The Duc Pond

So my first day of work… First off, I have to get up way too early. Getting up at 8 sucked. Getting up at 6 sucks infinitely more. The commute (I volunteered to be the first driver) actually wasn’t that bad, but it’s going to get very, very tiring very quickly. I wasn’t sure at first about carpooling (despite the environmental benefits) because I like to have full control over where and when I can be transported, but it’s worth it to be able to sleep or read in the car 2 out of every 3 workdays. I’m thinking of getting a cheap laptop so I can read saved articles, compose emails, write blog entries or watch DVDs on my way up and down.

So the security and stuff was blah. Nothing unexpected. What WAS unexpected is that we each have a cubemate! WTF? The cubicles are larger than normal, but I still prefer to have my own damn cube. Turns out my cubemate’s cool, though. As Kirk showed me my office, Justin was surfing the ‘net and IMing people. No big deal, right? Well it is when there’s only one PC per office! Yes, we each get a Unix workstation, but there’s only one Windows PC to be shared. Justification is that we won’t use it much. Yeah, maybe not for work, but for other stuff, definitely. This one PC deal is a big problem.

Also bad was our 2 PM meeting, a crash course on SPY stuff. I don’t think I understood much more about SPY coming out than I did before the meeting. I felt so damned incompetent. I’m worried I’ll end up looking like an idiot. There is hope, though. Signs indicate Dennis and Mike may have been similary confused by the fast-paced presentation. Maybe we can stick together on this.

I don’t know… Now I’m starting to doubt that I made the right decision. It’s only the first day, though. First days are supposed to suck. Hopefully as I learn more I’ll get more comfortable. Hopefully the people are nice. And hopefully once I get my clearance I can do some hardcore coding.

As for the weekend, it was cool. Visited Melissa in her nice new place. It’s a townhouse, quite unlike the residences I’m used to seeing college students live in. Saw Finding Nemo, which was a very good movie but not of Monsters, Inc. caliber. Great animation as always, though. I’d really love to work for Pixar. Then Sunday hit Menlo Park Mall where I bought my first Banana Republic shirt, on sale for $25 (usually $68). And that was pretty much that!