Are you enjoying spring? I love it. It is finally warm enough to sleep with my window open – now maybe my room won’t smell like dying dog. Literally my dog is dying and I feel bad for her and let her sleep on the floor in my room she smells and likes to pace my room in the middle of the night.
Work is fine. I got a top-secret raise. It came the same paycheck as my 401k started being taken out so my take-home dropped, but that is life. I’m still waiting for my performance review but I think my job is safe.
Yesterday someone came to me because the printer was broken. I told her that since it was only 8:05 it was probably still in sleep mode. She assured me that wasn’t the problem. I walked over to it pressed the on button, and miracle of miracles it worked.
On that note I am not a very internally kind person. Some of you may not think I’m kind externally either but I try really hard to suppress outward expressions of my distain in the work place. Working with people is hard! It is amazing how quickly I get annoyed by people. It is really good I have a 40-minute commute so at least I have time to wake up before I get bombarded with conversations that I have no desire participate in. Anyways that was my venting – don’t hate me. I’m waiting for the internal transformation but am learning self-control in the meantime.
On Saturday I went shopping. I bought 9 items 5 of them were cardigans.
Saturday night I went to the drive-ins with my friend Keri. We saw Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Alice in Wonderland. The first one was pretty hilarious we were going to leave during Alice but we couldn’t figure out how to get out of the parking lot. Over all, the drive-in experience was better than I was expecting. The bathrooms were closed so I had to use the port-a-potty. I just coached myself though it by reminding my self that people all over the world use grosser bathrooms that those all the time.
I’ve been watching “The Celebrity Apprentice.” Reality TV is totally addicting so I usually avoid it but this is job research. My goal is to be the receptionist on that show. Sending people in to meet with Donald Trump. Maybe God has me at D&G to prepare me for that position.
Well lunch is almost over and now it’s time to go to the store to restock my boss’s supply of Pepsi.
Love, Joy
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
enjoy!
There was such friendly feedback after my last update that I’ve been inspired.
I am writing this during my lunch break at Peet’s coffee. I had big plans of going to Starbucks because it is a little closer to my work but after I ordered my hot chocolate I asked for internet access and realized it is a very complicated process. When the girl was explaining it to me I cut her off to say that all I needed was to get on my computer. I guess she had been telling me that process the whole time; something about buying a gift card and then buying 5 packs of gum and then scratching off a code and some more stuff. I cancelled my order and left, very graciously and am now sipping a kind of burnt tasting decaf latte.
Now that I only have 30 minutes left I’m going to share some highlights.
One day last week traffic was stopped on the freeway because there was a turkey in the road. I realize for those of you from the Midwest that may not seem like a huge deal but it made me smile for the rest of my commute.
Last Thursday I was throwing an after-work baby shower for a girl in the office that is going to have a baby. People were really good at giving money for the group gift but then when the day of the party came people started throwing out excuses. Here are my top 3 favorites (yes I’m being serious) – I’m getting my hair done, I’m moving my furniture, my dog might be sick. Really it was their loss because I throw an excellent baby shower.
So the girl having a baby is an Administrative Assistant (like me) so they decided that while she is on maternity leave all of her tasks can just be passed to me. We were working a few hours a day on training for her expected departure date of March 18th. Last Tuesday night her doctor put her on modified bed rest AKA go along life as normal except for going to work. The phrase that comes to mind, “out of the frying pan, into the fire.” You see the problem is I have a full time job and she had a full time job and there isn’t a whole lot of overlap. I still haven’t quite figured out A: what I’m supposed to be doing B: how I’m supposed to get it all done and C: who will be the most angry if I’m not assisting them speedily enough. The good thing is I’m learning a little more how to pray and so far this week a lot of grace has been shown.
I got an email at work yesterday that they are going to give performance reviews (not a normal practice). I don’t really know what that means because this is my first real job. I’m a little nervous, what if they tell me I need to start brushing my hair or that rain boots aren’t acceptable office footwear? I guess in theory they could critique my quality of work but they can’t be too harsh on that since I’m doing way more work than they hired me to do. And that whole dog portrait thing.
Tonight I’m flying to LA to spend some time with college roommates. I’m very excited to see them and to take tomorrow off. My boss told me that this is my last day off until Kimmi gets back from maternity leave (sometime mid-June). But mostly to see them. Maybe my next update I’ll tell you about my social life – it will be a short one.
Okey Dokey back to work I go.
