I had a little struggle with the security guard, as he was simultaneously trying to issue me my security badge and also negotiate a hostile takeover of Bank of America through a speakerphone, so every OTHER thing he said was not directed at me, leading to tons of confusion:
"I need your ID, sir. NO, invest in Apple for a long-term ROI!"
"Uh... what?"
"Just pass your ID to me through the slot. Are you an IDIOT? Microsoft is 1980's news, you moron!"
After a while, we got it sorted out (I'm official!), and I made my way to my desk.
Lots of paperwork, lots of security forms, lots of bureaucracy, and a lot of surprising moments later (why, thank you, California, for the very nice laptop case!), I did finally get settled in.
A new young pup, B, has joined our team as a new hire from college. He seems bright and capable. He came over to my desk, and we worked through some solutions with an ETL tool called DataStage. As I walked him through the context, I tried hard not to collapse in rapture all over my desk. The technical details won't matter to most of my peeps, but suffice it to say that I'm in die-hard, complete, monogamous LOVE with this thing.
My boss (MM) said it best: "Jim has been working with a riding lawn mower for six years; this is a BMW."
EXACTLY. I was SO stoked about the opportunity to learn this tool that I completely forgot why it was held in such high regard. It's magnificent. Subtle. Durable. Complete. AWESOME.
And, the thing is, it's MORE awesome because I know that what it can do can be done poorly. I was a kid in a candy store, and the candy was ETL development. I suddenly wanted to do EVERYTHING FOR EVERYONE. It was a pretty amazing first day. I love my job!!
Tonight, I met up with R, MM, and R's good friend J, who also works with us. We all had a fantastic meal, and I reflected that it's been quite a while since I just enjoyed hanging out with colleagues after-hours (VT springs to mind). I'm loving Sacramento not because of the weather, the air-mattress, or the lack of humidity: I love these people, and that's frickin' AMAZING.
We had a wonderful dinner at Hot Italian (note: this is the first time that a restaurant has been repeated in this blog; it's right next to my place, R's place, and J's hotel, so expect to see it again. The fact that it is AWESOME is also going to contribute to its frequency).
I also picked up some patio furniture for the balcony.
And immediately missed my dang Jeep.
I had to drive all the way from Target, in my rental car, thusly:
Good night, my peeps. Tomorrow, for you and me both, as always:
ADVENTURE!! :)