One Week Down

Well, I officially survived my first week of work and they liked me so much they gave me a 3 day weekend!  Ok, so maybe it also just happens to be a Holiday weekend, but a girl can dream, right?

Not surprisingly, I was nervous on Monday.  I was in a new city, driving on a new road (to avoid the interstate... more on that later) and I was just plain nervous to start.  This is my first 'big girl' job and I wasn't sure what to expect.  I got to my destination for orientation early (thank goodness) and went to find the building where I had to go.  I was pretty sure I knew which one it was, but I proceeded to walk all the way around just to verify the address.  Just my luck, the doors on that side of the building were for employees only, so I went back around to where I saw the first set of doors.  Unfortunately, these doors directed me somewhere else, but I wasn't sure where it was, so I went back to the employee entrance (because I'm an employee now, right.).  Wrong.  Of course the doors were locked and of course I felt like an idiot (hopefully no one saw!).  The only good that came from my feeling like a fool was that I could see the security post at an entrance on the OTHER side of the building.  Once I almost reached the door, a woman (I met here a few weeks ago) was waiting for me and gave me a mini-heart attack because she acted like I was late.  Of course I got a little panicked, but she reassured me that I wasn't late for orientation (heck no I wasn't, I was 20 minutes early!), apparently my boss thought I would stop in at the office before orientation (I emailed him about it too the Friday before and he said not to worry about it, so I guess he forgot.  He is crazy busy though, so it's understandable).  Besides, the other girl wasn't there yet either.

Anyways, Monday was your typical day.  Paper work, paper work, more paper work.  Office tour/intros, mini chat with my boss, etc.  There were some highlights, though.  The first is I found out that the other girl they hired started on the same day, which has worked out great so far.  She and I are essentially the same position, but working on different projects.  We seem to get along pretty well and it sounds like we might be able to help each other out on things.  It has been really nice having someone else in the same position (starting a new job there and all) because we can ask each other questions and we are in the same boat.  Since neither of us knows anyone we work with, we have been chatting with each other.  Everyone else in the office seems really nice too.  I mean, I know it will take time to get to know everyone and to not feel so new, but so far people have been friendly.  Another highlight on Monday was that my boss took the other new girl and I (and another co-worker... the four of us make up the office of assessment/eval people for our bureau) to lunch, which was super nice.  It was a good opportunity to have a little office chat.  I also got my cubicle on Monday, which is pretty cool.  Not only does it make me feel more 'working girl' like, but it's also the window slot... and yes, I can see the State Capitol from my window. :-)

On Tuesday things felt slightly more official when I got my new work email.  I also started some actual work.  Right now we are just doing some background research/reading on the projects we'll be working on.

Wednesday: even more official yet, I got my employee ID number.  Plus, I got to do some 'shopping.'  Since my cubicle is pretty empty (not even a stapler) I got to go through a Staples catalog and pick out some office supplies.

Thursday: I can't really remember if there was too much excitement on this day.  It was either Thursday or Wednesday that the project manager for one of the projects I'll be working on said that I might be doing a bit of traveling (in state) in the future.  But since it's not finalized yet, no details. :-)

Today.  Again, a pretty typical day, except for one thing... I got my first official business cards.  While this may not be a big deal to some, I have never had business cards before, so it feels pretty awesome to have some.

Now getting back to the interstate and why I'm avoiding it for commuting to/from work.  At first I thought I would try the side streets (aka: not the interstate) this week because 1) I don't know how long it would take during rush hour and 2) they have some scary looking loop-do-loops to get from one interstate to another.  While I am sure they are perfectly safe, I am not a fan of heights so the thought of the loops freaks me out a bit.  I intend to use them someday, but not yet.  But now, my reasons for not using the interstate to get to/from work is even more solidified because there have been some major, and I do mean MAJOR, accidents the past two days.  I saw footage on the news and it was sad and horrifying.  So needless to say, I'll stick to my route for now.


As for the Holiday weekend, we are in an extreme heat warning (it is supposed to be at least 116 tomorrow), so it seems like a perfect excuse for me to stay in and finish unpacking/organizing my apartment.  I hope the rest of you have a wonderful 4th of July!!  Watch some fireworks for me!  And how about some updates on your lives, huh?