![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Too long...
It's been more than six months since I've written here and at first it was an accident but then it became a conscious decision. But I also stopped journaling at home and I miss the reflection that I get when I write. I don't think daily writing in a journal when it's past bed time but I have to get it done is effective. I need to have some time to reflect and think in order to get some benefit from the practice. So hopefully this will be more purposeful.
Back in January, I went home one Friday thinking about all the potential of Salesforce and how to get it going and plans for the development. When I came in on Monday I was told we wouldn't be implementing Salesforce at this time and I was going to take that time and the time where I was doing HR and Finance and I was going to be doing exclusively Grant support for 50% of my job. There was no discussion, no conversation at all. It was a done deal and I had to adjust. I was angry and hurt and confused. I was looking for other work. But after six months of settling in to the new position, I really like it. I'm making it my own and I'm doing work that I've known needed done for years, we just didn't have the personnel for it. I function with fairly high levels of autonomy and coworkers have been very appreciative of the work I've been doing.
I've also had to train my supervisor to do all my former tasks (which has put a bit of a chip on my shoulder since she's professional faculty doing, exactly what I was doing but was told was only classified work). We've developed a good team and I'm "topping from below" as it were. I keep an eye on things and remind her when things are slipping. I've developed the processes that she's using and refine them when they don't work for her. But I don't have to do all the annoying things and it's just difficult enough work and outside of her scope that she's not good at it and people notice. I expect she'll get there but it's nice to hear "I sure wish you were still taking care of this, it worked much better then." I like her and she's been both an advocate and quick to acknowledge that she's leaning hard on me and couldn't do it without me. (I just got back from 10 days off and it hadn't been done while I was gone).
The work has been challenging- I just put together a budget for a six year grant that was for up to $6 million a year with a cost share. It was painstaking, fiddly work but I was super proud of what I accomplished. I've redeveloped the Research website and we are really close to going live. I need the primary Web developer to work some super secret magic with a calendar and it will be ready to go. To do that I've had to interview people and write stories; I'm actively looking for grant opportunities on a weekly if not more often basis and updating the website with those opportunities. It's challenging to deal with people at the last minute who need "Just some quick numbers," which are, of course, never quick but it's fun to rise to the occasion. I had an opportunity to have lunch with my mentor and former boss a few weeks ago and I like what he said: "what they don't understand, is that, no matter what they throw at you, no matter what they tell you to do, you take it on and you become an expert." I'm guessing that's not a common thing but I've mastered quite a few skills in my time here.
When I first decided to give the job a go, I figured to give it a year so that I could get good, marketable skills. After a couple of months, I sat down with my supervisor to talk about the job. We both would argue that it's not necessarily a classified position. There are people doing this work on campus in both classified and unclassified positions. Together we are compiling reasons why this should be an unclassified position- not the least is that I'm expected to be here to work on grant budgets regardless of my schedule. I was home sick and had to pull up data on grant proposals so it could be submitted to the provost the following day. My supervisor asked me to give the job a year and we would try to make the case for a reclassification. This means I could potentially get a raise at some point in my life- which is not possible in my current position.
I don't know what's going to happen with Salesforce. We still need it but I think the Dean is waiting for the university to do a central implementation, including a budget so that it won't be so costly to the College. I don't know who will take that on because I can't imagine that they will want to release my time back into it now that they've gotten a taste for having grant support. But we'll deal with that when we need to. I've gotten a lot of training and I've been encourage to keep up my skills while I'm working in this position. I doubt I'll get to go back to San Francisco anytime soon for more training in Salesforce but the Associate Dean of Research, with whom I'm working closely, would like me to find professional development opportunities in the future that would involve traveling to a conference out of state.
One of the things I appreciate about the position I'm in now is that I have a sense of comradery and teamwork that I haven't felt since my mentor left. There are three of us working on grant support that have developed a tight knit team. There are two groups on campus that support the work we do and so I am part of a larger effort. The administration work has developed a team that includes three of us in the office which includes my supervisor. That one is still a bit clunky but at least we are all working for the same goal. I've got a good relationship with my supervisor and we work really well together. Although the Dean and I have still not yet had any meaningful conversation, she asked my supervisor to put me in the grant support position not because I was the only one available but because she thought I would be good at it. I appreciate that she is paying attention, even though she's not developing relationships with the classified personnel. My stress levels are lower and I haven't needed my anti-anxiety medicine for quite a while.
