PIT STOP!

First, let's start with the bad news: My camera BROKE. (waterproof my @$$!!!!!!) While this post should be accompanied by pictures, it is truely just impossible at this time. Postman, I wish you swiftness in bringing me the warrantied replacement!!

Now, the awesome news: I just saved a bundle on car insurance. Hahahaha, SERIOUSLY! That news is, of course, associated with the other good news: I have a car! After being manhandled by all of the used car salesmen in San Juan, feeling empowered, feeling stupid, feeling mislead... I sheepishly accepted the help of the brilliant mechanical guys at my work. This was kicked off by them laughing SO hard at lunch as I described my car shopping attempts, but to give them due credit, they did instantly got out the classifieds and start making calls on my behalf! I felt like the kid sister... well cared for, but the victim of everybody's joke. Sheepish. Grateful. Sheepish.

The ironic ending is that I ended up with the most girly car I've ever owned in my life! I think they were stereotyping just a bit, but it really is perfect for me with gas prices at $1/liter. My new ride is a little blue VW Bug! I've named it Pitufo Burbuja de los Pinos (roughly translated to Smurf Bubble of the Pines) It has only 72,000 miles, gets ~33 miles per gallon, and I got an awesome deal because it was owned by the cousin of one of the brilliant mechanical guys, who was, get this, a clown. I DRIVE A CLOWN CAR.

(To top that off, I really did get a great deal on car insurance! One of the other guys at work knows someone who owns a branch of a popular insurance company so he got my year long policy dropped from $824 to $509!! That's cool.)

No lo puedo creer.

Guys. Somebody pinch me. Really, How the #($%**#@&()*#$@ do I pull this stuff off? Let's just look at the laundry list of miracles that is adding up to my life. Seriously – I freaking LIVE in Puerto Rico. Insane. Today was my first day out and about with the sole purpose of discovering the island. Here’s the stuff that cracks me up:

DRIVING: The people here drive like crazy, but it’s really not their fault…. 1) The highways have exits on all sides (left right up down) so it’s actually logical to speed at random and swerve all over the place to make it to the lane you need. 2) Sometimes the painted lines just stop existing, so you guess where you’re supposed to be. 3) You know how Mercury has craters?? Well, so do the PR roads. In fact, if I don’t make it back to WI it’s probably because I fell into one and ended up in China. 4) Road signs… warnings for bumps… lane ending signs… yeah it would be nice if those were consistently present. Ultimately my GPS is my saving grace. Best X-mas present ever.

LATINO MEN: At some point I’m going to be dating one. It’s inevitable. In fact, I think it would be harder for me to NOT date someone than it would be for me to have someone with me. I give you exhibit A: I stopped traffic. Yeah, little me held up 4 lanes of cars. I just wanted to cross the road, but one of the drivers stopped strategically to give me access…he BLOCKED the other cars. I bopped across the street, smiled at him and he rolled down his window to say the Spanish equivalent of “hey, come back here!! I want to get to know you! Guapa! “ Wow. I give you exhibit B: I stumbled across an audio tour business in old San Juan and popped inside to learn more about it so I know what kind fun touristy stuff is in the area. To summarize the story, his name is Randall, he speaks English, French, and Spanish…. and I think we are going out tonight. This island could be dangerous for my ego.

The good news is that I had an awesome and amusing day! I attached some pics of the beautiful stuff I remember!

It's Friday Night. - how cool are you?

So what if it's Friday, I did the same thing tonight I've been doing every day this week.... that is to say....getting lost. The good news is I was getting lost on my way to the Natatorium....and after only an hour, I found it (...should have taken ~5 minutes)! I've definitely got my priorities in line.

So what is this Natatorium and why does it value 60 minutes of chaotic city driving? It's only the most beautiful swim facility in the Caribbean! It's located in San Juan Central Park and is a free facility for anyone to use. Here's what I learned tonight: I have to pass a SWIM TEST on Monday. Hahahaa, that doesn't worry me but there is a catch. The guy who evaluates my swimming will decide what water polo team/league I join. I don't know exactly how the teams are made...maybe kids, adults, steoroid adults, and retirees??? Would you believe that this is the scariest thing I've faced since I arrived??? (Yes, this is factoring in car shopping, working in a warehouse, and seeing chicken feet for sale at the grocery store!!) It's high school try outs all over again. AGH!!

In addition to getting lost, tomorrow I plan to......
1) Go to the beach
2) Go to the beach
3) Go to the beach
4) Go to the PR information center, so when you come to visit I can tell you where to go!!
5) Go to the beach

Like I said, I've got my priorities in line!

I officially live in the Caribbean.

The cab lady lit up when she realized I spoke Spanish! She assured me that biking is popular in Puerto Rico, warned me that public transportation is unpredictable but safe, and then promised that she would get me to my new apartment…hahaha and was true to her word even though we drove in circles for at least 10 minutes.

The apartment is still FULL up with boxes of Karina’s stuff. For those of you who don’t know the story, I am renting my place from a co-worker who just bought a new apartment closer to the beach. Her bank approved everything on a delayed schedule (aka this morning!!!) so she only started moving out today. It’s okay with me though, because now I can help with the moving efforts and give her a great first impression and have some friends before work starts. Half full. Here are my observations so far:

• 2 bedroom 2 bath…. Not quite. The 2nd room doesn’t have a door. It’s a big open space, kind of like another sitting room. Note to visitors: No scandal.
• Walgreens sells Pantene Pro-V, Swedish fish, MultiVites, and Quaker Oats. Milk really is $6 a gallon. I have already stocked up on some basic house stuff and a few food items so I should be good until I get a car and can cruise to a grocery store.
• My bed, sadly, is not a king. Just a queen. I’m not sure when that changed, but I really can’t be too upset…because I’m 5’2 and live alone.
• It’s HOT. ~90 degrees and humid. I’m going to have to drink gallons of water to stay hydrated in this environment! It's been raining on and off since I arrived, but that's okay because I see palm trees out my window.
• My phone says “Extended Network” and I don’t know what that means. Please understand why I’m not calling everyone… I don’t want to rack up insane charges before I know what I’m dealing with.

