went down to Irving Street and did some more grocery shopping, and got dinner as well (Chinese food, really unspecial Chinese food). It is good to get out of the house and clear ones head.

Watched Black Lightning on Netflix. It is like Spiderman, except it is Russian, and has flying cars instead of spider abilities. It's quite silly. Had some good actual car stunts, but they were sandwiched in between silly CG car stunts.

one big what if

Ohhhh, whoops! I sat outside for a few hours, and now I'm pink! Not red, but not a gentle pink. My cheeks are pink, my legs are pink (not my feet, because I used sunblock on the tattoo), my arms are pink, my tummy is pink. Yeah. We put out the hammock, and I read, and then I kicked back and snacked and listened to an audiobook, and just absorbed the sunshine. Absorbed a bit too much, obviously, but it was a good way to spend an afternoon.

Tomorrow begins the three day window of hearing back about the screen printing job. Ohhh, nervous!

In the evening, I road my bike out for Phil's surprise birthday party. I wore my cutoffs for the bike ride, but had my fancy stripey pants for the party itself. It was ALL HILLS. Almost no part of the journey was flat or straight. It was up, then down, then up, then down, then UP UP UP, then down, and finally up. I walked up for about half the hills. It is hard to build up momentum when you have four way stops mucking everything up.

I arrived at around 6:15, sweaty and out of breath. Adam and Vanessa were there, and I clustered with them mostly. Met a Matt, two Roberts, Shelly, Dina, uhm...and a bunch of other people. Phil was very surprised. There was lots of food. Ribs, cupcakes, rice and veggies, and just so much to consume! There were many people, and when the numbers were large, I kept to the smaller cluster. It was hard to break into the bigger group. The range of connections to Phil were various. Not a straight forward social group.

Anyway. Phil liked the Bill Murray portrait I made for him. A lot of other people liked it too, so I hope it doesn't go missing. It won't. Phil's brother's Joe and Stephen/Steven came later on. The remaining cluster all played Apples to Apples for a good long while. I drank tea. Others drank Old Fashioneds as made by Phil. It was a good group, and the game was fun. I left at around 12:15. It was much easier to bike back. Much more downhill than up.

By the end of this week, I'll either continue to be unemployed, or I will be employed. That is INTENSE. What if this is it? What if I get this job? What if I stay at this job for a while? What if they take me on after the probationary period? What if I move to Santa Cruz? What if the next chunk of my life is totally awesome and filled with swimming and sun and taking it easy?

problematic Prometheus

Went to Redwood City and watched Prometheus with Nate and Josh. Visually it was amazing. Great sets, costumes, actors, special effects, all that shebang. The plot though was a bit...it brought up a lot of questions but didn't really answer them, and as Josh and I talked about it on the drive back, it just got more confusing. We tried to reason some things out, but it was all a bit of a stretch. Need to talk to Madeline. She is the expert on the film series. Anyway, yeah, the script was a bit, errr, but it was lovely to behold.

We three ate dinner at Milagros. Nate & I shared a quesedilla and chips, Josh had a stuffed pepper. It was a nice warm Saturday.

Earlier on, Josh worked on his portfolio and I went and got some frozen yogurt (this was when we were still in San Francisco, of course). I took my froyo into the park and listened to 11/22/63 and sketched and relaxed. I caught a lot of sun on my shoulders, so now I have some tan lines, and hopefully freckly shoulders. My hair unfortunately also is part of the tan lines, but I've never had an even tan. Anyway, it was nice to just kick back and get some sun and snack on stuff. Another chill day. Gandered a bit at more jobs. Had a sandwich. Had tea.

It's all good.