New things

Remember all that time I said I had because of not having a lot of shifts at Old Navy? And all that extra time because I don't have a full time job? 

Welp. Only one of those reasons is true any more. (When I started my last post, they were both true--I promise!)


I spent a bunch of time researching job openings that my mom threw my way, that I located myself and that my friends told me about. I promise. I did. I might not have applied for a lot of them, but I did the research! I put time into it. And then, I got tired of looking. I got tired of looking at jobs that not only was I not qualified for, but that also would require years of school and experience before I could even think about applying. I was getting depressed and super exhausted of looking. I was really, really fed up with life. (Hey man, you know my life is not always pretty! Don't look so scandalized!) 

My friend knew I was looking, (because really, did I ever stop looking?) and sent me an email about a position that opened up where she worked. I told her I would look into it. A few days later I actually did. About a week later, I still hadn't applied. It looked like a good job, I was just putting off the inevitable, "Thanks, but no thanks" message I was sure to get. I was getting ready to out with some friends and she texted me to see if I had applied. I can't lie to her...so I put the getting ready on hold and got my resume, references and cover letter ready to go. I texted her back right as I left the house, not caring about the outcome of the application, my mind focused on having fun with my friends. 
That was a Friday. The following Tuesday, I was called to fill out an application on location. The same week I had an interview scheduled for Thursday. For a week, I waited, almost forgetting about the application, sure that I wouldn't hear back from them for a few more weeks. How wrong was I? 


A week to the day after my interview, almost to the hour, I received a phone call. "We would like to offer you the job. Are you still interested?" 


Is that a trick question?? Most people took longer than a week to tell me "no" about an application. A week after my interview I had a job; three days later, I started my first day! 


My first week was a blur. I mean, an utter and complete blur. New faces, new paper work. New phones, new systems. This Monday, I started my second week and I must say, things are less stressful than they were last week. It is still an alarming amount of new information and processes, but I think I am starting to get the hang of it. 


Do I miss sleeping in late?

Yup. 


Do I love having something to do with my day? 


You bet I do!

It almost makes the not being able to sleep in worth it :) 

Lots o' hours in the day

Something you might not know about Old Navy & Gap Inc. (unless of course you work for them) is that they adhere to California state work laws. This isn't hugely different then Pennsylvania laws, except in regards to break times.(At least, as far as I am able to figure out. I should perhaps talk to someone about that. Too bad I don't know any lawyers!)
The deal is this: if you work 5 hours, you get a 15 minute break. If you work any longer than 5 hours, they are required to give you an unpaid half hour meal break in addition to the 15 minute break. Apparently, my managers (and our store) can get into a lot of trouble if they consistently go over our 5 hour shift limits. This is such a big problem that they have recently changed our normal shifts (5 hours) to 4 1/2 hours. It doesn't seem like much at all, knocking off a half hour from a shift. But for some reason, it has really be wreaking havoc with my weeks! I am constantly forgetting start and end times for my shifts and need to check my calendar multiple times a day. I should be able to keep it all straight, especially since I've only worked two days a week for the past two weeks.
All of this nonsense about schedule changes that equals no work to say that in my spare time, I've had lots of time to do things I've been putting off. I've had more time to read. I've had more time to sleep. I've had more time to do nothing. I've had more time to clean. I've had more time to see my friends and spend lots of good time with them. It is probably safe to say that I've been more tired now with all the time I have to do running around then I ever was before working two jobs! (Not entirely true, but almost sorta kinda.)

Enter New Year's resolution revelation #1: I have started a book & movie review blog!
It's been something I've been meaning to do for at least a year, and I finally decided to dive right in. I know it's not always going to be perfect or as clear as I might like it, but I can finally say that I've started something. If you go over there to visit (which I recommend) you won't find any reviews quite yet, but I promise there will be some there by next week. Fingers crossed.