However, in the last two months I've been self-medicating, with shopping sprees. I don't know what I'm medicating for though so I need to do some digging. I'm feeling quite pinched financially and am not making good decisions about my finances. I'm not getting anywhere unrecoverable but I need to have more care. I think partially, I had the year end catalog change for my Stampin' up! business. That always seems to take a large chunk of money at this time each year- trying to get the things that are being discontinued for my personal use, and trying to get a good chunk of the new products so I can promote them. Hopefully that will even out over the next few months. My income for this last month covered my purchases for this month so that's something. I also have been informed that it is time to get a new car. The mechanic knows my financial reluctance but recommended it anyway so it's time. I hate the idea of taking on a car loan. It means I have to cut back on the amount of money I'm putting on my school loans- that's the only way I can potentially afford a good reliable car for my 52 mile round trip to work everyday. I know I could buy a clunker for less money but that doesn't make sense. In the long run that will cost more money. I'm probably looking at a used Ford Edge but I'm trying to get some feedback from the mechanic before I buy.
My hot tub cost me almost $1400 to get working again and I need to service the heat pump, My porch has to be redone this summer but I have no knowledge or tools to do it. I'm going to have to figure it out though, because no one is volunteering to help. I have some money tucked away for that but perhaps not enough. My in-ground sprinkler unit has developed a bubbling geyser so I'm going to have to dig that up and repair it. Dad has a whole summer of back surgeries (3) and recoveries scheduled so he can't be of any help with the physical labor that I need although he'd probably armchair quarterback it. I found out that to remove the PMI on my mortgage, I'll probably have to refinance but given that I have a 2.75% interest rate, that's not an appealing option. I think the expenses have been flowing like water and I've just lost my resistance. It's all taking money so what's a little more. It feels like I'll never get ahead.
So it's up and down. Work is ok right now but money just gets tighter. I guess that's just the way life goes.
Back in January, I went home one Friday thinking about all the potential of Salesforce and how to get it going and plans for the development. When I came in on Monday I was told we wouldn't be implementing Salesforce at this time and I was going to take that time and the time where I was doing HR and Finance and I was going to be doing exclusively Grant support for 50% of my job. There was no discussion, no conversation at all. It was a done deal and I had to adjust. I was angry and hurt and confused. I was looking for other work. But after six months of settling in to the new position, I really like it. I'm making it my own and I'm doing work that I've known needed done for years, we just didn't have the personnel for it. I function with fairly high levels of autonomy and coworkers have been very appreciative of the work I've been doing.
I've also had to train my supervisor to do all my former tasks (which has put a bit of a chip on my shoulder since she's professional faculty doing, exactly what I was doing but was told was only classified work). We've developed a good team and I'm "topping from below" as it were. I keep an eye on things and remind her when things are slipping. I've developed the processes that she's using and refine them when they don't work for her. But I don't have to do all the annoying things and it's just difficult enough work and outside of her scope that she's not good at it and people notice. I expect she'll get there but it's nice to hear "I sure wish you were still taking care of this, it worked much better then." I like her and she's been both an advocate and quick to acknowledge that she's leaning hard on me and couldn't do it without me. (I just got back from 10 days off and it hadn't been done while I was gone).
The work has been challenging- I just put together a budget for a six year grant that was for up to $6 million a year with a cost share. It was painstaking, fiddly work but I was super proud of what I accomplished. I've redeveloped the Research website and we are really close to going live. I need the primary Web developer to work some super secret magic with a calendar and it will be ready to go. To do that I've had to interview people and write stories; I'm actively looking for grant opportunities on a weekly if not more often basis and updating the website with those opportunities. It's challenging to deal with people at the last minute who need "Just some quick numbers," which are, of course, never quick but it's fun to rise to the occasion. I had an opportunity to have lunch with my mentor and former boss a few weeks ago and I like what he said: "what they don't understand, is that, no matter what they throw at you, no matter what they tell you to do, you take it on and you become an expert." I'm guessing that's not a common thing but I've mastered quite a few skills in my time here.
