Wednesday, 25 April 2012
1 Year
So as of last Friday it was one year since I started at Neon.
It was a crazy year last year with some pretty serious life events taking place - finding out Jill and I were having a baby, getting married, starting a new job, having Kenzie and of course the hospital time, travel, and stress that came from having a child with cardiac issues.
Thankfully, Neon was incredibly flexible ( far beyond what we could have expected ) in allowing me to take 5 weeks to be in Edmonton without any kind of reductions to salary or pressure to get back to work. That combined with the jobs considerable lack of stress compared to what I left at the deadline driven SAIT / Xerox environment - it was truly a godsend. The stress on the homefront was difficult enough without any outside factors.
Its been a great work year, and overall a great year ( despite the tough times ) - the job is good, Kenzie is doing well and scheduled for her full repair in May, Jill and I are still strong together and although we still have things on our plate, going forward all you can do is stay optimistic and work to better our lives and do what we need to to give us the best chance at happiness - I do believe everything will turn out good in the end, I can see that vision for us its just the road to getting there has had detours and taken us down some paths that we didn't plan on, but I think thats part of life. Whats that saying, 'You can plan a picnic but not predict the weather' ? Is that a saying or just some lyrics I remember from an Outkast song? Either way, its true.
A good year. Except for the Canucks. But thats ... another story entirely - At least there weren't riots. Anyway, I had a couple beer bought for me last week so that was really cool. A great work environment that when I come home from a day at work I'm in a good mood, happy to see my wife and baby girl. Pretty awesome, what more can you ask for?
Tuesday, 27 March 2012
The Race Results
The St. Patrick's Day 10k was a huge success!
So to recap I had two goals I set prior to running the race which were to finish the race in 55 minutes and raise $1000 for the Children's Stollery Hospital Foundation. Both of which were not only reached, but pretty much blown out of the water.
My official run-time for the race was 50 minutes 31 seconds, finishing four and a half minutes ahead of my goal with a pace of 5:04 per km, and finishing 42 overall in the race. Those results I'm definitely happy with.
The goal of reaching $1000 was actually reached in February so I doubled the goal and ended up with a total amount of $1796 raised for the Children's Stollery Charity. I didn't have any idea of how much funds I could actually raise, but to raise that amount was surprising and inspiring. Its not too hard to get psyched for a run looking at the amount of donations received and all the kind words from family and friends.
So Thank You everyone for donating and for supporting us (Kenzie, Jill and Me too!) through Jill's pregnancy, Kenzie's birth & hospital stay, right through to the run. Your support made this charity run a BIG success.
I will be posting some pictures and an update to the charity section of the website shortly so do stay tuned!
So to recap I had two goals I set prior to running the race which were to finish the race in 55 minutes and raise $1000 for the Children's Stollery Hospital Foundation. Both of which were not only reached, but pretty much blown out of the water.
My official run-time for the race was 50 minutes 31 seconds, finishing four and a half minutes ahead of my goal with a pace of 5:04 per km, and finishing 42 overall in the race. Those results I'm definitely happy with.
The goal of reaching $1000 was actually reached in February so I doubled the goal and ended up with a total amount of $1796 raised for the Children's Stollery Charity. I didn't have any idea of how much funds I could actually raise, but to raise that amount was surprising and inspiring. Its not too hard to get psyched for a run looking at the amount of donations received and all the kind words from family and friends.
So Thank You everyone for donating and for supporting us (Kenzie, Jill and Me too!) through Jill's pregnancy, Kenzie's birth & hospital stay, right through to the run. Your support made this charity run a BIG success.
I will be posting some pictures and an update to the charity section of the website shortly so do stay tuned!
Friday, 17 February 2012
Freelancer
Freelancer.com is a site that hooks up content providers (freelance designers like me) with clients looking for cheaper solutions than a design studio etc. Its Great. It has a huge range of jobs available and its free to become a content provider. The screenshot below shows the wide range of categories available.
