Vacation is nearly over

My two-week vacation is nearly over. Originally, I had three weeks of vacation planned. I wish that I had kept it on the one hand. I do feel that it is best to keep it at two weeks. I may not want to work again if I do three weeks!

I train a new intern on Monday. My manager originally thought that he'd get involved in training. Frankly, I see that being a disaster, as he doesn't have the skills to answer specific questions related to our authoring tool. So, I decided to cut my vacation short and take this remaining week of vacation after my two weeks of training delivery are over.

I earned an extra week of vacation last year thanks to hitting my ten-year work anniversary. It's unfortunate that I can't travel due to the pandemic. However, it has been nice taking time off from work and doing whatever I feel like doing, even if it's just lounging at home.

I spent my first few days doing nothing but relaxing. I then moved to cooking, baking, organizing, and driving around. It has been great. I have enjoyed unwinding.

Sharing my thoughts about my intern

Today was my intern's last workday. I'll write about today tomorrow.

Yesterday, our team was asked to say a few words about him in our virtual meeting. I liked what I said to him. It was heartfelt and he appreciated it.

I said that it was a pleasure training and working with him. I told him that from his first two weeks to the growth that I have seen in him to become the writer that he currently is has made me so proud of him. 

I thanked him for being my wingman when going out to grab a bite to eat. I also liked that we bonded over the university that we chose to do our undergraduate degree. I looked forward to his joining me as an alum soon.

Over the course of his twelve-month term, I have been good in letting him know how he was doing. I'm glad that I did. I will miss working with him.

Interns and coincidence

For the past year, I have trained and worked with my intern. He has three days left before his work term is over.

During this same period, we have also worked with another intern. This one is a software developer.

Yesterday, I had a call over our lovely chat tool to talk about what could be his final contribution in his work term. Like my intern, this one is equally as bright and hard-working.

I took the time to say that I have enjoyed working with him. He appreciated it. He said that my intern has always spoken highly of me. It was nice of him to say.

I liked his story about how he was driving his girlfriend home one evening. He found out that his girlfriend and my intern live on the same street. Small world!

Booking flight, train, and cell phone plan for European work trip

On Wednesday, I spent roughly half my workday booking my flight and train tickets for my upcoming work trip. I dislike how strict certain rules imposed by my company are.

My destination is a remote part of Sweden. It's actually more convenient to fly into Copenhagen and then take a train to this town.

I booked my flight. Going to Copenhagen was fine. The challenge is booking a flight back home, keeping in mind that the train ride to get back to the airport is three hours.

I wanted to take an afternoon flight. This flight selection got flagged by the travel booking system that I was using as being more expensive than the recommended flight. So, my departure schedule consists of taking the first train out on a Saturday at 6 am and getting to Copenhagen airport by 9 am. I then have two hours to board my flight.

It's doable, provided that everything is on time. I don't like travelling under tight circumstances.

The roughest part of my travel plans is actually after I land at Copenhagen airport. I have two hours to find the train station. Normally, it's one train to this town. On this particular weekend, it's a train-bus-train route. Each segment is roughly an hour. I have eleven minutes to transfer. Again, I hope that it's enough time. Luckily, all three segments run practically every hour.

I also went ahead and got a SIM card for my phone. It comes with a gigabyte of data and a fixed number of minutes for calls. I can use it anywhere in Europe, so it'll cover my Denmark-Sweden visit just fine. It should get to me in a week.

I don't mind researching travel route and plans. They are definitely more enjoyable when I am planning a vacation than a work trip!

Job analysis and prospective interview

On Thursday morning, i had to give a presentation to my entire team, which consists of over twenty writers from four different locations.

My presentation went well. I had a couple of technical issues. Otherwise, I was pleased with how it went.

I train folks and meet with students so often that speaking in front of groups doesn't rattle me like it used to. Sure, I still get a little nervous. To me, that's normal. It simply means that I care about what I am doing.

I ended up with an odd acknowledgement from my manager in our team meeting later on that day for whipping together a high-level process description for something that I do often. He normally doesn't make such an acknowledgement in front of the team. It was sweet that those in the room clapped. Perhaps my manager realized how valuable I am as an employee.

