The Real Pat Blair

Today was my second day of work. I arrived home and found in the mail my paycheck for Day 1. I gotta say, that, so far, I like the way they work.
My (unusually large) training class also has several people that are coming from Ames. Today our car-pool grew from 3 to 4. Hooray for cheap!
Oh, yeah, and I’ve read 160+ pages about securities markets in the last 20 hours. What’s not to love?

So, if you haven’t heard, I got a job. No, a real job. A paying job.
I will be commuting to Des Moines (motto: Our roadways were designed by drunken 4-year-olds - because that’s who uses them!) to answer the phone-calls of customers who have their retirement plans with my employer, a global financial institution that provides various insurance, banking, and asset management services. And let me tell you, boy am I excited. Sorry, there was supposed to be an exclamation point there, but my keyboard refused to be fraudulent. In all honestly, I am becoming less enthusiastic every day.
First reason: the way my life has been going, I am having creepy flashbacks to May 2003 when I was about to start my first job with a large property and casualty insurance company, which was a 1.5 year experiment in self-flagellation (oooh… somebody’s read the DaVinci Code). Starting with the interview, I have been getting a vibe that this is going to be more of the same. On the plus side, I get benefits starting immediately (which is INSANE - nobody does that), and they are paying more significantly more than I made at the other place - after TWO PROMOTIONS. So there is that.
Second reason: I have a mound of paperwork, approximately 7 feet tall, that is supposed to be filled out before I start. I would much rather do this while ON the clock, especially since some of the SEC stuff looks about as detailed and exciting as a prostate exam (I’m guessing). Accordingly, I have been putting it off. On the plus side, they are paying me to get my Series 6 license, which is useful in many jobs, as well as just a general résumé enhancer.
Third reason: As things are shaping up, I already have enough to do to give me a very busy and fulfilling summer without the addition of 40 non-flexible hours of work per week. Plus side: I get a ridiculous amount of vacation time. Rebuttal: I can’t use it while in training… for the next THREE MONTHS.
Forth reason: I did some rough calculations as to how I’m going to spend my salary, by month.
Jan, Feb, March, April - Taxes.
May - The car repairs I just had done so that I could commute safely and get better gas mileage.
June, July - Gas. This might be optimistic, too.
August, September, October - Rent, utilities, cost of living stuff, insurance.
December - Therapy for the realization that I have worked hard for an entire year and have little to show for it, followed by the realization that I have lived for [edited] years with similar results.
On the plus side, if you happen to catch me in November, I’ll be one free-spending, happy camper!
Look out world, here I come! Again.