First Coupla Weex*

Horrible, horrible spelling and grammar. Sorry. I'm rushed.

First Week
Yes, I arrived in Fort Bragg safely.

No, I don't have a permanent place to stay yet, but I'm having fun touring the
township while searching.

Yes, I'm enjoying Planning and Building.

No, I have not been transferred to Social Services yet (apparently Staff
Assistants train at Planning and Building and then get lured over to Social
Services by glittery pots of gold.)

Yes, I'm being challenged -- and I'm loving it. But I slept 14 hours straight
last night.

No, I haven't burst into tears or hidden under my desk. But it's still Thursday.

Yes, there's been drama. Where to start first?

Let's start with Human Resources.
You know that a rebel lurkes under my Girl Scout exterior, right, and that I
love nothing better than to throw hordes of preppy Mills-issue women into
general disarray. I showed up at Human Resources in Ukiah on Tuesday morning at
8am -- if not bright eyed and bushy tailed because I don't really DO early
mornings, at least alive and unsurly -- for my orientation, and the Human
Resources promptly threw a collective hissy fit. It seems that after I was
offered and accepted the Staff Assistant position in Fort Bragg last Friday,
Human Resources "discovered" two more people needing interviews. So Human
Resources decided to orient me as both temporary extra help and a regular
employee; which threw off every single presenter attending orientation.

And, because my general existance hadn't annoyed HR enough, I kept harping on
Relocation questions, specifically -- "No, I don't HAVE a primary care physician
-- I'm relocating from Arcata today. Can I go to the county health plan website
and look for available physicians? Why not? Yes, but I don't have a primary care
physician yet. Are these the steps I need to follow to designate -- no, you're
not hearing me: I DON'T HAVE A PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIAN."  You get the drift.

So I "oriented" all Tuesday morning, and was finally released back to Planning
and Building in Ukiah, where the Director called me into office and apologized
for the HR screw-up. He said I'd be Temp Help this week, Regular employee next
week, and my benefits would begin February 12. And then he sent me over the hill
to Fort Bragg to begin training Monday afternoon.

Right. Got over the 20 to Fort Bragg at 1:20ish. Was met by a police car and a
string of little orange pylons blocking off all access to the County complex.
You can read all about the little bomb scare we had at the Fort Bragg Advocate -
News. (http://www.advocate-news.com/) So I basically got the afternoon off.

Okay. Next drama. It was a dark and stormy night...
Actually, Tuesday night was just rainy. But I went out into the rain and dark
along this windy two lane road to view a potential room for rent. It's a great
wooded area, a nice yard with roses and fruit trees, a  funky little house with
a dog, my own private bath, cats are okay; it's all sounding pretty good. The
owner, Erin,  is very nice. She showed me around the house. I went back out to
the car and dug around my bag for my car keys. No car keys. No car keys on the
drive, no car keys in the house... I must have locked them in the car, right?
It's understandable after the long, crazy day I've had, right? I'm basically
just a flake, right?

Right. Erin and I looked through the house for my keys. We looked around the
yard and the drive. She let me use the phone and I called AAA thinking I must
have locked my keys in the car. We watched the Simpsons and chatted about
transplanting from Humboldt (She went to HSU, too.  AAA came to unlock the car
-- but no keys. We looked throughout the car, (I cleaned it out last week in
prep for moving, but I still had random stuff I'd need this week in the back)
and my keys were no where to be found. The tow truck guy finally agreed to tow
the Mitsi back to my motel, because I had an extra set of car keys stashed in my
jewelry case in the motel room. Hah! But my first set of keys have been abducted
by aliens, or something.

And that was just Tuesday. Wednesday was a baptism by fire, and Thursday has
been crazy, too. But I'm having a lot of fun, the planners and building
inspectors are extremely nice, and I think I'm gonna like this job. It's a crazy
mix of hurry up and weight, and very mentally challenging. Sort of like my first
week of history classes, where the professors all rolled there eyes when I came
in, because they knew I'd have this huge crazy grin on my face from sheer
enjoyment and excitement. But you know the coolest part? (Yes, my inner valley
girl has been slipping out all week, sorry.) I get to issue OTC electrical and
reroofing permits, and I get to sign them as a "Building Authority"