While I made some definite progress at work yesterday, getting my e-mail account actually working, setting up my workstation, getting access to some tools I needed access to, and getting a phone, I really didn’t do much apart from reading some existing documentation to get a feel for the sort of documentation I’ll be creating in the future.
My boss was busy doing stuff all day, so I only saw him when he’d periodically come around to check in on me. Nita, who’s pregnant, came in late due to a doctor’s appointment, and then spent most of her time getting set up in her new digs, so I didn’t see much from her, though she did e-mail me some information I needed.
And that was pretty much it for my first “week” of work. Next week will mark my first full week. Working for five days straight…it seems inconceivable.
Today I took a ride to Maryland with Kathleen. She had a bunch of books she wanted to sell, and none of the used bookstores in this area would give her a very good deal, so she found a place near the University of Maryland that would, so we went there today.
One of the girls working at the bookstore was cute and had a nice ass. That was pretty much the highlight for me.
On the way back we stopped for burgers at Five Guys, and then we swung by the comic shop so that I could pick up this week’s books, as I’d been too interested in just getting home after work and never got around to stopping to pick them up. It was a pretty light week – only three books – so I grabbed some more boards and bags. I really need to get moving on the bagging and boarding so that I can get everything into my database program and get everything organized.
Once I’ve gotten a few more paychecks into my account I’m going to buy some of these, as they’ll make the whole storage thing more convenient than regular longboxes.
Speaking of paychecks, as I mentioned, AOL actually paid out my severance money even though I don’t qualify for severance anymore thanks to accepting a position in a different branch on the corporate tree. On the advice of the recruiter from my new job, I moved the money to my high-yield savings account to let it gather interest until AOL got around to asking for it back.
They contacted me on Wednesday to ask for it back.
So now I have to move it back into my checking account to either write them a check or simply let them reverse the transfer into my checking account.
Oh well.
Anyway, that pretty much brings us all up to date, and it’s all I really feel like writing at the moment.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Thursday, January 10, 2008
A Jon Is A Jon Is A Jon
Today wasn’t too much more eventful than yesterday. I got an e-mail address, but it won’t actually exist on the Exchange server until tomorrow.
I also got an employee ID, which meant that IT was able to hook me up with a laptop, docking station, monitor, keyboard, mouse, and a security token which allows me to log in to the VPN.
As far as any actual work, I basically just sat on a couple of conference calls so that I could be introduced to the other participants, though I didn’t actually contribute much of anything to the discussion.
Today was the last day for Nita, the person I’m replacing, who is moving to another group. When I was initially contacted about the position, it had been their intention to have me replace someone else who had left and have me work with Nita, but then she got the other job, so I ended up being her replacement, and they’re not able to backfill the other open position, so I’ll be flying solo. Nita will be available to help me out and answer questions while I get my footing, though.
However, she did move out of the cubicle and into her new digs this afternoon, so the cubicle is now all mine.
It’s nothing fancy – if you’ve seen one cubicle you’ve seen them all – but it does have a good location, as it’s close to the elevators and the restroom.
Our boss took our team out to lunch today for a “Farewell Nita/Welcome aboard Jon” kind of thing.
I’ve been doing what I can to forego the usual settling in period and to just skip to being the comfortable and relaxed version of Jon – to whatever extent I’m capable of being comfortable and relaxed, at least.
I’m not sure how well it’s working. The problem with making the leap is that without taking some time to read people and learn to gauge their responses, I run the risk of being a little too “Jon,” which is to say snarky and sarcastic, and not knowing how well that’s going to fly. Even when it’s restrained, my sense of humor can be…off-putting, so I’m still trying to be a little bit careful, and the fact of the matter is that I’m just not that good at things like small talk, or interacting with groups of three or more people.
As for the lunch, I was sort of the odd man out, as the rest of them were talking about people and events that I have no familiarity with, so it was difficult to join in, though, again, even under the best of circumstances I don’t do that well in group settings.
