One Month

I successfully passed the one month mark for my new job this week. That means there's only another 23 months of making light bulbs, or another 7 months in Kentucky. 7 months is entirely manageable. I can handle anything for 7 months, right?

Over the past month, I have learned a good number of lessons about work life, Sylvania, and manufacturing. Among them:

• Glass breaks. Just try not to break the important glass.
• Looking cute for work is overrated. Even looking nice for work is pushing it.
• HR will do everything to thwart you. Do not be afraid to check up on them daily.
• When the boss is gone, you don't have to work as hard.
• "As long as you need me" is always the wrong answer on a Friday afternoon.
• Minitab feels like cheating but makes everything look like magic.
• Engineering is not necessarily what you thought it would be. Pick up the skills required for what it is and do what you need to.
• Although you are not allowed in the Mercury Room, you are allowed in the Mercury Lab. This is less exciting than you think.
• There are a lot of office politics, no matter where you work. Staying out of them is hard and may be detrimental to career development.

Some of these took multiple incidents to learn. I probably had to stain 3 shirts before I grasped that second one. The third point I'm still getting after HR has messed up my a)benefits b)paychecks c)orientation and d)corporate credit card. It will probably take several more mistakes to really cement that in my head.

So, one month down and I am smarter than when I started. 23 more months of making light bulbs. I can survive anything for 2 years.