The new job is going really well. I had my first wireframe review with my boss yesterday. I came armed with Visio wireframes and a sheet detailing what I changed and why. I comped three different approaches and gave her a quick run-down on the pros and cons of each. I probably talked a little bit faster than normal, and at the end told her everything was negotiable and asked her if she had any questions. After my experience at my last contract I expected an earful, with borderline accusations about whether or not I was qualified to even do my job.
“Questions? No. Looks great!” she said. “Pass this on to the other project members. Good job.”
Holy shit … maybe it wasn’t me at the last job after all. Crazy ex-boss-lady. ><
The commute is becoming manageable. I have taken some very good advice from Starbuck and take two different routes. The morning route is up the toll road, and the afternoon route is via a longer, but toll-free route. They wind up taking the same amount of time (30 - 45 minutes, depending on accidents). The biggest strength of the afternoon route is that I avoid toll plazas and other slowdowns that make riding a motorcycle less fun.
Speaking of bikes, Raptor has been great. I rode him in two days this week. Cylon looked sad and neglected, so I brought him along today instead. There is such a difference in performance and demeanor between the two bikes I wonder how anyone who hasn’t owned more than one motorcycle can ever say that one type is “better” than the other. What an amazing thing, this motorcycling.
Dogs have been adjusting well — probably too well as I almost want them to be as devastated by the hours apart as I have been. Luckily Starbuck has been taking care of them, as my niece has ducked her responsibilities for watching them during the day. She’s moving out in the next week or so, and I’m glad for many reasons.
The corporate culture over here is a huge shift for me. I wear a dress shirt and dress pants every day, and about half of the people here don’t smile or say hello. It’s as sterile as can be; I’m going to sneak some pics of the “motivational” posters in the stairwells. It feels so Orwellian. Unfortunately (I guess?), the people here are really excited that I’m on board and want me to help them. They have done the best they can, and are either out of their element or too busy to do much more. I almost wish the entire job sucked so that I would be totally happy about leaving when my contract is up, but I feel like professionally this could be a very rewarding experience.
Break time’s almost up. I have discovered that there is an unsecured wireless access point for contractors that doesn’t have the restrictions of the corporate network. I try to stay on for my lunch break and then reconnect to the real network after.
Thanks for reading, I’ve missed writing.
