95 Southbound Traffic and Financial Independence

So I started my new job in Laurel this past two weeks and it's great. I really enjoy it - a lot of the aspects of previous jobs that I loved are the main aspects of this job now. Mainly, talking to people and scheduling things, making sure things are in order and of course, inventory.

It's funny now that I think about it - every single job that I have ever held - whether it was working in Nordstrom's as a saleswoman (or more appropriately, girl), shaving Hawaiian shaved ice in a house in the middle of Timonium, a top commercial construction administrator for a local bank (and virtually sinking ship that I was lucky enough to jump off of before it began its dive into the financial deep end) or as a claims representative/specialist...I have ultimately always been "stuck" (for lack of a better word) with being the same person you'd come to request your 0.2 ball point pens from Uniball. Oh, and what was that? You wanted to make sure it was GEL ink because you like how smooth it glides across those sticky notes as opposed to the generic ink pens they have boxes and boxes of still unopened in inventory? Okay, yes, I'll make sure to buy the sticky notes with alternating sides of "stickyness" before you have a HEART ATTACK and die because the sticky notes don't fit into your AWESOME BLUE-COLORED DISPENSER.

Call me weird or maybe according to Disgrasian, I am just owning up to my Asian-ness but I really love doing the inventory purchases.

I love the thrill of the chase. A dozen pens for $12.99? I bet I can find the same ones for HALF of that through some quick keyword searching on the office supply website. Ohhhh yeah. You know it's a turn on when a woman can find not one carton but TWO cartons of copy paper for $24.99 each. Boo yah, bitches. Doncha wish your girlfriend was HAWT like ME?

The only new adjustments that I have made with this new job is actually having a purpose to waking up so God forsakenly early. Before I was waking up at 3 or 4 AM and aimlessly flipping through my external hard drive to find a movie that I hadn't seen at least a dozen times to try to lull me back to sleep for another hour before I needed to head out to the gym. Now - I legitimately can wake up at 3 or 4 and head to the gym, get a nice hour workout in and then take a shower and head into the wonders that await me on southbound 95.

Perhaps it is because I started this job in mid-summer, but the traffic southbound hasn't been as horrendous as I expected that it might be. It has actually been quite pleasantly - save for an occasional stop-and-go here and there. I think for me the worst part is trying to get HOME. 95 north headed back to Baltimore from Laurel, if you're not out on the road at 4:30 pm on the dot is suicidal. And when I say suicidal I mean me banging my head against the steering wheel hoping to cause permanent hemmorage to my frontal lobe so that it may ease the HORRIBLE EXCRUTIATING PAIN that is the moving parking lot of 95 north. UGH!!

I have also been trying really hard to get back on the financial bandwagon. Not that I had fallen off completely, but you know - losing two jobs within a two year span is not the best thing in the world. Not something that I would wish even on my worst enemy (okay... who I kidding... I would, I would.) And it took me a year and some change to get financially stable with the job before last... and then I got laid off. And then I found a new job that gave me a significant pay cut, no benefits but the work hours of a work horse. No fun. And now I am at this job with awesome benefits, working my way hopefully to a brighter future. It's going to take some time but I've got patience even though sometimes it may not feel like it to myself. I just have to remember the bigger picture and realize that all the suffering today is worth tomorrow's win.