Thursday, June 02, 2005

Singin' the New Job Blues

It's been almost two weeks now since I started a new job. I'm still at the same company, but different boss, different department, different responsibilities. It's a very good opportunity for me, and I think I'm going to be good at it, ONCE THEY LET ME DO SOMETHING.
Therein lies my problem. I was at my old job for almost 5 years, and in that time I've forgotten what it's like to be the new kid on the block. I am officially in training, which means that when one of my new coworkers has work to do that I will need to know how to do, they come and get me and show me how to do it. We are rapidly running out of things that I haven't learned yet, so I sit at my desk a lot and read procedures (or blogs, but let's not mention that to my boss!).
I can't wait until I have real work to do again, but right now nobody really has anything for me (or else they don't trust me to do it? - NAH, that can't be it. :) ).
My husband also started a new job this week. My new position is a good step up for me, but his is HUGE -- a much better fit for him than his old job. Unfortunately, his new job is in a different location. We used to be able to commute together, but now I drive alone every day, and he can walk to his office from our house (unfair).
I have decided to use my new solitary commute time to improve my mind, so I went to the library and checked out some books-on-CD. Our library doesn't have a very big selection (conundrum -- the books are all on tape, and the new mommymobile mini-van doesn't have a cassette player -- what to do?). I was able to find some good stuff, though. Right now I'm listening to Langsten Hughes reading some of his own poetry. One of my favorites:
Hold fast to dreams,
for when dreams die,
life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.
I was surprised how moving it was to hear him explain his thoughts on his work, and to tell the stories behind some of the poems. He speaks a lot about his influences, as well, especially African-American music like blues and spirituals that affected the tones and rhythms he used.
A very wise man, Mr. Hughes. He understood that singin' the blues can put the whole thing in perspective so you can move on past it.

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