What’s going on with you? And what’s the deal with retirement plans? I’m supposed to meet with our HR rep before the pay period ends to decide on a saving plan but it all sounds terrible to me.
I am writing this during my lunch break at Peet’s coffee. I had big plans of going to Starbucks because it is a little closer to my work but after I ordered my hot chocolate I asked for internet access and realized it is a very complicated process. When the girl was explaining it to me I cut her off to say that all I needed was to get on my computer. I guess she had been telling me that process the whole time; something about buying a gift card and then buying 5 packs of gum and then scratching off a code and some more stuff. I cancelled my order and left, very graciously and am now sipping a kind of burnt tasting decaf latte.
Now that I only have 30 minutes left I’m going to share some highlights.
One day last week traffic was stopped on the freeway because there was a turkey in the road. I realize for those of you from the Midwest that may not seem like a huge deal but it made me smile for the rest of my commute.
Last Thursday I was throwing an after-work baby shower for a girl in the office that is going to have a baby. People were really good at giving money for the group gift but then when the day of the party came people started throwing out excuses. Here are my top 3 favorites (yes I’m being serious) – I’m getting my hair done, I’m moving my furniture, my dog might be sick. Really it was their loss because I throw an excellent baby shower.
So the girl having a baby is an Administrative Assistant (like me) so they decided that while she is on maternity leave all of her tasks can just be passed to me. We were working a few hours a day on training for her expected departure date of March 18th. Last Tuesday night her doctor put her on modified bed rest AKA go along life as normal except for going to work. The phrase that comes to mind, “out of the frying pan, into the fire.” You see the problem is I have a full time job and she had a full time job and there isn’t a whole lot of overlap. I still haven’t quite figured out A: what I’m supposed to be doing B: how I’m supposed to get it all done and C: who will be the most angry if I’m not assisting them speedily enough. The good thing is I’m learning a little more how to pray and so far this week a lot of grace has been shown.
I got an email at work yesterday that they are going to give performance reviews (not a normal practice). I don’t really know what that means because this is my first real job. I’m a little nervous, what if they tell me I need to start brushing my hair or that rain boots aren’t acceptable office footwear? I guess in theory they could critique my quality of work but they can’t be too harsh on that since I’m doing way more work than they hired me to do. And that whole dog portrait thing.
Tonight I’m flying to LA to spend some time with college roommates. I’m very excited to see them and to take tomorrow off. My boss told me that this is my last day off until Kimmi gets back from maternity leave (sometime mid-June). But mostly to see them. Maybe my next update I’ll tell you about my social life – it will be a short one.
Okey Dokey back to work I go.
What’s going on with you? And what’s the deal with retirement plans? I’m supposed to meet with our HR rep before the pay period ends to decide on a saving plan but it all sounds terrible to me.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Here I am
Summary: I am an administrative assistant at a chemical sales firm.
You may have noticed (or not) that I haven’t been writing much lately. If I were prone to making excuses, I would place all of the blame on having a job. Don’t get me wrong, jobs are great for some things, like making money, but this particular job has the unfortunate side effect of stripping me of creative energies. For that reason, and my own particular laziness this update will be but a shadow of the former glory you were accustomed to.
I was talking to this lady today, she can’t believe that she has been at D&G for 9 years, I experienced a little bit of the same panic when I realized I have been here for 7 months. It isn’t that I don’t like and appreciate my job but the concept of working full-time is boring. And now I am being redefined as this boring person and that is discouraging. Please don’t try to encourage me by saying that in 40 years I can retire. I am fully not planning on this as lifetime commitment. I have many offers to be a full time nanny and one of my bosses thinks I should become a professional artist.
Now I will be positive. Work gets me out of the house everyday at 7:20 (AM!!) that is probably healthy. The average age in the company is close to 58 so I haven’t made any new BFF’s but it does provide a source of interaction with the outside world – and oh the stories I could tell about that interaction (more on that later). Approximately once a week I get to take my boss’s car to the car wash, if I am working I might as well have a job that requires me to leave the office and sit outside reading in the sunshine. In 2008 I had an Adjusted Gross Income of $450. 2009 I made more than that. The office has very good drinking water.
Now here are some top stories of the month:
Monday I took off. I saw people and sun.
Tuesday someone brought her dog into the office, is that OK?
Also Tuesday I got to hear about this lady getting skin cancer removed from her face. It made me want to throw-up, and thanks to the placement of my desk I got to hear her repeat it to everyone else in the office.
I won $25 in the Super Bowl pool.
