on the job - part i

achievement unlocked: onboarding (the next milestone).

godmother was telling me earlier that the first phase of joining a new company should be elation: check! on my way home last night i couldn't stop thinking about something: i'm working for a company where people share my taste in games to the point where i got loud compliments for my syndicate shirt, and if you don't spend your lunch hour playing something you're looked at with suspicion! even one of the security guards stopped during his rounds to inquire about shadowrun online and ask if i'd played its predecessors.

---tuesday:

i can't remember my dreams from so long ago, but the note i wrote for myself was "packed holiday festival city of madness".

i couldn't snooze but enjoyed a fantastic wake-up anyway. we had another discussion about the middle east and how we define friends, after which *gd* poked fun at *me* for being disorganized and hurried on my way to work because i've been doing the same to her for months.

for the first couple of days this week, we suffered from an ugly heat wave.

the company provides breakfast to anyone who gets in before 10am. bagels and fruit? don't mind if i do! i spent the day glued to my screen, taking only ten minutes for lunch. i chased that with kickboxing. in the middle of the class my sweating from the heat turned to cold sweat from low blood pressure, but with a little encouragement i pushed through and finished satisfied.

i was, however, disappointed with myself for having forgotten to bring dry underwear. there's nothing like getting out of the shower and putting on the sweaty ones you've just trained in. less disappointing was discovering that my old wraps were actually in my bag - because i hadn't been able to find them earlier i'd bought new ones. and the new ones are awesome.

i quickly shopped and went past my apartment to try and clear mail but the tenants weren't in. when i got home it was still super hot and humid (so much so that the fan was ineffective) and i was super tired to match. i couldn't believe i managed to eat anything in that state.

i watched an episode of hunter x hunter and half an episode of one piece, argued with an anti-israel jewish comedian i used to be good friends with and then went to bed.

---wednesday:

i woke up from a series of sci-fi dreams that were epically and indescribably weird. i was so spaced out that i filled the blender with water before connecting the stopper, so that saw me unhappily cleaning up water that had poured everywhere. recently gd was watching a documentary and the following quote made a strong impression:

it's not the large things that send a man to the madhouse... no, it's the continuing series of small tragedies... not the death of his love but the shoelace that snaps with no time left.
— charles bukowski

i left just as the rain stopped and the thunder and lightning afterwards was magnificent. the morning was consumed by meetings, i tried to have lunch at subway but the one across the road has stopped serving falafel too... i picked up a veggie burger from harvey's instead. just as i returned i received a call from a recruiter who wanted a reference for my ex-co-worker who i had coffee with a couple of months ago. i was only too happy to provide a good one, and was pleased and amused when the recruiter began asking after my details and i thanked him and informed him that i'm very happy at the moment :D

the afternoon's training went well, and i was deeply satisfied by the general good vibes in the office. i walked out shocked that the week was flying by so quickly! i picked up my mail, stopped for an energy bar and coffee, then hit the gym.

i've been promising myself new equipment for months now, and i finally bought new gloves. they're fantastic! they have small holes for breathability and i can feel the difference. also, they were the only 16oz gloves available and they're a gorgeously ugly blue and yellow ^_^

one of the boxing coaches recently underwent neck surgery and he taught me to do isometric neck stretches pre-training. i can feel the difference, it's easy to do and it's just become a part of my routine. boxing was cool, even though i got stuck with the time waster. it was frustrating but he did actually make a little progress and i got a pretty solid workout in spite of him.

i walked to the metro facing a breathtaking sunset and i was feeling good. dinner was drawn out but was stupidly delicious: my usual salad (before i learned about steaming vegetables) but with avocado and aux vivre's dragon sauce. WOW!

we started watching jeff who lives at home, then went to bed.

---thursday:

i got up with stiff, sore arms and lats. i needed to sleep late but that was denied. it would have been a beautiful morning if not for the antisemitism in the news. and that seems to be getting worse.

i left comfortably late, worried about an accident warning on the line i needed but nevertheless arrived on time. it was a jamiroquai day (i bought high times) and half of it was spent trying to get doxygen to parse php properly.

there was a company lunch and it's a BIG company, there was no way that i was waiting in an insanely long queue for a lunch that wasn't guaranteed to be vegan friendly. instead i picked up a frozen meal at the supermarket, and by the time i got back the rush was over and a single vegan sandwich was left. i wolfed down both lunches.

on the way i tried to call my visa hotline; the damn iphone keeps blanking my screen at the worst times and i eventually gave up. i guess my proximity sensor's screwy.

i completed the research i'd been doing to a reasonable degree and began translating some of what i'd learned during the week into documentation. the girl who sits next to me and i were the last to leave, and she asked me why i wasn't messing around like a lot of the others. apparently my behaviour this week is "grinding rep" :) i can afford to keep this up for four months at least!

my body was still hurting pre-training and the kickboxing class was rough, but i completed the class deeply satisfied and feeling a lot looser. on the way home i thought out of the box, which got a lot less of a response that i'd hoped for, and gd and i finished watching jeff who lives at home which is a fantastic film.

---yesterday:

the weather was definitely cooler, and i dreamed epic dreams. the morning began well with me singing along to simon & garfunkle, and continued with a relaxed code review and a long qa meeting that almost put me to sleep. i had a serious pre-lunch avocado and spinach sub that was huge and delicious, ate lunch while playing shadowrun online and spent a slow, meandering afternoon analyzing the code i'm going to be working on.

did i earn my weekend? i feel amazing about my week. i ran to walmart but couldn't find what i was looking for, picked up rainbow mentos (which turns out not to be vegan) and remembered just how awesome their flavours are.

we had a fantastic friday night boxing class, working hard and feeling good... minus wrist shock from doing impact with one guy who's so solid that hitting him hurt me. the shower afterwards was great, and i walked out bubbling with excitement over ending a week that has been consistently excellent. ^_^

gd ordered good indian food for dinner and we started watching safe.

[continued...]