There are several reasons why I really like my new workplace:
As I’ve already mentioned, it’s a twenty minute walk from my house. A twenty minute sing-along walk.
The work I do is incredibly varied, challenging, and draws on my research and writing skills. Moreover, the work actually feels rather important and worthwhile, as our organisation’s role centres on advocating for people who, for various reasons, face distinct disadvantages and marginalisation in Australia.
We have a mini-dishwasher in the staff kitchen, and I have a large office all to myself.
My work colleagues, boss, and I laugh a lot together. This is important to me.
So is the fact that we all love food.
And Jenni, who is not only in the office next to mine but attended college with me years ago, has been known to bake delicious, delicious, ridiculously moist and dairy-free-just-for-me Lumberjack Cake.
Read it and weep, friends.
No, seriously. Weep. She made it gluten-free too. And then she invited me to her dress-up Eurovision party. I’m kind of super excited.
(Rest assured I don’t leave all the baking responsibilities in Jenni’s [capable] hands. The other week, I took in some Caramel Walnut Slice. Reciprocity huzzah!)
Question Time: What do you like about your current work/place?
Best part – While I’m on holiday in Japan, work is thousands of km away, and when I return to Oz, I only have to go to work for a short while before I then retire! Yay!!
Yay!! And then you’ll have all the time in the world to drive your daughter home from work during the freezingness of winter! Yay!
That’s awesome. That’s what I miss about having a workplace to go to. My company rocks my socks, but the offices are in Colorado and New York and California (and Europe!), so I work out of my home office. I still get to laugh with coworkers, but it’s on chat or the phone or Skype. I really miss just sitting in someone’s office and talking. Nonetheless, the benefits far outweigh the costs, so at the same time, working out of my home office is the best thing about my job, too!!!
P.S. I totally spelled outweigh as “outway” until spell check caught it. Oh my.
I am, I must admit, slightly envious, as I’d love to be able to break up the work day a little by stopping to bake for a few hours then going back to it, as I’m guessing you might be able to do, working from home? We actually have a colleague interstate who skypes in throughout the day – luckily she still gets to be around for some of the laughing that weigh. (See what I did there? SPELLING JOKE!
)
Er, no, I can’t stop to bake for a few hours, hahahah! I’m in a regular 9 to 5 gig here. However, I can work in my underwear, go for a walk around the neighborhood during lunch, and do laundry, so yeah, envy me. (LOLd for realz at the spelling joke)
Ah well, the underwear thing is definitely a plus. Though for me, the goal would be doing work directly in front of the heater, rugged up. My office is cold!
P.S. Language geeks FTW!
Wow, I have never heard of Lumberjack cake before today but it looks amazing!
It’s rather wonderful. I’m glad you know what it is now!
On Wednesdays I go shopping / and have buttered scohhhhhhhnes for tea.
This still doesn’t tell me what lumberjack cake is. Rather, it builds the mystery to disproportionately high levels. Ah well.
Hmm, my sad graduate student office. What is there to like?? One: The David Hasselhoff posters I make for the door. Two: The real poster of men climbing giant trees above my desk that I will steal when I leave. Three: A mini tugboat pencil sharpener some foolish student left behind. Dummy. Four: I’m the only person in the room right now. Hence, there is no one to watch me weep (per your instructions).
But do you go to the lavatoreeeeeeeeeeee?
I shall now shatter your disproportionately high mystery bubble: Lumberjack Cake is a really moist cake made with fresh apples and dates, and topped with a sticky coconut topping. On other words: it’s delicious.
Oh my lordy. You MAKE David Hasselhoff posters? How do you not have an Etsy shop for that?
P.S. Also, you have an office. I just got kicked out of mine. Granted, I deferred, but still…
I’m definitely weeping.
same here
haha. 
so great that you love your job Hannah! what a blessing.
