Working Girl
Well, Readers, it's official: I am no longer a LOL (Lady of Leisure for those of you not familiar with the initials.) Today was my first day temping London. "How did it go?" You ask? It went pretty darn well. It was relatively uneventful but there are a few things worth mentioning.
It was my first Rush Hour commute and let me tell you - my husband is a saint! He has told me about having to wait for a train and then not getting on because there is no room. He has told me how he has waited up to half an hour before actually getting on a train only to have to transfer a few stops up because the train wasn't going his way and I sympathized with him, but I just had no idea! You see, Londoners have this Mega Flaw when riding the tube: They never step all the way into the train. As Flo can attest, this is an annoyance during normal hours but you can usually ask people to move in or just push your way into the train. The problem with Rush Hour is that everyone jams into the space just in front of the doors. So while in New York 10 more people could easily fit into the center of the car, no one at the doors can or will move to let you on. It is UNREAL! It's a good thing I gave myself my trademark 20 minutes of extra time, because I had to let 2 trains leave before literally squeezing my body into the third train. Luckily I was heading in the direction of the city, so most of the trains were going my way and I only waited 15 minutes, but it was still very annoying. Now I understand why John takes the bus to work!
Even with the crappy commute, I arrived five minutes early and before anyone else in the office. So I ended up waiting a bit. The head guy wasn't in today, so I mostly sat around. I am told that there are 5 men in the office, but only one of them was there for most of the day today. He was so friendly! He made me a cup of coffee (instant) first thing and then proceeded to offer me another every time he made himself one (which was frequently.) We spent a lot of the day discussing London and New York and travel. He gave me a couple of projects but I maybe worked two hours on all of them combined. Another man arrived a little after 12 and left around 3. He came in. I said, "Hi." He said, "Hi" and sat at his desk. What is it with people not introducing themselves? Loyal readers will remember that Flo and I experienced this problem when we went out with John's coworkers. Shortly after he arrived, I took it upon myself to do the introductions.
Oh- I only made one "silly American" blunder. I was trying to add a color printer to my account. The nice gentleman gave me the filepath but it wasn't working. We tried it with spaces, without spaces, etc. Finally, we gave up and called the Help Desk. She said she'd have someone get back to me. Two seconds later I thought, "Hmmm...I wonder if..." Have you guessed it? Yup! I was writing COLOR but it's COLOUR! In my defense it's spelled COLOR on the side of the printer. Only one for the day- not bad.
And it snowed a tiny bit today! It barely counts as snow- it was that really light stuff that almost looks like rain when it falls and it doesn't accumulate. This has happened a couple of times this week. It only lasts a few minutes, so you have to be in the right place at the right time. But it's nice to see something white falling from the sky- even if its only for a minute.
Well, that's about it on my first day working in the UK. I'm sure as I get more to do, I will have more fun anecdotes to share.
It was my first Rush Hour commute and let me tell you - my husband is a saint! He has told me about having to wait for a train and then not getting on because there is no room. He has told me how he has waited up to half an hour before actually getting on a train only to have to transfer a few stops up because the train wasn't going his way and I sympathized with him, but I just had no idea! You see, Londoners have this Mega Flaw when riding the tube: They never step all the way into the train. As Flo can attest, this is an annoyance during normal hours but you can usually ask people to move in or just push your way into the train. The problem with Rush Hour is that everyone jams into the space just in front of the doors. So while in New York 10 more people could easily fit into the center of the car, no one at the doors can or will move to let you on. It is UNREAL! It's a good thing I gave myself my trademark 20 minutes of extra time, because I had to let 2 trains leave before literally squeezing my body into the third train. Luckily I was heading in the direction of the city, so most of the trains were going my way and I only waited 15 minutes, but it was still very annoying. Now I understand why John takes the bus to work!
Even with the crappy commute, I arrived five minutes early and before anyone else in the office. So I ended up waiting a bit. The head guy wasn't in today, so I mostly sat around. I am told that there are 5 men in the office, but only one of them was there for most of the day today. He was so friendly! He made me a cup of coffee (instant) first thing and then proceeded to offer me another every time he made himself one (which was frequently.) We spent a lot of the day discussing London and New York and travel. He gave me a couple of projects but I maybe worked two hours on all of them combined. Another man arrived a little after 12 and left around 3. He came in. I said, "Hi." He said, "Hi" and sat at his desk. What is it with people not introducing themselves? Loyal readers will remember that Flo and I experienced this problem when we went out with John's coworkers. Shortly after he arrived, I took it upon myself to do the introductions.
Oh- I only made one "silly American" blunder. I was trying to add a color printer to my account. The nice gentleman gave me the filepath but it wasn't working. We tried it with spaces, without spaces, etc. Finally, we gave up and called the Help Desk. She said she'd have someone get back to me. Two seconds later I thought, "Hmmm...I wonder if..." Have you guessed it? Yup! I was writing COLOR but it's COLOUR! In my defense it's spelled COLOR on the side of the printer. Only one for the day- not bad.
And it snowed a tiny bit today! It barely counts as snow- it was that really light stuff that almost looks like rain when it falls and it doesn't accumulate. This has happened a couple of times this week. It only lasts a few minutes, so you have to be in the right place at the right time. But it's nice to see something white falling from the sky- even if its only for a minute.
Well, that's about it on my first day working in the UK. I'm sure as I get more to do, I will have more fun anecdotes to share.
posted by Jamie & John | 11:08 AM
1 Comments:
Colour me bad. You are so "fetch" (Mean Girls, c'mon people).
We have crowded trains in Chicago, too. The secret is not showering. The worse you smell, the more space you will have around you. Works wonders for me and Caitie.
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