I know, I am getting behind on posts.
1) Metropolis
2) Art
3) Dinner at the Arts Club
4) My Jobette
I have sort of lost my fire on the Art post, though, because it is based on a comment I made on Matt's blog last week. I can do it, though.
Metropolis is going to be my custom slide show on the film.
**********
Dinner at the Arts Club on Thursday:
Opera evening, courtesy of the Royal Opera House. An American mezzo-soprano accompanied by a pianist sang various arias. I was charmed by the pause taken between two pieces while we waited for the grandfather clock to finish chiming 8.
The best bit was Mozart at the end, from Il re pastore. The sound of Mozart always fills my heart.
We "adjourned to the dining room" for a two course meal, with wine.
First we had a pave' of salmon on a bed of creamed dill potato in hollandaise sauce with asparagus spears.
Finally we had a summer berry soup with clotted cream and puff pastry sticks. They were the sweetest strawberries, blueberries and raspberries I've had here, so they were definitely not English. In their sauce, they even tasted slightly rosy.
They always serve espresso after dinner. It's not the best thing to drink at 10pm...maybe next time I will pass.
**********
So, on to the Jobette:
I turned up on Friday morning to this fantastic office full of glass and brushed steel and beechwood. The office spaces are open plan. They are all glass-faced towards the central internal courtyard, which is open through all floors to the glass roof. Does this make sense? Even the lifts are glass, and security needs to swipe their pass before sending me up. The courtyard itself has a nice rockery and waterfall.
Wow. I like it, but I felt out of place. I think I have become too used to hanging about in listed buildings with plush carpets, winding staircases and wood panelling...
It even extended to the bathrooms. The best office bathroom I have ever used. Each cubicle was a self-contained bathroom. All ergonomic. The sink was brushed steel on a glass counter. The toilet was also steel with a beechwood seat. Bits of panel were also beech!
Top notch.
Look, I have just done a toilet review.
Plus every floor has a little kitchen area with seating, stocked with all sorts of teas in a rack, juices, soups packets, a water spout, hot water machine, chocolate and coffee machine.
Anyway, I was picked up at reception by the girl I cover for next week. She showed me around, and with audiotyping in my mind, suddenly I find she is giving me ever so much information...and it finally dawned on me that she is a real secretary. Talk about throwing me in the deep end.
All of my rusty old mail merge skills learned in the 90s were pushed to their absolute ancient limit. So that's where I got the most practice.
The computers are those tiny Dell machines that slot under the desk.
I will also have to answer a phone and push buttons to transfer calls. Here I am a total newbie, and receiving calls from strangers to transfer to many people who are strangers, is liable to get me into a flap. The most I've done in the past is take messages for ONE surpervisor, nothing more.
The guys on the floor are very friendly, something I haven't yet seen in my temp jobs. By the time I get the hang of it, she will be back from her holiday. I will learn a lot about corporate property methinks.
13 comments:
wow liv..that jobbett sounds nice...I hope they keep you and do u know where I could get a recipe for berry soup? U know I love to cook!
Right now I am into making my own salsa's and Pasta sauces...and chutney...mmmmmmmm...I can also make jams...
its ok, I found the recipe!
the night out sounded fabulous! i love Mozart! the soup sounds delish!
answering phones can be scary at first... you'll be surprised how easily it comes to you. glad you like the place. sometimes the working environment can make or break the place.
JL - yea I couldn't find a similar recipe online.
Tooners - I hope it comes as easily for me as you promise!
The working environment is in the top 3 factors that make or break a place for me, yes.
So you don't like salmon at all?
This sort of recital is in the original salon style.
But you just got your job! Is it an internship?
P.S. I am usually for no one at sporting events.
Job sounds sweet liv! My ofice is all glass and open plan too!
Don't link to my blog! people who click it will expect something as well written as yours and all they'll be treated to is my latest post on the Thundercats! hehe.
Being thrown in at the deep end gives you the best learning curve, I'm sure you';ll be fine!
Oh, Internships always look good on a CV. Nowadays, they even want more than one.
This has just occurred to me:
Surely even French universities expect a related lower degree if they are to grant you a PhD?
Matt - I would never link to a blog about Thundercats :P
I sort of dread going back to that office tomorrow, and all on account of the blasted telephone!
Haider Droubi - welcome, and thanks.
There is a really good Lebanese bakery and cafe in Houston called Droubi's. I had totally forgotten that till I saw your name.
Oh Liv! Don't mind the phone. I answer a few phones for people in my office, which, by the way is not open plan but is small with four cubicles surrounded by several offices with doors. The phones do get me agitated, especially when they've called the wrong line and they want me to transfer them to someone else. That's a bit frustrating, but when you get the hang of it, it's nothing! :)
Wow, sounds like a nice office. I think any experience is a good experience. And they must just be glad that they got you. Even if you haven't done mail merge in a while, it will come back to you and beside you are a bright cookie. You'll figure it all out before too long. And about the phone, don't contemplate about it. Just do it. If you think about it for too long then you will get nervous.
Vanessa
Steli - OK I guess we are not talking about art history here, I thought that was another thing you wanted to do.
Speaking of veg things. I went to a vegetarian Thai cafe for lunch today, and they had 3 types of chicken curry...
Luna - I flubbed up on nearly every call. By the time I get used to it the job will be over.
Vee - I did the property briefs no problem today, almost as if there had been no weekend between now and when I learned it.
Oh, and after the first two calls I lost, I was almost eager for the next one so I could get it right (I didn't).
Well, if you're off the job before you get used to it, just answer every call with a smiling voice and apologize profusely if they get their wires crossed... that's what I do... I still mess up every so often, but I don't worry about it. It's not like they'll see me on the street and chase me down to whack me because I dropped their call! :)
I was a bit better today! Getting more level-headed about phone decisions simply because I understand the process more and now know who does what on my floor.
In fact, this afternoon I even volunteered to make a call for one of the surveyors.
Post a Comment