The moment we've all been waiting for (MCV)

Well, here it is, the moment all of this has been leading to: my first day of work. First off, I was hoping it would be shorter, but my commute really is one hour. Each way. I stand by it, I still really like Walnut Creek.

So those of you who got a description of my interview (let's put you in a different office with another person who will describe to you in detail what he does) this was a similar but shortened version. I'm exhausted from saying "nice to meet you too" and "thank you" and smiling to about 50 people. It's all very friendly, though.

I got the lowdown on US health insurance and employment and whatnot. It'll take a while to get used to. I also got a taste for the social insurance system... wow... I thought the DMV was full of random miscreants.... Ha! (Nat you know what I'm talking about!) The SSN office makes the DMV look like a country club, I mean there was a guy talking and singing to himself and a guy with a catheter tube wrapped around his leg. I hope I never have to sit in that place again. Oh and my number won't come for two weeks... and I can't get paid without my number... so I guess we're living off our retirement funds for another month and a half!

The job looks like it will be good, though. My supervisor is a rock guy and really laid back and I think we'll get along just fine. He's my go-to guy. My supervisor for the project I'm working on is apparently the most stressed-out guy in the whole company, so that should be interesting. All the same (for you geo-people) I'm currently working on the final phase of the geotechnical baseline report for a major highway tunnel, which is awesome! It's awesome because it's interesting to me (ties in nicely with the type of stuff I did for my PhD) and I can just dive into it because it's really similar to the stuff I did for my PhD. Ummmm geo documents, rock mass classes, excavation and support classes... I looooooove you!

I also think my fellow staff engineers will be great. Pretty much we all seem to be between 25 and 35. Two of the girls took be out for 'welcome to the company' beers after work and gave me the background information on the company that they don't tell you in your interview. It was really helpful and great to see that there are social and interesting people who work there.

Other than that, Joel dropped me off and picked me up from the BART station today, which was really great. He also put a toonie in my pocket so I would feel it whenever I put my hands in my pockets and know that he was thinking of me. I think I'll try to really head out on my own tomorrow and bike to BART, but we'll see... maybe I can ride out Joel's generosity one more day.

Hopefully tomorrow is more relaxed and 'real work'-ish and hopefully I can figure out how to work my office phone so I can call Joel. Oh, and colleagues and clients and stuff too... right...

So, that's it for the first day: tired, but happy, and looking forward to relaxing with Joel on our free sofa chairs.