New Job

I have been hired at my favorite bookstore. It's a used bookstore in Whittier, but I won't actually say the name in this post in case I ever want to complain. So far I don't. I've only worked four hours thus far, and I'm only scheduled eight hours a week for the near future (1-5 Tuesdays and Saturdays, come stop by!), although the owner is happy to add more hours as I pick things up, even, possibly, to fulltime. I say possibly since I'm not sure yet whether or not I want to do that. It would depend in part how good I can get at this and how much higher I can get my payrate to go. He told me what the maximum was when he hired me. If I could get it up to the maximum, that'd be great. We'll see whether he was thinking I could get that high in a couple years or in a much closer, much more helpful to me time period.

My first day, last Saturday, was good, although a bit tiring. There was a lot of information to take in. Used bookstores can be a bit more complicated than new ones, especially since the computer won't tell you whether or not we own a book; you have to know the store pretty darn well. Sad as it was, my feet were tired when I finished -- after only two hours. Physically, I felt much like I'd been at the mall, and I hate that feeling (includes a sort throat and headache). Fortunately it quickly faded with food and rest.

Last Tuesday was better. I spent a lot of time fixing a section of messy books with the owner, and the time kneeling and shifting from one position to another seemed to help. And reorganizing books is the sort of thing I do to destress. In fact, I noticed towards the end that I had mysteriously acquired a multitude of scratches on my right forearm. No blood, but many many pink raised lines. I guess I got carried away as I pushed, pulled and scooted books? Beats me. They were mostly gone the next day.

So, that's the new job. I'm excited about it, but also a bit scared it's not going to work out. Right now, I'd like to stay there indefinitely. But at my current level of pay, that just wouldn't be possible. We'll see.