Thanks all! This weekend is the official weekend I moved from my old job to my new one, and as fate would have it, I ended up with a 4-day weekend (4 and a half if you count the fact my shift doesn't start until mid-afternoon on Tuesday). My new boss gave me the Tuesday-Saturday shift, which I don't mind much. The only downer is that I'll be missing my regular D&D group for the forseeable future, but they totally understand, as they all have jobs as well, and know all about schedule changes, and I was only of only two attendees who had even quasi-regular schedules, and could thus regularly attend, so they're totally cool with the new schedule.
I got the standard schpeal from my new boss about what to expect, and how for the first couple months, the phone calls would pretty much drop to nothing after about 6 PM, seeing as we're one of the first regional IT sections that hired people on board, and most of the calls we've been getting thus far have been 1-2 calls an hour on average from local places. Once everyone else gets hired on board for these regional IT slots, which will take about a year or so, give or take, even then it'll only, at it's worst, be moderately busy, since my shift will be from 3:30-12mid.
Oh yes, and I got an e-mail from the payroll folks confirming officially that all the hours that I work after 6 PM will have the 10% night differential pay tacked onto them. There was some debate for a couple weeks, since we were considered "Regional" employees as opposed to "Facility" employees, as to whether we would get it, but the Union was adamant that we would get it just the same as facility employees. That means I'd be getting just shy of $200 per paycheck before taxes, since they factor in a half-hour lunch into their math. Not a big difference really, since the extra half hour of night-time differential pay per night amounts to about $17 a paycheck before taxes. Hardly worth squabbling over for my dream job
But at any rate, this new job will afford me to be able to not only take better care of my plants in the new hydro system, but I can also do things like go back to my doctor, and take care of a few lingering health issues I've been ignoring for the better part of a year, without having to take a half-day of sick leave. Nothing life-threatening or critical, but still, it'd be in my best interest if I took care of them sooner rather than later. Plus, I think the fact I'll be able to sleep in will only serve to help with some of those health issues, seeing as I usually have had a hard time getting enough sleep for the better part of a decade now, and I think it has caught up with me a little bit health-wise.
But I think the most important thing though, is that I'll begin to save money in earnest. The past two years, I've managed to pay off some massive credit card debt, my car loan, a line of credit for my furniture, and a couple other items, and with this promotion, I can now pay off my two remaining credit cards, which shouldn't take very long at all, and also begin putting money aside for the down payment on a house. Unless of course, I win the lottery
to a new adventure!
