I’m learning more things at work than I had ever imagined was possible. Now I understand things like the importance of making a budget, the loopholes to look out for on a lease, the difference between writing an asset off as an expense or depreciating it, or even something like the economic factors considered in setting monthly goals. There are also general work things I never knew about, like how to deal with salesmen, how to leave messages, what’s considered a good health plan, government regulations vs. union regulations, etc. I’ve even had to learn how to be a print production coordinator for marketing/PR materials. Then on top of all of this, I’m learning about the entire esoteric dental industry, from the personalities of dentists and denturists to the manufacturing process of everything from crowns to cast partial dentures to hawley retainers, just so I can understand the target audience and understand what I’m marketing.

I now run the IT department for a laboratory of about 45 people. I’m in charge of all installations, upgrades, maintenance, back-ups, and security for both hardware and software. I make the annual computer budget, decide if/when anything needs to be purchased, and am involved with any development projects that come up. I can design my own projects if I feel like they’ll help the company. I’m involved in marketing, designing ads for magazines, flyers, trade shows, and webpages.

I have a huge desk that covers three sides, and share an office (not a cubicle) with one other person. I have a health plan, two weeks paid vacation per year, and most of the time I make my own work instead of someone telling me what to do. The industry is growing, secure, and has little impact from government cutbacks.

My boss is a good man with a great vision. The company pays for any training or classes that I take. I can spend as much time as I need doing tutorials or reading

I’ve signed the contract. I’ve been given a timecard, a locker, and a set of keys to the office and storage room. The hours are flexible enough for me to finish courses for this term, at which point I’ll switch only to work.

As with all my previous jobs, the first paycheque goes to my grandmothers, the second paycheque I split with my friends, the third paycheque goes to my savings.

I’ve started the perfect, perfect, perfect career.

I bought a second ATA133 60GB hard-drive and installed it today. It feels good to get into my case and fool around with the cables and parts. I feel like I’m souping up a car with NOX, where I should be saying stuff like, “My secondary cable is too short, so I had to put both drives on the primary, so my backup drive is running as a slave now”. I bought it to keep as a backup of all my data that I don’t want to constantly burn to back it up; stuff like my current mp3’s, my temporary mp3’s, my tv episodes, my webpages, and my movies. I got some software called Second Copy which backs up all the information automatically. I’ve been getting freaked out from all the reports of hard-drive failures, and hard-drive formatting webcode, so I thought I should find a solution. After all, I wouldn’t want to have to remember every mp3 I downloaded, and try downloading them all again. Although neither of my drives are Fujitsu’s, there have been lots of reports on huge warranty reductions of the major manufacturers in the last few months. Better safe than sorry.

My mattress arrived today, and it feels amazing. I was so used to a crappy, old mattress, that I guess I forgot what good support felt like.

I went to a restaurant called La Gondola for lunch yesterday, to see Melissa Kenny off for her new job, and the service sucked. The food was alright, but I could probably have made most of the stuff at my home. The waitress rushed everyone to get their bills, and didn’t ask a single time how the meal was going. I ordered a decanter of white wine with Natalie, and it tasted watery. I left a $1.00 tip.

I’m not sure if I’m going to look for a job for next term or not. I’m still a full-time student, if my final project is considered as a full course. I’m not really sure where I would work, but I know that I’d be okay with a shit job. I love money too much.

I finally got back a passing mark in my algorithms course, which still means that I’m failing on the whole, with only two weeks left. I’m pleased, I guess.

Well, things just can’t get any better.

Yesterday I found out that my contract, which expires in December, will most likely not be renewed. This could mean that I will be out of a job when I graduate, since my position will be filled by a full-time employee. If things get busier at the office, then I might be asked to come back again. Until then, I might not know. The availability of a full-time position will not be known until next years budgeting comes around, which is usually around March.

This afternoon, I also found out that my grandmother passed away. I didn’t find out any of the details, which is one of the few times that I’m glad of my ignorance. It saddens me that I didn’t get to see her one last time, to show her that I cared about her, the next opportunity being within a months time. Yet she didn’t last the wait, and my chance, twice passing, has been missed. My parents will be attending the ceremonies by flying to Hong Kong on Tuesday. I haven’t cried yet, and I probably won’t.

And apparently, according to some Chinese tradition, the death of a loved one means that one cannot visit any other family members within 49 days of the death. Which means that I won’t be able to go to Hong Kong for Christmas vacation, something which I’ve been looking forward to with unspeakable pleasure. The tradition is not something that I would generally honour, given the circumstances, but since it is important to my other grandmother, I easily, stoically abide by the rules of the funeral ceremony.

I will miss the Christmas lights and spirit, the cooler, more tolerable weather. I will miss my chance to purchase a much needed leather jacket, to buy presents for my friends, to do some much needed relaxation.

But what can I do? Feel sorry for myself? I believe that this is the worst string of news I’ve ever had. There just doesn’t seem to be any act I can accomplish to make this pain go away, except for talking about it. So many things have fallen apart within the last 24 hours, so many things being changed. There just doesn’t seem to be much to live for right now, since I generally tend to simply live day-to-day.

It’s hard for me to understand what I should be thinking or feeling right now. Everything just seems so numb. I guess things have just come so suddenly, and caught me by surprise.

I’m really at a loss for words.

My schedule hasn’t been too hectic lately (in fact, it’s been fairly relaxing), but that will change within the week. I have two assignments due in six days time, which I haven’t started yet. I should probably start studying for exams, but that most likely won’t happen anytime soon.

My work has expressed interest in hiring me for a full-time position once I graduate. Most people would be hired for a CS-01 position, but since I’ve been working there already, and I would have a university diploma by then, I would most likely be hired as a CS-02. There’s great difference in annual pay between the two, and a CS-02 has a pay range that’s simply amazing for a new graduate. It’s very close to my goal in terms of salary, something that I believed that I would have to work a few decades to achieve. This makes me happy.

On the other hand, Aaron’s contract won’t be renewed, which sucks because we’ll hardly have any time to see each other otherwise. He just seems to be too busy to do anything with. He’s the type of friend who would want me to tell him about any problems between us, but I’m afraid that this isn’t really his problem. I don’t feel that I have the right to demand so much of his time, since I know that he’s a busy person, with important things to do.

I saw two more of Hayao Miyazaki’s films, called Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind, and Princess Mononoke. I felt that both of them weren’t quite as good as Laputa: Castle in the Sky, but still reflected Miyazaki’s amazing writing and directing ability. Somehow his animations are able to make me feel happy without feeling cheap. Both of the movies feature the music of Joe Hisaishi, whom I feel is a terribly good composer. He truly creates beautiful music which complements both mood and vision.