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...I wanted to report to you all that Amazon Web Services made me an offer to be a database guru, for a 30% pay increase, and a promise that overtime won't be needed. (There's plenty of references to solid work while in the office - but this has never frightened me.) There's also a signing bonus, though it needs to be repaid if I leave for any reason before I've worked there a year. (Still, suddenly having a huge chunk of money in the bank is awfully nice - no more worries about too much month at the end of the money, or worries about a home repair emergency.)
In fact, it was the kind of "here's a lot of money, we REALLY want you working for us!"-style offer that I'd dreamed of from Microsoft. Then again, if Microsoft had made that offer, leaving would have been far harder.
Friday, the 8th, something odd happened. About 2pm, I suddenly realized that while I had 20 cases to hand off (hey, it had been 35 the week before!) they were not going to be my problem. And because of this, I suddenly felt more relaxed and free than I had in months. The weekend was wonderful - and so was Monday, until I tried driving into downtown Seattle!
I also learned a valuable lesson about speaking up. I was late, so I didn't get issued a laptop or get my picture taken for my badge. Amazon doesn't have a "campus" - it has a lot of disticnt buildings where I'd have to go to get those things taken care of - and there were other folks starting that day who needed to be met post-orientation. This meant a lot of walking... and since I was responsible for part of it, I didn't feel I had a right to complain. But I should have.
We walked over 3 miles that day. I'm a bit embarrassed by this, but I can't do that. I mean, I can, I did, but by the end of the day, I was completely wiped out due to my CFS.
And I realized that not wanting to be a "special snowflake" or to stand out really hurt me. Yesterday was terrible (but the kind of terrible where I'm kicking myself for putting myself through this - not the kind of terrible where I go into grenade watch), and if I had at least called out my inability to handle even low key physical exertion, we could have tried to work around it on Monday. Maybe we couldn't have - but we could have at least tried. And it would have set the stage to avoid similar problems in the future.
There are a lot of changes - silly things, like soda isn't free, and bigger things like, instead of a 30 minute drive to Issaquah, it's a 60 minute bus ride to Seattle - OR a drive that might be 38 minutes, or might be 70 minutes, who knows? That makes the bus far more attractive. (It's not the time - it's the certainty that I won't have to be staring at the (ahem) ass-end of cars as we creep down a highway that has speed limit signs for the sole purpose of mocking us.)
Speaking of which - gotta run! Time, and buses, wait for no man.
In fact, it was the kind of "here's a lot of money, we REALLY want you working for us!"-style offer that I'd dreamed of from Microsoft. Then again, if Microsoft had made that offer, leaving would have been far harder.
Friday, the 8th, something odd happened. About 2pm, I suddenly realized that while I had 20 cases to hand off (hey, it had been 35 the week before!) they were not going to be my problem. And because of this, I suddenly felt more relaxed and free than I had in months. The weekend was wonderful - and so was Monday, until I tried driving into downtown Seattle!
I also learned a valuable lesson about speaking up. I was late, so I didn't get issued a laptop or get my picture taken for my badge. Amazon doesn't have a "campus" - it has a lot of disticnt buildings where I'd have to go to get those things taken care of - and there were other folks starting that day who needed to be met post-orientation. This meant a lot of walking... and since I was responsible for part of it, I didn't feel I had a right to complain. But I should have.
We walked over 3 miles that day. I'm a bit embarrassed by this, but I can't do that. I mean, I can, I did, but by the end of the day, I was completely wiped out due to my CFS.
And I realized that not wanting to be a "special snowflake" or to stand out really hurt me. Yesterday was terrible (but the kind of terrible where I'm kicking myself for putting myself through this - not the kind of terrible where I go into grenade watch), and if I had at least called out my inability to handle even low key physical exertion, we could have tried to work around it on Monday. Maybe we couldn't have - but we could have at least tried. And it would have set the stage to avoid similar problems in the future.
There are a lot of changes - silly things, like soda isn't free, and bigger things like, instead of a 30 minute drive to Issaquah, it's a 60 minute bus ride to Seattle - OR a drive that might be 38 minutes, or might be 70 minutes, who knows? That makes the bus far more attractive. (It's not the time - it's the certainty that I won't have to be staring at the (ahem) ass-end of cars as we creep down a highway that has speed limit signs for the sole purpose of mocking us.)
Speaking of which - gotta run! Time, and buses, wait for no man.
