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Most people start a new job and have only one first week. Me, I have to do things the hard way. Officially my first week on the job was at the beginning of June (check out my post from my “FIrst Day“.) I hauled myself to Cincinnati to get acquainted with the computer systems, play around in the shop and generally acclimate myself to my future daytime home. It was a blast.
Since that time I’ve been working from my home in Pennsylvania wrapping up classes at the Acanthus Workshop, finishing furniture commissions and some antique restoration – all while trying to pack up my home and shop for the move to Ohio. Did I mention that with all that going on I still had editorial duties? Needless to say, not much sleep was had in the last three months in the Bender household.
This week I officially started in the Cincinnati office full time. While it wasn’t quite like walking into a new job cold, I still had trouble finding the router bits in the shop and where the extra paper clips are kept in the office. This is why I say it’s like my second first week at Popular Woodworking Magazine. And my friends on staff have not let me forget it. I think I’ll forever be the “new guy.”
As far as second first weeks go, this one has been pretty good. I got to assemble and test out the new Powermatic PM1000 table saw, work with the staff photographer to get some pictures taken for the Tool Test column in the December issue of the magazine, edited a couple of articles, read through and picked a bunch of tricks for the Tricks of the Trade column (Have I gotten a trick from you lately? E-mail your favorite shop trick to me here.) and got to play with the new Festool Carvex jigsaw. Yep, I know…who would want this job?
With Glen Huey’s help I carved out some space in the Popular Woodworking Magazine shop and started setting up my bench and tool cabinet. It’s got a long way to go to feel like home but it’s a good start.
Now all I’m dreading is that first second week.
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It took a great deal of your time, energy and thought to make this move. I wish you the best in your new pursuits. As a side note, I hope you keep the guitar build on your bucket list.
-Gerald
Good luck! I have quite a few tricks and such but I’m usually very reluctant to submit them, but I think now I’ll give it a shot.
You will be the New Guy until a Newer Guy comes along. But watch your back–some Newer Guys are sneaky and will leapfrog you, and you’ll still be the New Guy.
-Steve