There are limitations to a free account - mostly the number of jobs you are able to bid for in a given time period, but aside from that it costs nothing. The best thing even with a free account on Freelancer is the option to view 'Contests' held online where a client or seller hosts an open contest, has options to upload funds so the winner is guaranteed to get PAID ( leading to better design submissions ) and is open to providers to upload their best designs. These contest are free to enter (doesn't require any bidding), is structured as far as what the seller is looking for, has an Public Clarification section where you can have an open dialog discussing job requirements with the Seller, and probably most importantly for me has a time limit to submit.
The time limit doesn't allow me to procrastinate, its a firm deadline and if I want to get my work in its got to be done on time. This is advantageous for a few reasons, 1) even though my job is super sweet I love what I'm doing, I rarely have any pressing deadlines. I know, boo hoo right? But it is important to challenge myself with deadlines to stay on top of things as far as producing quality work within a set timeframe. Its crazy now I actually need to take on extra work to get my 'deadline fix', quite the opposite of a print shop. 2) Whether or not my design wins, its still practice and experience that adds to my overall skill in design, pitting me against other designers and providing a little healthy competition. Seeing other designer's work can be inspirational, plus seeing what has already been submitted often forces you to think outside the box to come up with a fresh take on the request. 3) Once the contest is over, move onto the next challenge. There is such a diversity of jobs and having the ability to pick and choose what contests to enter really makes this fun. At the very least I aim to enter one contest a week to keep sharp & challenge myself with the deadline aspect, work on a range of concepts, medium, and job requirements. The key to this is keeping busy. The absolute hardest part of contributing regularly to iStock is there is no deadline - its too open and I really need to be 'forced' by the looming deadline to get my ass moving. I'm a procrastinator by nature, so Freelancer.com thanks for being a dick and making me work on the weekends. I appreciate it ( really I do! )
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| Listing of Available Job Categories |
The time limit doesn't allow me to procrastinate, its a firm deadline and if I want to get my work in its got to be done on time. This is advantageous for a few reasons, 1) even though my job is super sweet I love what I'm doing, I rarely have any pressing deadlines. I know, boo hoo right? But it is important to challenge myself with deadlines to stay on top of things as far as producing quality work within a set timeframe. Its crazy now I actually need to take on extra work to get my 'deadline fix', quite the opposite of a print shop. 2) Whether or not my design wins, its still practice and experience that adds to my overall skill in design, pitting me against other designers and providing a little healthy competition. Seeing other designer's work can be inspirational, plus seeing what has already been submitted often forces you to think outside the box to come up with a fresh take on the request. 3) Once the contest is over, move onto the next challenge. There is such a diversity of jobs and having the ability to pick and choose what contests to enter really makes this fun. At the very least I aim to enter one contest a week to keep sharp & challenge myself with the deadline aspect, work on a range of concepts, medium, and job requirements. The key to this is keeping busy. The absolute hardest part of contributing regularly to iStock is there is no deadline - its too open and I really need to be 'forced' by the looming deadline to get my ass moving. I'm a procrastinator by nature, so Freelancer.com thanks for being a dick and making me work on the weekends. I appreciate it ( really I do! )
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
The 2012 Bucket List
Welcome 2012!
2011 was a very big year and although it would be tough to top all the life events of the past year - getting married, having a baby girl & to a much lesser degree starting my 'true' career off with a new job - I have a lot of optimism for 2012, the things I am going to pursue and the things I am (hopefully) going to accomplish.
This could be looked at as my New Year's Resolution, although that's not what inspired this post. But since I didn't make a resolution this year come midnight - and not because I don't think I need to make any changes, its just I didn't give it any thought prior to so the midnight resolution thing just went out the window, so I will need to call it something else. Besides, it doesn't really matter when the desire to change occurs (New Years or not), just so long as we feel the drive to change. So I will call this my 2012 Bucket List - without the whole terminally ill dying part. And limited to 2012. And I can add to it if I want. Alright, now that that's established, here we go.