I am the longest-serving writer in our group and am the overall team lead for it. It has taken me a while to build up to this stage in my career.

With the job interview on Friday, I assessed whether I would be happy in that position. I wouldn't be a team lead. I wouldn't be coaching other writers. I wouldn't be training students. I love all these aspects of my job.

Sure, I would be saving in highway toll fees, travel time, and gas. I would also be taking a pay cut. It's interesting, but money has never been my main motivator. It's how I feel about the job that makes me happy.

All my development work, meaning writing to support our software products, will go to two other writers. I will focus on a migration tools task, performance statistics, and process work.

I have wanted a change and a reduction in my workload for a while. I will continue training students, supporting my team, and more. I like this change.

I made the difficult decision to decline my interview on Friday. It feels right. The recruiter was understanding. It is the first time in my life where I have declined coming in for a job interview.

I let my guy know. As usual, he is supportive. Whatever makes me happy, makes my guy happy, too. As usual, he is his sweet self.

Meeting new employees over lunch and finding out that I am appreciated

While I was away on vacation, we had three new employees joining our team. I am typically the one who trains anyone new who joins our team. For the last couple of waves of new hires, one of my co-op students has been doing it.

It's nice to get some of this work off my plate. It's reduces my workload and stress. My co-op student realized the first time that she did training that it requires a lot of water and admitted that she doesn't know how I can talk so much!

Getting back to the three new employees, I hadn't officially welcomed them to the team. I did it through an e-mail before I left for my vacation. I didn't feel too bad, though. After all, I had interviewed all three of them.

On Friday, I got to sit down and have lunch with them, as well as a few other colleagues. Our team has a weekly lunch on Friday. No one is obligated to go, but I then to go because I like food and don't want to pack a lunch that day. It was great catching up with them over a leisurely meal.

While I was away, my manager took over working with my three students. It's funny, but one of them told me that my manager admitted to them that I do more work than he realized and that he was appreciative. Perhaps I should go on vacation for extended periods and make my manager even more appreciative of what I do!

Snow and a snowday

It appears that I will be working from home on Tuesday, which is today. It is going to snow all day. I can't complain.

I don't enjoy driving in a snowstorm. Many drivers around me aren't decent winter drivers. I would rather stay home than spend two hours trying to fight my way to get to work.

Monday was an odd day, but things worked out. The uncertainty of whether the other co-op student was finally answered. I managed to train both of them. However, only one of them got a laptop. The other one will get a laptop later on today.

I showed them how to connect to a meeting remotely. It was my contingency plan in case the pending snowstorm would prevent us from meeting, which looks like it will be the case.

These students are great. I have missed working with co-op students who are responsive. So far, so good.

March questions: Music, trains, and personality types

I received these wonderful questions from SheandHim:

What is your favourite genre of music? 

Such a tough question! I love music. I used to go to many concerts in a year. Perhaps I averaged a concert a month. These days, I am more selective. 

I like 80's synthesizer or electronic music the most. I have a weakness for Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, Erasure, Howard Jones, Thompson Twins, and many more. I am tuned in to the 80's channel on Sirius XM radio. 

I do listen to all types of music. I have an extensive collection of songs. My iPod classic has over 22,000 songs! 

Have you ever ridden a train? 

I have. We have commuter trains in the greater Toronto area called GO trains that take you from various cities and towns. I loved being on it after work. The first stop took nearly twenty minutes to get there, so I had a decent nap. 

I have also taken the train from Metuchen, NJ to Penn Station in New York City when I was in Piscataway on a business trip. It was quite the experience that I wouldn't trade for the world! 

Are you easygoing or are you a worrier? 

I have been told that I am both easygoing and a bit of a worrier. I have a relaxed personality, which helps when things are stressful. I do worry about things, but it isn't to the point where I can't sleep or relax. I think it's a healthy version of being concerned.

Thanks for your answers! If you have questions that you would like me to answer, please leave them in the Comments section. I'd be happy to answer them.