elanya

My visa was officially approved on August 23rd (almost exactly three months after the application was received), came in to College Station on August 30, and I started work on September 2nd. Score! I have a shiny staff bage and a salaried position that will probably last me two years. I should be getting my first real Grown Up Paycheck on the first of September. Of course, I have to pay my own insurance premiums for the first three months, but I *have* real insurance, at least, and that's a relief. The A&M plan is pretty decent, and I have dental coverage. I declined eyecare, because my eyes have been stable for yeaaaars and I still have a couple of pairs of usable glasses around if I need them. And life insurance! Not a ton, but some. Anyway, I actually have some free money again which is very nice for days when I realize I should have gone grocery shopping or taken the chicken out of the freezer the night before and didn't.

I am looking forward to having an actual real income. I am super lucky that I live in a place where the cost of living is really pretty low. I am renting a shared condo from a friend (*waves at the lovely lukoni), I have a pretty cool roomie (He's doing a work/study internship sorta deal with NASA! And also he is friendly and nerdy and considerate and we get along, so score one for craigslist), and I can take public transportation to work and groceries pretty conveniently. Movies here, for real reals, cost $5 for new releases (and like... maybe $8 if they are 3d, which I don't bother with). I am hoping that I am now going to be able to afford to buy some things that will help my life be nicer *and also* pay off my debts (fortunately not overwhelming) *and* maybe even put some into savings. My gross pay is now three times my gross pay from when I was a GA. I was able to live well enough on that, and I'm not looking to start spoiling myself completely, so I think this should be okay, especially once the initial three months of me having to pay my own insurance premiums are over! I am hoping to go up to Montreal to see my sis and her boys, but I need to figure out a: when the university will be closed and b: the best way to go (i.e. whether I can reasonably stop in Windsor at some point or if it will make more sense to fly directly). I am hoping I can replace a few things that I need replaced, like my headphones, and then start buying a larger work wardrobe, to start. Hello, Pepperberry, so very nice to see you ;p I need more than 2 pairs of work pants... Probably - I mean, I am basically a basement dwelling troll at this stage.

So yes, job! I have started working as a Collections Cataloger at the Forsyth Gallery. I am basically building up the collections database from pretty skeletal records, and working with the Collections Manager to figure out the best way to use the database for our collection. we use Mimsy, which was created by a Canadian company, and part of me has started wondering if whether when I am done here I might be able to get a museums position somewhere up in the True North... We'll see how I feel about career things down the road a ways, I suppose. Anyway, what i do is unpack boxes, marvel at the beauty or hideousness of the things in the boxes as well as the generally terrible packing (our CM says that it looks like everything was packed up in a hurry after grandma's funeral ;p). Then I have to record dimensions of the objects, make notes about their condition, transfer the info to the new database, make sure we have good pictures and that they are labeled and linked to the database sensibly, then repack everything more carefully. There are lots of little things to sort out along the way, like weird old numbering systems, what to call things, database type things (mostly learning all the shortcuts), and so on. I have survived a week so far without breaking anything expensive! We have a lot of very shiny expensive things @_@ If you are curious what kinds of things... poke around the Forsyth links"! The pdf of the Woodall catalogue is pretty cool, I must say. I am looking forward to and also terrified of working with that stuff. It's seriously gorgeous in person. Right now I'm seeing a lot more stuff like this, which ranges from pretty to tacky as hell. I've also opened a box of Tiffany glass (we have more), and also a toothpick holder that looked like this, which, honestly, I wouldn't have paid fifty cents for at Goodwill, so hey, shows what I know about collecting glass ;p I am enjoying the job, although I am online less during the day because of it. I'm trying to be responsible, and also a lot of the work is not computer work. But I still see folks face to face for lunch, which is nice :)

I think that is a long enough ramble for now anyway - time to work on some writing for the glut of fic exchanges I have signed up for!