First things first, with Kenzie being in the hospital and Jill and I staying at the Ronald McDonald House for as long as we did, I really feel the need to give back to RMH and the Children's Stollery in whatever way that I can. But we have a baby now and we're not rich, so we have to find other ways to contribute. Over the last couple of years I've wanted to supplement training with competitive/organized running and just didn't get motivated or take the steps needed to make it happen. So with my desire to give back to those that so kindly helped us out in our time of need ( and we will be back there for the second surgery ) coupled with my ambitions of running a race I have decided to run my first 10k Run on March 14, 2012 for the Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation - I am signed up, committed, and counting it down. The race itself is for Diakonos, which is another very good cause - The Diakonos Retreat Society is a non profit charity that helps the individuals' & families of Peace Officers, Firefighters, Emergency & Military Personnel cope with the challenges / risks of their profession. I think this is a great charity and I am eternally grateful that these people choose to enter these fields and do what they do on a daily basis because I can't even imagine the risks, stress, challenges and residual effects that these type of jobs would entail. I mean shit, I'm a graphic designer that had to get out of the print industry because it sucked balls and was stressful enough to the point of me hating my career choices and being majorly bummed out about having to go to work everyday. And that was dealing with paper, a far cry from life and death situations among many other things that these people deal with. My charity of choice, although not giving directly to the Diakonos Retreat Society, does overlap into this charitable field with Emergency Responders who are included in this bracket of remarkable individuals that endure the extreme risks, stress & challenges daily on the job.
So I will post a link to my Runningroom.com page where donations can be made (tax receipt available) and will be plugging the event over then next couple of months in hopes of raising ... as much money as possible. I don't have any idea of how much that could be at this point but I do hope its a bit of change because being in the hospital the amount of time that we were and the challenges my little girl Kenzie faced I was every bit appreciative of the facility, equipment, knowledge and expertise that was employed to see her safely to where she is now ( safe at home in her Mom's arms ). For sport, I am going to set myself a time goal that I want to finish the race - 10k in 55 minutes. Its a good challenge, not impossible but also not exactly a walk in the park. I would like to do a couple of races this year - its hard to say how many at this point but I hope for a second because I absolutely want to donate to the Ronald McDonald House because without that charity I have no idea what we would have done while in Edmonton. The whole setup is a godsend by providing very affordable housing, close proximity to the hospital, having volunteers stopping by to cook for families staying there ( very much appreciated after a long day at the hospital ) and being in a house with families facing similar challenges builds friendships and solid support groups. So this one is actually a two-parter ... giving back and getting off my ass (running a race).
This isn't part of the Bucket List right now, although its something that falls into the charity / giving back category. Donating our time at the RMH is also something that this family is going to do as a part of Kenzie's upbringing, although somewhat further down the road. Its important to Jill and I that we tell Kenzie how valuable the volunteers were to us when we were staying at the house, and then follow it up by giving our time, making a meal, etc and allowing her to see this value firsthand - Plus you just feel good when you do good for others. We will forever be tied to RMH and we plan to be active volunteers for a long time to show our thanks and gratitude for those who give selflessly for the benefit of other people. It really makes a difference.
Second, get on iStock and be a contributor. All this will require is, like above, is 'getting off my ass'. Setting aside time everyday or at the least every second day and work on something for an hour or two in the evenings. Balance my leisure time (what is that again?) with entrepreneurial work. Now I should also say that work in this case really isn't work, but more like honing my skills, being creative and playing on Illustrator. Not all that tough, although I like chillin' out some evenings and blasting some Xbox, watching a movie or something on the tube, or reading ... it's about discipline, Discipline, Discipline! This method of creating, enjoying what I'm doing, and earning extra income is better than applying and winning bids on freelance jobs, which is more like actual work. iStock first, if that is proving to be difficult then apply myself to freelancing and win some jobs the other way. Income is income and beggars can't be choosers. Although, if I get things rolling and up to par, I won't be the one begging! Thats the goal.
Third, I want to join a boxing / kickboxing class. There is a freebie class included in my Gold's membership at Northgate, but at a distance from what I've seen it might not be quite what I'm looking for. At the same time, it might be a good starting point just to get in there and try it out. Its not the technical instruction that I want, but it's probably pretty fun and a challenging workout, so I should try it for a week or two as a training supplement and see how things go. If it satisfies the craving maybe that will be that and I can jump into one or two of the classes a week and punch / kick things, maybe a person but probably not very hard because I'm sure they would be better skilled than I, and payback can be a bitch ( especially when its a fist to the noggin' ).
