This is a quote that I found by W. Edwards Deming and I think it sounds pretty damn good. I think everyone needs to and will go through changes in life. Some for the better, and some for the worse. It could be a slight change in your lifestyle, a change of scenery, or a change in jobs. For me, the job change is what I’m currently going through.
By this time next Friday, I will have worked at this company for nineteen months. The time seems to have flown by, maybe because my last job lasted for just over five years. I have a hard time staying entertained with one thing and feel I always want to change. But when it comes to a job, I usually just grind it out for as long as I can, because I know I have a lot of bills that need paid somehow. I do take risks, but now that I have a house and other responsibilities, I try not to let my finances get caught up in any kind of risk.
There are many reasons why I feel this is the time to move on from my current employment situation and try something new. Not totally new. I mean it’s still going to be based around graphic/web design, but maybe a different change of pace is the phrase I’m looking for. I am currently in a company of two people (the smallest company I’ve ever been in) and will be working in a company of over one hundred employees (the most of I’ve worked with) in less than two weeks. I think the company I’m at is just way too small for me, and maybe the “advertising agency” or “design firm/studio” atmosphere is also not for me. Or maybe it’s just the situation. I don’t know, but I think I’ll be happier in my new setting being one-fourth of the in-house art team at the new company.
And in these economic times, it seems that leaving a company might not be the best idea. Trust me, I’ve thought about this over and over. I’m comfortable in my position here and I feel somewhat secure. But how secure? I don’t know! With only two employees and only a few clients, I’ve been worried at times that it could end any day. Sure I want to think positive and believe these clients will be with us forever and that I shouldn’t worry about it. But I have too many bills and other things going on in my life to have to stress about my job. If I really sit down and think about all the jobs I’ve ever had, and how many I was truly happy at, I can only think of a couple or few at most. I think I’ve worked at about ten jobs over the last almost fifteen years. (Ya, I started working an after-school job in eighth grade so I could buy a pager!) I just always came to the conclusion that jobs suck and they always will. Find a company that will pay me a decent amount and that I can handle for forty hours a week. Well, I think I’ve recently said, screw that mindset. I need to find a very successful company that has great people, decent pay, great benefits, other perks, and gives me a job that I can be happy about doing for forty hours a week. And I think I have found it.
This will actually be my first real job north of Dayton. All of my past jobs have been south, and have been quite a drive from home. This is a decent drive, but little to no traffic, I can take back roads, and I won’t have to pay for parking! In fact, driving ten miles from my house to the parking garage downtown will take me the same amount of time driving twenty-five miles north. Right around thirty minutes. I can deal with that. I just hope it doesn’t get too bad during the winter months. Still the main reason I hate Ohio… winter. But after a half hour of driving, I will be sitting at my new desk getting to do something I’ve never had the chance to do at any job… listen to music through my headphones! I know, it sounds like a stupid perk, but to me, it’s the small things that count too. For the past seven years, I have been working in environments that are almost identical to libraries. Complete silence! I have dealt with that since I can be a quiet person and come off as shy, but now I’ll finally be able to sit back and crank up the hair metal on my iPhone.
Another great benefit at the new company is getting to work with a couple people that I already know. It will make it a lot easier to fit in. I actually went to art school with both of them and got along great with them through both years. I haven’t seen them in over eight years and it was just like we seen each other the other day. So I already know we’ll understand each others dumb jokes all day and reminisce about the days at SAA. Speaking of SAA, one day a group of us ventured out on our lunch break to a nearby Mexican joint. I had never heard of it, but one of the guys, Zach I think, claimed we had to try one of their massive burritos. Whatever, I was down for anything (although I’m a very picky eater, Mexican is my favorite, I knew I could find something to eat there). If you haven’t guessed the restaurant by now, you probably don’t know me very well. Yes, I’m talking about one of the best restaurants ever invented, Chipotle. Since that day, I’ve probably ate Chipotle, on average, at least once a week. I’ve been known to have it twice in one day. It’s beyond words. If you do not enjoy this restaurant, please, close your browser right now and do not come back. Oh, my point… there is a Chipotle within ten minutes from my new job, and it’s actually one I’ve never been to.
Let’s see, what else am I excited about… Oh, I will get to drive my bodydrop when it’s nice out. The roads up north are far superior to these downtown, construction-filled, potholes they call roads. I have huge billet aluminum wheels with crazy small tires. I drove my minitruck to work one day downtown, and I’ll never do it again. How my wheels didn’t bend, I’ll never know. Of course winter is fast approaching, but I think there will be a handful of days I can get the truck out and cruise an inch off the ground at sunrise, which is basically my favorite time to drive. And usually the more north I go, or deeper into the country I go, the more confused people there are when they see a truck just laying on the ground. I’ll probably wait a few days before I get it out of the garage at seven in the morning and get a bunch of coworkers staring at me like I’m there to break into their cars. I mean I already have to deal with probably being the most tattooed worker at a new company.
Today is Thursday, October 21, and I was ready to publish this, but I think I am going to wait until sometime next week to publish this. I mean anyone in the world will have access to this, and I think it might be best if I’m closer to exiting this company before some of this leaks out. I don’t think I’ve hurt any feelings in this, I’m just being honest. This is the truth in my eyes and I need to vent, and writing is the best way I know how to do that. And stay tuned, I’m sure I’ll have an update about how the new job is going. Crazy to think that I won’t be sitting in this seat much longer in this quiet office in Downtown Dayton. There have been some good times, some bad times, and a lot of grinding. I’m ready to see what the next chapter has in store for me in this book called life.