queasyfish

Sunday, September 21, 2008

I made the butcher smile today.

I went to Everett's and picked out a nice prime T-bone an inch and a half thick, ten bucks a pound, possibly the best steak I've ever eaten, for sure best one I've ever cooked. Butcher wraps it, hands it to me, "anything else?". Um, yes, I'd like a half-pound of beef sticks too please. Wraps it, hands it to me, "anything else?". No thanks... Seconds later, noticing the jumbo chicken wings a bit further down, looking up to see he's followed me down the semi-crowded counter; "...well, maybe half of that; two and a half pounds? yes, good." Wraps it, handing it to me: "anything else?" No, I'm going home before I get everything else.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

New job is still good.

Now a month into it, with the distractions of the new people and environment settling, the fear of unknown skill-sets and expectations processed, the day-to-day work becomes the focus. - And it's still good. There was a degree of "who are you trying to convince?" in the other post - granted. Some of that was waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it isn't dropping; this is the job. The atmosphere is casual, friendly and supportive. The work is challenging and interesting. It's weird to be the respected "talent" rather than the you-should-be-doing-more-than-you're-doing-now pawn. I will never forget the lessons of this transition, and I will never again feel the way I felt during it.

I've realized that I had a lot of assumptions about Fairview's culture vs how I imagined "For Profit"-Corporate American work environments to be. In my mind I had somehow combined the not-for-profit status and the people-first implied credo of the healthcare industry, together with the hanging implications of unfinished conversations like "...sure I could be making more money in the public sector but..." to mean: Fairview is the friendliest, most focused-on-the-important-things-in-life, happy-time-fun-place to work, and a For-Profit; (the banking industry, perhaps the For-Profit-iest of all) would be a humorless, nose-to-the-grindstone, rat-race. It just isn't proving to be true.

Thursday they changed the dress code, now every day is casual Friday.