So I think thats it, hopefully get in two races and raise some funds for my favourite charities ( plus keep me in shape ), create create create some graphics for iStock and get selling, and join boxing / kickboxing or any martial art and learn a new skill-set.
2011 was a very big year and although it would be tough to top all the life events of the past year - getting married, having a baby girl & to a much lesser degree starting my 'true' career off with a new job - I have a lot of optimism for 2012, the things I am going to pursue and the things I am (hopefully) going to accomplish.
This could be looked at as my New Year's Resolution, although that's not what inspired this post. But since I didn't make a resolution this year come midnight - and not because I don't think I need to make any changes, its just I didn't give it any thought prior to so the midnight resolution thing just went out the window, so I will need to call it something else. Besides, it doesn't really matter when the desire to change occurs (New Years or not), just so long as we feel the drive to change. So I will call this my 2012 Bucket List - without the whole terminally ill dying part. And limited to 2012. And I can add to it if I want. Alright, now that that's established, here we go.
First things first, with Kenzie being in the hospital and Jill and I staying at the Ronald McDonald House for as long as we did, I really feel the need to give back to RMH and the Children's Stollery in whatever way that I can. But we have a baby now and we're not rich, so we have to find other ways to contribute. Over the last couple of years I've wanted to supplement training with competitive/organized running and just didn't get motivated or take the steps needed to make it happen. So with my desire to give back to those that so kindly helped us out in our time of need ( and we will be back there for the second surgery ) coupled with my ambitions of running a race I have decided to run my first 10k Run on March 14, 2012 for the Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation - I am signed up, committed, and counting it down. The race itself is for Diakonos, which is another very good cause - The Diakonos Retreat Society is a non profit charity that helps the individuals' & families of Peace Officers, Firefighters, Emergency & Military Personnel cope with the challenges / risks of their profession. I think this is a great charity and I am eternally grateful that these people choose to enter these fields and do what they do on a daily basis because I can't even imagine the risks, stress, challenges and residual effects that these type of jobs would entail. I mean shit, I'm a graphic designer that had to get out of the print industry because it sucked balls and was stressful enough to the point of me hating my career choices and being majorly bummed out about having to go to work everyday. And that was dealing with paper, a far cry from life and death situations among many other things that these people deal with. My charity of choice, although not giving directly to the Diakonos Retreat Society, does overlap into this charitable field with Emergency Responders who are included in this bracket of remarkable individuals that endure the extreme risks, stress & challenges daily on the job.
So I will post a link to my Runningroom.com page where donations can be made (tax receipt available) and will be plugging the event over then next couple of months in hopes of raising ... as much money as possible. I don't have any idea of how much that could be at this point but I do hope its a bit of change because being in the hospital the amount of time that we were and the challenges my little girl Kenzie faced I was every bit appreciative of the facility, equipment, knowledge and expertise that was employed to see her safely to where she is now ( safe at home in her Mom's arms ). For sport, I am going to set myself a time goal that I want to finish the race - 10k in 55 minutes. Its a good challenge, not impossible but also not exactly a walk in the park. I would like to do a couple of races this year - its hard to say how many at this point but I hope for a second because I absolutely want to donate to the Ronald McDonald House because without that charity I have no idea what we would have done while in Edmonton. The whole setup is a godsend by providing very affordable housing, close proximity to the hospital, having volunteers stopping by to cook for families staying there ( very much appreciated after a long day at the hospital ) and being in a house with families facing similar challenges builds friendships and solid support groups. So this one is actually a two-parter ... giving back and getting off my ass (running a race).
This isn't part of the Bucket List right now, although its something that falls into the charity / giving back category. Donating our time at the RMH is also something that this family is going to do as a part of Kenzie's upbringing, although somewhat further down the road. Its important to Jill and I that we tell Kenzie how valuable the volunteers were to us when we were staying at the house, and then follow it up by giving our time, making a meal, etc and allowing her to see this value firsthand - Plus you just feel good when you do good for others. We will forever be tied to RMH and we plan to be active volunteers for a long time to show our thanks and gratitude for those who give selflessly for the benefit of other people. It really makes a difference.