I think it would be so awesome to actually be with co-workers working together! My current part time job with my autistic student is awesome though…I love just being with him and seeing him blossom! I also love love his amazing mom who inspires me just by the example she sets in her never ending patience with her son! I love that I’m always learning in how to work with him, because some days~I just don’t know how he’ll act.
Ellie, that is so wonderful. It’s fantastic that you’re able to help the boy and his mum, and at the same time feel like you’re learning a bit more about the world yourself. Yay you!
Evan, didn’t you say something about a new job at an Italian restaurant? I hardly think you’ll be bereft of delicious food and fun colleagues there
Italian chefs are not likely to even try and make something vegan/gluten free. They like their white bread and their heavy cream.
Not always! In Florence, I saw lots of restaurants with dedicated gluten-free menus
Perhaps you simply have to look for a job there? 
So glad to hear you’re loving your job/office – I know it caused some anxiety for you. I love my office because it is filled with nerds. And dudes who don’t notice that I have no sense of fashion. Whew.
Thanks Victoria! Yes, I wouldn’t want to repeat that first night of anxiety for the world, but it became wonderful almost straight away
I do wish there were some dudes around to not notice my fashion, though… 
We had a lovely nurse at work, who sadly left to get married and move towns who used to make banana cake for me with cream cheese icing. Is there anything better than a cake making colleague? Can’t think of it just now. How lucky you are.
How mean of her to get married and leave you like that! The nerve!
(You should at least ask for the recipe…)
And I nearly forgot! (It is 0213) A dress up Eurovision party! Woo hoo. We’ll of course be celebrating all things Eurovision in our house this weekend too. Don’t think I can manage dressing up again, after my two recent efforts. I was thinking that I might be bothered to make some swedish meatballs or something for dinner.
I’ve actually never watched Eurovision in my life, so it’s going to be a Whole World Of New to me. I’m actually really nervous about dressing-up, as I’m hopeless at it and Jenni and her friends are all creative artist types who will go all out!
Pros:
1. Parties with Asian dignitaries — and leftovers in the fridge the next day.
2. Great location near gourmet burgers, fancy coffee and tons of Thai takeout.
3. Wonderful people who understand that office hours are meant to be ignored. (i.e., 10:40 a.m. arrival).
Cons:
1. Dozens upon dozens of kids in matching school t-shirts clogging up the escalator. Stand on the right!
I think a ratio of three awesome (and almost all food-related) pros to one con is pretty good. If it weren’t for the fact that I know your future is even brighter, I’d tell you never to leave your current place!
The not getting paid part is also a bummer.
I see your point… Still, after all your amazing work experience, you’ll probably be president, and so money will no longer be an issue.
The cake looks gorgeously moist and delicious! And Euro-vision dress up party sure sounds like fun!
Thanks Maria! I’m sure it will be a blast, although I have no idea what Eurovision really involves!
Wow! That looks so melt in your mouth amazing. That would definitely be a cake couldn’t stop eating…I would just keep cutting slice after slice.
And no one would blame you if you did
I like that my current work place is full of people I like & I like talking to people ’bout studying abroad!
That’s because studying abroad is the bestest
ooooh what an awesome cake indeed!!
Indeed indeed!
Feeling well and being happy with your work is the most thing! You spend so many hours there every day you shouldn’t dislike it.
I have two student assistant jobs, and I like the people (freaks!
) and what I do there (research) mostly (except when I have to feed questionnaire data into the computer – booooooooooooring 
). My other job is private piano teacher. I LOVE THAT. The teaching. That it’s about music and piano (obviously). Interacting with my students and adjusting the lesson to their individual needs. Passing on knowledge and skills. Awesome! 
Yes, it’s quite amazing how much of one’s day full-time work takes up! I appreciate weekends more now than I ever have
I’m so in awe of your piano teaching job! When I was younger I considered that, as piano was a big part of my life, but I stupidly let it fall by the wayside when academics took over my life. Some of the happiest people I know have been musicians, I think because you really have to be passionate to make it your career
OMG YUM!
I concur!
