Let me just say that moving sucks, hard core. Between not getting enough stuff in the Pod and having to rent a big van to deal with the rest of the stuff (after having a breakdown and needing a call from my Mommy) to falling down the porch steps (onto the gravel walkway) and throwing up everywhere in the middle of the night then having to dig cleaning supplies out of the van, I did not have a very auspicious start to the next stage in my adventure. I also left Tennessee a full two days later than I wanted, giving myself only one day to settle in rather than the three I had planned on. And the icing on the crappy move cake was getting a speeding ticket in Virginia when I wasn't even speeding on purpose! *sigh* I'm really lucky my man is so amazing and willing to put up with all this crap! Sheesh moving is expensive, stressful and just plain shitty!
Anywho, I managed to get to Pennsylvania, find the house that I'm renting and get myself and the cats inside before collapsing. Then I realized that I could, for the first time since starting this adventure, order pizza and have it delivered! That pretty much made everything right with the world. Until I realized that I still had not gotten any information on where I was supposed to go, when I should show up, and who I was to report to on Monday morning. Enter my "inside guy" who Rocky got me in touch with (that man is a godsend!). He assured me that there was no way I could miss the correct place to go, that the security at the front desk were really friendly, and that I should show up by 8am.
Sunday I spent the day unloading the van, putting things away and trying to settle in a bit. I also went to the grocery store (close enough to walk!) and found that the drug store, several restaurants, and a coffee shop are also close enough to walk to. I had me a tasty dinner, picked out my outfit for the next day, and went to bed at a decent time.
Monday I got up and spent easily three times as long getting ready as I normally do and still had time to dawdle before having to leave for work. The drive was short and simple, but a bit nerve wracking as there was construction and traffic nearly the whole way and I had to drive it in a huge, 15-passenger van. As soon as I got there I saw that Iggy (inside guy) was right, there was no missing the place. Unfortunately the parking lot at work didn't have any spots I could pull through, so I parked way out at the edge of the lot so I could back into a spot with no other cars around it since I wasn't at all sure of my ability to not hit something. I walked all the way across the parking lot to the front doors, again easily found as I was told, and approached the front desk. The security guard greeted me with a friendly smile and when I told her I was a new hire and my name she said they were expecting me. She had me fill out a little form and get a temp badge then suggested I have a seat and wait for my escort to arrive, since I was almost 20 minutes early.
I took a seat in the nice waiting area, absently noting that my feet hurt. My feet hurting isn't a surprising thing so I just wrote it off to walking across a large parking lot with new dressy shoes on. As I waited for my escort I watched wave after wave of interns come through and be escorted off in large groups, thinking to myself how big is this place that it can support this many interns?! After what seemed like forever my escort finally arrived and took me up to the 4th floor which was to be my new home. She showed me where my desk was then went over a bunch of the normal new job stuff. Once that was over we went to get my badge (only one this time!) and parking permit (had to get a temp one for the van). Then she gave me the grand tour.
This place is freaking HUGE! They have a cafeteria that rivals any of the ones in college for size and definitely in class. It's more like a fancy resort hotel. You can get custom omelets, sushi, fresh baked goods, made-from-scratch pizza, Starbucks coffee, home style meals, the list is endless! There's large seating areas inside and out, overlooking the private park with pond and walking path. Our tour next took us to the basement where there's a full gym with cardio equipment, weight benches and free weights. They also have aerobics classes and zumba. Of course there's top-notch locker rooms, fully stocked with towels and soaps and lotions. There's also a dry cleaner drop off/pick up for free. On the main floor again there are two different banks with ATMs and a mail room where you can drop off any mail or packages for USPS, UPS or FedEx. By this point my head was spinning and my feet were on fire, so I was grateful to be dropped off at my desk.
I booted up my computer, which was waiting for me, and felt warm fuzzies to see that someone had gathered a stock of office supplies for me and taken the time to write "Welcome Kaylyn!" on my whiteboard. I quickly texted Iggy to exclaim at the immensity of the place and tell him where I was sitting. He came by to introduce himself in person since we hadn't met yet, and we chatted for a bit. I poked at my computer for a bit, setting things up how I like them and checked out my training list which was already populated with more than enough reading to keep me out of trouble for a while. I also kicked my shoes off and noted with some alarm the rather nasty looking blisters I already had forming.
A while later one of my managers (I think I have four total) came to give me an overview of the project and what I'd be doing. He explained the basic layout of the organization and the jobs of each branch. We chatted about previous jobs and hobbies and such and I mentioned in passing about being on the robotics team in high school (explaining that you can't get much nerdier than me) and that I really missed mentoring the kids in Alabama. At that he kind of lit up and said that two of his daughters were on an all-girl robotics team and that they had some problems that year with various parts of the robot breaking due to simple strength issues and would I be willing to mentor them on structural analysis and strengths of materials?! He also put the icing on the cake: the team logo/identity is Rosie the Riveter! Obviously I said I'd be more than happy to mentor in any way I could. As Rocky likes to say, everything happens for a reason, and this is obviously one of the reasons for my latest move.
The rest of the day went in a blur, although I was rather hungry by the end because I couldn't stand the thought of walking to the cafeteria with how bad my feet hurt. I met several more people, including a fellow hockey fan across the aisle from me (hockey fans are few and far between in Tennessee) even though he roots for the wrong team. When 4 o'clock rolled around, I could hardly believe my first day was over. After getting assurance that I could, indeed leave after only 8 hours, I headed out to the van, taking my shoes off as soon as I got out of the building. I carefully navigated the tank towards home, stopping at one of the many restaurants on the way to get some celebratory Chinese, and another stop at the drug store for some blister pads. I was relieved to finally be home, to doctor my feet up and stuff my face with delicious noodles. Thus ended my first day.
