This. This is Good.

It's been two weeks and I think that makes it official: I'm working and I love it.

After the run-around with the interviews and the employment agency and the phone calls, I finally started my position as a Product Surveillance Coordinator with the Cardiac Rhythm Management Department of St. Jude Medical.

Essentially I analyze and assign priority to complaints from the field about St. Jude's medical devices- namely their pacemakers and associated accessories. Sound interesting? Because it is! When a customer (or a sales rep) calls in a complaint, there are all these forms they have to complete for it to go through our system. As a Coordinator, it's my job to make sure the paperwork is filled out thoroughly and correctly, and then to assign a complaint code- something as simple as "Error Code Displayed" to "Loss of Sensing/Pacing" or even "Device Caused Death".

Every customer explains things differently- or sometimes not at all- so it's essential to follow up and keep all of the information clear and understandable on all of the many forms and databases we use to communicate between ourselves and the FDA.

I'm loving the organization to it- like a many armed machine, each arm with its own purpose but everyone coming together, united in a single goal. Everyone has a place and a job to do, but we all depend on each other to get the job done and presented in a way that positively reflects our company's values.

Give me a few months here and I'm sure that I can tell you all about how awful the system is and how frustrating my coworkers are, but right now I'm in the post-job-search honeymoon phase.

Plus we have a cafeteria that serves kick-ass breakfasts and lunches every day. The downside is that I'm exhausted when I get home so the house is only tidy and not clean and we're down to our very last fresh vegetable in the fridge...That bell pepper is being put on just about EVERYTHING.

Mr. E's job front is looking up, too! After finishing Wish I Was Here, he was rewarded with a much needed week-long vacation. Apparently that's the system in the industry: work hard (12+ hours every day) for a few weeks to a few months and once the project is done you schedule a short break for yourself to take care of things (dentist, doctor's appointments, vacation) and jump back in to the next one!

This project is a pilot TV show called Love, Death & Bowling and Mr. E will be working Sound instead of Production. Although Sound isn't necessarily where he wants to end up, Mr. E has a lot of experience with the sound equipment, as well as mixing and adding sound post-filming, so it's all about making contacts and networking right now. We have a busy holiday season ahead of us!