I did a portrait of my boss’s golden retriever (now deceased) and his wife said it was the best gift any one has ever given her. So good that she had it turned into prints to send out as cards. In the business world a little creativity goes a long way. I have now permanently secured my position at D&G – if that is what I was going for
I was informed that in the spring snow melts in the mountains and this provides water for the farmers to grow their crops.
Those are the only ones I can remember. About 3 times a week I come home with major issues to vent. I try to get over them quickly and then usually by 6pm all I have left of my workday is anecdotes to share with people when they ask me how my life is – because the reality is I am only awake and not at work for 6 hours a day and nothing very noteworthy happens in that time.
Any Questions?
Monday, December 14, 2009
So this is Christmas...
In lieu of a Christmas letter this year I am sending out this one-of-a-kind Christmas/4th quarter update. I’m not exactly sure where I left off on my 3rd quarter update and I’m guessing that probably means you’re not exactly sure either. So you’re getting a year-long summary.
December 19th, 2008 I stepped out of Managua and back into what I thought would be considered “normal life.”
By August I had been on sixteen trips. I got to see a lot of you and felt I was doing pretty well on the transition. God provided quite a few very odd jobs and I was able to take eight nice months of schedule-less life.
And then...
BAM!!!
The real world hit. Or what I thought was pretty close to “adult-life.” I got a permanent job. 9-1 EVERY DAY. I had to switch from waking up at 10 (or later, I can’t lie especially if you were one of the people I stayed with on one of my trips) to 7:30. I also had to start getting dressed EVERY DAY. And these outfits could not include shorts, denim, flip-flops or Converse.
That job lasted until October 19th then believe it or not, I started working full-time. 8-5. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday. That is my life now (plus or minus a few family birthday parties and Bible studies), so that is what the rest of this e-mail will be about. I’ll try to keep it brief.
Who: Joy Eklund
What: Receptionist aka Administrative Assistant aka Personal Assistant aka Car Washer aka Travel Agent aka Ambassador of Goodwill (no joke that is what my boss told me my main job title is, my parents think he’s a prophet).
Where: Dowd and Guild, Inc. – “We sell chemicals…and that’s all” actually that isn’t true we also sell chemical containers but you get 1,000 bonus points if you sing the above quoted line and know what movie it’s from. D&G is in San Ramon, it is exactly 20 miles from my parents’ (where I live). It takes exactly 35 to 60 minutes to get there.
When: 8-5. 5 days a week.
Why: First of all, it is a job. Second of all, I get to do really cool things like watch videos entitled “The History of Paint.” Third of all, it probably the most un-green job possible so I get to be countercultural. Fourthly, they at least pretend to understand that if I had life-goals they would not be in the chemical sales field and they don’t hold that against me.
Overall I like what I am doing and I’m good at it. Everyday is completely different and I work independently, two things that fit well with me. Plus I work with a very “special” group of people that keep me entertained all day long. I could tell you about the day the bathroom key went missing or about a lovely conversation that began with the question, “So, Joy, what do you think of my son?” or about the backlash received when a customer wanted to take my picture or about a billion other things. But this is already getting too long and I wanted to share with you today’s Christmas lesson.
I like Christmas music, I listen to it on the way to and from my job. Today I was listening to “We Three Kings of Orient Are.” I realize that the concept of three kings is not biblical, but this song is pretty tight, and not just for Christmas. That said I am going to put in the lyrics (you can skip the first verse if you can’t handle it):
We three kings of Orient are
Bearing gifts we traverse afar
Field and fountain, moor and mountain
Following yonder star
O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to thy Perfect Light
Born a King on Bethlehem's plain
Gold I bring to crown Him again
King forever, ceasing never
Over us all to rein
Frankincense to offer have I
Incense owns a Deity nigh
Pray'r and praising, all men raising
Worship Him, God most high
Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume
Breathes of life of gathering gloom
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying
Sealed in the stone-cold tomb
Glorious now behold Him arise
King and God and Sacrifice
Alleluia, Alleluia
Earth to heav'n replies
-Rev. John Henry Hopkins 1857
I hope that this Christmas you drawn to the perfect Light not just of Baby Jesus but of the King and God and Sacrifice.
December 19th, 2008 I stepped out of Managua and back into what I thought would be considered “normal life.”
By August I had been on sixteen trips. I got to see a lot of you and felt I was doing pretty well on the transition. God provided quite a few very odd jobs and I was able to take eight nice months of schedule-less life.
And then...
BAM!!!
