*Happy Dances*

I know I haven't done Sock Monkey Monday for a couple weeks now, but I have a good reason! I have a job now! I am no longer a bum, hanging around the house, I am once again a productive member of society! *Snoopy dances* This also means that I don't have a lot of free time anymore, so it's going to be a bit tough getting the sock monkey entries (and the sock monkeys themselves) done.

I started the new job last Monday, so clearly Wee Ninja Muse is a good luck little ninja, because the job that I brought her along on the interview for is the job that I got. I made a Lucky Ninja for a friend, and I have to make another Lucky Ninja for another friend so that we can ALL have jobs.

To those of you who know me as a monkey maker, what I do is probably NOT what you'd expect. My last job, I made hematology controls-- that basically means I did a lot of things with a lot of blood. I think my primary job was to scare the temps though. With this job, I'm once again in the lab, but doing a MUCH less gory job-- I'm an Analytical Chemistry Technician. Mostly that means I test stuff. Which means that for the past week and two days, I've spent most of my time moving REALLY tiny pieces of product around with a pair of tweezers.

The main requirement for this job was the successful removal of the "Writer's Cramp" in the game Operation. Once I proved that I rocked at Operation (I have two different versions), I was a shoe in. Okay, so it wasn't QUITE like that, but I do really like where I work. I came up with a few things that sort of show what kind of company I work for now:

• I have a toy moose on my desk. Pretty much everyone does. They're standard issue. 
• My first day, my new boss brought me and the rest of the team (there are four of us total) out to lunch at a local pub. 
• There's a HUGE couch in the middle of the office area. This couch is comfy and no one gets mad if you sit on it. No one times you when you're sitting on it either!
• There are SNACKS, lots and lots of snacks! Gummy rats, pretzels, yogurt, bagels, and drinks to go with them. And not just coffee, but juice and seltzer too!
• Last Friday, we had a JUGGLER who juggled and made balloon animals!

 The only downside is that the commute is long, but now that I'm used to it, I don't mind the commute at all. I can sleep on the train, and I haven't used almost any gas for the car. I also haven't really spent any money on breakfast or lunch stuff beyond some stuff to make a sandwich because we have it all there.

I have to admit, I didn't think jobs like this existed. Sure, I've had jobs where they were okay with you taking an hour for lunch as long as everything got done, but that was about the only "perk" I've ever had, and I lost that when I went to the last company I worked for. This new job is a bit of a culture shock for me. I think I've said about 20 times my first day "we're allowed to do that?"

I'm used to being watched constantly, I'm used to being punished for punching in just ONE MINUTE late. I feel guilty when I go in and eat breakfast while sitting on the couch... even though that's what the couch is for. I'm used to scarfing down my lunch as quick as possible because 30 minutes isn't a lot of time if you have something that needs to be microwaved for 5 minutes, and having to count that time it will take me to walk to the time clock, etc.

None of those things apply at my new job. People don't grunt when you say good morning. People don't look at you like you have three heads when you say good morning. People are HAPPY there, and I know for sure that this company is far more productive than the other company I worked for. It's the little things, like free bagels that actually matter a lot. My last place didn't understand this. They were... all "stick" and no "carrot". For whatever reason, they never realized that it's easier to do something small, and make people HAPPY to work for you, than it is to FORCE people to work for you*. People will volunteer to take on extra work without extra pay, and things like that if you give them those little incentives. I know that for sure, I tend to recruit family and friends as monkey making assistants, and they do good work in exchange for pizza!

Speaking of which, Haunted Monkeyville will be debuting this week! Starting September 1st, there will be Halloween themed monkeys in the Etsy shop. Due to Irene, this will have to be a rolling debut, as the sewing machine doesn't work without electricity and we lost it here for most of Sunday. Also, I am COLLABORATING on a very, very exciting project that was set to debut at the same time, but while I have power, the wonderful and talented Melanie does not. Without her, the project will be *slightly* postponed.

We were lucky here in Monkeyville, all of the towns around us lost power from Sunday until sometime today. Other towns, not too far away STILL don't have power yet! I hope that everyone else has made it through the storm without any major tragedies.


*That job even had enforced merriment! The Christmas "party" was in the MIDDLE of the day, attendance was mandatory or you didn't get paid for that time, and it was just a really bland buffet lunch where we were only allowed soda or water to drink. It was also NOT friendly to anyone who doesn't celebrate Christmas (or vegetarians), as the only foods there were salad, pork with some kind of fruit, and cold pasta with shellfish. I ended up having salad and rice for lunch two years in a row because the first year I was a vegetarian and for the second the party fell right in the middle of Hanukkah! I don't eat Kosher most of the time, but around Hanukkah I do my best to.