Driving into work, off 495, a gas station advertised $3.549! And that wasn’t for the premium: that was for the cheap shit. Granted, I don’t know what the prices are like back around this neck o’ the woods (’cuz, um, I really didn’t look: filled up yesterday at $3.26), but daaaaamn: I feel totally justified in wanting to sell my car once I move down that-a-way.
I really don’t know what to say about EAP (not Employee Assistance Program: Edgar Alan Poe = POE = Place of Employment, i.e., EAP = Place of Employment), except that it seems like a pretty cool place to work. I went in today in khaki slacks and a gray button-up and I was severely overdressed. Tomorrow: cargo pants and a golf shirt. Met the vast majority of my new coworkers, was treated to lunch at a nearby mall (it was nothing fancy, just a chance to socialize), and filled out vast amounts of paperwork. I have a cubicle! And office supplies! And a trash can, and a recycle bin. I know, I know — I’m excited about this: shoot me now. I also got to write my profile for the company’s website. The company sets newbies (like moi) up with ‘mentors’, and conferences every day to discuss our successes and failures. On a page of notes, here’s what I’ve got in bold letters: ‘if all else fails, try SCOTCH.’ That last presented without clarification, except to note that I don’t care for liquor, or, admittedly, many alcoholic substances beyond the occasional beer.
While I know what it is I’m supposed to be doing … the how of it is still a bit of a mystery (but I’ve been assured that I’ve got a few days to figure everything out, and there’s plenty of help as I try to figure all of this out). I’ve already got an “toe in the water” assignment for tomorrow.
Speaking of which … I plan on being in the office at 7 am tomorrow. You have no idea how cool it is to say “in the office” until you’ve been working a dead-end job in a non-office environment for several years. The commute really isn’t too bad, even leaving at 7:30 am as I did today: okay, 495 was a complete crawl until I got past Silver Spring, but I-83, 695, and 95 were all moving well. I anticipate a straight shot tomorrow morning, and possibly I’ll even set my cruise control*.
In addition, a missed voice mail came from one of my prospective part-time employers in the D.C. area. I didn’t have a chance to call them back before getting home, and by that time the individual had already departed, so I’ll try again tomorrow afternoon.
I’m exhausted. Coming home, I decided to take 95 straight through Baltimore, and jumped 695 west from there. I think that’s how I’ll be going from now on: traffic slowed at parts on 95, but it was still far faster, I think, than if I’d jumped 695 west while still south of the city. I had debated taking 695 east, but opted against it. Once I was north of the city, 695 west provided no-stop travel to Dulaney Valley Road: but I had a couple of stops to make — the Franchise, for one: my last day was last Wednesday, and my second to last paycheck was in today. After that, it was on to the grocery store for some O.J. and an ATM deposit. Aside from those errands, I’d say my commute time was about an hour and ten minutes or so each way.
*The Matrix is my first car in like nine years to have cruise control, so if there’s even a moderate amount of traffic on the road, I’m usually not comfortable using it — I much prefer my foot on the gas. I feel like I’m actually, y’know … in control.
