I HAVE A JOB!!!

I finally got a job, and one that seems like it might be good for me.  I start October 18 for training, which lasts until December 10.  I will work for Regence, which is the group that administers Blue Cross Blue Shield and other Blue plans, in customer service, however I will be working specifically in the provider service department, so my customers will be doctor's offices and pharmacies and labs and stuff.  I am one of 18 people being added to the department, which will double its size in one fell swoop.  The office (in a big, nice office building, which I've always wanted to work in) is close - about a 15 minute drive, and it has a gym, cafe, and credit union in the building, with additional restaurants and stuff nearby.  It will be the kind of job that I have needed, at least in that I will not be bringing work home with me, nor will I be racking my brains trying to create a solution to a system-wide problem that no one else understands.  I will not be working late in order to complete projects that, if undone, will surely make the world stop spinning, and I will work for a BIG company; with a real HR department, and many more people to get to know or remain anonymous to.  I WILL NOT BE WORKING IN A WAREHOUSE WITH NO WINDOWS!!!  Most of all, I will have a standardized, organized, tried and true training period, during which I can be sure that I will be learning the same rules and regulations that everyone has learned.  No stupid shadowing, where my success or lack thereof may depend entirely on the competence of ONE person, who may or may not even be capable of teaching what they know in such a way that the one learning the skills can gain confidence and true aptitude.  No little company, with rotten benefits and nepotism left and right.  Instead of 10 vacation days, 0 sick or personal days, and holidays that we sometimes got off and sometimes didn't, I will have a total of 17 paid time off days, plus 1 floating holiday and 9 company holidays.  I will have my health insurance paid in full, and though I don't know yet, I hope to find that the benefits of the plan will be fair.

By no means should you attribute my optimism about these things to a false ideal; I know that a different set of problems will come with a big company, and that there are difficult people and difficult situations no matter where one works.  I'm trying to keep an open mind, and I don't think I'm in too much danger of major disillusionment.