I Survived "OK DAZE"

Well I survived my first day of my new job. I call first days on a job my "OK Daze" because all I say all day is, "OK" and I am usually in a daze. I am always being told what to do, how to do it, when to do it, why to do it, where to do it and who to do it with and the proper response when having been told to do something is 'OK'.

I have my very first own office!!! Not a cubicle...a real office with a door, a lock, a computer, desk, shelves, black plastic organizer complete with pens, paper clips, binder clasps, rubber bands, colorful thumb tacks and highlighters....in every conceivable color. I am going to customize it up really nice too. I was told not to go crazy, meaning don't bring in waterfalls, and incense or rain sticks. I was kind of bummed because that is exactly what I wanted to do. I want to get rid of the overheard flourescent lighting and just use table lamps to get rid of that institutional feel, ya know? It is so bright in there it almost hurts my eyes. Also it is very hot in there. No ventilation, just a fan. The A/C in the building is awesome only there are no vents in the offices...when you shut the doors, they become little saunas...I became over come with heat and I nodded out during one assesment. Not good. I am going to make do with what I have been given to work with and it is going to be a nice office.

Please dont' get me wrong, I am in NO way complaining, oh God no. I am so grateful to be there. I Love the vibe. The people are so...real. I am not in some franchise/chain place that has its bosses sitting in some office half way across the country. No big full page yellow page ads..nope. This is a privately owned and operated facility with a woman owner being the HBIC. She is old school, been not only around the block but around the world and she was drinking whiskey the entire tour. She has a heart as huge as the entire world and you can tell this is her passion. She is a woman of few words but those that she does say are powerful, meaningful and worth listening to.

The man who runs the shop is a trip. Dan....old school junkie/alky. He has a voice that is as smooth and deep as a velvet covered well. He should be doing voice overs or working as DJ..great stuff. When I commented on it, he said, "Nope it's just a whiskey voice." I knew exactly what he meant. Years of smoking and drinking take its toll on a vocal chord. I loved him instantly. When he called Susie into the room, I loved her instantly too. She reminded me of my Aunt Maxine and a bit of my Mom...There is nothing you can tell them that they dont already know.

There is a gentleman there named Dan. He is a soft spoken, very polite man and that is all I know about his as of this point. Debbie is the woman I was training with. She is the friend of my very close friend and I found out there is bad blood between them. My friend loaned her a large sum of money, never to be repaid. My friend is evolved enough to not let an unpaid debt get in the way of the friendship, but the woman not only didn't pay her back, she had her phone number changed and started treating my friend like a debt collector....so unfortunately, the friendship didn't survive the ordeal and my friends life will go on but if this woman I am working with is truly 'working a solid program of sobriety' then she should make every effort to repay the loan. They "work steps" and this is an example of bad stepping....I don't know if they really have a step that addresses this particular issue, but if they did it would probaly go something like this
STEP 13 "Hey fuckhead...if someone is kind enough to loan your dumbass money, the very least your sober ass can do is pay them back". Right?

Well, this is the beginning of a new chapter of my life. Where life will take me is anybodies guess...I am keeping my fingers crossed and praying with all my heart that this is going to be the last job I ever have. I am not young and I don't have any extra energy in me to job hunt. I need to 'job keep'. I have 'job found' and I want to stay put. Stay tuned for more of 'As Susan Turns'.