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OK, I have to admit it: I am really enjoying my job with GE. I am surrounded by geeky techie engineers at GE. In just the past two days, I have been introduced to such cool acronyms as MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure), MSMS (Mission Stores Management System), MSS (Mission Stores System), BCR (Baseline Change Request) and DFR (Data Flight Recorder). While I am playing "Acronym Bingo," little by little I am understanding what the alphabet soup of letters mean. I also was thrilled to see a couple of people using Hewlett-Packard calculators. These people speak my language.
The downside: I am living this dream in a cubicle. There are three floors of cubicles in the building where I 
work. Lots of people doing all kinds of hard engineering work, but the majority of us are located in cubicles. Granted, GE does not go low end in cube. These cubes are new and well maintained, but at the end of the day, they are cubes. Most people have added personal touches to their cubes, with a picture of their family or pet or perhaps a college flag. I am still so new at GE that I have yet to add anything to my cube. I want to let the chi flow for a while, and in a week or two I might start adding a few personal touches.
At the end of the day, I am working for a fantastic company, with great people. Each day, so far, that I have met a new co-worker, they have all said to me, "Great to meet you. Welcome to GE. Let me know if I can help you learn more about your job."
Yep, all great people working for a great company.
Our beloved Wings beat the Avs last night to take a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference Semi-finals. The game started at 10PM, so it was way too late for Dee and I to stay up for it. Game 4 is Thursday night and hopefully the Wings can pull off a sweep. Say it with me, "Let's go, Red Wings!"
This morning I reported for work at GE Aviation and I am happy to report that today was a good day. As directed, I showed up at 8:15AM and met the receptionist. I told him that I was a new hire, he thrust out his hand and said to me, "Welcome to GE! Can I see your proof of 
citizenship, please?" I showed him my passport to confirm my identity and ability to work in the US, and he then directed me to Security a few doors down. Tom from Security was at his desk, and I once again had to show him passport, then he directed me to a place behind the counter where I could be photographed for my GE Employee badge. All GE employees are required to display their employee badge whenever they are at work. I smiled for my photo, was handed a sporty blue lanyard to wear around my neck with the badge attached to it. I returned to the front foyer of the reception area where I waited for on of the HR reps to come collect me.
Just a few moments after I sat down in the reception area, Stacey from HR showed up and welcomed me to the company. She then led me back to her offices, where she went over the paperwork I had filled out prior to me arrival, and she gave me a few more forms to fill out and signed. In about 30 minutes I had completed all of the required documents, and I then waited for my new boss to come get me. After a brief wait, Hank arrived and he, too welcomed me to GE. We walked up to the third floor were he showed me my desk. Hank then took me back downstairs where I joined a training class in progress. I spent the rest of the morning in this class, and I met a few of my new co-workers. The class ended a little before noon, and then my "transition buddy," Larry, led me and a few other people out to lunch at a nearby restaurant. I dined on some Hunan Beef, and soon thereafter we were back at GE to finish the rest of my transition events.
We returned to our spaces where I found a new laptop computer waiting for me. I was given the logon information and in a few minutes I was able to access the computer and open my new work e-mail account. I spent the rest of the afternoon getting my computer accounts established, as well as attending to more administrative actions, such as ordering business cards, signing up for a travel charge card, etc.
Time flew by and before I knew it, it was time to call it a day. My first day at GE was an unqualified success. I am signed up for lots of training classes over the course of the next three months, and I will start some on-line training tomorrow. Life agrees with me.
Tomorrow morning at 8:15AM I will end my brief retirement and start my second career with General Electric. I am excited about the possibilities with this company and opportunity to learn and grow. I have received the following advice from family and friends over the course of the past few days as I prepared for my first day at work:
1) Don't be late.
2) Wear a tie.
3) Don't bring your lunch on the first day.
4) Follow directions of the HR people.
5) Have all the employment documents filled out properly.
I have appreciated all the suggestions for my first day at GE. One of the forms I had to fill out was a state of Michigan W4. The last time I had to fill out this form, I was employed by the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club. That was 22 years ago. A lot has happened since then. Updates to follow!
Today was the last weekday of my first retirement. On Monday, I start my second career with General Electric. Dee told me that I have been acting like Sven in a Verizon Wireless commercial. In the Verizon commercial, Sven oversaw the actions of a family. Sven would brief each family member on what they could expect during the day, let them know if their stock was up or down. You get the idea. Well, I have been serving Deirdre like Sven the past few months. All of that will change on Monday. I will no longer be able to drive her to work or meet her for lunch, as I will be pretty busy with GE. Thus, Sven is dead, and Paul is back in battery!
