Grey

a review of (amongst other things) week one working with the new company
Location: port macquarie

Departure Day - Ok so i probably should have padded my schedule more. And going straight out of a nightshift weekend (admittedly i felt unwell and didnt attend my saturday shift, but my sleep pattern was out nonetheless).
I still had banking to do to finish off my brief employment as Area Manager for a homewares catalogue, and rushed out to do that first thing after a handful of hours' sleep.
Whilst going over the gentle grade of a pedestrian crossing, a heard a bang and did wonder what had happened, but, since nothing was jumping out at me, thought no more of it until the return drive seemed heavier and more lopsided than usual.
Somehow, i'd blown a tire.
I eased the car home the short way and reflected in a relieved flood of thoughts that thank the gods i wasn't depending too much on my car to get me out and away today. Amongst these thoughts also came 'meh i'll deal with it in 6weeks'.
These truths aside, i was now behind schedule.
I caught the next train into Adelaide and onboard calculated my arrival, travel to the airport, and departure times, and realised that if i caught the airport bus i'd never make it.
Off the train and like a flash up to the taxi rank, where i threw my bags into the backseat and hustled the driver inside telling him 'i need to get to the airport NOW!'
Caught in the morning traffic i watched my check-in deadline tick by and train in vain to find an alternative online via my phone.
When we arrived at the airport i hurried nonetheless and forced the attention of a staff member who had all the time in the world to do everything but notice the desperate bag-laden girl trying to be patient in waiting for her to finish a casual staff goss chat and fiddle with papers.
Until the second she said 'ok i JUST made it, they're boarding now' she was the most rude insipid bane of my existence inconsiderate blight of the customer service field i had ever encountered... but then somehow, i'd even dare to say 'as if by magic!', she became my ultimate hero and butterflies began to explode from her head, and rainbows spilled from her ears, and invisible birds began to sing, and the sun broke through the ceiling and shone a golden halo on her perfect angelic face....
But i noticed none of this. I took my boarding pass, asked 'ummmmm, can i have my ID back now? Yeah thanks' and ran.

The rest of that day, and indeed that week, is not nearly as interesting. Well, not in the witty narrative deserving way anyway.

Basically i made my connecting flight and arrived in Port Macquarie in time. My team picked me up and we went back to our holiday apartment (The Sandcastle, do stay there if you've a chance...and the budget! :z).

After dinner (we took turns cooking for everyone), given my sleep deprived adrenalin filled travel day, I conked out like a nanna at about 8:30pm.

Working Week - The problem with starting a new job which is so similar to an old job is that in a way you have to concentrate harder than if you were starting from scratch.
This past week my buzzphrase has been: must learn, relearn and unlearn.
Learn things I never did as a photographer before: promoting, approaching/stopping customers to try to bring them in to the set, reciting a spiel
Relearn things I've forgotten in the 3 years since being a portrait photographer: what sells, composition/posing, making kids laugh, what different kids like and are capable of at varying ages.
Unlearn all the things that I recall that are different here: terminology, methods that are either better or not as good as what i've been trained to do (it must be said that more often than not i've found it to be the former), the rigid Top Ten Rules of Composition that was drilled into me for months and months and months that are not enforced here to allow creativity, depending on props and colours to make each shot differ from the other.
And a plethora of other examples.

For most if this past week I questioned whether I had made the right choice. I wondered whether my memory had done what memories do best and only showed me the good parts of this work, and buried any bad parts for me to rediscover now.

On reflection, some of this doubt was self induced, being too impatient with myself to get everything right straight away. Also we had some quiet days where there was nothing to do but stand and try to coax customers in... And thats not much fun at all.

Saturday went alot better. We were steadily busy all day and even went over schedule to fit extra sittings in. I found myself having a more pleasant time when I didn't notice its passing, and felt better that there were good days like the ones I remember after all.

Takeoff Time - right now I'm sitting at the airport waiting for my journey to Melbourne to start.
I was informed when I was dropped off that I won't be getting a day off this week, so no doubt there will be a small delay before another update whilst I use most of my free time soothing my sore feet.
Payday on Wednesday, i think new shoes are in order.

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