Tomorrow I need to buy a car. Or rent a car. Nobody lives close to me, so I need a car to get to work on Monday. Ultimately I have to buy a car, so the less rental fees in the meantime, the better. Agh, no pressure! Wish me luck :)

She's Alive!!! (...or at least, has a pulse)

Here's the deal. I cannot write on this blog very often because I am a slave to my job. Yes, that is right, Monday through Friday I'm practically locked in my cube. It's a grueling work week, with me barely maintaining concentration and focus, forced to survive long hours of analytics and decision making. The crazy truth is....

I like it.

Yup, you read that correctly. Even when I'm putting in 12 hour days, working through my lunch, at the office before everyone comes in...and after everyone leaves, I still like what I'm doing. My coworkers are no less amusing than before, and have, in fact, been amazingly supportive. I'm constantly challenged and constantly learning, and the best part is that I am still too new to take blame for anything. So, even though I pack myself lunch and dinner every day, head to the company gym at 5am and right back over when I am done working at 6 (only to get kicked out at 8) I still think I'm doing alright. It's a good life!

Here's the other amazing thing - I have a social life. It's true! People from work are cool enough to earn my time even when we're not at work. So now I have friends from little school, friends from college, friends from adventures, friends from far away places, AND friends from work. (And fortunately for me, the "friends from work" group lives w/in driving distance of my zip code.)

There had to be a catch somewhere...right?

Already I do have a few complaints about office life. Some days it is really frustrating for a girl like me to be stuck to my computer. Here is a brief summary of the problems I've encountered.

The cubicle walls are just too high. Some of my co-workers tower over the top, and every time they stop to chat from the other side of the wall, I get jealous. Now I'm not really a jealous person but in this situation I excuse myself - giraffitis is really an enviable trait. It hurts me to know that even if I jump, my eyes barely and only momentarily peek over into other cubes.

The guy in the cube next to mine is naturally cool. Really cool, like the kind of cool you can't get by just buying name brand and going to the most rockin' parties. Cool that runs through and through. He takes great care of himself and somehow manages to personalize the "biz cas" apparel and still look professional. Now I'm naturally happy and driven...but cool, well that is in a whole different realm. Shit, it's like going back to high school. It's a sad realization that I will never be that kind of cool.

Even though it stains your teeth, deceives your body, and makes your breath smell naaaaasty (the aaaas should be said with vocal intonation), coffee holds a special place in my department. Other morning drinks do not seem to fit into office life, a sad thing I'm learning to cope with. The sign by the coffee maker ($.25 per cup or $6.50 for the month) does NOT direct anything toward people like me, people who drink tea . Do I momentarily and daily transform into a sugar thief? What about the stir spoon, do I get to use that? Dare I let it out that I drink herbal tea, that there isn't even a drop of caffeine entering my body? What a debacle!

Someone always seems to "just feel like baking". The table is filled daily with some sort of fattening delicious treat, and people almost get offended if you don't celebrate their birthday/promotion/randomness by eating the goodies! Wouldn't it be nice if someone "just felt like gardening" and brought in a veggie tray? But oh no, in cOrporate aMerica, that kind of thing is unheard of.

So you can see, life is not entirely peachy in my world of work. Hopefully I can put up with these horrible horrible nuisances and just focus on the job! Wish me luck :)

The seaweed is NOT always greener in somebody elses lake ( please reference, The Little Mermaid)

So I've made it through two weeks and discovered that I am quite a lucky sponge. Let me tell you why!

• My department has only 15 people and, departmental consensus says, our boss is great at his job and really sets his people up for personal development and promotions.

• The gentleman whose desk I am taking says "You are starting off in the perfect place. Most recent grads get sent to customer service (department size 100) and can get promoted to here after a few years. "

• The trainer says "You are going to be SO bored in training. You've seemed to adjust really well and absorb the info (hence the sponge) everyone is offering. After shadowing a few days, I've seen you sitting in and ready to take over, you're learning quickly!"

• I get it. "it" being what I am supposed to do. I see how the different people in my position react to situations, who they call, how they choose what actions to take, and I know that I will be successful...once I get used to everything. Like the little engine that could, I just think to myself: I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. This is going to be fun!

So the job is good, let me tell you about a few of the other perks that keep me seeing the world through rose colored glasses.

• The company pool is AMAZING. Clean, deep, sparkly blue, and a perfectly chilling 82*. It's wonderful, even at 5am.

• I get a free personal trainer.
  

• They have group cycling (spinning) classes too!
  

So I seem to be surviving, now I just want to learn to do my job! Last week and this week I've been job shadowing, asking a lot of questions, and I even cruised from building to building to meet with individuals from other departments that can fill me in on the overall supply chain structure. In addition to that, they decided to torture me with hours of computer simulations/slide shows that are ::yawn:: terrible. All next week I've got official training 8am-4:30p (rumor has it they are bringing Sour Patch Kids and Swedish Fish!) Things are off to a solid start!