Today’s challenge is not, as usual, to decide what to say. It isn’t even, as often, to find something to say, but rather to find the right phrases for what I want to say.
Coming home is wonderful, but a bit tricky. It’s as if I had wriggled myself into a comfortable spot on a sandy beach, then left for a bit and returned to find that the sand had flowed back into place behind me. Now I have to create my own Dichroic-shaped place in the sand again.
If anything, that analogy applies at home more than at work; T has gotten into habits of what to eat and when to go to bed that are fitted only to him. More specifically, he’s now getting out of bed at 4 every weekday morning, not just on days we row (we have to be there before 5, and it’s half an hour away). On the other mornings, he goes to the gym to lift. (I do that too, but have no desire to get there at 4:30!) He complains that if he skips even a single day, he’s in pain the next time. To me, that means he’s lifting too heavy a weight, but he disagrees. Making and eating dinner is also a challenge, when you have to work a full day and then get to bed so early. It’s especially difficult for me, since my gut is somewhat undependable when faced with early mornings. On the nights before rowing days, I try to eat food that won’t upset it (no lavatory in a rowing shell!), yet that will still be nutritious enough to support a very strenuous workout.
Work went a little better than I expected; there are projects for me to do, and interesting work that I can learn from. I report directly to a VP (or whatever her title is now) who is also the wife of the company’s CEO/founder. She can be a little scary but was very welcoming during our brief meeting today -- though I didn’t quite muster the chutzpah to point out that I’m about due for a raise. Our company, like other Internet firms, is facing a tough time right now, so though I will ask soon, I suspect the answer will be "Not for several months at least".
It looks like I will be working to help standardize and improve our software engineering processes, and maybe do a bit of development myself, which is exactly the mix I’d like. I did lose my office when I was gone, but when I lost my door, at least I gained a window. I also gained at least two boxes full of someone else’s books and papers which were packed up and left in my cubicle. I have no idea whose they are -- I’m the only remaining member of what was a whole QA department, so apparently the packers just assumed anything in that area was mine.
One of the nicest things about coming back was moving into a colored world again. Worcester was grey and white and brown; Phoenix, and especially my highly-landscaped, pretending-it’s-not-in-a-desert office park, are all blue sky, green palm trees, red rock, and flowers everywhere. San Francisco, this weekend, was the same. It’s much like the Wizard of Oz movie, where Dorothy opens her door after the cyclone and the Technicolor cuts in.
Off to go pack clothing for the post-rowing shower tomorrow!
Posted by dichroic at April 2, 2001 07:31 PM