The real world hit. Or what I thought was pretty close to “adult-life.” I got a permanent job. 9-1 EVERY DAY. I had to switch from waking up at 10 (or later, I can’t lie especially if you were one of the people I stayed with on one of my trips) to 7:30. I also had to start getting dressed EVERY DAY. And these outfits could not include shorts, denim, flip-flops or Converse.
That job lasted until October 19th then believe it or not, I started working full-time. 8-5. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday. That is my life now (plus or minus a few family birthday parties and Bible studies), so that is what the rest of this e-mail will be about. I’ll try to keep it brief.
Who: Joy Eklund
What: Receptionist aka Administrative Assistant aka Personal Assistant aka Car Washer aka Travel Agent aka Ambassador of Goodwill (no joke that is what my boss told me my main job title is, my parents think he’s a prophet).
Where: Dowd and Guild, Inc. – “We sell chemicals…and that’s all” actually that isn’t true we also sell chemical containers but you get 1,000 bonus points if you sing the above quoted line and know what movie it’s from. D&G is in San Ramon, it is exactly 20 miles from my parents’ (where I live). It takes exactly 35 to 60 minutes to get there.
When: 8-5. 5 days a week.
Why: First of all, it is a job. Second of all, I get to do really cool things like watch videos entitled “The History of Paint.” Third of all, it probably the most un-green job possible so I get to be countercultural. Fourthly, they at least pretend to understand that if I had life-goals they would not be in the chemical sales field and they don’t hold that against me.
Overall I like what I am doing and I’m good at it. Everyday is completely different and I work independently, two things that fit well with me. Plus I work with a very “special” group of people that keep me entertained all day long. I could tell you about the day the bathroom key went missing or about a lovely conversation that began with the question, “So, Joy, what do you think of my son?” or about the backlash received when a customer wanted to take my picture or about a billion other things. But this is already getting too long and I wanted to share with you today’s Christmas lesson.
I like Christmas music, I listen to it on the way to and from my job. Today I was listening to “We Three Kings of Orient Are.” I realize that the concept of three kings is not biblical, but this song is pretty tight, and not just for Christmas. That said I am going to put in the lyrics (you can skip the first verse if you can’t handle it):
We three kings of Orient are
Bearing gifts we traverse afar
Field and fountain, moor and mountain
Following yonder star
O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to thy Perfect Light
Born a King on Bethlehem's plain
Gold I bring to crown Him again
King forever, ceasing never
Over us all to rein
Frankincense to offer have I
Incense owns a Deity nigh
Pray'r and praising, all men raising
Worship Him, God most high
Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume
Breathes of life of gathering gloom
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying
Sealed in the stone-cold tomb
Glorious now behold Him arise
King and God and Sacrifice
Alleluia, Alleluia
Earth to heav'n replies
-Rev. John Henry Hopkins 1857
I hope that this Christmas you drawn to the perfect Light not just of Baby Jesus but of the King and God and Sacrifice.
Monday, November 23, 2009
some perspective
The past few months my life has completely flipped around. Mostly all I do is work, participate in church related functions and celebrate family things. Sometimes I feel that all of my time is scheduled and can't really believe the drastic change that my life went through since August. A change that really doesn't cater to creative expression.
This week I have been staying at my boss's house taking care of his dog. So far I have seen three deer and two shooting stars. Tonight I actually had to wait for a deer to cross before I could pull into the driveway.
I was going to write more but it is now 10pm and part my lifestyle change is that I go to bed before 11. Plus tomorrow I have to wake up in time to prepare Maddie's breakfast before work.
This week I have been staying at my boss's house taking care of his dog. So far I have seen three deer and two shooting stars. Tonight I actually had to wait for a deer to cross before I could pull into the driveway.
I was going to write more but it is now 10pm and part my lifestyle change is that I go to bed before 11. Plus tomorrow I have to wake up in time to prepare Maddie's breakfast before work.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Joy's 3rd Quarter Report
October has begun and now you get the chance to catch up on my life, what a glorious day.
Does anyone out there remember where I left off in the saga of my life? I don’t.
I think around August 6th I started working for Dowd and Guild Inc. that means I’m almost celebrating two months of waking up (and getting dressed) five days a week. For some of you this may not seem like a big accomplishment but it is something I haven’t done regularly since high school. I like my job. Lots of people ask me if working in an office is like the TV show. I think I could easily write a 23-minute bit every workday (and I only work 4 hour days), there would be none of the romantic tension.
