Work

A lot has happened for me since we arrived in Tucson.  Mark has only had a couple of jobs for his business, but one of them paid quite well.  So here’s what’s been going on with me at Block Advisors…

Today was the end of my second week and I’m loving my new boss.  On Tuesday the 7th, she held an all-day training for us receptionists.  I had been told I didn’t need to bring my lunch in that day, but I let the woman who reminded me know that I’ve started a new plant-based diet for the month of January.  Think vegan.  Mark and I are just trying it out for this month for health reasons.  Well, my boss, Victoria, ordered pizza for the training, but she also ordered a salad for me.  I thought that was really thoughtful of her!

All of last week, I was having issues with the computer program we use at work.  Turns out, it was all my fault.  When I was filling out the paperwork for my job after I was hired, I accidentally transposed two numbers in my Social Security Number.  I came up as a new hire even though I’ve been working for H&R Block for three years before this.  First, they already had someone in the system with the same email address (me under my first ID number), so they created a new email address for me.  It took calls to technical support to discover why I couldn’t log in to my computer at work.  That’s also around the time I discovered that they had created a new company ID for me, so I had two ID numbers.  Once I found out what my new ID was and my new email address, I could log in, but I wasn’t able to get into any of the training programs I needed to finish online.  My week at work last week consisted of spending hours on hold with technical support.  The solution involved copying my Social Security card and having my boss send the copy as an attachment in an email to the HR department.  Then they were able to begin merging my two IDs together into one.

I spent Monday and Tuesday of this week doing the training I was supposed to have done last week, so I have really only been a full-fledged receptionist since Tuesday afternoon.  However, I wasn’t full-fledged enough to have my own access to calling clients to make appointments.  I had to be signed in under other people’s IDs for several days.  Today, I finally got authorized to do this part of my job.  Today was also supposed to be payday, and I’ve always gotten my checks by direct deposit, but I guess I lost that when they merged my IDs to my new ID number and my pay preference didn’t carry over.  I went in and fixed that today, but I am now waiting for my paycheck to come in the mail.  Next year when I go through the hiring paperwork, I am going to check and double-check my Social Security Number before writing it on the paperwork!

There is good news in all of this.  I started making the client calls a few days ago.  One of the tax pros printed out all the information I needed for any possible question someone could ask me (except for anything that the Tax Advisors need to answer), and I started out kind of slowly making the calls.  Yesterday, I got into my groove.  Last year, I got excited if I could make three appointments in a day.  Yesterday, I made nine appointments in an afternoon!  Everyone at my office said they’d never heard of such a thing and my boss rewarded me today.  This afternoon, I made seven more appointments, and my boss brought a new receptionist in to learn by watching me work.  I attribute my success to several things:  the tax advisor who gave me the materials I needed, the resources themselves, and a boss who is very encouraging.  In fact, last night, Victoria told Mark to take me out to celebrate!

But there is an even bigger reason for my success.  Last summer, as I was anticipating working for H&R Block, I was dreading it.  The last two years had been abysmal for me and I also felt like I failed to reflect God well.  I fervently prayed that God would help me this year.  I had the idea to apply for Block Advisors instead, and I believe that God put me in greener pastures this year.  He is leading me beside still waters and my cup is overflowing with joy, relief, praise, and thanksgiving!  His goodness and mercy are following me all the days of my life.  And here I am, dwelling behind the house of the Lord in my church’s parking lot!  I’m a happy camper!

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