Jobs I have had

LauraC posted this a couple of weeks ago after reading it on Lindsay's blog... and now I am going to do the same thing. It's kind of wild looking back (and trying to remember!) all the things I have done to get me to this point...

1986 - 14 years old

My first job that I remember getting a real paycheque for was picking strawberries. It was insane work - backbreaking... and we earned like 0.14 per pint that we picked. WHY DID I DO THIS? On top of the actual work - I was 14 - so I had to RIDE MY BIKE to the farm. AT 5:30 AM! And it was like 4 miles! AND I WAS FOURTEEN! What was my mother thinking??

1987 - 15 years old

I think it was around 15 that I started working in food service. I did a week or so at a bakery in Port Perry but got fired for calling in sick (but went snowmobiling instead. Damn head baker saw me on the lake.) Shortly thereafter I landed a job as a dishwasher at The Murray House restaurant in Port Perry. Dishes turned to prep and eventually desserts - and then when I was old enough to serve alcohol (18) I actually was on the floor. That was a crazy place - awesome food - my first intro to really, really good food and wine. I worked off an on here for 3 years.

1988 - 90 Summer jobs

Kariann and I worked at Oakridge golf course together I think for two or three summers. Kitchen duties, cleaning and checking in golfers. We were unsupervised a lot of the time, but we were very trustworthy and did a great job for that course. It was fun!

1991,92 Summers

During College, I spent my summers working for EDS in the tape library or print shop. 12 hour swing shifts. I am not sure how I survived... both the hours, and the mind-numbing work. EDS was good though - it got me to where I am today... keep reading...

1992-93 - OGH

While finishing my Medical Laboratory Technology internship, I worked part time as a phlebotomist picking up night and weekend work. Excellent! It was UNION! I earned an assload of money!!

1993 - 1995

Back to waitressing with some side work at the lab. Times were tough for anyone working in health care in Ontario - the NDP about drove it into the ground. No jobs anywhere - especially for recent grads. So - I worked at Grandview Inn in Huntsville, as well as the John Street Pasta Works... those were good times. We worked, drank, slept and spent the summers in the water. I will never, until the day I die - have as much money in my pocket as I did during those waitressing days. Unreal. Huntsville, Ontario is this little gem of a town right smack dab in the middle of cottage country. It's gorgeous, well-heeled and an amazing place to visit or live.

1995 - 23 years old

I finally decided I needed to grow up and find a career... and health care wasn't going to work out. There was lots of part time - but that meant no benefits. I decided to head back to EDS... my manager that I had worked for during the summers called me out of the blue one day, and told me they had two temp spots. One was on the "Novell Team", the other on the "NT" team. I could take my pick. I knew nothing about what he was saying, nor had I ever used a computer for anything other than my resume, or results entry in the lab.

I picked the NT team.

I was with EDS until 1998... started off in the Backup group - ended up working with "the boys" in the lab... traveled all across Western Canada doing server and workstation upgrades, sent to NC in 1997 to start up the USPS account with a small core team that grew to almost 1000 people, then the UK for 3 months to work on a government contract... and back home to Canada. It was crazy and I learned almost everything I know today on the job. I was the poster child for learning on your feet!

I met Ken in 1996 at EDS. He was my "team lead" during our road trip out West to upgrade the CIBC systems. He then moved with me to Raleigh ( I was the one recruited for that gig) and together we went to the UK.

1998 - 1999

CIBC Wood Gundy - I worked as an analyst/PM for the bank... whom I had supported from the other side while at EDS. By this time Ken had his own consulting thing going, and it was easy living in the big city. We were engaged and planning our wedding... and then... by a complete fluke... SAS called Ken for an interview.

We had met and worked with our friend Leah while TDY'd to Raleigh in '97. She ended up leaving EDS and going to work for SAS in 1998 I think... and for some strange reason she had a copy of Ken's resume. One of the guys on her team was leaving SAS to walk the AT - and they needed an NT engineer/programmer QUICK. She dropped his resume on her managers desk...and he called!

We had already been planning a trip to Raleigh as vacation in April of 1999 to visit our friends that we had left behind when we went to the UK... so while down here golfing, Ken interviewed and was offered the job. I applied and was offered a position later that summer. What a package deal!

2000 - present - SAS

I started at SAS on Jan 2, 2000. Right when the whole world was supposed to fall apart with the Y2K bug... but it didn't. SAS is unlike any company I've worked for before... it's completely family friendly and the work environment is like no other. It's definitely surreal, and I know how lucky I am to have found and taken advantage of this opportunity.

Still - even though I am SO grateful and happy to have a job - there is something missing. I am not yet sure what it is, or what it means, or what to do - but there is that little glimmer of *something* that sits in the back of my head. I like what I do - but it's not all I can do. Does that make sense? There IS something else, something more, something different - that I probably should be doing - but I have to figure it out and chart the path.

Right now though - I am happy to be here, plugging away. My baby is across the street, my manager is terrific and my team is awesome. Really - I ought not to be thinking about much else I guess.

:)