Saturday, January 12, 2008

Happy New Year!!

Lots been going on since we got back from Ecuador...

There were the holidays of course. But before the holidays, we decided to get new flooring in our place. We had been talking to Carpeteria before the Ecuador trip and just needed to say "Go." So, we did. But for some crazy reason, Ray wanted to get them started before Christmas. And crazy me, agreed! So, the tile work started the week before Christmas. On Thursday to be exact. That was demo day. Then Friday was install day. And Saturday was grout day. We had planned on heading up to NorCal on Saturday after they finished the grout work, but that didn't work out. There was just too much dust and cleaning up to do. We really didn't want to come home from the holidays and put back together our kitchen.

So, we headed up to NorCal on Sunday. Had a great visit with the B Pons. It was so nice to spend some time with them! On Christmas Eve, we headed down to Oakland. Our plans were to spend Christmas with my family, then on the 27th head up to Ray's mom's...after stopping in Tahoe to do some skiing/snowboarding. Well...that didn't work out so well either. I got the flu or something!! It was awful!! I haven't been that sick in a long time. Had stuff coming out of both ends...and I HATE puking!! It all started around 8am on the day after Christmas and ended about 2am the next morning. Great way to lose ten pounds quick, but would NOT recommend it to anyone! I felt better by Friday, but still not totally up to par.

Since I was so out of it, Ray and Sam spent a couple days exploring SF. They hit Pier 39 one day and then the Exploratorium the next day. I've never been to the Exploratorium. Sounds like a neat place and they had a good time Exploratorium-ing.

We headed back down to SD on the 30th. After driving up and down the state at least three times in the past year, there are DEFINITELY a lot more people driving themselves to places than flying. And every time we drive up to the Bay Area, my idea for some kind of a toll road spanning from SoCal to NorCal pops back into my head. People in California are soooo in their own little worlds! They don't heed to the "Slower traffic on the right" mentality at all! ESPECIALLY on a two lane highway! I gotta give props to Utahians. They do this staying to the right thing the best.

New Year's Eve was pretty uneventful. We got back and continued cleaning up our place. More dust had settled from the tile work. I think we spent the day cleaning up and were pretty pooped. Didn't feel like doing much and I think we went to bed shortly after midnight. But, we are NOT getting old!

So...Ray had to go back to work on the 2nd and I started my new job on the 3rd! :) It was REALLY hard getting up at 6. I started working at Cardinal Health. I'm a Bid Administrator for the Alaris product line. Alaris makes infusion pumps for hospitals. My first day was great! I'm a temp to hire through Adecco. I felt so welcomed and haven't felt like a temp at all. It's so different than how Sony treats temps. At Sony, temps are like the dregs of humanity. They can't use the gym, can't get into the family store and you know that they aren't going to be made perm. At Cardinal, it's very different. My first day, my phone had my name displayed on the LCD screen. I had a binder full of information for my job and inside was an org chart and a seating map (they just moved to their current location)...both of these docs had my name on it! They had tried to get my computer set up, but IT didn't have my profile set up in the network yet. It was just nice and refreshing to feel like part of the group on my first day...and to not feel like a second rate citizen. And the people I work with have made me feel welcome too. It's just been great!! :)

I just finished my first full week of work and I really like what I'm doing. I don't know if that's just because it's all so new. But I can see myself doing well as a Bid Admin. I'm ready for them to give me my first real job to run with, but guess I have to just wait until they feel comfy with doing that. I went to some training on Thursday where I met with three managers of different areas. It was very informative and interesting. I found that the Technical Support group really peaked my interest. They get all the calls from the biomed technicians in need of help with the systems. Could range from how to close a window on the screen to how to take apart and repair the machine. I think that part really caught my attention...I'm a geek like that. I like to take stuff apart and know how it all works. When my manager came and asked how it went, I told her how the Technical Support session was really interesting to me. She said I might be able to go to the 3 day training seminar that they hold for the biomed techies. COOL!!

Something else I noticed while meeting with these three managers. They seemed to like what they do. Like they had a passion for what they do or something. That too was really refreshing to see. I dunno...it was just different than anything I've been exposed to recently. Even at Sony, people didn't seem to enjoy being at work. And it isn't even enjoying, so much as being upbeat about it. I've heard that Cardinal is a great place to work, so I'm hoping they want to make me perm!

The rest of our floor work commenced this week. Or maybe it was last week? No, it was this week. Tuesday I think. They were supposed to come on Monday, but it had just rained on Sunday and they need to layout the carpet to cut it. So, it was installed. It looked really nice. We weren't happy with the state of our furniture when we got home. They dinged up one of our new nightstands and also our bed frame. Broke a desk lamp. But it was done in one day. The hardwood floors started on Thursday and isn't finished. Not so happy with the service. They dinged up the baseboards they had to remove and also dented our wall in doing so. I have started a list and would really like to go talk to Natalie and tell her it looks nice, but....

So...that's what's been going on. I think next week, I'm going to start working out during lunch (probably not every day...let's not get too crazy! hehe...) in the gym at work. :)

4 comments:

John K. Beaird said...

Mandi,

Great post...glad to see you posting again! Keep it up!

-john

The Ray said...

I Insisted??? well... Yeah.... I guess I do wear the pants in my family....... :D

GO BOLTS!!!!!!!!!!!!

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