Second, get on iStock and be a contributor. All this will require is, like above, is 'getting off my ass'. Setting aside time everyday or at the least every second day and work on something for an hour or two in the evenings. Balance my leisure time (what is that again?) with entrepreneurial work. Now I should also say that work in this case really isn't work, but more like honing my skills, being creative and playing on Illustrator. Not all that tough, although I like chillin' out some evenings and blasting some Xbox, watching a movie or something on the tube, or reading ... it's about discipline, Discipline, Discipline! This method of creating, enjoying what I'm doing, and earning extra income is better than applying and winning bids on freelance jobs, which is more like actual work. iStock first, if that is proving to be difficult then apply myself to freelancing and win some jobs the other way. Income is income and beggars can't be choosers. Although, if I get things rolling and up to par, I won't be the one begging! Thats the goal.
Third, I want to join a boxing / kickboxing class. There is a freebie class included in my Gold's membership at Northgate, but at a distance from what I've seen it might not be quite what I'm looking for. At the same time, it might be a good starting point just to get in there and try it out. Its not the technical instruction that I want, but it's probably pretty fun and a challenging workout, so I should try it for a week or two as a training supplement and see how things go. If it satisfies the craving maybe that will be that and I can jump into one or two of the classes a week and punch / kick things, maybe a person but probably not very hard because I'm sure they would be better skilled than I, and payback can be a bitch ( especially when its a fist to the noggin' ).
So I think thats it, hopefully get in two races and raise some funds for my favourite charities ( plus keep me in shape ), create create create some graphics for iStock and get selling, and join boxing / kickboxing or any martial art and learn a new skill-set.
Wednesday, 14 December 2011
Kind People
Some people are fucking stupid - ignorant of others, what they are doing and how it might affect people around them or maybe they are aware and just honestly don't care (which is worse in my opinion because then you are just an asshole and worthy of a slap in the face). Attention Self-Centered Pricks! Breaking News!! You are not the only person on the planet!! There are more GOOD people than there are dickheads its just the wankers make more of a splash because they .. are .. well, loud obnoxious dickheads.
But not everyone.
In this difficult time over the last few months with everything that's happened with our daughter Kenzie I have encountered all kinds of people, some aforementioned above but I've also had the privilege of encountering others that act with such kindness and compassion that I can feel it reaching out to my soul. Their actions, sometimes their attitude or outlook on situations is inspiring - I can actually feel it nudging me in the direction of compassion, understanding and empathy for other people driving me to be a better person.
I want to thank everyone who has helped us through this time with Kenzie. This includes a long list of people that have supported us and in a variety of ways. Family - both my and Jill's parents - her brother Jason, my cousins Krista & Dave, Jill's Auntie Sue & husband Kerry to name a few and lots of support coming from friends and acquaintances. (Thanks Dennis, I think another case of beer is an order.) We've gotten prayers, support, and positive energy from people close to us, people from work, friends from all walks of life, new 'friends' in people we've met as a result of being in the situation at the hospital, doctors and nurses as well as complete strangers. Two shout outs here - the force of people in the Creston Valley adding their prayer support - lots of whom I probably don't know. Also, I got an email the other day from a former co-worker from the SAIT Xerox site that sat and prayed with a Tibetan monk specifically for our daughter Kenzie. That blew me away, (thank you Tsering) the support that we've got has been incredible. Thank you everyone for everything.
I also have to recognize the amazing company that I now work for. They have completely giving me the time and space to take care of the personal affairs going on, be it here in Calgary or in Edmonton. They genuinely care, the people at Neon Contractors are some of the best people I have ever had the privilege of working with and count myself extremely lucky to have found this new career path. I love the job, its a great mix of challenge, precision, & creativity and the finished product is something that I am proud of and love seeing around town. Its a great job combined with great people. I enjoy going to work everyday and have a fraction of the stress that I had in my previous job - it has truly been a godsend. The fact that I don't bring stress from work home into an already emotionally stressful situation with Kenzie has really been a key to survival through these hard times. Taking the "Work-Stress" factor out of the equation has literally helped me keep my sanity ( which at times is still questionable - so imagine where I'd be tacking that extra shit onto the top of the load ).
