New Job, New Attitude and All That Jazz

My first week at my new job (and new university) has been a chaotic see of excitement.  I’ve gotten situated in my new (huge) office.  Which isn’t either in a basement or void of a window, and parking on this university campus isn’t a horrific nightmare like my last two universities.  No, here there is a sense of harmonious calm and not to mention the friendly staff that I’ve met and will work with at this new job. My new boss/department director is a very nice, courteous man from Argentina.  He’s been at this university for over 15 years but he’s accommodating and knows his stuff.  The project coordinator is a very sweet, very nice and quiet young woman who is currently going for her masters.  And then we have our student worker whose name is reminiscent of a Mike Myers film because she’s named after the main character in “So I Married an Axe Murderer.”  Her name is Charly McKenzie, when she introduced herself I tried really hard not to laugh because she can’t be more than 19 or 20 years old.  And therefore, probably not familiar with that film.  So, I, Phoebe the coordinator (after Phoebe in Friends), my director and Charly McKenzie form our small but important department.  My boss is in the middle of trying to hire two other people which he mentioned on Friday that I’d supervise because I’m in charge of the office.

Whoa, now there’s a thought, I’m going to actually run this office.  I’ve been told this on several occasions in other jobs, but we all know how those turned out right? Micromanaged to death and not allowed to do the job I was hired to do.  In any case that’s the past (I have to be telling myself that everything is in the past) because I’ve started a new chapter in my life.  Since the insurance at the “city” sucked monkey balls and I mean SUCKED.  They had a $5000 deductible and I was like are you fucking kidding me?  The first three doctors’ appointments I had I had to pay out of pocket for them ($137 each) and I barely made it with what I was getting paid.  Anyway, enough about my horrid experience with the “city” and moving on to bigger and better things.   

My Commute

This is the actual road I take to and from work everyday. It’s called the Anthony Gap

My commute each day is about 80 miles round trip.  I thought it would be really long and tedious but I get here and back home in no time.  The only thing now is I have to make sure my beautiful little car is maintained so that I can continue to drive back and forth with no mechanical issues.  Also, because the mountain pass I have to take is deserted and in the middle of nowhere.  Although the traffic is heavy in both directions, it’s only a two-way highway and a gazillion 18-wheelers use this particular pass instead of the steep, even more treacherous pass over Transmountain Drive in west El Paso.   Using this road cuts about 6 miles off my commute and is less stressful on my Precious (yes, I named my car) and conserves gas.  And we all know what gas prices are like right now.   I don’t have a car payment right now and for a while I’d like to keep it that way.   So everyday it takes me about 40-45 minutes to get to work and back home again, so I’m pretty darn happy, but wait there’s more!

New State, New University, New Campus and……………….Livestock?

Who doesn’t love cowses? Or Chickens for that matter…

It was hard to wrap my head around the fact that I would have this great new job in a field I’m very familiar with and in a university setting that’s in a totally different state than where I live.  I drive 40 miles into a different state to go to work………..I’m still kind of in shock.   Then I was even more in shock when I find New Mexico has a state income tax rate of 5.9%.   I tried to calculate it but I gave up as to how much income tax the state of New Mexico is going to take out of my check.  But one things for sure, I don’t care, why?  Because I have a great job, in spite of traveling 80 miles round trip, and my new department and university are awesome.  I walked on campus here the very first week of work and it’s so quiet and calm.  Granted classes hadn’t started yet but even now the second week of classes it’s still calm, quiet and serene.  The perks?  Oh those perks….I have a huge office with a ginormous picture window facing the main campus.  Huge pecan trees line the road where out offices are and in back of our office? 

The agricultural/agri-life extension program.  This state university is mainly an agricultural university and they teach everything having to do with farming, ranching, livestock etc., along with other things yes but it started out as an agricultural university so parts of campus have actual livestock, cows, sheep, goats, bulls, rabbits, horses and…………..CHICKENS!   I see chickens on my drive to work and on campus no less.  On my second week I drove past chickens on the loose.  Yep you heard me right, chickens were just walking around near our office last week because apparently someone left the gate open to the large fowl compound open and voila, chickens.  But I love the atmosphere around campus.  Oh yes back to the perks, I get to gaze out my window all day long at the agricultural instructor’s saunter past.  Saunter you ask?  Why yes, and why do they do that?  Because they are COWBOYS!! I can watch cowboys, real, honest to god cowboys walk past my office window all damned day long!!  With their cowboy hats, faded Wrangler jeans, button down shirts, and well-worn cowboy boots.  Every so often they’ll turn, smile and tip their hat saying hello and I wave, smile and blush……I’m in heaven here y’all!!  

Monsoon Season Is Here…….Again

Well it couldn’t all be good news. Rain is here and although it’s been raining for a while now it’s just raining everyday all damned day long. The humidity is killing me, my hair and my general existence at home. It’s not too bad at work because we have refrigerated air and it’s nice, cool and dry. On Friday it rained almost 24 hours and the streets by my house were flooded to the point of almost having the water go over the curb and into my front yard. Not just my front yard but all three of my corner neighbor’s front yards as well. But Saturday the rain stopped enough for the water to subside and dry off a bit. The side affect from all this rain? Weeds, weeds and more fucking weeds that seem to grow overnight in every single fucking corner of my yard! I’ll be glad when September hits and the rain starts to subside and the cool air of Fall will make me happy again because the stinging heat of Summer was being a bitch.

Swimming Along

I’m going to say that the only great thing that came out of JMR and his swimming/coffee dates were that I loved the workout at the pool. And since his disappearance I’ve kept up with going to the pool and swimming for exercise. It’s a great total body workout and no impact for my shoulders and knees. I am by no means a competitive swimmer and I can only swim as I call it, a semi breast stroke. Which means I don’t put my head underwater because I have this thing about water going up my nose. So I just don’t even though JMR bought me some expensive goggles to wear. But, I just don’t and I swim to what I’m most comfortable with and I get my exercise. So now instead of going early in the morning I go after I get home from work, without JMR. And no I haven’t heard from his dumbass in more than two weeks so I’m guessing he’s moved on or chickened out. Not going to worry about it, his loss.

Until next time……this is the Huntress, saying…”Don’t be a Moth Around a Dim Yellow Bulb, Be a Moth to a Flame, Make it worth the Burn!”