It's About Damn Time
Well, the letter of offer has yet to make it to my mailbox, so it's not really official yet, but, after a nearly 6-month extended vacation, I am now gainfully employed as a programmer/analyst by the New Brunswick Department of Transportation. The people seem nice, the pay is good (not as high as I thought I might get, but still higher than the 35k-40k/annum that I'd been asking for during all of my interviews), I get typical government benefits and holidays, there's a food court downstairs (I'm on the 4th floor of King's Place), and I don't have to wear a tie. I actually don't mind formal wear (in fact, I kind of like looking professional on occasion, and I wear it well), however, most of my existing formal wear is 5-6 years old, so it's all faded and worn, and I'm pleased that I don't have to buy a new wardrobe this weekend as I thought might be necessary. I'm not looking forward to working downtown, though. Work starts at 8:15, and, with driving and parking, I'll probably have to leave home by 7:45 to get there on time. I realize that that's not THAT early, but it's earlier than I'm accustomed to, and, with how slow I am getting ready in the morning, I'll probably have to get up at 6:45, which is going to make me fairly tired since, starting this coming Monday, The Colbert Report will be on until 1AM Monday through Thursday night.
As far as parking itself goes, apparently the two most popular options are to pay to park in the adjacent parking garage, which generally involves parking on the 4th-6th floor of the garage, since the bottom ones are mostly reserved and/or taken by early birds, taking the stairs down to the ground floor, then walking next door to King's Place and taking the elevator back up to the 4th floor. The other option, and the one I suspect I'll take, barring particularly inclement weather, is to park at the Centennial Building (using a free parking pass) and walk to King's Place. It's not very far, and I could use the exercise. I don't have a parking pass yet, though, so it looks like I'll be parking in the garage until I do. At least this time I know where the stairs are, so I won't be forced to wait until there's noone around and run up and down the ramps *sheepish grin*. I start Tuesday, so wish my luck.
[Note: I originally titled this post "So Begins the Rest of my Life", but I've never been the reflective/philosophical sort, and I think everyone will agree that the present title is better suited to me. :-) Also, I'd just like to state that I'm proud at how short I managed to make this post. I think it's my shortest in some time, although I won't know for sure until I post it and get a look at it.]
As far as parking itself goes, apparently the two most popular options are to pay to park in the adjacent parking garage, which generally involves parking on the 4th-6th floor of the garage, since the bottom ones are mostly reserved and/or taken by early birds, taking the stairs down to the ground floor, then walking next door to King's Place and taking the elevator back up to the 4th floor. The other option, and the one I suspect I'll take, barring particularly inclement weather, is to park at the Centennial Building (using a free parking pass) and walk to King's Place. It's not very far, and I could use the exercise. I don't have a parking pass yet, though, so it looks like I'll be parking in the garage until I do. At least this time I know where the stairs are, so I won't be forced to wait until there's noone around and run up and down the ramps *sheepish grin*. I start Tuesday, so wish my luck.
[Note: I originally titled this post "So Begins the Rest of my Life", but I've never been the reflective/philosophical sort, and I think everyone will agree that the present title is better suited to me. :-) Also, I'd just like to state that I'm proud at how short I managed to make this post. I think it's my shortest in some time, although I won't know for sure until I post it and get a look at it.]
posted by Jordan at 2:53 PM
7 Comments:
Why do you need a parking pass to park at the Centennial Building? I park there almost every time I'm on King Street and leave it there for hours at a time... maybe it's because I'm usually there in the evening? Or maybe you'd be in a different spot? I'm confused :P
Well, first, I'll preface this by saying that I'm rarely downtown, so this could be wrong, but from what I recall there are two lots near the Centennial Building: one right beside it, and the other across the street from it. Both of these require parking passes through the day but are available for public usage during the evening and on weekends. I think.
the farmers' market parking lot requires a pass during the daytime and is patrolled heavily. it is advised that you show up early (7:45-7:55) as there are limited spots. you may be forced to park along george street by the market as they have two hour free parking. but that means you have to waste your smoke break at 10:15 to go move your car to another spot. during the winter, the market lot gets smaller because it snows a lot. the garages are pricey but you pay for convenience.
i used to work at the help desk just down the hall from where you'll be working jordan. say hi to josh, trevor, nichole, richard, clint and wendy if they're still there.
regards
Hey, congrats. I was beginning to have suspicions that there just weren't many jobs to be had for new grads in Fredericton, (which is funny since I'm helping put together a recruitment package (long story) claiming quite the opposite!)
I dunno if you remember who Pai is, but he was asking about you for some reason today and I went and lied to him and said you were still looking for work. Way to discredit me, Jordan!
Dave: Thanks for the parking advice. I got introduced to roughly two dozen people today, and only a half dozen or so names stuck, but after a quick glance at an up-to-date ORG (I'm on it, so it must be new), I see that Josh Wall, Trevor Fournier, Nichole Grant, Clint MacLennan, and Wendy Pierce are all still here. In any case, I continue to be amazed at how networked I already am to this place through various friends, former coworkers, and family.
Nathan: I'd still say that there's not many jobs to be had for new grads. It's been weeks since I've seen a open job that I'm qualified for, and that's with the co-op program under my belt. I can't fathom what non-co-ops would have to go through. Pretty much every job I applied for listed 2 years as the work experience minimum, and even then I rarely got call-backs, despite what I'd like to think is a pretty nice looking resume and academic record. That being said, some friends mentioned a month or two ago that a couple of Fredericton companies (I can't recall which ones) had laid off a number of people, and that they were probably snatching up all of the jobs.
Congrats, now you can finally go back to spending all that money you have yet to earn :)
At least you don't have to worry about about running out of money anymore. When do you start?
Apparently I suck at scanning through and actually taking in the information I'm reading ;)
Forget my previous question.
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