First, a little quiz:

You Belong in Rome You're a big city girl with a small town heart Which is why you're attracted to the romance of Rome Strolling down picture perfect streets, cappuccino in hand And gorgeous Italian men - could life get any better? What City Do You Belong in? Take This Quiz :-) Find the Love of Your Life (and More Love Quizzes) at Your New Romance.

Yes I am alive and kicking after one week of working in the big city. And not all the much worse for the wear I might add. Monday was tough. Three hours of benefits orientation and filling out tax forms will definitely make your head hurt. I learned some important things though:

1. I am exempt from NYC tax because I live in CT. :)
2. My union dues are only 2%, not three. :)
3. The max I can get in transit checks per month is $105. And they don't start until January. :(
4. I'm probably going to have a payroll deduction for my health insurance. :(
5. At least I'm covered retroactive to my start date. :)
6. But choosing a plan from 12 possibilities is not going to be easy. :(
7. But I can change it next fall if need be. :)
8. But my other benefits (eye, dental, prescription etc.) don't start until February. :(


After that I reported to my department, had lunch and got another hour or two of orientation. There are rules, rules, and more rules for working in this place. But as the week progressed I began to understand why they were necessary. There are just so many people working at this institution from such an amazing variety of backgrounds that you really have to have things set up to keep them all in line. The most annoying thing so far: I don't have a phone. And I can't use my cell in the "work area". There are allowances for important phone calls and such, but there is no place to use a phone with some level of privacy. That could make certain situations very difficult.

But beyond those little things, so far so good as far as the work environment goes. My coworkers are all very nice people so far and were very welcoming. I have my own desk which is pretty exciting for me and it's actually set up fairly well. The only thing I don't like is that I don't have much room to the left of my computer, which is usually where I put the item I'm cataloging, but I may be able to change that down the line. I've even been able to put up a few pictures thanks to HWJF. He met my in the city on Thursday since he had the day off and he brought me the pictures along with this:



Can you believe it?! It's one of those edible arrangements! How cool and sweet is that? We also had dinner at a local pub before he drove me home. It was very nice to not take the train for at least one trip although I am certainly enjoying my morning rides with Sneaksleep. We chat, we knit, we sleep when we need to, and it really makes the ride fly by. I get to leave NY a little earlier than she does so we don't get to ride back together, but I've been doing a lot more napping then anyway.

And Friday I got my first paycheck. Now, granted it was only for one week, and I don't have all my deductions coming out yet, but still... I'm a little worried. It wasn't exactly impressive. And thanks to Metro North not processing my Mail & Ride application in time I had to buy my monthly ticket for November at the station yesterday, which ended up being most of my first paycheck. Not a fun feeling, especially with rent due this week. But a hear the third paycheck is when you get caught up and things start looking better. If that's true, November 25th can't come soon enough.

I have a fairly relaxing weekend planned. Today is "get shit done" day so laundry is already washing, I've been catching up on blog reading and I'll be figuring out which health insurance plan to go with. Tonight I'll be going up to see HWJF and to carve a pumpkin (something I haven't done in ages). Tomorrow HWJF has the day off so we plan on being as lazy as possible which is fine by me. Monday will be here before I can turn around.

One other plan for the weekend: Post some knitting content tomorrow! See you then! :)