So we’ll see, I guess. So far everyone has been pretty nice, though they seem to be demonstrating the general lack of interest in finding out things about me that I so often encounter. I mean, nobody really asks any questions or makes an effort to have a real conversation with me the way that it seems to me that they ought to, or would if they were dealing with someone else. I don’t know, it just seems to me that when I’m among the entrenched I make a little more effort to get to know the new guy than the entrenched make to get to know me when I’m the new guy, which strikes me as a little odd. I mean, I’m the anti-social one, yet I make more of an effort to be sociable than normal people ever seem to.
But whatever; maybe that’s just a misperception – or misconception – on my part.
So far I haven’t encountered anyone who’s especially hot, though it’s not like that really matters.
I was tired last night so I went to bed about an hour earlier than I had on Tuesday night, but it didn’t do me any good, as I ended up waking up an hour earlier this morning than I did yesterday.
Today’s commute took quite a bit longer than yesterday’s, as I didn’t take the Greenway in. It’s just too expensive to take the Greenway, though, so I guess I’m going to have to learn to put up with the aggravation. I may just start going in even earlier to avoid some of the traffic. My boss is, apparently, pretty flexible about that sort of thing.
As I’ve mentioned many times, the whole five day work week thing will be a big adjustment. I mean, only two days off? WTF? Are we living in Soviet Russia all of a sudden?
But I’ll manage, I guess.
As I was driving home today it occurred to me that there’s really no point in getting anxious about how people are going to react to me or how well-equipped I am to do the job because, after all, I’m Jon. I just do what I can and things work out however they’re going to work out, so there’s really no point in getting too worked up about anything.
I also got an employee ID, which meant that IT was able to hook me up with a laptop, docking station, monitor, keyboard, mouse, and a security token which allows me to log in to the VPN.
As far as any actual work, I basically just sat on a couple of conference calls so that I could be introduced to the other participants, though I didn’t actually contribute much of anything to the discussion.
Today was the last day for Nita, the person I’m replacing, who is moving to another group. When I was initially contacted about the position, it had been their intention to have me replace someone else who had left and have me work with Nita, but then she got the other job, so I ended up being her replacement, and they’re not able to backfill the other open position, so I’ll be flying solo. Nita will be available to help me out and answer questions while I get my footing, though.
However, she did move out of the cubicle and into her new digs this afternoon, so the cubicle is now all mine.
It’s nothing fancy – if you’ve seen one cubicle you’ve seen them all – but it does have a good location, as it’s close to the elevators and the restroom.
Our boss took our team out to lunch today for a “Farewell Nita/Welcome aboard Jon” kind of thing.
I’ve been doing what I can to forego the usual settling in period and to just skip to being the comfortable and relaxed version of Jon – to whatever extent I’m capable of being comfortable and relaxed, at least.
I’m not sure how well it’s working. The problem with making the leap is that without taking some time to read people and learn to gauge their responses, I run the risk of being a little too “Jon,” which is to say snarky and sarcastic, and not knowing how well that’s going to fly. Even when it’s restrained, my sense of humor can be…off-putting, so I’m still trying to be a little bit careful, and the fact of the matter is that I’m just not that good at things like small talk, or interacting with groups of three or more people.
As for the lunch, I was sort of the odd man out, as the rest of them were talking about people and events that I have no familiarity with, so it was difficult to join in, though, again, even under the best of circumstances I don’t do that well in group settings.
So we’ll see, I guess. So far everyone has been pretty nice, though they seem to be demonstrating the general lack of interest in finding out things about me that I so often encounter. I mean, nobody really asks any questions or makes an effort to have a real conversation with me the way that it seems to me that they ought to, or would if they were dealing with someone else. I don’t know, it just seems to me that when I’m among the entrenched I make a little more effort to get to know the new guy than the entrenched make to get to know me when I’m the new guy, which strikes me as a little odd. I mean, I’m the anti-social one, yet I make more of an effort to be sociable than normal people ever seem to.
But whatever; maybe that’s just a misperception – or misconception – on my part.
So far I haven’t encountered anyone who’s especially hot, though it’s not like that really matters.
I was tired last night so I went to bed about an hour earlier than I had on Tuesday night, but it didn’t do me any good, as I ended up waking up an hour earlier this morning than I did yesterday.
