Well, here I am, just about a month in at my new job, and I’m still happy to get up in the morning to go to work. The work seems like it will continue to interest me in general, my co-workers are pleasant enough, I like my boss and his infectious enthusiasm, and the office environment works fine. 

They have added a ton of snacks since I started, not only the nonperishable Nutrigrain bar type snacks, but also fresh fruit, hard boiled eggs, string cheese, hummus, nuts, and the like. If I was willing to subsist on Mac n Cheese and ramen noodles for lunch, I wouldn’t have to bring any food at all. As it is, I’m pretty much just bringing a main dish for lunch and eating snacks from the kitchen. 

One guy commented the other day, “It’s like they want us to never leave!” Exactly.

The days have gone pretty quickly, especially around the new release time. I remember at my first job, the days would drag out forever, especially after lunch. I would sit in my cube surfing the web, or wander around the office looking for work, and I was so glad to finally hit 4:00 so I could get ready to leave.

I can tell that won’t be the problem here. If anything, I have to leave sooner than I (or my boss) would like, and I already have plenty to do. When I actually take on my full responsibilities, I’ll be quite busy. It’s varied work, though – some learning about new features a in meetings or one on one, some writing, a little bit of photo editing, some urgent-drop-everything editing for the marketing department. 

Right now there’s also the learning our tools, co-workers’ names and roles and who to talk to when, and also doing product training to get deeper knowledge of what I’m writing about. When I go home, my brain is tired.

I’m liking my bike commute. As I adjust to it, I may consider adding another day of biking home. At first it felt so long and I was going like 15.3 to 15.5 mph average. Now it’s getting more normal, and yesterday I had my fastest-ever solo ride home, averaging 16.2 mph over the whole ride. That includes my downtown Seattle section with stoplights and the slog up the hill by my house.

 I hope to get up to averaging 18 mph over the whole ride eventually, but for now I’ll take a 0.7 mph improvement!

In less cheerful news, Benji got a cold and has been grouchy, and now Ian just came down with it. I just dodged the cold that took out the entire User Education team at work; I can’t imagine I’ll be so lucky at home. I feel bad for Ian, because being sick with a heathy kid stinks. I’ll be so glad when virus season passes.