September Already

I find it amazing how quickly time goes by, 8 months of the year gone. It feels like fall here, highs the last few days have been mid teens, with a cool breeze. No 30+ for us.

We have 3 new people at work, two started this week and one last week. Two of them are recent grads, one from U of A with a business degree (he doesn't know Sam, I checked) and the second just received his MBA from U of A. I did a couple of training sessions for them, one on the administrative stuff (we have 5 different places to report time, all are required) and one on the work process. When I was asked if I would do it, I said yes, because that way I can make sure they do things as I like it. I like having new young people at work, it is nice to see the enthusiasm. I also think if we hire them when they are young they won't know what the working world is all about and think that IBM is normal.

I was hoping to see Nancy last week but it ended up not working out. She was going to come back in a couple of weeks, because she has a job on either a TV show or movie for APTN. They were ahead of schedule so wanted her to shoot her scenes last week. Since I just saw her in Van in May I don't feel too bad about missing her.

I have a new project, I am scanning all my old photos. I started with 1973/74 and it brings all kinds of memories back. Lots of pictures of Lisa and Allison, what a pair of cuties. Mom and Dad look so young, both with dark hair, and in Dad's case a fair amount of hair. The rest of us look mostly the same, although some of us have darker hair too, and not so many laugh lines as we have now.

I finally got my passport stuff done. I tried to just do a renewal, but because it got wet when I had the flood in my apartment, no go. So the long form and a stat dec to say how it got damaged. It is to be mailed out on September 16, so just in time for the great road trip. I always have good intentions of getting things done early, but generally, it ends up being last minute.

I am still loving my part time, the three days seem to fly by, and I find I can stand anything for 3 days.

The date is set

I have had a up and down week. Tuesday morning I checked with Darrell about a July start date for part time. They have been having trouble finding anyone to hire so he said that it did not look like going part time in July would happen. So I thought about it, called Theresa to get some moral support and decided I would tell Darrell that I would have to leave,because I can't continue working the 5 days a week. After lunch I talked to Darrell again, and told him I was going to leave IBM. He seemed to be quite surprised, although I wasn't sure why, I thought I had been clear. We talked about it a bit more, and he asked me if I would stay over the summer working part time. I thought that was pretty weird, so we talked some more and came to an agreement that I would start part time on July 9, and as long as it continued to work for the account and me, I would stay. Today I talked to Kyle, my profile holding manager, and we decided I would transfer to a manager on the GOA account. Her name is Marlene and I talked to her today as well, she is happy I am staying and supports the part time. I also talked to my supervisor Sam today and she is happy I am staying too. It was funny, because Sam totally understood that if I did not go part time I was leaving and she couldn't understand how Darrell could be so obtuse. Any way in the end it all turned out OK, and part time here I come.

Tuesday night I went over to visit George and Kay. They had been to see their Dr, for their annual physical and everything is gook. George has lost all feeling in his legs below the knee, so is a bit worried the Dr will say he cannot drive any more. Not too much new with them. Deanna is recovered from her knee surgery and is going to visit Nancy this weekend.

Alone Again

All of my visitors have left, and I am back to just me in my house. It was really good to have Will and Laura visiting, they are really easy company. Will arrived on Saturday night, and Laura on Tuesday. Henry and Laura were waiting for me when I got home on Tuesday. It was really good to see Henry again too, I think the last time I saw him was just before Christmas. We went out for dinner at Rigoletto's since I needed a baked rigatoni fix.

I had supper with Vicky on Wednesday, she and Dick left on their cross Canada trip. I am quite jealous of them, it sounds like a wonderful trip.

I talked to Darrell at work again today, to see what the status of the hiring tickets are. We had agreed that a July start would work if they were able to hire at least one new BA. We talked in the morning and he said they did not have one resume, my heart kind of sank. But then this afternoon he let me know they have 60 resumes from the college hire program. What a relief, so it is starting to feel real, that I will be able to work part time.

I went to see Jon, my financial guy on Thursday, to let him know that I was planning on going part time, and make some changes to my direct debit stuff. He agreed that my plan is good, it is always nice to have people agree with you.

Part time starting to look likely

I spoke to Darrell the manager where I work now, and he seems on board. He asked if I could wait until July, which was my plan anyway, so I agreed. They have some hiring tickets and hope to have at least one person by then. It still has to go through HR, and the request for their approval will not happen until nearer July. And Darrell's boss is away on vacation so it still could get the kibosh, but at least it is leaning in the right direction. Then I looked at the U of A website for jobs and found the perfect one, half time, pay was alright, it closes on the 16th. So maybe I will think about that. I did not say that if I could not go part time I would be quitting, but that too is an option if anyone up from Darrell says no.