And So It Begins

Day 1 is now in the books.

I survived.

Orientation took up most of the day. The basic stuff...

• benefits (aka "take home pay you don't take home"),
• compliance (if you see a crime, drop a dime),
• safety and security (the magnet is ALWAYS on - think mri),
• harassment (okay -- so it's still not acceptable to grope people or to tell the joke about the priest, the minister, and the rabbi),
• back safety (bend those knees).

And then there was the customer service component. Oh my goodness. Someone needs to have a better speaking voice. And for two hours!!!

Oh -- the parking. Seems parking is tight and the new guys (I would be one of 'em) need to park off site and take the shuttle in. Oh well, I drive right by the lot on my commute in. I can handle this. Hey, the last shuttles leave fairly early in the evening which means I have a reason not to stay late for work!! (There's a bright side to everything.)

After orientation I went to the department. I found my office - not bad at all. Great view. Nothing palatial, but certainly comfortable. I'm certainly happy. I'm excited about the totally empty office. There are a few nice filing drawers so I can start a new filing system from scratch.

**RESOLUTION**

I resolve to start off organized and to stick with it by throwing away anything that does not need to be filed. No piles of papers!!

Oh -- the new PC is a laptop. That's helpful. I like being able to go to meetings ready to "plug in."
And on that note, I stayed a little late previewing some of the main programs I'll be using. Interesting stuff. Pretty interesting to see the same program used by two companies set up so differently. I am eager to learn all about what they have done and why. The thing is though ... so much is wrapped up in the history and the culture of the place. I'm hearing so many 'hard line' comments.

There is a consultant on site for three days from the big software company we deal with... I am sitting at the table representing a company I've not been with for more than 8 hours. It's a weird feeling!

I am already starting to see my role. Someone needs to get everyone talking and find some common ground on which to settle.

So... day 1.

All in all, pretty successful. Now if I can just figure out my telephone extension......