Yesterday was my first day at my new contract job. I was grateful that I didn't have any problems getting to sleep the night before and I had a great night's sleep. I am sure it is the residual effect of the boot camp I did Saturday, coupled with the hike I did on Sunday!
I woke up with no problem (unlike this morning...where I put the snooze on for 15 minutes) and was on the road by 7:30am. I was expected to meet with Mike Dowd, my new manager, at 9am so I gave myself ample time to get there. I parked in visitor parking and went to the 37th floor to meet Mike. I have to tell you-- 37 floors is a long way up! My ears were clogged from the change in altitude! :)
Mike is a really nice guy and I found out he lives in the South Bay as well. It seems as if several people here do. Mike explained their complicated entity structure before lunchtime so I could let it soak in. I had parked in the building, but apparently employees park across the street, so I was given a temporary badge and 2 hours worth of validation so that I could move my car. Well, what I didn't realize was that my car was not parked on the parking levels P1-P3. I assumed that I was on P1 because I was only one floor from the lobby, but after 25 minutes of trying to find my car, a security guard told me that visitor parking was on the other parking levels C, A or B. I got to my car on level A and drove out of the garage (after paying $8.50 because the system only gives you 12 minutes to find your car or they charge you.).
The new garage is nice, and it is great to have a brisk walk to the building to and from work. After I dropped my car off, I had only a little time to find the Century City Mall food court to eat a quick lunch. I ate in record time, I think and barely ate anything because I was running out of time. I definitely see an advantage to a salaried job! As a consultant, I have to log my time.
In the afternoon, Mike gave me real work to do--to start working on a spreadsheet. I was thrilled because first days are usually filled with "read these financial statements" or "go over these policies and procedures" (and don't worry, there was some of that), but it was nice to do some real accounting. I was afraid I'd be rusty, but it's like riding a bike! I am having to adjust to working with two monitors, but it has it's advantages.
I left work at 6pm to fight with rush hour traffic, which actually wasn't as bad as I expected. My friend, Alice, told me it was because of spring break. Goody, something to look forward to! My commute this morning was a little over an hour to drive approximately 16 miles (a distance in the opposite direction takes a half an hour). Let's hope my commute home will not be longer than an hour. That's a lot of time to spend in your car!
I am very grateful to having this job and was just thinking today that my time out of work was very beneficial to me (not too much stress in terms of feeling the need to urgently find a job). The time helped me travel more, de-stress from my previous job and recently, it's helped me study for my exams. :)
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