Wednesday, April 16, 2008

First Day on the Job: Recap

Yesterday we had sun in Riga. The weather was basically the best thing ever. I also had my first day in the office yesterday - I got a quick tour of the office area, learned some names I'd probably forget if it weren't for the past 5 months of working with these people – with their names, at least. So it was more of a name-to-face thing. Then I was seated at my new deskish area – a computer by a functioning wiiiindoooow (read that and think sing-song)- and then told to wait a bit. Then I got my first proofreading job of the day, then another, and then another. All due more or less by 5 p.m. that afternoon. I finished them all with time to spare (an hour and a half of idly sitting at my desk half afraid I'd get some gimongous project right before I intended to leave and half afraid someone would come in and yell at me for not doing anything)! I was asked by someone later how many people worked in the office - I guesstimated 20, give or take a few. Most of them seem to be project managers, and those seem to keep multiplying. I met one of the ones previously unknown to me yesterday when I was handed one of the jobs to proofread, bringing the total of project managers known to Kaija to nine. My first day in the office was "normal" (a popular Latvian answer to almost anything) - no drama, no overworkedness, no tears. When I was first brought around to meet some of the other employees already in for the day, a few of them were all "Kaija? Oh good, you're finally here! Nice to see you in person."

Recap of my day + what came after:

Come in to work at 9, work until 3:30, sit and wait for 5 to roll around, then after work head off across the street to Gastronome, an absolutely tasty gourmet deli-type place. They have an actual restaurant attached to the deli/store part, but I don't care about it. Picked up some Greek salad, penne pasta salad with duck (the duck tastes weird, but the pasta and veg bits are good), and small French bread rolls for some good eating later on. Then I went and visited with one of many relations on this side of the world and her kids (to those who know them, Amanda and Co.), and got home around 10 with an hour to do absolutely whatever my little heart desired until 11 when it's bedtime. I feel like an 8th grader. But hey, in bed by 11:30 the latest, up at 7:30 - I can't say I don't feel great in the mornings; I'm probably earning some health points along with walking almost everywhere.

As of now I’ve had two small jobs to do today: one about thealine, which is an amino acid found in tea leaves (most commonly green and black teas) that makes the alpha waves in the brain’s cortex go ooey-ooey, making the mind and body alert yet relaxed, and the other regarding some recording or taping studio and its service list. And then there’s nothing. It looks like I may be done for the day. That leaves…3.5 hours until I can go home without feeling guilty about whatever!

And yes, my computer’s still broken. I was able to get it running a bit last night and this morning by applying some pressure to the left side of the track pad, which apparently makes the connection between the motherboard and whatever existent. Other options for do-it-yourself fixes (which are invasive as opposed to pressure application) include (but are not limited to) placing a burning tea light+ some fuels on the motherboard once you've cracked your computer open. I'll pass.

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