I am getting closer and closer to coming out of retirement. Sometime on Monday morning, I will start my new career with General Electric. I have received a few e-mails from one of my soon-to-be coworkers, and I have
spoken to my division's HR rep to get some information about the forms. In the mail today, however, I received two letters. One was from the CEO of GE, Mr. Jeffery Immelt, and the other was from the Dart Container Corporation. Mr. Immelt's letter was one of welcome to the company. His letter challenges me to be my best at GE and to have fun while doing it. The letter from Dart started out like this:
Dear Paul,
Thank you for your interest in Dart Container of Michigan LLC. While we are unable to offer you employment at this time, we sincerely appreciate you taking the time to express your interest in working with us.
About a month ago I applied for a position with Dart as a program manager. Looks like I did not make the cut with them, but included in Dart's rejection letter, they included a very nice refrigerator magnet for me to use and enjoy... and to be reminded that they were not interested in me.
In a recent post, I made mention that I might be getting old as I am excited about the new windows which will soon be installed in our home. Just when I thought I was crawling down that dusty corridor towards death, my spirits improved. I was out shopping for some lamb chops for dinner tonight, and I also picked up a bottle of wine to compliment the meal. I got to the check out lane and patiently waited my turn to pay for the lambies and vino. Well, the clerk looked at me and said, "I will need to see your ID."
Seriously. I got carded.
I smiled, got our my wallet and gave my driver's license to the clerk. She looked at my birth date and said to me, "Wow. You were born the same year as my Mom! I guess that you are old enough to buy the wine."
I must say that to get carded when I am well into my 46th year on this planet made me smile. Life agrees with me.
... you get excited about new windows. Yes, 
it is official: Deirdre and and I are old. Today I signed a contract with your friends at HWC Homeworks to replace about a dozen windows as well as the two sliding glass doors in our back room. In about a month, the professionals from HWC will return and install the aforementioned windows and sliders. I also signed a contract to have our front door replaced. Dee and I are excited about these new projects. We are old.
One part of my transition from the Navy is that no longer would my choice of career clothing be set by a Uniform Board. From here on out, I will be wearing civilian attire to work until the time of my next retirement. While I had a couple of suits and sport coats, I really needed to update my wardrobe in 
preparation 
for my new job with GE. Last week, I went to the local Joseph A. Banks store to purchase some pants and shirts. The attire at GE Aviation is "business casual," so I did not need to buy any more suits or ties. Another thing I needed to do was purchase some new shoes. The last time I bought a pair of civilian dress shoes was in 1990, when I bought a pair of black tassel Bass Monogram shoes for my time at the Naval Postgraduate School. In preparation for my first day at work, I found a great pair of Cole Haan slip-on shoes. From a fashion standpoint, I am ready for my first day at General Electric.
General Electric is a pretty techie company. It makes lots of extremely high technology stuff so it is not surprising that most of its hiring process is on line. After I accepted the position of Engineering 
Manager with GE, I 
was instructed to wait five business days and then to try to logon to a corporate website to begin the processes to start work in 28 April. Before my first day at work, I have to go to two websites to either download forms that require my signature, or to read corporate policy regarding illicit drugs, terms of employment, etc.
Last week I subjected to a drug test. My hire is contingent upon me passing the test. Thankfully, I did not start using marijuana or opiates after I retired from the Navy! I then waited the aforementioned five business days and yesterday I attempted to logon to the GE Employee's website. As if it was according to Hoyle, my GE employee logon was activated and started to enter all the information needed by GE in preparation for my first day at work.
Sure, it has been a while since I started a job with a new company. OK, it has been 22 years. I had forgotten about all the documents one needs to fill out prior to starting work, and all of the administrative requirements reminded me a lot of forms I had to fill out through out my Navy career. A brief summary of the things I needed to either fill out on line or print out and fax to a GE HR Center:
- I-9
- Beneficiary Designation
- Federal W4
- Michigan W4
- GE Employee PIN Designation
- Conflict of Interest Form
- Backup Withholding form
This is just a partial list of the things I need to do before I start to work for General Electric. I have more work to do on line today in preparation for my first day on the job. As is sometimes said, "It's all good." I am really looking forward to starting with the company.
work. Lots of people doing all kinds of hard engineering work, but the majority of us are located in cubicles. Granted, GE does not go low end in cube. These cubes are new and well maintained, but at the end of the day, they are cubes. Most people have added personal touches to their cubes, with a picture of their family or pet or perhaps a college flag. I am still so new at GE that I have yet to add anything to my cube. I want to let the chi flow for a while, and in a week or two I might start adding a few personal touches.
