Submission Coordinator

Yes. I am now a Submission Coordinator (SC) in the group affectionately known as "the Q-Team," In the Submission Coordination Unit, which falls under the Product Submission Coordination Unit, of the Submission Management Division, ya di-da, Natural Health Products Directorate, Health Canada. Whew.

Anyway, Q-Team are all Co-op students, three from U Waterloo, two from Seneca (including me), and three that haven't arrived yet. Well, the last three, I'm not sure are Q-Team. They might be working for a different unit. Our immediate supervisor works 3 floors down, in the basement. So, pretty much, everything is done via email. It's sorta "sink or swim" here. "Have a question? Read the SOPs and the FAQs to see if that answers it. If not, then come down and ask us."

We have some pretty sweet equipment here. Our rolley chairs are the new ergonomic ones that cost hundreds of dollars each (the one that you have, Jeff). They're pretty comfortable, and even after 8 hrs of sitting, my ass isn't getting fat. The keyboard trays are a little lacking, though. There are only 2 settings: in my way, or under my desk. What with all the paperwork we have, there's barely enough deskspace, and what little there is, is too far away because the damn keyboard sticks out so much. Then, there's about 4" x 8" of mouse space. It's just enough space that at my sensitivity setting, I can get the pointer from one end of the screen to another in just one sweep. God help the fool who has a low sensitivity setting.

Where are all the fine pens? The government seems to use 0.7 mm exclusively. Thanks, Jane for those 0.38 superfine pens. They'll come in handy making my bosses squint. Oh, and I opened the "for emergency use only" package, not that I had an emergency. I just needed to know what my limits of self care are. Wouldn't want to be bleeding profusely, tearing open the package with 9.5 fingers, hoping in vain that you've packaged some polysporin in there. It also helps to know what other sort of supplies I need to buy.

On my first night in Ottawa, I had leftover fried rice from lunch, an apple and penut butter from the jar. Yesterday night, I had Beef Shawarma. Tonight, I will have instant noodles, spam, and a piece of fruit. Maybe some canned soup too. I need to go grocery shopping, but for now, my priority is mass cleaning. Once I've got this place up to a high level of cleanliness, it won't take much to maintain, and my allergies should go down (they already have significantly).

I'm not getting an internet connection or a phone line in Ottawa. I have access at work, and I'll do any emailing and chatting there. If anyone needs to reach me, you can email me or call my cellphone, the latter being reserved for urgent business.

Things that need to get done by next week:
1. Buy a pump to inflate my air mattress. I'm currently sleeping on the floor. It is very hard.
2. One more cleaning cycle.
3. Buy groceries.
4. Laundry