Today’s commute took quite a bit longer than yesterday’s, as I didn’t take the Greenway in. It’s just too expensive to take the Greenway, though, so I guess I’m going to have to learn to put up with the aggravation. I may just start going in even earlier to avoid some of the traffic. My boss is, apparently, pretty flexible about that sort of thing.
As I’ve mentioned many times, the whole five day work week thing will be a big adjustment. I mean, only two days off? WTF? Are we living in Soviet Russia all of a sudden?
But I’ll manage, I guess.
As I was driving home today it occurred to me that there’s really no point in getting anxious about how people are going to react to me or how well-equipped I am to do the job because, after all, I’m Jon. I just do what I can and things work out however they’re going to work out, so there’s really no point in getting too worked up about anything.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
It's My First Day
Today marked my first day well and truly back among the gainfully employed.
It went well, all things considered, though I really didn’t do much.
I don’t have an employee ID yet, which all of my logins will be based off of, so I also don’t have an e-mail address and couldn’t be issued a laptop. Hopefully it should be all sorted out tomorrow.
I’m currently sharing a cubicle with the person I’m replacing, who is also training me to take over. Her last day is Friday, at which point she’ll be moving to a different group within the same company.
Apart from going over a few things and listening in on a conference call meeting that I’ll be on every week, I mostly just got showed around and introduced to people.
I saw a few ex-AOLers that I recognized and who recognized me, though they weren’t people that I was really friendly with. Not that I was hostile with them either; what I mean is that I didn’t have much cause to interact with them at AOL, so they were basically just familiar faces.
I don’t really feel up to writing a proper entry right now, but I thought I’d just give a quick update. Consider yourself updated.
It went well, all things considered, though I really didn’t do much.
I don’t have an employee ID yet, which all of my logins will be based off of, so I also don’t have an e-mail address and couldn’t be issued a laptop. Hopefully it should be all sorted out tomorrow.
I’m currently sharing a cubicle with the person I’m replacing, who is also training me to take over. Her last day is Friday, at which point she’ll be moving to a different group within the same company.
Apart from going over a few things and listening in on a conference call meeting that I’ll be on every week, I mostly just got showed around and introduced to people.
I saw a few ex-AOLers that I recognized and who recognized me, though they weren’t people that I was really friendly with. Not that I was hostile with them either; what I mean is that I didn’t have much cause to interact with them at AOL, so they were basically just familiar faces.
I don’t really feel up to writing a proper entry right now, but I thought I’d just give a quick update. Consider yourself updated.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Monday, January 07, 2008
The Squirrel Invasion Has Begun
This morning when I woke up and went downstairs to the kitchen I looked out the window to see a half a dozen squirrels running around in my backyard.
I immediately decided to add poison to my grocery list.
When I got home from the store I took one of the little packages of poison kibble – stored inside a convenient serving tray – and set it on a fence post near where they tend to congregate. The squirrels in the tree behind my yard looked like there were preparing to check it out, so I hung out on my patio to watch. Before any of them could make a move, though, I heard some scratching on the fence at the front of the yard where another squirrel was climbing its way up. With a look of determination I never thought I’d see on a squirrel, it climbed over the fence and made a mad dash directly to the tray of poison at the back of the yard and very deliberately knocked it off the fence post, scattering the poison pellets all over the ground, before rushing off.
WTF? Was it like some squirrel super hero swooping in to protect its fellow squirrels?
I’m really starting to think that I need to pick up a pellet gun, though I suspect I would end up taking out more windows than squirrels.
I also checked the trap in the attic and found that I’d apparently set it improperly last time, as all the peanut butter was gone, but the trap had never been sprung.
Why is my place such a magnet for squirrels anyway? They seem to stay out of everyone else’s yard.
Oh well.
So last night, if history has taught me anything, I should have been having anxiety-filled dreams about being late for my first day of work. Usually I’ll dream that I’m already like four hours late and keep running into further delays as I scramble to get ready and head out the door.
Of course I didn’t have any dreams like that because today wasn’t my first day of work.
I just remained baffled at what an aggravating mess this whole job thing has been. I grudgingly admit that the Universe has really outdone itself this time.
I immediately decided to add poison to my grocery list.
