First day

Today was a great day!

That's just a wonderful way to start a blog entry, isn't it? I thought it would be a nice way to begin what will be a very long way of say "my first day of work was spectacular, and the evening went well, too."

My day did not start out as planned. I woke up with my alarm as planned, but had a pounding headache and felt just rundown and awful. I resolved that instead of doing my hour routine of Kriya and meditation, I would opt for another hour of sleep to try and combat it, and I'm glad I did. I woke up with a slight headache but feeling slightly better. A hot shower and some movement got me feeling a bit better, too, but not by much. I was just generally feeling "not great" - and on today of ALL days--I just couldn't believe it -- why me? -- of all people -- just great! -- if I had a nickle for every time -- wouldn't you know? -- blahblahblah -- just put your lunch together, Ashley Marie, and dry your hair.

Now. I didn't have to be at work until 8:30 today, but normally my shift would start at 8:00, and I wanted to see what traffic would be like at my normal time, so I thought why not shoot for the 8:00 arrival time. Fair? Fair. I gauged the amount of time it takes to travel there with no traffic (25 minutes) and just doubled it to be safe. So, I left about an hour early. Around 7:00ish. I think a little after 7:00, because I had to feed the cat, who, of course, was DYING again--I swear we starve that cat every day, we must. I arrived in town promptly at 7:27, noticing all the traffic coming toward on the opposite direction. Oookay then. Mental note, there. So, I figure that tomorrow, I'll try leaving at 7:30 and see how that pans out for an 8:00 arrival time. My guess is a 7:15 departure will be my comfort level. I like to be a bit early.  Anyway, for the hour I was early, I spent getting to know the area around the business, which isn't that lively, but now I'm familiar with what's there.

Once I got there, I had to do all the HR stuff immediately. We did all the paperwork, the benefits forms, the handbook, sexual harassment videos, yada yada yada... First hour and a half of my day was the usual HR overview, which was fine. I was already familiar with Dara so it was nice to connect with her again. She introduced me to the Admin Asst Tiffany, who gave me an invitation to the all company Christmas Party at the White Bear Yacht Club (yes, Arun and I will both be attending).

Process Services, my department, actually just relocated to it's own separate section one of the main rooms, so our six cubicles are arranged together and are apart from any others. I didn't have a computer or phone when I came in this morning--but I did have a cube!--but by the time I left today, I had both up and running. Of all the people I shadowed today, Process Services was actually the department I shadowed with the least, but I think that was the point. They wanted me to get a picture of how the rest of the company worked and functioned and how Process Services fits into that before I dive into my role I guess.

I worked a lot in the Mail Room, where they sorted through a lot of the incoming mail for the manufacturer's rebates. They sorted them by PO Box number and customer number and arranged them into batches of fifteen which are then bundled together and shipped to the Data Entry department to be keyed in. I did a lot of sorting and batching, and I have to say that I'm thankful to be in a place where I don't have to be on my feet in heels as much! I was not in the proper attire to be in the Mail Room!

I spent time the Quality Assurance and Fixer teams, and they actually handle the processing of the rebates, making sure that the products in the rejected rebates are valid or invalid and correcting errors where possible. I'm told there's a lot of Process Services overlap in these departments, so I was sure to pay attention to the database work here. There was a lot of see an error, fix an error--which happened a lot in the data remediation portion of my last job, so this will be very similar. I'm about to become VERY, INTIMATELY familiar with heaters, refrigerators, etc. Haha--large appliances that come with large rebates.

I think the most notable thing about the job today has to be the people. Everyone was friendly, outgoing, hilarious--it was a very welcoming and joyous place! I can't wait to go back!

Oh, and for our little accountability thing, I did come home and do my Kriya and meditation this evening. Man, was it ever good! The breath enveloped me completely. It has been so long since I had felt so relaxed and...well, pleasant. That's the only way I can think to describe it. The meditation after Kriya was perhaps one of the more tranquil versions--still some wandering thoughts, but a very still mind compared to the last time. I look forward to tomorrow morning's session. I think doing these exercises in the morning will really start the day off right.

I'll end with a letter.

Dear Princess Celestia,


Today I learned that laughter can go a long way between new friends. It's like a universal language--everyone understands laughter.


Your faithful student,


Starlight Ashe