So I've been working at WuXi Apptec for almost 2 weeks now, and finally starting to get used to the early schedule. And by that of course I mean I'm not at all.
The first week was the worst, I couldn't convince my body that it needed to go to bed and actually sleep at 11pm, so I lay awake tossing and turning and trying every trick I knew to try to fall asleep (curling up on the Lazy Boy in the living room worked once, but not the second time), usually to no avail. So I'd get a few hours of sleep, have to wake up around 6am, work a full day, and then get home exhausted and fall into a 2+ hour nap. Of course, waking from that, I then couldn't fall asleep at a normal time for bed, and so the cycle continued.
On Wednesday I decided to take the job at the U, and so informed my recruiter. Have I talked about the recruiter at all? I'm not sure but I'll give a brief blurb as to why I'm not a fan.
So this chick (Tammy) contacted me about the job at WuXi, didn't really get a lot of information about it other than what I could find on the internet about the company, but I interviewed and got hired. Unfortunately, when I was interviewing I was informed that they were actually looking for people to fill 2 positions, and while I was technically interviewing for one, they thought my qualifications ranked me more towards the second. So while they were explaining the job duties to me, I sort of mixed them up in my head and got the idea that the slide reader job was going to be a mindless sitting at a microscope for hours staring at slides job that would last 4-6 months, but the lab assistant job would be more interactive, cell culture, mouse work, etc. and that was a permanent position. So when Tammy informed me I was hired for the second, I got really excited, thinking that I was getting a permanent full-time position. I accepted, and when I went to fill out the paperwork with her, she informed me that it was a 3 month temporary position. I was like wait a minute hang on wtf? Of course I didn't actually say that because at the time I was desperate for a job and would still take it (I'd take any sort of extension on the receipt of paychecks). But I wasn't happy about it. Fast forward to my last Friday at the VA (6th, a sad day) and I get an email from Tammy asking if I'd had my physical yet. I was like no, you never told me I needed one, come on! Replied, and then she got back to me saying she was wrong, I didn't need one. This is after other phone messages and emails addressed to the wrong person and with the wrong information, etc. Fast forward again to me informing her about my decision to quit WuXi and go work at the U. Part of my decision to do so (aside from the benefits, tuition reimbursement, less hectic/industry related tasks) was the stability of having a job for longer than 3 months. When I told Tammy I was leaving, she stated "well the WuXi job is becoming permanent, does that affect your decision?" And I just sat there and was like, well it would have been nice to weigh that information into my decision, or to have known about it ahead of time! I still probably would have chosen the U, but still! Why withhold that information?? So it became another part of my decision to leave in that I would no longer have to deal with her or any recruiter (at least for now).
On Thursday I got a text message from mom telling me to call her ASAP. At the time I had just started my lunch break so I called her right away. After some random idle chitchat she finally got to the reason she wanted me to call her: Belle was sick. There was some sort of dark mass growing on her chest and the vet in Rochester was afraid it was a really aggressive cancerous tumor. She suggested taking Belle up to the U of MN in St. Paul for more advanced testing. Also on Thursday I talked to the WuXi people about my leaving, and wondering if they still wanted to bother training me in or just stop paying me (ie quit now). They decided to keep me on as grunt labor, labeling things, making slides, sorting inventory, etc.
So on Friday I took a half day off from work and went and met mom and Sara at the U. While there I found out that her "tumor" had started leaking pus and blood and the vets at the U were thinking it was probably a really bad infection. They had to do some tests and so we three went to B-dubs for lunch. Right after we ordered they called to tell us they were done taking samples and were more and more convinced it was an infection. So we ate and then headed back to the U, picked up Belle, talked to the vet, and got her prescriptions. She was in high spirits, I think she was a little dismayed at being cooped up and bandaged all around her midsection.
The weekend was pretty uneventful. Nathan and I went and saw In Time at the cheap Hopkins theater - I actually really liked it, it had a very interesting concept.
On Monday I didn't sleep again, but it was worse than ever. I was awake easily until 4:30 and was woken up by little miss furball at 5:43. So I decided that I did not care enough about WuXi and my new grunt duties to kill myself and took the day off as a sick day.
Tuesday was mostly uneventful, other than that I decided to (we're getting into some possible TMI here) weigh myself and had an unfortunate realization. All those pounds I'd dropped when I went through that depression era were back, and with some friends. I decided that something needed to happen. So I started looking at gyms to join and thought they were all too expensive, plus there was no accountability to get me to go regularly. Then I saw a WW ad on TV and decided what the heck. I signed up for a month.
On Wednesday I had a WW meeting, and while shorter than I expected, it actually did seem pretty helpful. Here was a place where I would be accountable for my actions during the week and if I didn't do something, someone else would know about it. It's like having homework that you have to do or you won't pass the class. So I'm trying it and we'll see how it goes.
That's about it so far, my job has been okay but not spectacular. It is nice getting to know new people, but I really think the atmosphere of working in industry is just not for me. It's all about high throughput and more paperwork than I thought imaginable and just getting massive amounts of things done (this afternoon I spent the entire time making 350+ slides, the morning was spent labelling 100+ petri plates). That kind of volume just makes me shudder.
Plus, getting there at 7am is killing me slowly from the inside. Today I took an accidental 2 hour nap. I did manage to get gas, cash in my winning lotto tickets from who knows when, and put some $ in the bank before I got home, but the rest of my night has been unproductive.
Oh and my physics class started - got the wrong book at first but it's on its way, and my lab kit arrived (5 different colored Slinkies!).
Time to hit the hay... and try to sleep
