A Day, A Week, Hemant, A Year

So after two weeks of unemployment, I was back at work today. I was told to be at the office at 9:00 am to start my orientation. I was on the road by 7:00 am and rolled into Saskatoon at about 8:30, finally arriving at the office at around 8:45. The drive was not too bad – a totally clear morning giving me a chance to see the sunrise at exactly 8:03. The flat prairie landscape makes this an easy target.

The first day at the office was a typical first day on the job. Filled out some forms, went over some HR policies and other general company information. I was shown to my office where I had a guy show me some of the systems I have access to. I’ve never had my own office, so this will take a little getting used to. I think I may miss the cubicle setting – I really like being able to just chat with my neighbours. But I guess having an office has its advantages as well.

After getting some of the basic things out of the way I met with project lead and we went over some of the stuff I had done in the past and what type of stuff I would be doing at the new place. We didn’t get into any real details, but I’m sure it won’t be long before that comes. After a presentation / lunch, the lead took me around the office to meet everyone. I think the company is up to 99 people, so this took a little while. It was good to see everyone and put faces to some names. I think I remember only about 5% percent of the names.

The rest of the afternoon, myself and my ‘buddy for the month’ tried to get my development environment up and running. We ran into a few snags that we couldn’t get solved before day’s end. Around 5:00 I noticed everyone starting to file out of the office, so I decided to pack it up around 5:15.

I was on the highway at about 5:30 and got back to Wilkie at seven bells. I was pretty tired after the long day, but hopefully I get used to it in the next week or so. Thankfully the drive is a quiet one, giving me some time to chill and listen to some music. It’s now ten bells and I think I’m gonna hit the hay. Three hours at home and it’s already time for bed. I guess the next month will pretty much consist of sleeping, driving, and working. And to top things off I’ll be leaving around six in the morning so I can be at the office by 8:00. The good news is that the new company looks pretty solid and everything should work out just fine. I’m a little anxious to get started on some real work, but I’m sure that will come in huge waves pretty soon. Just gotta think ahead to December and everything should be smooth rolling.