When I got home from the store I took one of the little packages of poison kibble – stored inside a convenient serving tray – and set it on a fence post near where they tend to congregate. The squirrels in the tree behind my yard looked like there were preparing to check it out, so I hung out on my patio to watch. Before any of them could make a move, though, I heard some scratching on the fence at the front of the yard where another squirrel was climbing its way up. With a look of determination I never thought I’d see on a squirrel, it climbed over the fence and made a mad dash directly to the tray of poison at the back of the yard and very deliberately knocked it off the fence post, scattering the poison pellets all over the ground, before rushing off.
WTF? Was it like some squirrel super hero swooping in to protect its fellow squirrels?
I’m really starting to think that I need to pick up a pellet gun, though I suspect I would end up taking out more windows than squirrels.
I also checked the trap in the attic and found that I’d apparently set it improperly last time, as all the peanut butter was gone, but the trap had never been sprung.
Why is my place such a magnet for squirrels anyway? They seem to stay out of everyone else’s yard.
Oh well.
So last night, if history has taught me anything, I should have been having anxiety-filled dreams about being late for my first day of work. Usually I’ll dream that I’m already like four hours late and keep running into further delays as I scramble to get ready and head out the door.
Of course I didn’t have any dreams like that because today wasn’t my first day of work.
I just remained baffled at what an aggravating mess this whole job thing has been. I grudgingly admit that the Universe has really outdone itself this time.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
The Reason HD Was Invented (Plus: Learn At The Feet Of The Bra Size Masters!)
Some time ago when the movie Species aired (unedited) on one of the HD channels I get, I learned that seeing Natasha Henstridge nude in High Definition qualifies as A Very Good Thing. This wasn’t a surprising discovery, certainly, but it was something that I kept in mind when I saw that Species II was airing on Universal HD last night.
So, even though it’s not a good movie, I opted to sit down and watch it, though I forgot that I’d have to sit through almost the entire movie before seeing the reason HD was invented (at least as it relates to Natasha Henstridge).
In that pivotal scene, we see Natasha Henstridge’s alien-human hybrid character slowly walking across a room to approach her male counterpart. For these hybrids, the imperative to mate is even stronger than it is for humans who don’t have alien DNA, and conception and birth occur almost instantly, which is, of course, bad news for the plain vanilla humans, who would soon be driven to extinction by the rapidly-reproducing and aggressive aliens with their accelerated rate of maturation.
As they slowly walked towards each other, I found myself singing, “We don’t have to take our clothes off to have a good time, oh no!”
But of course, they did take their clothes off, which was actually fine by me, as it was the primary reason I was watching the crappy move in the first place, and soon they were bumping uglies. And I mean they were bumping really uglies, as they had morphed into their H.R. Giger-designed alien forms.
(For anime/hentai/manga fans there was even some tentacle rape [NSFW] involved.)
Anyway, after the movie was over I decided to stick around on the couch, as, starting last night, Universal HD is airing Battlestar Galactica (the 21st Century version) from the beginning. Despite hearing from many sources how great the show is, I never got into it, but now that I can see it in HD, I figure I might as well give it a shot. Even from watching just the first episode I can see that it’s a step up from the mini-series that launched it, which I watched but was largely unimpressed by.
They’re also airing Threshold, but I didn’t watch that, despite the shared name, and the presence of the lovely and talented Carla Gugino, as I had watched the show back during its brief original run on CBS.
Today has been largely uneventful, with a failed attempt at taking a nap being the only thing of note that’s really happened.
Build Your Bra Size Intelligence Department:
Speaking of the lovely and talented Carla Gugino, there have, of late, been even more than the usual number of seekers of her cup size visiting this blog (and promptly leaving in frustration). As has always been, and will likely always be the case, I can’t give you what you seek, but I do have something that I would like to pass along to all seekers of celebrity bra size wisdom.
While flipping through the channels the other day I stumbled upon a special entitled Man Made: The Secret History of the Bra on the National Geographic Channel.
From what little of it that I saw, it seemed to me that this show could provide a wealth of information for inquiring minds. Perhaps using the information provided, bra size seekers could learn how to determine sizes for themselves simply through eyeballing in much the way that the employees of an upscale lingerie shop in New York featured on the show do.
