This Is Where I Came In

Yesterday was my three-year anniversary at my current job.

This is significant partially because it's the longest I've spent at a particular job. I came close with the job I left for this one - I was three scant months away from the same milestone. Despite some misgivings at the time, I definitely made the right choice to leave, as the company I left is no longer there. Which is no surprise given the amount of work we were (not) doing during my tenure there.

Mostly the anniversary is significant, though, because I had no notion just a few short months ago that I would make it to this point. Actually, I thought it was a foregone conclusion that I would not. When Brandi finished grad school and got a job in a different area of the state, I turned my full attention to finding what was next.

Well, we all know what happened next. I had no illusions that they would actually let me work from home, and mentioning the possibility was mostly perfunctory, a step toward my impending resignation. As it turned out, I pitched the idea to the right person, who was able to take it up the ladder and get approval for me to do it on a trial basis. Here I am, over four months later, doing it still, and thriving. I'll have my annual performance review when I'm in Toledo for our catalog deadline next week, and I'll find out then if the higher-ups are as pleased with this arrangement as I and my co-workers are.

I like my job. Is it my dream job? Absolutely not. Sometimes it gets downright tedious, reading the same things and making the same corrections over and over and over and over and over and over again. But I get to work with words, and I know that I'm very good at what I do, which brings a fair amount of satisfaction. And I really enjoy most of my coworkers. Also, when I do have to visit the office (one two-day visit per month), it's great. Everyone seems glad to see me, and a bunch of us generally get together for a few drinks one evening. Even though it's work, it's almost like a little mini-vacation.

Mostly, I'm still very exciting about the situation of working from home. I've been doing it since July, and the novelty still hasn't worn off. I'm still keeping the same hours, doing the same amount of work, but being in my own office is liberating, and I'm antisocial enough that not being around people all day is (so far) a positive, not a negative, no matter how much I enjoy my coworkers. It does afford me a certain level of flexibility--case in point, this week I've worked from my parents' house to take care of their dog while they're on vacation. As long as I've got an Internet connection, I'm good to go.

Think about moving on? Occasionally. For now, though, it's nothing more than a fleeting thought here and there. I'd have to be offered a fantastic job and/or a whole lot of money to get me to consider it. Otherwise, it seems likely that I'll be doing anniversary reviews at this point of the year for a while to come.