A Little Awkward

So I have officially been offered, and accepted, a new job. I will begin around the first of October, per an arrangement between my current and new employers. While my old boss is pretty cool about me leaving, especially since I am willing and able to stay until after the conference, and my new boss is flexible about me easing into things, it still feels a little weird. I am somewhat busy with the conference, and am working on wrapping up/handing off tasks, but the truth is I am really only staying because no one else could have done the conference on short notice. So while the same old drama and gossip goes on around me, now it doesn't even affect me indirectly, except for having to listen to it. It's a rather strange dynamic indeed.

I spent yesterday afternoon at the new place, which was also a little strange. We mostly sat around visiting, asking and answering questions about the revisions to the job description, meeting people, getting a parking spot and keys, that sort of thing. My two colleagues are nice enough, although I am much younger than either of them, and have no idea how compatible we are in terms of personalities, work habits, etc.

There are two pretty cool things about the job though - first, I will be taking a modest pay cut, but only working 9-4, three days a week. That is the part that will be good for me and the kids, I think. Second, they actually rewrote the job description after my interview, to fit the skills I can bring to the position. They also, without me asking, upped the salary a bit because they thought it was appropriate, considering my skills. Several times, they have asked about my preferences or recommendations for software, vendors, etc. and said that whatever I think I need to do the job, they can get it for me.

That is certainly a big change from my current job, where I have been frustrated for a couple of years. I will admit that it feels pretty great to interview for a job, have the job description revised specifically for me, get a salary bump without no negotiation, be told that I can have the resources I need, and that they can be in place when I am ready to start, at a later date. I am sure that feeling of being valued is part of why I accepted the job, even with the pay cut. And I know that the honeymoon will end eventually, and I will be just another employee, griping about my boring job. For now, I am just keeping my head down, getting through the awkward phase, and waiting for the honeymoon to begin, for however long it lasts.

Speaking of awkward phases, please tell me that this is just a phase with B, and that he will someday grow up to be not a complete asshole.