At the very least you would learn that any information you do find about celebrity bra sizes should be taken with a grain of salt, given the statement made by the shop’s proprietor that “8 out of 10 women wear the wrong sized bra.” And this guy knows from bras; he’s like the bra size equivalent of the enlightened master sitting on a mountain top to whom all seekers of wisdom will ascend.
If he is correct, even if the celebrities whose cup sizes you so desperately need to know in order to proceed with your bra-related intellectual pursuits were to reveal them to you, there’s an 80% chance they would be mistaken.
One customer at the shop was laboring under the mistaken belief that she was a 34 D. One of the women working there took one look at her and assured her that she is, in fact, a 32 F.
There’s so much about bras that these wizened masters could teach you, young Grasshopper. When you can unclasp a bra with one hand, you will be ready.
So, even though it’s not a good movie, I opted to sit down and watch it, though I forgot that I’d have to sit through almost the entire movie before seeing the reason HD was invented (at least as it relates to Natasha Henstridge).
In that pivotal scene, we see Natasha Henstridge’s alien-human hybrid character slowly walking across a room to approach her male counterpart. For these hybrids, the imperative to mate is even stronger than it is for humans who don’t have alien DNA, and conception and birth occur almost instantly, which is, of course, bad news for the plain vanilla humans, who would soon be driven to extinction by the rapidly-reproducing and aggressive aliens with their accelerated rate of maturation.
As they slowly walked towards each other, I found myself singing, “We don’t have to take our clothes off to have a good time, oh no!”
But of course, they did take their clothes off, which was actually fine by me, as it was the primary reason I was watching the crappy move in the first place, and soon they were bumping uglies. And I mean they were bumping really uglies, as they had morphed into their H.R. Giger-designed alien forms.
(For anime/hentai/manga fans there was even some tentacle rape [NSFW] involved.)
Anyway, after the movie was over I decided to stick around on the couch, as, starting last night, Universal HD is airing Battlestar Galactica (the 21st Century version) from the beginning. Despite hearing from many sources how great the show is, I never got into it, but now that I can see it in HD, I figure I might as well give it a shot. Even from watching just the first episode I can see that it’s a step up from the mini-series that launched it, which I watched but was largely unimpressed by.
They’re also airing Threshold, but I didn’t watch that, despite the shared name, and the presence of the lovely and talented Carla Gugino, as I had watched the show back during its brief original run on CBS.
Today has been largely uneventful, with a failed attempt at taking a nap being the only thing of note that’s really happened.
Build Your Bra Size Intelligence Department:
Speaking of the lovely and talented Carla Gugino, there have, of late, been even more than the usual number of seekers of her cup size visiting this blog (and promptly leaving in frustration). As has always been, and will likely always be the case, I can’t give you what you seek, but I do have something that I would like to pass along to all seekers of celebrity bra size wisdom.
While flipping through the channels the other day I stumbled upon a special entitled Man Made: The Secret History of the Bra on the National Geographic Channel.
From what little of it that I saw, it seemed to me that this show could provide a wealth of information for inquiring minds. Perhaps using the information provided, bra size seekers could learn how to determine sizes for themselves simply through eyeballing in much the way that the employees of an upscale lingerie shop in New York featured on the show do.
At the very least you would learn that any information you do find about celebrity bra sizes should be taken with a grain of salt, given the statement made by the shop’s proprietor that “8 out of 10 women wear the wrong sized bra.” And this guy knows from bras; he’s like the bra size equivalent of the enlightened master sitting on a mountain top to whom all seekers of wisdom will ascend.
If he is correct, even if the celebrities whose cup sizes you so desperately need to know in order to proceed with your bra-related intellectual pursuits were to reveal them to you, there’s an 80% chance they would be mistaken.
One customer at the shop was laboring under the mistaken belief that she was a 34 D. One of the women working there took one look at her and assured her that she is, in fact, a 32 F.
There’s so much about bras that these wizened masters could teach you, young Grasshopper. When you can unclasp a bra with one hand, you will be ready.
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