The Company Wench

So, I won $100 today for coming to work as a wench. I was voted "Bravest Costume," which was funny because I felt very comfortable. I don't know what that says about me and I don't care. $100. For being a wench.

Me with my friend Jen in the wench outfits this past weekend:

Expect surprises. Jess was so pissed. It was her costume, and it only cost $35 :)

So, okay. Today was my second day of work. I timed it, and my commute is 4.5 minutes on foot. I know, I know - hateful, snide remarks can be left at the bottom of this post. On the first day my project manager and senior ISD (Instructional Designer... I am definitely falling into a pit of acronyms at this job, all of which seem unnecessary save to make our industry sound harder than it is) took me out to lunch at... Five Guys. You know, that place on the same block as my apartment that has the most amazing hamburger-and-fry combo on the planet (they even give the Potato Patch a run for its money which is simply unheard of)? I live around the corner from Five Guys. Literally around the corner. We walked by my apartment to go to lunch. I saw I had mail in my mailbox. So in that regard, as my manager put it when I asked her why they hired me, "You lived so close. It seemed like destiny."

I like it. I don't love it, I don't hate it. I don't know how long I can see myself doing it, but absolutely it is a fantastic company with great people. I was so proud of myself today. It was my second day, and I actually finished a part of a project that the PM had been hoping would get finished by the end of next week. I'm delivering two more of them tomorrow and Friday, and to do it I had to learn an entirely new software program, as well as learn how to translate these storyboards into the right code. It was an odd feeling today as I casually told my boss I had finished one section. He didn't say anything, but I could tell from the look on his face that he was really impressed. Later, he said to the senior ISD, "As long as we have Martin as an asset, I say we keep him busy." Asset! Sweet. I'm keeping my sights only a few days ahead, trying to counteract my tendency to see commitments as happening all at one time and instead see it as a progression of days, each with something new to offer. And I know I'll feel better when I get paid. My first strategy has been to go to bed early enough to get eight hours of sleep. I've been waking up at 7:30 and getting to work at 8:30, hence the dearth of 4 AM posts that were the hallmark of the Captain's Blog. I like having some time in the morning before running to work (or walking leisurely, as I do... haha!). On the Discovery Channel at 8 AM there's a program with Joyce Meyers, one of them Christian televangelist people, and I actually find myself looking forward to watching it. It's a kind of centering to think about religion and spiritual stuff before heading out. It puts things in perspective, makes having to go to work seem... I dunno, more human.

Now, I've had no time for anything else, mind you. I come home, Jessie has cooked some amazing meal (after my first day I came home to flowers, a cake, and a card saying "I'm proud of you!"... I am a lucky guy), we go to the gym, we come home, do dishes, take showers, maybe watch some TV, and then it's time for bed! I feel like kids are going to point at me on the street and go, "Who is that old guy?"

The absolute worst thing about the job is that they gave me a beautiful laptop.

A Lenovo laptop. As in, not a Mac.

There are Macs in the office, beautiful Power Mac G5's with 30" screens. *drool* Now, I know there are avid fans on both sides, and that some of them read this blog, but I cannot tell you how much time I've spent on the phone with our tech support guy trying to keep the damn thing from crashing CONSTANTLY. It is one error report after another. Word won't open. Outlook can't connect to the Exchange server. Internet Explorer has experienced an error and needs to close. Explorer.exe has experienced an error and needs to close. It's like I've wandered into some bad recurring nightmare that I'd finally stopped having a year and a half ago, only to wake up and realize that it was all real and here and I was surrounded on all sides.

So, I come home and use my Macs exclusively (though I haven't been able to resist playing with the Lenovo... it's seriously nice hardware... /geek), and it's okay, but man, so much time wasted keeping Windows working. I just want to scream, "Get out of my way, I'm trying to work!"

Anyways, that's my gripe. This is new. This is different. Physically I come home tired, mentally I come home exhausted. My body has been unemployed since May, and it is resisting a schedule with great aplomb. But, if I stay up late, I'll sleep too late, and I'll be late to work which, for those people in the world who walk 4.5 minutes to work, looks very, very bad.

So! I'm off to bed. And still poor, seeing as I don't get paid until December. Yeah, that was a nice surprise.

Anyone want to buy a wench?

Martin