Happy-dance time!

I have a job starting 12/1 as the office manager at The Suites at Tree Studios in Chicago. Starting then because of the holiday week and I need to go pee in a cup.

That's 10 days before my unemployment was going to run out. Phew!

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More info about the new job

It is Office Manager at the Tree Studios location of The Suites Collection.

It's about 45-50 minutes from home on the bus, and I can either walk 2 blocks from home and take the 36 which stops in front of the building, or catch the 22 in front of my building and walk 2 blocks once I get down there.

Salary and bennies are good - and one unpaid "furlough" day a month which is handy for running errands. I'd be sharing an office with Lee, who is sort of the oversight for all 3 properties, but a lot of the time she'll be at one of the other properties - which is why they needed someone with a lot of independent skills and responsibility. I'd have a gas fireplace in my office! Dress code is in line with my wardrobe - nice sweater and chinos with flats are fine.

I'd be handling the administration of the building as well as interfacing with the tenants - kind of a property manager/admin/concierge kind of thing. These people pay a lot for this space and need to know that there is someone on-site if their phones or internet stop working. I'd also be on-call to help out the other properties if needed. They each have a Manager and a 4-day receptionist on-site because they answer phones for their clients (virtual and on-site), so if two people get the flu I pop a sign on my office door that says "I've had to run over to the X building for a few hours - here is my cell phone number if you need anything, and I'll be back at Y:))" and I go cover half-a-day on the switchboard over there.

I will need to ramp up my Quickbooks a bit (I know Microsoft Small Biz Accounting well, so it's just a matter of relocating all the menu items), and revisit my phone installation and programming skills (It's been almost a decade since I've held a punchdown tool) but both are easy enough to accomplish in the time before the 1st. I can also tackle cleaning my apartment and checking my wardrobe in that time.

The next month is going to be pretty awful finances-wise, until the regular checks start coming in, but I have been in contact with several of my creditors already and should be caught up on immediate needs by mid-January and then I can start digging my way out of the hole that this last year has put me in.

I nearly broke down in tears in Supercuts when I heard the news! And they already know that I'm a weirdo - I had to schedule my interview around Windycon, and when she mentioned that part of the responsibilities might involve the company blog, I sent her links to some of the pieces I wrote on and for Teslacon. So while I probably can't dye my hair purple, I suspect that I could keep a My Little Cthulhu on my desk if it was a small one.