So thank you again everyone for your support, your kindness has inspired this post and is continuing to inspire me - hope can be as powerful as anything you are up against if you really believe that something good will come out of it - be it in a day, month, year or years - don't let any 'trial' be for naught.
But not everyone.
In this difficult time over the last few months with everything that's happened with our daughter Kenzie I have encountered all kinds of people, some aforementioned above but I've also had the privilege of encountering others that act with such kindness and compassion that I can feel it reaching out to my soul. Their actions, sometimes their attitude or outlook on situations is inspiring - I can actually feel it nudging me in the direction of compassion, understanding and empathy for other people driving me to be a better person.
I want to thank everyone who has helped us through this time with Kenzie. This includes a long list of people that have supported us and in a variety of ways. Family - both my and Jill's parents - her brother Jason, my cousins Krista & Dave, Jill's Auntie Sue & husband Kerry to name a few and lots of support coming from friends and acquaintances. (Thanks Dennis, I think another case of beer is an order.) We've gotten prayers, support, and positive energy from people close to us, people from work, friends from all walks of life, new 'friends' in people we've met as a result of being in the situation at the hospital, doctors and nurses as well as complete strangers. Two shout outs here - the force of people in the Creston Valley adding their prayer support - lots of whom I probably don't know. Also, I got an email the other day from a former co-worker from the SAIT Xerox site that sat and prayed with a Tibetan monk specifically for our daughter Kenzie. That blew me away, (thank you Tsering) the support that we've got has been incredible. Thank you everyone for everything.
I also have to recognize the amazing company that I now work for. They have completely giving me the time and space to take care of the personal affairs going on, be it here in Calgary or in Edmonton. They genuinely care, the people at Neon Contractors are some of the best people I have ever had the privilege of working with and count myself extremely lucky to have found this new career path. I love the job, its a great mix of challenge, precision, & creativity and the finished product is something that I am proud of and love seeing around town. Its a great job combined with great people. I enjoy going to work everyday and have a fraction of the stress that I had in my previous job - it has truly been a godsend. The fact that I don't bring stress from work home into an already emotionally stressful situation with Kenzie has really been a key to survival through these hard times. Taking the "Work-Stress" factor out of the equation has literally helped me keep my sanity ( which at times is still questionable - so imagine where I'd be tacking that extra shit onto the top of the load ).
So thank you again everyone for your support, your kindness has inspired this post and is continuing to inspire me - hope can be as powerful as anything you are up against if you really believe that something good will come out of it - be it in a day, month, year or years - don't let any 'trial' be for naught.
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
Leap of Faith
It has been a while since I've posted anything new and I need to stay 'in touch' with everything in my design world and that might require a little more effort on my part.
But to fill in a bit of the backstory, my wife and I recently had our baby girl and although she is beautiful and doing really well, she has a congenital heart defect ( which we found out about from around the 18 week mark of the pregnancy) and as a result of that we have to be in Edmonton for not only the birth, but subsequent surgery she will need on her heart. So temporarily relocating from Calgary to Edmonton is not the most desirable thing to do, but necessity rules and in the moment ( I find myself acting and really living in the moment a lot these days ) you really do what you need to do to get by. My wife is on her maternity leave from work so on that front we are covered, but as far as my work goes it left a bit of a problem. Which leads me to the point of this particular entry.
Taking a chance on the unfamiliar.
What has impressed me most about my employers, Neon Contractors, is the level of support, encouragement, and the lengths they have gone to accommodate me in this time of need. Sure, I recognize probably every company ( except if your employer was Ebenezer Scrooge would give their employee the time off that they need in a situation like this as a personal leave or leave of absence ) it is the fact that they feel confident enough in me and support me in allowing me to tele-commute or work from my temporary home at the Ronald McDonald house in Edmonton. This means no drop in pay, I am continuing to make my same rate of pay working from Edmonton, giving me the freedom to spend as much time as I need with my family and continue to work at my own pace, on whatever time schedule works for me, from wherever I can when I have the time ( say the cafeteria at the hospital, the 'Healing Garden' or anywhere else I can find a quiet spot ).