When I first decided to give the job a go, I figured to give it a year so that I could get good, marketable skills. After a couple of months, I sat down with my supervisor to talk about the job. We both would argue that it's not necessarily a classified position. There are people doing this work on campus in both classified and unclassified positions. Together we are compiling reasons why this should be an unclassified position- not the least is that I'm expected to be here to work on grant budgets regardless of my schedule. I was home sick and had to pull up data on grant proposals so it could be submitted to the provost the following day. My supervisor asked me to give the job a year and we would try to make the case for a reclassification. This means I could potentially get a raise at some point in my life- which is not possible in my current position.
I don't know what's going to happen with Salesforce. We still need it but I think the Dean is waiting for the university to do a central implementation, including a budget so that it won't be so costly to the College. I don't know who will take that on because I can't imagine that they will want to release my time back into it now that they've gotten a taste for having grant support. But we'll deal with that when we need to. I've gotten a lot of training and I've been encourage to keep up my skills while I'm working in this position. I doubt I'll get to go back to San Francisco anytime soon for more training in Salesforce but the Associate Dean of Research, with whom I'm working closely, would like me to find professional development opportunities in the future that would involve traveling to a conference out of state.
One of the things I appreciate about the position I'm in now is that I have a sense of comradery and teamwork that I haven't felt since my mentor left. There are three of us working on grant support that have developed a tight knit team. There are two groups on campus that support the work we do and so I am part of a larger effort. The administration work has developed a team that includes three of us in the office which includes my supervisor. That one is still a bit clunky but at least we are all working for the same goal. I've got a good relationship with my supervisor and we work really well together. Although the Dean and I have still not yet had any meaningful conversation, she asked my supervisor to put me in the grant support position not because I was the only one available but because she thought I would be good at it. I appreciate that she is paying attention, even though she's not developing relationships with the classified personnel. My stress levels are lower and I haven't needed my anti-anxiety medicine for quite a while.
However, in the last two months I've been self-medicating, with shopping sprees. I don't know what I'm medicating for though so I need to do some digging. I'm feeling quite pinched financially and am not making good decisions about my finances. I'm not getting anywhere unrecoverable but I need to have more care. I think partially, I had the year end catalog change for my Stampin' up! business. That always seems to take a large chunk of money at this time each year- trying to get the things that are being discontinued for my personal use, and trying to get a good chunk of the new products so I can promote them. Hopefully that will even out over the next few months. My income for this last month covered my purchases for this month so that's something. I also have been informed that it is time to get a new car. The mechanic knows my financial reluctance but recommended it anyway so it's time. I hate the idea of taking on a car loan. It means I have to cut back on the amount of money I'm putting on my school loans- that's the only way I can potentially afford a good reliable car for my 52 mile round trip to work everyday. I know I could buy a clunker for less money but that doesn't make sense. In the long run that will cost more money. I'm probably looking at a used Ford Edge but I'm trying to get some feedback from the mechanic before I buy.
My hot tub cost me almost $1400 to get working again and I need to service the heat pump, My porch has to be redone this summer but I have no knowledge or tools to do it. I'm going to have to figure it out though, because no one is volunteering to help. I have some money tucked away for that but perhaps not enough. My in-ground sprinkler unit has developed a bubbling geyser so I'm going to have to dig that up and repair it. Dad has a whole summer of back surgeries (3) and recoveries scheduled so he can't be of any help with the physical labor that I need although he'd probably armchair quarterback it. I found out that to remove the PMI on my mortgage, I'll probably have to refinance but given that I have a 2.75% interest rate, that's not an appealing option. I think the expenses have been flowing like water and I've just lost my resistance. It's all taking money so what's a little more. It feels like I'll never get ahead.
So it's up and down. Work is ok right now but money just gets tighter. I guess that's just the way life goes.