Day 6: FIRST DAY IN THE NEW OFFICE!! The California Tax Office is unlike anything I've ever seen. It's five (or possibly six) buildings. Seven (or possibly ten) cafeterias. Five (or possibly six) THOUSAND people. It's an amazing space.
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:
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:
The Jeep will be here soon, thank God.
Good night, my peeps. Tomorrow, for you and me both, as always:
ADVENTURE!! :)
Good night, my peeps. Tomorrow, for you and me both, as always:
ADVENTURE!! :)
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