My first day

I just got home from in internship and Kerri is still teaching so I thought I'd blog about my day.

I hate the commute. The free UTA pass and the job make up for the 1 hour commute to and from SLC. The express bus is really nice (except for the annoyed man whose laptop I accidentally bumped while exiting the bus).

Other than the commute I love what I will be doing. Today I felt a bit like a fish out of water. Not because I was the new guy but because I am seeing a whole new side of city government. Let me explain. Most of my working/interning life has been on the legislative side. Even my internship with the Senator was not that different since I had been doing the same thing as a Legislative Assistant. I am not a legislative assistant anymore. Which is good. I plan on getting an MPA which is used for city administration anyway so I am really glad to finally have a chance to see the "other side."

I spent the day in meetings. I met the division heads in my department. Learned about what everyone else is working on and then went to a briefing with the Mayor's office. I met the Mayor and a few others. I have to say the Mayor is shorter than I thought he was, but he knows how to dress well. In fact, I'd rank him alongside the Senator when it comes to dress.

After the briefing I went to lunch, and then went to another meeting, then I had to go across town for drug testing. But, since I don't have a car, and interns can't drive city vehicles someone had to drive me. The nurses messed up my paperwork so the drug test took longer than it should have but that's life. I then returned to the office for more meetings and came home.

So that is my day. Tomorrow I should have a computer and will be able to dig into the projects that are lined up.

A couple of observations:

I am clearly working in Ute territory. No big deal, It always surprises me how big the rivalry really is.

The smell of coffee permeates the building in the mornings. A lot of employees drink coffee. I'm not judging their choices one way or another, it is just something that is different.

Salt Lake City operates differently than Provo. I know this is a no brainer but for someone who is as used to the way Provo operates it was interesting to see the differences. It almost felt like working for the Senator. Everything is bigger and done at a faster pace.

I think that sums it up. I'm sure I'll have stories to tell later on. This internship feels more like a job to me than an internship and I'm really glad I took it.

No longer part of the 9.7% of Americans that are unemployed

That's right. I'm no longer unemployed. Just when I was about to withdraw from the labor force, I was offered an opportunity. I was offered an unpaid internship with Salt Lake City. The only thing better would to be getting paid, but that's ok. I start on Tuesday and am looking forward to working on some really interesting projects. And, its going to look good on my resume.

Of course now that I am interning and am spending 2 hours of my day commuting I have to cut back on my volunteer hours at the campaign. The campaign was a great experience, but it is time to move on. It also looks like I have at least one paid job prospect on the horizon, but who knows when that will ever materialize.

I'm ready to put my skills back to work and stretch my capabilities. Sometimes things just fall in your lap, and I feel like this one kind of did.

Anyways, that is my good news for the day.

Remember the movie "Evolution" from about 10 years ago? below is one of the best parts. It doesn't make sense if you don't remember how the alien is killed, but if you do, you'll chuckle.

Group Projects

Remember when you were in school and you had to work on group projects? You either loved them because it meant you didn't have to do as much, or you hated them because you knew you would be picking up the slack. Well, right now I'm working on a group project of sorts. Thankfully everyone is pulling their weight, but there have been a lot of times that I have thought to myself "Are you kidding! If I were in charge we would do it this way, and my way is better." I know that that statement isn't entirely true, but I think it anyway. I am glad I am not in charge of this group project, but sometimes I wish I was. The people in charge have a different mindset and it causes problems.

That's all I have to say.