More specifically, what do I do? I am the receptionist i.e. the face of the company. I sign for a lot of UPS packages. Today I spent close to an hour and a half decorating the bulletins board for October. Where do people come up with clever things to read while you’re waiting for the coffee to brew? I made a list of daily things to celebrate in October. The 9th is moldy cheese day. And October is Pickled Pepper month. The rest of my job consists of answering and routing phone calls, updating things, running reports, filing papers, mailing things and extracting data from excel spreadsheets.
Soon I might start working full time. My possible change in schedule has been the drama of the week. Some people may think that me taking on a job fulltime would make me a sellout. I figure it is either sellout in that area or sellout to socialized healthcare. I have expressed my desire to have a modified vacation schedule. You can pray that they will think that is a great idea so that I can still be open to travel for philanthropic reasons (they’re really into philanthropy).
I was also working on getting that restaurant started. That kind of fizzled out the end of August but then last week they mailed me a bonus check.
A few weeks ago I decided to get a new bed. My parents voted for a full because it would still be a change but wouldn’t take up less of my room than a queen. So for a whole week I was on craigslist trying to find a bed and finally on Saturday morning (the day my dad could go with me to get something) I found one. I got to the house, they lowered the price, I brought it home, rearranged my furniture, went and bought sheets, and then figured out it was a queen. Why the people didn’t know that, I don’t know, I guess because the nanny was in charge of selling it. Oh well, it fits fine in my room and I got a great deal. Now, during the process of rearranging my furniture I moved all of my excess stuff (lots still un-organized from moving home) into the spare bedroom. Now I am in the early stages of getting rid of stuff. During this process I have learned that I am, in fact, a hoarder, I just store things well hidden.
That is mostly what is going on with me, now go enjoy some homemade cookies and get ready to name your car tomorrow and let me know what’s going on with you.
Love, Joy
PS Yes! You can still buy my book!
Sunday, September 13, 2009
grandpa vermon
I have a grandpa Vern. He looks nothing like this:
He lives in South Lake Tahoe, the previous owner ran the local brothels. I guess the house attracts "characters." Anyhoo this weekend he wanted to host a garage sale so I went up with my aunt and mom to help out. If you saw the pictures I posted in March you may have started to understand that he has more junk than any other person on the planet (hopefully). Here are some of my favorite pieces:
I sold the hats, $3 for 2 (he wanted $3 each or for me to take them myself) and the picture for $20 (he wanted $25) even better, I sold them to the same person. I hope they display them they same way I did.
This African CD stand we didn't sell until day 2 so he dropped the price from $20 to $12, another thing I wish I needed.
But it wasn't all awe at finding amazing things, here are some other emotions I dealt with...
Bitterness: My grandpa challenged my pricing one too many times. Trust me -- there is no way he paid $10 for the tacky umbrella I sold for $1.
Shock: So a lot of the garage sale patrons were my grandpa's biggest fans. He was selling his paintings for $100 and people were walking away bragging that they got an "original" and telling me how lucky I am to have such an amazing grandpa. I kept thinking of The Emperor's New Clothes. I could expand but either you understand the analogy or you don't. Another shocking thing was that he made over $4,000.
Disgust: The first night on the way in we met him, Ethel (his ex-girlfriend) and two of their friends for dinner at the Lakeside Inn. I really don't like the Lakeside Inn, or the Smokeside Inn as my aunt likes to call it. I don't every know what to order there, I think I need to start going with the prime rib special because that is what the old people get and the restaurant definitely caters to old people. Instead I got what I thought was going to be seafood with a white wine sauce over linguine. What came out was this flavorless soup with chunks of fish and a side of spaghetti. It did not go over well with my stomach. After dinner when we stood up to leave I realized that the lady that I was sitting across from was like 4 feet tall, I mean she stood up and was the same height as she was sitting down.
Awe: This morning I walked down to the lake. Some of the houses in his neighborhood are beyond massive and gorgeous. But then I got to the lake and it is much more massive and much gorgeous than any 5 million dollar home. A little perspective is good every once in a while.
Now I will share 3 completely unrelated things:
1) Even though I've been back now for 9-months, my body has not adjusted to the climite. Henceforth I have really bad dandruff, I feel like I have that gross cradle cap disease that my sister's kids get.
2) This week I am working full time. 8 to 5. That means I have to leave before I usually wake up.
3) It is raining right now. Very odd for September. I head there were thunder storms yesterday, I missed out, I hope they come back, those are something I miss from my former life.
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