Yay for personal offices
I have two workplaces but my favourite is definitely the one where I have an office to myself. People make a big difference too though – my best work memories involve laughter. Lots and lots of it. I’m sure it helps with the work side of things as well as the sanity side of things!
Abso-mega-lutely! I’ve always thought that work colleagues make or break a job, and I’ve been really lucky in that regard in my life so far
And yay for big offices!
What do I like about my current work/place? ALSO LUMBERJACK CAKE! (Well I like all my friends, some of whom bring in things such as lumberjack cake.) The psychiatrist I work with brought some in for me after his girlfriend made it. He had been describing it to me the previous week, but kept calling it “ploughman’s cake”. So I went online to search for recipes of this ploughman’s cake – strangely enough, TO NO AVAIL. When he brought it in the next week, he abashedly explained that it was actually called lumberjack cake. Ploughman’s cake would presumably made with cheese and pickled onions, if it were to exist.
That’s awesome that your new workplace is wonderful in so many ways.
OMG IT’S LIKE WE’RE THE SAME PERSON. Except your brain is more fullerer of scientific goodness than mine
Haha, I was about to make that exact same comment about ploughman’s cake being made of cheese and pickled onions (and relish), but you got there first. Again: same person. I don’t mind this fact at all.
P.S. Thank you! It’s definitely made the deferring-PhD decision not-regretted
I still have yet to have tried lumberjack cake, but it sounds and looks wonderful.
It is! You must make it! Even before you make biscotti!
Ooooh, that looks nice and I’m reading this at late-ish morning tea time too – so glad that you’ve found a great job and put that PhD stress behind you.
What do I like about my current job? Hmm, after quitting my three part time jobs (two involved writing; one involved childcare) I’m technically unemployed but I guess you could say that currently I’m an ‘International Movement and Transportation Consultant’ and I’m flat out!
….which is why I’m seeking a bit of solace by goofing off around my favourite blogs…. *blush blush*
Thank you Kath. It truly is wonderful to not have the slightest regret about the PhD decision at this point in my life
Kath, I would definitely hire you as an IMTC, except for the fact that I think you’ll deserve a three-year holiday from such work after you arrive in Geneva! Holy moly, you’ve been through a lot! If this blog can provide any solace at all, then that’s made my day
I love lumberjack cake despite the fact I haven’t eaten it for years and can’t really remember what is in it – but have googled and now I want to make it – and I would love an office where people make it but the people around me aren’t so into their food and cooking – at least they make me laugh though – that is important in a workplace because sometimes if you don’t laugh you just go crazy
I absolutely agree. And particularly in a workplace as hectic and full-on as ours (and yours, perhaps?), laughter is definitely needed for the release/relief! So is talking about food, but at least you have us bloggers for that
I’m ashamed to say I’m not quite sure what lumberjack cake is! I’ll have to Google it.
I’m so glad you have an enjoyable job. I think it greatly improves the quality of your work when you are in harmonious surroundings.
The writing you do is probably technical, fact based. I’m glad you can unleash your creativity on this wonderful blog.
I enjoy all the things that you enjoy about your job – apart from the food part. That’s quite ok with me; most of them here don’t value healthy food.
I love being able to personally help people and make a difference in their lives. I love the freedom of being able to write whatever I like, and no one has to approve it.
I know what a lumberjack cake is now! I received an education on Not Quite Nigella’s site!
Three cheers for Lorraine as a font of all knowledge!
Oh Margaret, your job sounds wonderful, and almost like a perfect job to me! You’ll have to tell me more about it sometime
(I understand you may not want to give details in public.)
I’m so glad I have the blog to do this kind of writing for too
And even better, you keep coming back to read it! Hurrah!
Isn’t it wonderful to share a work environment with like-minded folks?
I’ve spent some time on my blog, too, talking about the all-round awesomeness of my workmates. This is the annual highlight.
Oh yes, those posts of yours have always awed me, Cindy! Unfortunately there aren’t enough people in my workplace to have an extravaganza like that, but we do have a multicultural lunch at the end of every month where we all bring in foods from different cuisines
Every month?! Well the frequency certainly makes up for the quantity.
