thomasmm's blog

It was so nice to be back at work this week; I was driving myself nuts staying home waiting for my throat to heal.

So last Thursday I had my tonsils removed. It was... unpleasant, and I have only recently been able to speak and eat anything more than pudding and chicken broth. I had this week off of work to recover, but made sure when I left to let them know they could contact me on my cell phone or home phone if they needed anything. And sure enough, this morning I got a call.

This week started out rather boring, and worrisome, but thankfully ended very well. My boss Gwen and CEO Orrin are often called away to meetings with the Michigan Works Association meetings in Lansing. So, at the end of last week and the beginning of this week, they were both gone. They have Blackberries and laptops, so they email back to the Job Force Board when they need things done. Most of the time, however, my internship projects can wait until they return as they are the ones who do most of my major project assigning.

This week has been particularly interesting. "John", the main co-worker that I collaborate with on writing articles and other marketing materials, was out today and will be gone for the next week. His wife was induced today and gave birth to a beautiful baby boy "Noah." This meant, of course, he had to email the office pictures of little Noah from his blackberry. And this, of course, meant that all of the ladies in the office got nothing done for the half and hour after he sent the pictures; we were all too caught up gossiping and reminiscing about the joys and trials of childbirth.

Last summer, I was hired as an intern at Michigan Works! The Job Force Board in Escanaba, MI. As part of the Stimulus money called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), I was hired to help the office coordinate a summer youth work program. For those of you who are not familiar with what Michigan Works! does, I will describe their purpose briefly. MI Works! exists to help employers connect with the workforce, and helps take job seekers who need help finding employment, education, or training, and provides them with those resources.