So I survived my first week in the real world (complete with a real world weekend!). I'll do my best to recap the past week's events, but for security purposes I can't tell you everything I've done. As my dad likes to point out, I have a tendency to join groups with "secrets and secret plans"; this is no different.
Monday:
Monday, June 22nd marked the end of the previously mentioned transformation. I became an employed, renting, college graduate! There was an actual pin-pointed time when this occurred. We all stood up raised our right hands and swore oaths and stuff. Many of us clapped following this event. We had a presentation about security and took tutorials on how not to leak sensitive information, read booklets about how not to leak sensitive information, signed papers about not leaking sensitive information, and got certificates saying we've been told not to leak sensitive information (I think you may be able to determine the theme for the morning). After terms such as NOFORN, Classified, and Secret were tattooed on the back of our eyelids, we got to go on a scavenger hunt. Joe (our instructor) gave us all maps of the shipyard and pointed out all the important places we need to go and collect things. We got transit cards for the local bus routes (I don't have to pay for that club), green hard hats, safety glasses, and steel-toed boots. Yeah, I went shoe shopping at work; it's okay to be jealous. We were then dismissed for the day at 4:02 PM. I walked home as I didn't quite have a feel for the bus systems in the afternoon.
Tuesday:
Day 2 started promptly at 7:20 AM on the ninth floor of a building. One of the first things pointed out here, was that the women's bathrooms are located on the 5th, 3rd, and basement floors. Melissa and I made attempts to find the first two but had no luck. We spent the first half of the day covering benefits and healthcare. I'll be honest, I can do calculus but this stuff threw me for a loop. The second part of the day Joe covered all the different types of alarms we may hear in the shipyard and the basics of how to respond to each. He told us that it will be next to impossible to find the fire phone on the submarines with the billowing black smoke in our faces. He told us about all these things as if they were already scheduled to happen to us, not as though they might occur at sometime during our employement. During a break I looked out a window to watch a giant crane move around a dry dock, and couldn't help but wonder, "wow. they're really going to let me do this? They trust me? Black smoke? whew. I don't know man, I just don't know." The day again ended at 4:02 PM. I figured out how to take a ferry take home bus!
Wednesday:
I realized my paper started showing up on Tuesday, so I had a bonus crossword and sudoko to do this day. 7:20 am: class time. We had a guest presenter come in and talk about the basics of submarines. This lesson was much more reassuring because I understood what he was talking about and it didn't involve unintential floods or fires. He did, however, tell us the proper way to look for a steam leak: use a mirror on a stick, not your hands unless you are trying to cut those off. We covered several different topics in submarines the rest of the day. 4:02 PM.
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ok. pause. you should probably go get a drink of water, maybe use the restroom, whatever you need to do. meet back here in 15 minutes? I know I've been droning on for some time now.
All set? okay.
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Thursday:
7:20. More classes on submarines. Watched a movie about the history of submarines. Dismissed at 4:02.
Friday:
We started class at the normal time. I'll guess at this point you've figured out my work schedule. The exciting event of this day was the lunch plans. We had a hotdog lunch with our bosses and mentors. The shipyard sets each new employee up with a mentor to help show us the ropes around work and gives us a point of contact for questions that might arise during our initial time here. We can ask them everything from how do I request leave time to where can I get my hair cut in this town. I didn't get to meet my mentor at lunch, but Joe (fellow new guy, not the instructor) and I had a nice chat with our boss Bob. I found out a little bit more about where I'll be working. I'm in code 260M which, unlike the rest of code 260, is not located in your typical office space; it is on the mezzanine level of the machine shop. I'm pretty excited to be right there on the floor picking up how things are actually being built for the ships as they come in to port. I will be spending 3 months in 260M before I transfer over to 260.2. We had quite a lot of free time in the afternoon, so we went exploring over to the naval base side and located the gym and rec center. We still left around the same time. Friday night, Roger, a fellow Coloradoan invited us over to his place to spend some quality non-work time. I like the my fellow newbs. We seem to get along pretty well.
Saturday:
Real world Saturdays are sooo much cooler than college Saturdays. This day actually becomes a day off. I don't have anything that I HAVE to be doing. It's a little strange, but sooooooo nice. To my IIT friends: there is a light at the end of the tunnel. There will be a Saturday in your future when you don't have to do homework. I slept in a little bit yesterday, but 8 am was as far as I could push it. Its strange that that's a whole 3 hours later than will become normal. 8 used to be early. I read the paper and decided that some organizing had to be done around my apartment. I may not have all my stuff yet, but my newspapers are mixing with my new employee papers on my deluxe card table/dinner table/ desk. I set out for walmart to purchase a filing cabinet and found a nice little office desk and rolly chair while I was there. I also stopped by the Goodwill to see what they were giving away this week. I stumbled upon some great stereo speakers that were just too good to pass up. (more on that in another edition.) I put together all of my furniture which was probably my favorite game of the whole day and tested the speakers.
Sunday:
I got up and caught the 10:15 ferry over to seattle and did some walking and exploring today. I just kinda wandered around. I saw them setting up for a moonwalking competition that they were having in honor of the late Michael Jackson. I grabbed some food to go and caught the 4:20 ferry back.
This has been a summary of a not so typical week in the life.
We have another week of classroom training coming up this week and real work starts Monday the 6th. As a government employee I get this upcoming Friday off to celebrate the 4th. Two weeks in and they are already giving us a holiday... man life is rough. I've got another two weeks to go before I get paid, so things will be a little tight but by no means will it be bland. I'm a master ramen noodle chef and my netflix free trial has got another week yet.
I've gotten quite a bit of feedback from people concerning my bus ride in the mornings since it is so atypical of the public transportation many of us are accustomed to, so I have another small anecdote to leave you with:
As we pulled up the shipyard on Wednesday morning, the bus driver announced, "I'll remind you all later on this week, but I just wanted to let you know I will be going on vacation next week. You may want to get out to your stops a little bit earlier in the mornings because the sub bus drivers always seem to come a bit earlier and they may not recognize your faces or know who to expect on the bus." This announcement shocked me. What a genuinely nice thing to do! Some of my previous experiences with public transportation include running to a bus at a stop, making eye contact with the driver, and watching the bus pull away.
Thanks for reading! I'll try to do better this week!
Much love!
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Because this is such a long post, it seems I have missed several grammatical errors. I have gone back and fixed some, but I apologize for the others.
So glad you're alive and well!!!!! =D
ReplyDeleteI'm still shocked by the bus experiences... I just can't fathom it...
"Light at the end of the tunnel"? Are you SURE it's not a train? ;-)