I like the way you think
I don’t know what a lumberjack cake is, but that looks so gooey and delicious that I know I want some.
It’s a cake made with fresh apples and dates and a baked on sticky sweet coconut topping. I think it’s more from my grandma’s era, but it’s so good!
Dress up eurovision party? best. idea. ever.
Ad that cake looks divine. I’m working on getting a job I love as much as you love yours!
Jenni’s full of good ideas
And good luck with the job hunt! As with any job, there are high and less-high points in mine, but most of the time I feel really lucky to be somewhere that aligns with my interest and values and where my capabilities are valued. I’m sure you’ll find the same for yourself soon!
A lumberjack cake?! Why I’ve never heard of such a thing. What I have been missing, it looks delicious! I love that you get to enjoy a twenty minute sing-along walk to work. I work at 7 different work places (yes, that is true, 7!!) – and my favourite one is number 7 – from home, which I get one day per week. It’s glorious and involves a uniform of leggings
Heidi xo
I’m absolutely mind-boggled by how many people have never heard of a lumberjack cake! I knew it was more olden-timey than well-known, but I thought most Aussies would know it! It truly is delicious – full of apples and dates and then that sticky coconut topping…
I must admit, I do hanker a secret desire to one day be able to work from home. Perhaps when I”m writing my self-help book?
yes, exactly! And in your book there shall be a recipe for lumberjack cake! xo
I’m going to have to start taking notes so I can remember everything this book is expected to include
I love lumberjack cake-it’s so rich and sustaining and perfect for well… lumberjacks!
Maybe you could be an honorary lumberjack?
I’ve definitely got the beard for it!
If I had this cake in my life, I would also be okay.
You may not have cake, but you have a Supre date on Saturday! Isn’t that better?
Wow – that looks ridiculous good! So glad you like where you work- you spend SO much time there, its important to enjoy it. I work from home, so I love the environment and my office mate english bulldog
It is such a relief not to be waking up feeling heavy and flat like I was for a while last year! Hmm… now you’ve made me considering asking my boss if we can get an office pug….
Oh my! Can I be your colleague too? I will gladly work for free for a day, in exchange for a slice of this cake. It’s nice to know that you are enjoying your job! I’m starting on my job first big-girl job soon, and I hope that I’d love my colleagues as much as you love yours:)
Good luck with the job! Fingers crossed your colleagues are amazing – I’m sure they will be, because who couldn’t be lovely to someone like you?
P.S. Sure! Come on over!
Well that’s just gorgeous!
On behalf of Jenni… thanks!
Oooh! Eurovision! When’s that on? Also, what goes into a lumberjack cake? Take that, question time!
What do I like about my current work? The fact that I work days, Monday to Friday, almost like a normal person.
This Sunday, with I think semi-finals before that? Lumberjake cake is made with fresh apples and dates, and has a baked-on sugar-butter-coconut topping. Insanity, in the best way
Oh, but Camille? You’ll never be a normal person. You’re far too awesome for that.
Hoooly crap. Me want. That’s all.
Amber, I bet you could totally make an amazing raw version of this! After all, the key components (fresh apple, dates, coconut, sweetness) are staples of the raw world anyway… and I bet your fancypants irish moss could help with the texture aspect
Ooh! Yeah! If you could pass the recipe on to me, I’d see what I could do with it
I’ll ask Jenni, or else I’ll grab my aunt’s recipe, as I know she makes a mean version herself
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YES to Monty Python Flying Circus references! We were constantly quoting their skits while in England, but I’d forgotten all about the Lumberjack Song.
Your work sounds wonderful – I still have yet to find myself in a workplace that fully embraces laughter and baked goods! Haha.
*gasp* Who could anyone forget a Lumberjack reference? If you’re not careful, I might send you off to find…. another shrubbery!
If only we could find workplaces that are *only* about laughter and baked goods…
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