First impressions

So today was the first day at the Big House*. I timed my starting of a new job really well - the same day two major sets of roadworks start in the area. Didn't sleep much last night - nerves and the like - and woke up with a bit of a headache and confusion. Not too different from usual, then.

Anyway, this place is REALLY different from my old job. Instead of a staff of 15, there is a staff of around 300. I work in a giant "press hall" with a strange ceiling and a strong scent of bad man's aftershave. There is a canteen, for which a weekly menu is published on the intranet. The toilets smell faintly of fish and while one side is really smart, the other has a massive hole in the wall (no, you couldn't peer through at the men's, I did check) with a big wrench at the side of the hole. And the drinking fountain has a message on it warning against trying to flush pot noodles down the drain.

And most reassuringly of all, the one person at the company I had met, the one who actually hired me, no longer works there.

Right.

So for everyone else, taking me on is like a huge gamble. I expect they're going to flick bogeys at me, just to see how I react and check I'm normal enough for the hack trade. My direct boss sounds disconcertingly like Zane Lowe, but talks at 150mph. Seems nice enough, though. They all do, but seriously, 300 people? It's all open plan, too. So everyone can see and hear everyone else. Which I discovered early on, before they actually gave me anything to do, when the people at the other side of the hall (approximately 5 miles away) were having some kind of presentation and every now and again there was a gentle, slightly muffled round of applause. Which Zane appeared to find entertaining. Didn't give me a round of applause, though, did he.

Anyway, after a rather uncomfortable morning not being able to do anything because systems hadn't got round to me yet, I was too nervous to take a proper lunch break (even though I was assured that everyone did) because I couldn't really figure out what anyone else was doing. I did eventually get logged on and shown how to use my machine and even did some work.

Bonus.

Then the boss told me I could go home. At which point, the woman I had called five times in the past hour actually answered her phone and kept me talking for about another half hour. Bum.

I had planned to go out for a drink with my girlie friends to celebrate my first day (I quite like living with girls again, it's fun) but the headache was lingering so instead I came home and E made me a pie. It was a damn good pie.

Thanks to everyone who wished me luck, I think there's still a bit of acclimatization to be dealt with. I don't think I've spelt that right.

I think I'll go to bed now.

*No, I don't know what that means either but I quite liked the sound of it.