I know a lot of companies do things like this all the time, but for the 'family' of employees that work at Neon something like this hasn't been done before. They are pretty old school; the founder Cliff Thomas Sr. founded the company in 1955, cheques are issued and signed by the current GM Craig Thomas ( Cliff Sr.'s son ) and physically handed out on payday ( what is this 'direct deposit' you speak of? ), and there are three people currently on staff with over 30 years with the company. So to take a big step out of their comfort zone and show me the level of trust and support that they have, I am going to take every opportunity to show them that they are putting their faith in the right place.
I am extremely grateful for this opportunity as my family and I are well out of our comfort zone by being in another city, staying in a shared living environment, living the 'No Routine' routine that is the hospital life on a daily basis, being new parents, but thankfully not having to stress about finances like so many in similar situations.
This is far from an easy situation requiring a great level of dedication and perseverance to push out designs in a timely manner, but the flip side of this is that it is still a creative outlet and can help take my mind off the stressful situation that my wife and I find ourselves navigating daily, as best we can. This is an opportunity to prove that I am a reliable employee and the faith that is invested in me now may provide greater opportunity for myself in the future with Neon in terms of the odd days of tele-commuting once we have our baby girl back at home in Calgary.
But to fill in a bit of the backstory, my wife and I recently had our baby girl and although she is beautiful and doing really well, she has a congenital heart defect ( which we found out about from around the 18 week mark of the pregnancy) and as a result of that we have to be in Edmonton for not only the birth, but subsequent surgery she will need on her heart. So temporarily relocating from Calgary to Edmonton is not the most desirable thing to do, but necessity rules and in the moment ( I find myself acting and really living in the moment a lot these days ) you really do what you need to do to get by. My wife is on her maternity leave from work so on that front we are covered, but as far as my work goes it left a bit of a problem. Which leads me to the point of this particular entry.
Taking a chance on the unfamiliar.
What has impressed me most about my employers, Neon Contractors, is the level of support, encouragement, and the lengths they have gone to accommodate me in this time of need. Sure, I recognize probably every company ( except if your employer was Ebenezer Scrooge would give their employee the time off that they need in a situation like this as a personal leave or leave of absence ) it is the fact that they feel confident enough in me and support me in allowing me to tele-commute or work from my temporary home at the Ronald McDonald house in Edmonton. This means no drop in pay, I am continuing to make my same rate of pay working from Edmonton, giving me the freedom to spend as much time as I need with my family and continue to work at my own pace, on whatever time schedule works for me, from wherever I can when I have the time ( say the cafeteria at the hospital, the 'Healing Garden' or anywhere else I can find a quiet spot ).
I know a lot of companies do things like this all the time, but for the 'family' of employees that work at Neon something like this hasn't been done before. They are pretty old school; the founder Cliff Thomas Sr. founded the company in 1955, cheques are issued and signed by the current GM Craig Thomas ( Cliff Sr.'s son ) and physically handed out on payday ( what is this 'direct deposit' you speak of? ), and there are three people currently on staff with over 30 years with the company. So to take a big step out of their comfort zone and show me the level of trust and support that they have, I am going to take every opportunity to show them that they are putting their faith in the right place.
I am extremely grateful for this opportunity as my family and I are well out of our comfort zone by being in another city, staying in a shared living environment, living the 'No Routine' routine that is the hospital life on a daily basis, being new parents, but thankfully not having to stress about finances like so many in similar situations.
This is far from an easy situation requiring a great level of dedication and perseverance to push out designs in a timely manner, but the flip side of this is that it is still a creative outlet and can help take my mind off the stressful situation that my wife and I find ourselves navigating daily, as best we can. This is an opportunity to prove that I am a reliable employee and the faith that is invested in me now may provide greater opportunity for myself in the future with Neon in terms of the odd days of tele-commuting once we have our baby girl back at home in Calgary.
Thursday, 28 July 2011
3 Months with the New
So three months with the 'New' job and all is well.
