I've gotten repeated questions regarding how Steve's job is going. It's a complicated question actually. The company is a large company. And there are perks that go along with a large company that Steve's never really encountered before. He sits at a desk. He's not required to stand or run a press. The people he works with are, for the most part, professional. They come in and say "good morning" and speak in the hallways. He has a badge to get in and out of the building as well as in and out of his area. They have a cafeteria on site as well as a workout area. They know the rules and employment laws around service dogs. They are more than accommodating with Katie and Steve's needs too. In these respects, he could not have chosen a better company (except for maybe mine!)
The negatives are personal and not related to the company. Steve is what I would consider IT customer support. He answers calls from folks who need password resets and such. The problem is Steve has NEVER done anything like that. Therefore, there is a HUGE learning curve. And Steve has a problem with learning curves. He hates them. He is easily frustrated when he doesn't 'get' something the first time it's presented to him. The first two weeks were 7-4 M-F and all day every day training. And it was rough. He came home every day fussing about how he was never gonna get it.
Due to an error in his very common name, he's not gotten all the proper log ins, so this past week, his third week he did 7-4 shadowing. Luckily they've sat him next to my niece's husband, Bob, who has been a GOD SEND for Steve because he teaches Steve more slowly so he can pick up on things. This week Steve is also working 7-4 M-F. That's 2 extra weeks of training while he waits on his new log in. Don't you love it when God orchestrates little things like that to help us where He knows we need it?
So, for 2 extra weeks, Steve has sat with not just anyone, but a family member, shadowing him and the days have been considerably better. Each day he comes home saying his day was "OK" and "alright" instead of dreading the next day.
I do believe Steve has realized all the benefits of being at home. I know I sure have. I had forgotten how much I did NOT miss worrying about child care for Jenna when she's randomly out of school or on holiday. Here I am trying to save up as much time as I can for our trip to China and he's not really at a place where he can take off. That's probably the one stress I do not miss at all. That and the entire first week, I'd be like, "Hey, can you run to the bank tomorrow?" and then realize, no, no he couldn't. I've lost my personal assistant. :(
The good thing is every Friday when his paycheck arrives in the mail. It's not a lot more than what he was getting in unemployment but it is enough to get us through.
And in a few weeks, I think the answer to how his day was will be, "It was great!"
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