tired and lazy, but apparently verbose

My first full week of work at my new job has come and gone. I'm cautiously getting my feet wet, but my prevailing feeling is that of being tired. Part of it is that going into sponge mode and learning everything new is exhausting. Part of it is that for the last few months, I haven't been working all that hard as the work at my last place dried up. And part of it is that I'm now working more hours per week than I have for several years.

Robert left early this morning for a weekend trip to Santa Fe. His grandfather is exactly, to the day, 50 years older than I am, and is celebrating his 100th birthday in just a few weeks. We had scheduled a huge dance party on the same day that the family scheduled the 100th birthday gala, so Robert is heading out for an early visit. I'm staying home to care for the cats and me.

I got up early this morning to see Robert off. Meanwhile, he sweetly scooped cat output, cleared the dish drain, and probably did some other morning chores, all much appreciated. Before I even heard the garage door come down after he'd left, I was already back in bed, a cat on either side. I woke up several hours later, cats still heavy little lumps around my legs. I don't think this will be a very productive day. Thank goodness there are two more days in this weekend.

So, the new job. I'm finding that people are kind and helpful. I don't know how well I'll get to know anybody but then again, I try not to count on the workplace for "best friends." (Sometimes I get lucky, though.) I'm loving being in the same company with the guy I helped get a job just before I applied for my own job -- I think he'll be a good friend.

I have a pile of work to do, though it's not clear when I'm supposed to get started. There are tutorials I can take; those will help me. (The product I'm working on is enormous but has been around for a while and there's a lot of existing documentation. So, for the most part, I'm not starting from scratch on anything.)

Also, the group is switching to a new technology (called DITA) and a new tool (XMetaL), both of which I have experience with. The plan is to write some of our new material using the new tool and then slowly convert the existing material, perhaps over the course of several years. A sister company is ahead of us in this process; we are taking a field trip to visit with them next week.

My afore-mentioned friend and I have been tagged as the leaders in this effort. So, next Monday, I am making an hour-long presentation to the group to help them get a little further along. Then the field trip happens, and then we'll attempt the following parts of the presentation. There will be practice homework assigned so that the group can compare and contrast, share tips and tricks, and have more of a basis for questions.

My job this week has been to prepare the presentation. I've talked with nearly everyone in the group. I think the material will be fairly good and fairly straightforward. I'm hoping that the conversations I've already had will minimize surprises and distress -- changing process is always a little anxiety-provoking.

I have to mention the environment. It's like a country club. I have my very own office. There's no door and one wall is glass, but it's so cushy and big! There are people whose job it is to help -- an actual facilities department dedicated just to our company (there are other companies in our building). You can call facilities and ask them to move the furniture around in your office, bring you a fan (it's hot -- we have honking big computers), or bring you office equipment. They're responsive and cheerful! I've also had occasion to call the internal help desk. They, too, have gotten back to me quickly and are cheerful.

On the first floor, there's a tiny museum that shows off some of the consumer products that have been designed with our product. My boss has pointed out that it's far more likely that our product will be used to design manufacturing facilities that produce the consumer products, but factory equipment doesn't make for very entertaining museum exhibits.

We have coffee stations everywhere, with coffee, tea, soft drinks, and highly subsidized snacks. All the money from the snack machines goes to charities. In the mornings (and this is every morning), they provide either bagels or muffins. On Wednesdays, they serve dinner. In the summer, they have barbecues on one of the balconies. The company has season tickets to major sports teams and occasionally runs raffles to give away tickets to employees. And so on.

I think the challenge with all this generosity will be to stay heavily on the grateful side of the gratitude-entitlement spectrum.