In fact, it's absolutely the best move I could have made. The three month mark was kind of my probationary period - they were testing me out and I was getting used to the job and all that it entails - after which time I had my review. Which went something like this: My boss to me "Wow, three months already. We'll talk to Craig and bump your pay up as we talked about, I have no complaints, you've caught onto this pretty well. Just small things, attention to details - reading over prints one last time and that's it. We're happy to have you onboard and are pleased with your work."
Sweet.
It was a nice change to have the employer being aware of your start date and rate of pay increase (negotiated upon my hiring) and not having to track them down and twist any arms to get things rolling as I've had the experience of in the past.
It was also good to have the feedback, I have been a bit self-conscious on some of the projects I have worked on as far as me thinking that I am taking too long on it. Which isn't really a concern to them as much as it is to me - I need to slow myself down and not worry about how long something takes to do, just take my time and be meticulous in the details - which is definitely something I am capable of doing. I know that the "Get it done and get it out" attitude comes from the last few years working in the print industry where things were almost always a rush. Thinking back, over the last three months I've had two or three rush jobs (end of day deadlines) compared to the average of say ten-to-fifteen a day working in the print shop. Juxtaposed, its like night and day, the stress level at my job now is easily a quarter of what it used to be.
Although that might go up a bit over the next couple of weeks - my direct supervisor in the Art Department (which there are only two of us) is going on holidays for two weeks after the August long weekend - so that leaves Ol' Grindle holding down the art requests for the duration. Might get a bit interesting, but I handle that sort of thing well - and I've had plenty of 'training' in my last job. I actually like the opportunity to demonstrate my ability and prove my worth in situations like this.
The last three months have been good (with a stellar company bbq in there with beer o' plenty), the work is actually something I enjoy (95% of the time, every time), and I get to create designs I am proud to put my name on and enjoy seeing the finished product (post-production) throughout the city. This transition into the next 'phase' of my career has truly enhanced my (and Jill's too) quality of life and I am looking forward to continuing on with Neon and the everyday opportunities to grow as a designer.
In fact, it's absolutely the best move I could have made. The three month mark was kind of my probationary period - they were testing me out and I was getting used to the job and all that it entails - after which time I had my review. Which went something like this: My boss to me "Wow, three months already. We'll talk to Craig and bump your pay up as we talked about, I have no complaints, you've caught onto this pretty well. Just small things, attention to details - reading over prints one last time and that's it. We're happy to have you onboard and are pleased with your work."
Sweet.
It was a nice change to have the employer being aware of your start date and rate of pay increase (negotiated upon my hiring) and not having to track them down and twist any arms to get things rolling as I've had the experience of in the past.
It was also good to have the feedback, I have been a bit self-conscious on some of the projects I have worked on as far as me thinking that I am taking too long on it. Which isn't really a concern to them as much as it is to me - I need to slow myself down and not worry about how long something takes to do, just take my time and be meticulous in the details - which is definitely something I am capable of doing. I know that the "Get it done and get it out" attitude comes from the last few years working in the print industry where things were almost always a rush. Thinking back, over the last three months I've had two or three rush jobs (end of day deadlines) compared to the average of say ten-to-fifteen a day working in the print shop. Juxtaposed, its like night and day, the stress level at my job now is easily a quarter of what it used to be.
Although that might go up a bit over the next couple of weeks - my direct supervisor in the Art Department (which there are only two of us) is going on holidays for two weeks after the August long weekend - so that leaves Ol' Grindle holding down the art requests for the duration. Might get a bit interesting, but I handle that sort of thing well - and I've had plenty of 'training' in my last job. I actually like the opportunity to demonstrate my ability and prove my worth in situations like this.
The last three months have been good (with a stellar company bbq in there with beer o' plenty), the work is actually something I enjoy (95% of the time, every time), and I get to create designs I am proud to put my name on and enjoy seeing the finished product (post-production) throughout the city. This transition into the next 'phase' of my career has truly enhanced my (and Jill's too) quality of life and I am looking forward to continuing on with Neon and the everyday opportunities to grow as a designer.
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