The new job.

I'm only three days in, but I like it a lot. The job is retardedly easy. I don't want to say too much about what it is, because it's a pretty big company and I don't think there are many that do this type of thing, though. And we all know how paranoid I am! Anyway, it's technically a call center ... but it's not a typical call center. It's not like everybody pissed off about their tv or their credit card or whatever is calling in. There are some clients that call in to check the status of their report; then there are clients of the clients who return our calls. But a lot of it is calling automated systems and pushing buttons to get information, or calling a client's client to get information -- but that person is expecting our call. The good thing about this is that I don't see myself getting pissed off a lot. The bad thing is, of course, a lack of stories for this blog!

Then there are a lot of little things about the place that I like. It's only 15 miles away (in the same town as the old restaurant, so I can see my friends, too!) instead of 50 like my job for the satellite tv company. The buildings are nice and new, bright and airy and clean, and my sinuses don't swell shut within ten minutes of getting to work like at the last place. The training class I'm in is small, only nine people, rather than the 25 or so in the others. The computer equipment is new, in good condition, and the programs are up-to-date, unlike both the other places (the most recent one we had to log into "virtual desktops" several states away, was slower than snot). The training room is glass on three sides with a beautiful view of the mountains. There are three buildings, and in between them are picnic tables, trees, grass, and generally nice landscaping.

We had a brief policy review, of course, but nothing serious. Attendance boils down to "we need you here, call if you won't be here" - none of that "if you miss more then five minutes of training you're fired" crap. 

Security is much more lax than at the last place -- there aren't five cameras in the training room, no security guards watching all the time, I don't have to swipe my badge at literally every single door except the bathrooms, we're allowed to have our cell phones and personal belongings ... even paper. *gasp* Our trainer has made calls on her cell phone in class. When I'm done with my work early, I check my phone, read on my Nook, etc. I'm sure once training is over I won't have time for that, but I also don't get the feeling someone will be riding my ass all the time -- the only expect what they call "senior processors" to finish 65 items in a day, which sounds like a lot until you realize that some of them take literally 30 seconds.

The weird thing is that the last place, with all the insane rules, was for a company a bank had hired. So they were worried about people stealing confidential information. This place has access to frankly even more sensitive information, and there's none of that crazy paranoid crap. It really surprises me.

There are break rooms in every building, on every floor. They're clean, and well-lit, and not all dingy and gross. They're all stocked with a full set of dishes -- plates, silverware, lots of glasses and coffee cups -- and each one had a dishwasher. There are of course microwaves and fridges. There are ice machines. The company provides coffee, hot tea, iced tea, and hot chocolate free. On Thursday, a local ice cream place set up in the courtyard and everybody got a big waffle cone full of free ice cream. These are little things, to be sure, but compared to what I'm used to it's amazing.

Also, it's an 8-5, Monday through Friday job. Bitches, I get the weekends off. I have never, never, never had weekends off! I didn't think I ever would! But probably the thing that made me smile the most, though, is pretty small for most people. It's simply this: I'll have my own desk. It's mine. All the time. The chair won't still be warm from somebody's ass having been in it for the last eight hours when I get there. When I leave, somebody else won't be getting my ass warmth. When I change settings on the computer, they'll stay changed. I can put up pictures of my cat or Morten Harket or whatever the fuck I feel like putting up. It's mine.

So far, I feel like I'm in work heaven. It doesn't take much to make me happy, I guess. The temp agency that hooked me up with it doesn't even have a record of where they got my resume -- I didn't submit it directly to them -- but damn, so far I'm very glad they got it!