Last Day of Joblessness
Feb. 9th, 2014 10:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebI've been finishing up a few more things. I've got a list of things I want to ask about tomorrow. I've got the instructions for how to get to the new employee orientation. I've got a notebook to use for a work log.
Around the house, we took a big load of things to GoodWill. And then bought some books at the adjacent bookstore. Still, we brought much less into the house than we took out of it, so I'm calling that a victory.
There are certain snacks I seem to eat only at work--pretzels and graham crackers. So it will be nice to start going through my supply of those things again.
I'm still deciding how to go about working 30 hours per week. There are two obvious choices:
1. Work 7.5 hours a day, 4 days a week. The person who had this job last used this method: she worked Monday - Thursday. Required meetings and office hours are Tuesday - Thursday. Advantages:
* One less commute per week. That can be up to two hours per day. Mostly I'm reading during my commute, which is good, but sometimes it's uncomfortable outside and I don't enjoy standing around or pacing for so dang long.
* If another college hires me to help out with degree audit stuff, I will have a full free day to work with them.
2. Work 6 hours a day, 5 days a week. Advantages:
* This is what HR expects. If there's a Monday holiday, I get the whole day off and don't have to make up the rest of the time later.
* Surely things happen on Fridays sometimes, right? Most employees have a M - F schedule, and I might match them better that way.
* People who e-mail questions late on Thursday or early on Friday can get answers more quickly.
* When work is closed due to inclement weather on a Friday, I don't feel like a sucker for having worked my full 30 hours. (Though the way things have been going lately, I might actually prefer to have time to get some work done.)
Mostly I've been thinking I'd prefer the latter (5 days), but when extra hours are required M - Th, have a shorter Friday. But lately I've been thinking I'd prefer the former (4 days); and the previous gal did that, so it probably worked okay.
And I've started working on my taxes. In the olden days, I get the tax booklet in the mail and as the documents came in, I'd fill in the numbers on the forms. As of this year, those days are over. Ever since I filed electronically once, I don't get the booklet anymore. And this year, most people have quit sending me forms. I've gotten only 3 forms (thank-you to UT, the unemployment compensation people, and Scottrade). Charities just e-mail a letter when you make your donation; most have not sent a year-end summary. If your interest is less than $10, you don't get a form in the mail--or even an online one. And with 0.00001% interest (slight understatement), the interest does not generally add up to $10 in a mere year. Fortunately, those companies still include a summary on the bottom of the December statement. Other people--I don't know what the deal is. One company claims the 2013 forms are ready, but they don't appear on my online listing of forms. I'm going to have to contact people. Ugh.
Fortunately it looks like tonight's cold front will not drop the temperature below freezing, so the drizzle will not cause my employer to shut down. That's good because I have an 8:00 meeting. Tuesday morning, however, still looks iffy.
Around the house, we took a big load of things to GoodWill. And then bought some books at the adjacent bookstore. Still, we brought much less into the house than we took out of it, so I'm calling that a victory.
There are certain snacks I seem to eat only at work--pretzels and graham crackers. So it will be nice to start going through my supply of those things again.
I'm still deciding how to go about working 30 hours per week. There are two obvious choices:
1. Work 7.5 hours a day, 4 days a week. The person who had this job last used this method: she worked Monday - Thursday. Required meetings and office hours are Tuesday - Thursday. Advantages:
* One less commute per week. That can be up to two hours per day. Mostly I'm reading during my commute, which is good, but sometimes it's uncomfortable outside and I don't enjoy standing around or pacing for so dang long.
* If another college hires me to help out with degree audit stuff, I will have a full free day to work with them.
2. Work 6 hours a day, 5 days a week. Advantages:
* This is what HR expects. If there's a Monday holiday, I get the whole day off and don't have to make up the rest of the time later.
* Surely things happen on Fridays sometimes, right? Most employees have a M - F schedule, and I might match them better that way.
* People who e-mail questions late on Thursday or early on Friday can get answers more quickly.
* When work is closed due to inclement weather on a Friday, I don't feel like a sucker for having worked my full 30 hours. (Though the way things have been going lately, I might actually prefer to have time to get some work done.)
Mostly I've been thinking I'd prefer the latter (5 days), but when extra hours are required M - Th, have a shorter Friday. But lately I've been thinking I'd prefer the former (4 days); and the previous gal did that, so it probably worked okay.
And I've started working on my taxes. In the olden days, I get the tax booklet in the mail and as the documents came in, I'd fill in the numbers on the forms. As of this year, those days are over. Ever since I filed electronically once, I don't get the booklet anymore. And this year, most people have quit sending me forms. I've gotten only 3 forms (thank-you to UT, the unemployment compensation people, and Scottrade). Charities just e-mail a letter when you make your donation; most have not sent a year-end summary. If your interest is less than $10, you don't get a form in the mail--or even an online one. And with 0.00001% interest (slight understatement), the interest does not generally add up to $10 in a mere year. Fortunately, those companies still include a summary on the bottom of the December statement. Other people--I don't know what the deal is. One company claims the 2013 forms are ready, but they don't appear on my online listing of forms. I'm going to have to contact people. Ugh.
Fortunately it looks like tonight's cold front will not drop the temperature below freezing, so the drizzle will not cause my employer to shut down. That's good because I have an 8:00 meeting. Tuesday morning, however, still looks iffy.