Going to Alaska?

Just a quick note about my new job…

I hate to admit this (I mean I REALLY hate to admit this), but I’m actually enjoying my job right now.

Did I actually say that out loud?!?  Please don’t tell my husband (he never reads this blog)!

I was very reluctant to go back to work as you all know – I had fallen into a nice little routine here with the kids, my crafts and volunteer work.  But I was working SO hard and wasn’t making any money.  And we really needed some extra money…

So now that I’ve been at work for a while, I’ve fallen into a nice routine there as well.  I’m supporting the Alaska Flight Service Modernization system as well as the OASIS system, also in Alaska. 

I thought it would be difficult to get back into the technical part of the job, but it turns out that it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.  I worked with this stuff for so many years that after just a few weeks on the job, I feel really confident (did I actually say that?!?!) about what I’m doing.  And the money part is nice too. 🙂

But here’s the thing – I think some people that I’m working with don’t appreciate my being there.  There have been rumblings that  perhaps I am there to take their jobs or – at the very least – to make them look bad. 

But they really shouldn’t worry.  First of all, the only reason that I’m able to pick up things so quickly is that, like I said, I worked with this stuff for YEARS!  Sections of some of the documents we’re using as references were actually written by me years ago.

And I don’t want anyone else’s job – I’m happy with my own small 3-day-a-week part-time position where I come in, do my part and go home at the end of the day.  And I don’t want to take over or be in charge – I’m happy just doing my own little parts and leaving the big worries to others.

It’s difficult to know that people aren’t happy with my being there – it really bothers me when people don’t like me (and I’m sure there are lots of people who don’t like me!).  But I’m hoping that once they get to know me and see that I’m not this power-hungry (who the heck wants power, anyway?) person that they think I am, they’ll adjust.  Maybe eventually they’ll come to see me as a resource and not a threat.

Oh – and as for the title of the post, I may be going up to Alaska in a few weeks.  I’m actually looking forward to it – I’ve been there several times before and just loved it!  Of course, maybe I won’t go since it may bother some of the other employees…but that’s fine too.  Like I said, I’m actually just enjoying doing my little piece of the giant Alaska puzzle.

One more odd thing that happened at work recently…as I was coming up to my desk from lunch yesterday, I saw this large group of kids on a tour and some of them started to wave at me.  I thought that was odd until I realized that several of them were students of mine from my Computers and Society class last semester!  They were at the Technical Center for a tour and to do a presentation on a project they were doing for their Software Engineering course.  I stopped to chat, found out where their presentation was and slipped in for a few minutes to listen in.  They seemed to be doing a fine job and I was very proud to see them there – good luck guys!