So I’ve now completed two days at my new job, and all in all, things are going well. That is to say, they’re extremely confusing, as they’ve never had a technical writer before, so they don’t quite know what to do with me. But once I get things set up and everyone around me trained, things should go swimmingly.

What have I spent the last two days doing then? Surfing around their internet wiki page trying to figure out what everyone’s talking about. I’m working for a commercial company, which is a new thing for me, so I’m not used to all the retail talk. So I’m learning all the lingo, and all the development processes for their products too. Basically, I’m doing lots of learnding, as Ralph says on the Simpsons.

I’m looking forward to getting things settled down, the first item being: who do I report to? No one seems to know, plus there were a few people on vacation yesterday, so that hasn’t helped the confusion factor. But I’m meeting with either one or both of my bosses tomorrow in a meet-and-greet. Hopefully I’ll be able to get my page o’ questions answered too. I’ve got a whack-load of general company ones to get answered, as well as some technical writing-specific ones too. All in all though, I’m quite hopeful, so keep your fingers crossed that this feeling continues! hahaha.

Okay, on to some relaxation at home now. Ciao!

Just how long was I able to make my severance package last? Mmm, about 7 weeks. And I haven’t even touched the bonus payment they still owe me! Why is this significant? Because as of this morning at about 10:30am, I am officially employed. Yes, you heard correctly. In this insanely hot IT market in Toronto, it only took me two weeks to find a new job, and that’s only because I played phone tag with the HR lady for most of that time. I had applied to my new employer on my first day of job hunting, last Monday, and secured the job by Friday, a total of 10 business days. Impressive. So I’ll be working as the lone technical writer for now, although I don’t know if they’ll be hiring any more. At any rate, they don’t have anything ready in terms of docs or anything, so I’ll pretty much have free reign to do what I want, when I want. More importantly, I was able to negotiate a salary increase not only from my previous job, but also from their initial offer, as well as securing an extra week’s vacation per year. Nice. I guess my sister’s negotiating skills are starting to rub off, because she does this all the time and succeeds!

So my time off ends Aug. 19th, and I start work again Aug. 20th. Still have two weeks to play around and do nothing, which rocks.

Yes, it’s true, I finally put in my window a/c unit this morning. I hadn’t installed it thus far this summer because after a couple of days, the weather would always cool down, so I could survive with the fans I’ve got in my place. But this morning was the final straw…when I woke up and walked across the room to turn off the fan, I started sweating…at 7:40am. I paused for about 30 seconds, and then I decided that it was time. So I pulled out the screen from the window, lugged over the a/c, and slid that puppy in. And it’s working great! Within 10 minutes of turning it on, my bedroom is already 4 degrees colder. Nice. Of course my bedroom is quite teeny tiny, so that’s not surprising. But now I have my cold room. Mwah haha.

I normally don’t turn on the a/c that often, just when the humidity’s really high. That’s what does it, the humidity. I can deal with 32 degrees when it’s dry, but with the humidity making it feel like 44, 45 degrees, that’s just too much. I once went to a wedding in Kelowna, BC a few years ago, and they had a heat wave where the coldest day was 35 degrees. The day of the wedding was a sweltering 39 degrees. BUT, BC tends to get dry heat, so it was nice. Sure, it was hot, but when you sweat, your body actually cooled off.

Ah, the joys of July summer in the city.

Oh, and wish me luck this morning, as I’ve got a job interview! Plus I’m meeting another recruiter this afternoon. Yesterday was a banner day, I fielded phone calls & e-mails from 6 different recruiters that I haven’t spoken to before. Impressive.

Yes, I finally got off my duff this morning and went out for a run. Ran about 2kms total, doing some 4 and 1s. Phew though, I sure am beat now! I haven’t been out in about a month or so, and this just knocked me out! I don’t know how some people can say that a run before work charges them up for the day. I felt like I wanted a nap afterwards. But after a good lunch, I felt much better. And now that I finished watching Youngblood whilst I was job hunting online, I feel even better. (what a horrible movie, by the way.)

In my current unemployed state (okay, I’m still being paid by my former employer as I got a sweet package, but still, I am not working for the cash), I’ve been exploring some options on how to make money with blogs. I know I don’t have a huge readership here (although I do welcome all your views and comments, so keep them coming!), so I thought I’d try to see if I could start up a blog that will help me earn some cash. I’ve been trying to come up with ideas for a new blog anyways, so why not see if I can make some cash, right? I’ll keep you posted on how my progress goes. In the meantime, if you’re looking to read up on where to get some help on how to do it, you can check out the Web Traffic Tips page of my blog and read up on it. Or, if you’d like to get it directly from the source, check out Yaro’s site here. Yaro’s a well-known Internet entrepreneur, and he likes helping people get their freelance start too. So check it out if you like.

Oh, and in case you thought I was all wrapped up in this Internet freelance writing stuff, I am still knitting, yes I am. I’m attempting to get El Segundo started so that he may join his brother, however I’m currently struggling with the start of the toe-up sock, so I have no progress photos to show you. I had to set down the yarn the other day though, because I started the sock three times in a row, with no success. By that point of course my fingers were killing me, so I had to stop from cramping. My sister is being quite helpful to me right now, which is good. Thanks sis!

Phew, my apartment is quite stinky right now as my landlord has her hardwood floors sanded & refinished. (I live in the attic apartment of one of those renovated Victorian houses, and of course there are all sorts of cracks & crevices through which the stench is coming. ) Thankfully I’m heading out of town in a day or so, so I won’t have to smell it all week. (it should take almost the entire week to finish off.)