It's adventure time again. I'm switching jobs.
I'm still at the store, but I'll be working upstairs in the office for three days every week. I'll be handling the store's billing.
What's happened is that Super Giant has opened another store nearby, in Long Neck. Over the last few months, while the Long Neck store was being built and while our store was being remodeled, we've been helping train many of the people who will be working at the new store. A number of our people have also switched to the new store - it's much closer to where they live.
One of the people switching stores is Sandy, a merry and crotchety soul who has been handling our billing for the last couple of years. About a month ago, it was decided that Larry, one of our front-end managers, would take over Sandy's job, and he started training for it at about that time.
It was not to last. Larry's long-time partner, David, died suddenly last fall. His mother has had serious health problems. And in the last month, Larry started to develop back problems. The spasms were so bad that he had to go to the hospital once. And he's been complaining about how unhappy he is with the job assignment, and that he wants nothing more than to retire (something that he'd been talking about before David died).
Well, the Long Neck store opened last Friday. We've new hires taking the place of the checkers and front-end people who made the move, while those of us who have stayed with the Rehoboth Beach store have moved up. I was a little puzzled by some of the upwards movement - a couple of people who have been with the store for a while, but were still junior to me, were booted up into front-end supervisory jobs. I actually mentioned this to our new front end boss, Stacey, who reminded me of the wierd and long hours those people have. No, I probably wouldn't be too happy with a position like that.
I then mentioned that I would like to be trained for the billing desk, thinking that I could be Larry's back-up, that I might get the training sometime later during the summer. Stacey said she'd take it up with the store manager.
That was Saturday.
Yesterday, Larry was back in the hospital, stressed out and in agony. I got in to the store and Stacey was waiting to see me - could I start training to take over the billing desk on Monday?
So, today I started training.
It's more than a little daunting. I haven't shuffled paper like this for years. There's a lot of it, with lots of numbers on invoices and dollar signs in the appropriate boxes. Just making sure the appropriate bills get paid on time would seem to be a full-time job. I'll also be dealing with errors in billing that the vendors sometimes make, and double-checking the orders that the various department heads receive. And it's not full-time - instead it's three eight-hour days a week. I'll still be working as a checker on the other days.
The training Sandy is giving me started today, and will be continuing through the week. She's happy that I'm already computer literate (Larry was not), and have some experience with filing and organization. Still, the best word I can think of to describe what I'm feeling is daunted. I know I can do the job, I just don't know how fast my learning curve is going to be.
I've already had to make one change. I haven't worn a watch for years, but the room I'll be working in doesn't sport a clock on the wall. Tonight, after work, der B and I went to WalMart where I found something cheap to put on my arm. Unfortunately, not a euphamism.
