Settling In
Right, so I have no patience and I have this blog sitting here, already written. I was originally going to wait till tomorrow to post it, but about two minutes ago I changed my mind -- I'd like to get back to "normal" blogging soon.
Now, without further ado ...
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Something I wrote on Thursday of my first week:
I live in a fairly nice apartment in a fairly nice part of town. I work out of a sadly barren cubicle (I'm hoping to change that fact quickly). I have cable television but no TV, a computer but no Internet access. I spend my days reading about wet air oxidation and my nights reading about grisly murders.
I work at the same company as my friend's dad (Bri's dad, actually). As a matter of fact, he used to work in this office, about fifty feet from where I am. My first day, several people greeted me with "So you're Dave's daughter's friend?"
She's from Texas originally. Go ahead and sing it. "Iiiiiit's a small world aaaaafter all ..."
Now, during my second week:
I've been here for about a week and a half now, and life is good. My awesome parents and sibs were here this past weekend with a Uhaul and an apartment full of stuff ... Yay. I now have furniture, a real bed (woo-hoo!) and, perhaps more importantly, dishes. I've been cooking like a crazy person ever since.
Most of my stories come from work, as is the case when you live alone.
I have a desk, a phone, a laptop, a filing cabinet, and a very nice Swingline stapler. My chair is comfy and all the requirements are close by. I am surrounded by men and I am thinking that there might be something to the glass ceiling of mental maturity – I've heard more fart jokes in the last two weeks than in the previous year (not including my summer at Storm, which is in a class by itself). The free chili one day really, really didn't help.
I've made a few observations at work that aren't actually “work” related:
- My chair has four different levers for adjustments. I'm not sure it's healthy for me to have such a distraction.
- The ratio is actually steeper than Tech's.
- My cubicle – as in the thing I sit in during the day and get to leave every night – is approximately 80% of the size of the room I lived in for 3 years (two of those with another person). That was a mildly depressing realization.
- I am too short to see over cubicle walls.
- Tech grads come out of the woodwork.
- Busy work isn't always.
- Help desks aren't always.
- Lunch hour is the ONLY time everything gets quiet. Half the office is gone; the other half is occupied. The phones even stop ringing.
- As in college, if there is free food advertised for noon, you should be in line no later than 11:45.
I like my job. My coworkers are pretty cool and I'm learning a LOT. I'm really looking forward to working on a project, though ... It'll be fun.
As for Wausau ... Well, as much as I like the city (even with the roads that randomly change directions and turn into one-ways), I don't know it very well yet. Sure, some of that will come with living here, but my exploration has been, um, stunted by the weather. It's much more fun to explore when you can do it on foot, and it's much more fun to do it on foot when your feet won't get soaking wet and cold. Argh.
On the other hand, spring should be very green. That'll be fun.
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Well, that's about it for me this evening. I have at least one more post that's still on paper, but maybe that will be tomorrow night's event. Have a good night, all, and I'll talk to you soon!
Now, without further ado ...
----------------
Something I wrote on Thursday of my first week:
I live in a fairly nice apartment in a fairly nice part of town. I work out of a sadly barren cubicle (I'm hoping to change that fact quickly). I have cable television but no TV, a computer but no Internet access. I spend my days reading about wet air oxidation and my nights reading about grisly murders.
I work at the same company as my friend's dad (Bri's dad, actually). As a matter of fact, he used to work in this office, about fifty feet from where I am. My first day, several people greeted me with "So you're Dave's daughter's friend?"
She's from Texas originally. Go ahead and sing it. "Iiiiiit's a small world aaaaafter all ..."
Now, during my second week:
I've been here for about a week and a half now, and life is good. My awesome parents and sibs were here this past weekend with a Uhaul and an apartment full of stuff ... Yay. I now have furniture, a real bed (woo-hoo!) and, perhaps more importantly, dishes. I've been cooking like a crazy person ever since.
Most of my stories come from work, as is the case when you live alone.
I have a desk, a phone, a laptop, a filing cabinet, and a very nice Swingline stapler. My chair is comfy and all the requirements are close by. I am surrounded by men and I am thinking that there might be something to the glass ceiling of mental maturity – I've heard more fart jokes in the last two weeks than in the previous year (not including my summer at Storm, which is in a class by itself). The free chili one day really, really didn't help.
I've made a few observations at work that aren't actually “work” related:
- My chair has four different levers for adjustments. I'm not sure it's healthy for me to have such a distraction.
- The ratio is actually steeper than Tech's.
- My cubicle – as in the thing I sit in during the day and get to leave every night – is approximately 80% of the size of the room I lived in for 3 years (two of those with another person). That was a mildly depressing realization.
- I am too short to see over cubicle walls.
- Tech grads come out of the woodwork.
- Busy work isn't always.
- Help desks aren't always.
- Lunch hour is the ONLY time everything gets quiet. Half the office is gone; the other half is occupied. The phones even stop ringing.
- As in college, if there is free food advertised for noon, you should be in line no later than 11:45.
I like my job. My coworkers are pretty cool and I'm learning a LOT. I'm really looking forward to working on a project, though ... It'll be fun.
As for Wausau ... Well, as much as I like the city (even with the roads that randomly change directions and turn into one-ways), I don't know it very well yet. Sure, some of that will come with living here, but my exploration has been, um, stunted by the weather. It's much more fun to explore when you can do it on foot, and it's much more fun to do it on foot when your feet won't get soaking wet and cold. Argh.
On the other hand, spring should be very green. That'll be fun.
----------------
Well, that's about it for me this evening. I have at least one more post that's still on paper, but maybe that will be tomorrow night's event. Have a good night, all, and I'll talk to you soon!
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