New Job

Yesterday was the start of my new job. It's been a long haul in the other one -- 7 1/2 years, to be exact, so I was feeling a bit trepidatious alongside the excitement of getting out of the somewhat toxic environment I've been in. It's a luxury to be in the same job for that long -- I really learned all the limits of how much I can get away with, how to give myself administrative privileges on my computer, how many hours per day of internet games I can play while still producing above acceptable volumes of work.

It was with some misgivings that I accepted the new position, but the complacency in the old one was the only reason why. Every other sign in the Magic 8 ball of life pointed to, "YES! Take this job, you dolt! Run, get out while you can!"

Yesterday was the typical slow start to a new job, as they, well, we -- start to figure out exactly what my responsiblities will be. There's nothing concrete or set in stone, as it's a new position. They have a general idea, but as far as the specifics, those will evolve over time.

I spent the morning getting settled in -- carting boxes from my car and moving stuff into my new cube. I didn't have a new ID badge for parking and access to the building, which I needed. There's a lobby on my floor, and in order to get into the work area, you need an ID badge that this security system recognizes. That's all fine and good, but the bathrooms are outside of the locked area! Whenever I had to go, I had to call the admin assistant to buzz me back in. I felt like a fourth grader getting a bathroom pass.

My cube, though tastefully beige and taupe, as opposed to the dingy purple / gray that I've been in, is in the middle of a bunch of other cubes. My old one was rather isolated and off by itself, with a really loud air blower (not "conditioner," just "blower." That's all it did. Kind of. Well, not really. But it acted like it wanted to fulfill the measure if its creation!) above it that sounded like airplanes taking off and landing. It did a good job of tricking me into thinking that no one else could hear any of my conversations, it was so volumous. Being in the middle of an aisle, in the middle of a row of cubes, in the middle of the floor, I'm aware of every cough, sniffle and slurp that people make. I'm very self-conscious now of the noises I make, and am hyper-aware that my every word on the phone, etc., can be heard. I have to be very careful in my internet usage these days, as my trying-to-stifle-the-giggles giggle can sometimes come out sounding like a combination snore, amputated sneeze and a bad head cold all at once.

My new chair is very different than what I'm used to -- I have one of those meshy ones with a tall back. My old one was set such that I could lean over the back of it and crack my back, but with this one, I fear I will never be able to crack my back over the back of my chair again! And I can't figure out how to get my chair from leaning ALL the way back. I feel like I'm going to fall over! I see the levers, but they don't really do anything when I move them. As I tried to adjust them yesterday, I kept leaning back to see if the adjustment was doing anything. This chair leans so far back, that I felt as though it was going to pitch me out and into a back flip.

While amusing, the Russian judge did not think I was the epitome of grace and balance in my newfound sport of office gymnastics, and I only got a 7.54 from him. Tightwad. Probably helped the French ice skating judge in last year's winter olympics.

When I got in and found my cube, the first thing I noticed was the new chair. "Oh, goody!" I thought, as I tried it out. It wasn't two minutes later that my new boss walked by to make sure I had found my new digs. I felt a little foolish bouncing around as opposed to earnestly doing important things. "Oh, hi! Just bouncing around in my new chair! Look at me! I'm cool! I have a new job and bouncy chair!"

What a dork. But my life wouldn't be my life without a large degree of dorkiness thrown into the mix.