Project West

This is the unofficial notification. Starting probably on the 17th of May this year I will finally cast of the shackles of Region Wire Services Northwest. I will no longer be involved in the burial of fiber optic lines. Though HR has not offically offered me the position, the Supply supervisor has basically told me that I will be offered the Storekeeper position at our Cornelius, OR yard. And I will be taking it.

Such an "about damn time" moment. I've been in what is considered an entry level/foot in the door position for three and a half years as of last Friday. It's kind of amazing to think about really. Where I was when I was first hired and how much has changed in what I actually do for this department. I was a glorified ditch digger at first. Now I'm essentially an unoffical de facto in charge for RWS in the Tigard yard. I haven't actually put shovel to dirt to bury a fiber line in maybe four months or more. I fix sprinkler lines, patch concrete, investigate misses and complaints. I've resolved PUC complaints. Dealt with some high up issues and solved some relatively big problems. More tooting of the horn could follow, but, eh, why bother at this point.

When it became clear that this was probably going to happen at the end of last week, I was neither excited or pleased. It was a change I was making just for the sake of making a change. I need to get out of the job I'm in. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad gig. Where I'm at I have a lot of freedom to work as I will, do as I will, and I'm at my discretion to determine how best to do it. As long as the complaints get resolved quickly and the misses are answered for, I'm good. Going to a new job, I'm back at the bottom. Starting over. Somewhere new...ish. Decent sized change....I'm not usually quick to get on board with that.

There are also other jobs I'd rather get. Other things, even within the company that I'd rather do. One of which I actually have a shot at...but with a risk. This job is a sure thing. I have it if I want it. End of story. The other job is a gamble. And it's about a month down the road. If I pass on Storekeeper for the other job, the Storekeeper one is gone for good. And it's about a 50/50 shot of getting a chance at the other job. So, I've been agonizing over that....at least until yesterday.

Yesterday I got a call from the Supply supervisor wanting to clarify something on my application. Apparently I had marked that I was unwilling to travel. Don't remember marking that, but I think it was because I didn't want to relocate. Apparently, and this is something I knew and had forgotten, this job would occasionally require me to travel to other yards for up to a week at a time to do the same job at those locations.....on the company dime. Including yards by the coast, Lake Chelan, Lake Tahoe....and Idaho (can't win 'em all). Now, I don't want to live in any of these places, but the thought of getting what to me is a working vacation every now and again is a perk not afforded to a lot of positions. And not afforded to any other positions I might have a shot at in the near future.

Suddenly my outlook changed. I'm still a little dubious about the job itself. It's not my dream job and not even a job I think will easily lend itself to my own personal growth. What it is, is a change. For that fact alone and because of my nature it had me focusing on the negatives of what that entails. It took my future supervisor (unofficially) accidentally reminding me of something I really want to get me focusing on some of the positives. Occasional travel, forklifts, quieter work environment (somewhat), no more customer complaints, FNFT's pestering me for things they should do themselves, etc., basically it's not my current job, and that counts for a lot.