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Today is my first day working in Plateau’s office as Data Administrator.

I don’t start until 7.30am but got a lift into the yard with Mat as it is easier. Until we get another motor I need to catch two buses to get here so unfortunately I still have to cope with the early mornings for the time being.

At the moment I am logged into a spare computer waiting for Hayley (who will be training me up) to come in. The reason I have left the field and gone back to the office is partly because I am finding the physical side of the tree work very hard and partly because I miss female company. (Diana, one of my previous work colleagues wrote a comment on my New year post saying she didn’t expect I was missing them – Diana, you couldn’t have been further from the truth and I WILL get around to sending you an email soon!)

I feel a bit of a wimp and a cop out after all I said about never wanting to work in an office again. However, to put things in perspective, when I did my work experience with Louise and Clare back last August they were using a 6 inch chipper to load all the wood into. Here in Oz, the smallest chipper Plateau uses is a 12 inch but often it’s a 14 or 18 inch chipper so consequently the size of logs that will fit into it is significantly bigger. Far bigger than I can manage at any rate, so you can imagine that I feel pretty useless watching all the big strapping Aussie lads heaving great bohemeth logs onto their shoulders when mine has to be cut into quarters.

I had been toying with the idea of getting a part time fun job in a cafe or gift shop in order to meet new people and to recoupe my energy levels and then continue on the Plateau crews the rest of the time. However, after scanning the jobs page in the local paper last week I noticed that they were advertising for a data adminstrator and after speaking to Hayley about it I was delighted to find they offered the job straight to me.

So here I am, back in the office, although it definitely has its advantages over your standard office. I’m wearing jeans and a hoody with my work boots as so far I haven’t found any smart clothes I like (Aussie fashion – something I must dedicate a whole post of its own to!) and everyone else is pretty casual anyway. I still get to work with all the same people which is cool cos they are a great bunch of guys, I just have some females thrown in as a bonus. Also, I should have a better understanding of the new job (which I think involves organising and updating the database of jobs) as I have worked out on site for the last three months and know how it works in the field. Plus, if I find I would like the odd day working back on the crews I will be able to work on the weekends and also still go on emergency call outs with Mat.

All in all I think I have it quite good and hopefully I will find I have more energy in the evenings and make some female friends which will make me a lot happier and take some of the pressure off poor Mat who has had to cope with being not only my boyfriend but also the job of all my other friends, counsellor, careers advisor, etc, etc

Anyway, here goes – Hayley has just arrived (perfect timing) so I better get ready to start!

This entry was posted on Monday, March 3rd, 2008 at 07:34 and is filed under Personal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.