What a Way to Make a Living!

Once upon a time, a girl named Katie fretted and stewed that she would never find a job, and would continue to be a leech stuck to her parents’ wallet for the rest of her life. Then, suddenly, she went to an interview, loved the people but was thrown by her own performance, and still got a call on Friday asking if she wanted to work at the firm. And oh, by the way, would you mind if we pay you more than you requested? And give you great benefits at practically no premium, including both a 401k and stock options? Would that be okay?

That’s right: Katie is working for HDR Alaska, Inc., an engineering and architecture consultancy firm with locations in 140 cities throughout the US and Canada, and project sites the world over. And I am their newest (read: only full time) Technical Writer, translating Engineering into English. My first project is with BP, where I now have an office and (to top it off) access the BP fitness center. Since the spills on the North Slope last year, and the subsequent shut-down and analysis of the pipeline, which let them know how much updating the pipeline needed, they’ve engineered some new leak detection systems and new pipeline procedures. That’s where I come in: the operators need to know how to turn things on and shut them off, how to troubleshoot and what the warning signs are if something is going to blow up. I write the manuals that tell them, in simple terms, what to do.

The good thing about it is that I don’t really need to know why the systems are going to do what they’re going to do, just how, and if it’s explained to me in terms that I can understand, then we can guarantee that BubbaJoeBob operator can understand, as well. And the name is not to imply that the operators aren’t intelligent—they are likely to be amused by the simplicity of my instructions—but is the remnant of a hilarious “Pinky and the Brain” episode.

So, I’ve survived orientation, and pretty much have my background information down (I’ll write later about all the pigs in the project that keep me laughing at strange times), so next week I’ll actually start working. Who’s excited? That’s right—this girl. Every morning I wake up and do this whole happy dance, because I finally have a purpose. Oh, and money. I’ll have real money, and in January or so, I’ll have an apartment of my own. My own, with my own refrigerator, and my own living room for storing potatoes, and my own walls for art. It’s going to be great.

Weight loss:28.3

Exercise: W, T, F