Coming Home

Today was my first day in my new, old office.  It's so strangely great to be back...the office is a mere 15 minutes from my house and I don't have to get on the highway at all.  I didn't have to travel far to my last office, just 30 minutes.  But let me repeat the most important part...I don't have to get on the highway AT ALL.  So that lil' 15 minutes was time I spent rolling along at an average of 20 MPH, despising every other car that was between me and my destination, everybody driving every one of those cars, and the state of Massachusetts in general.  Also, your mom.  I don't exactly know how she was involved in making my commute suck, but give me enough time and I could come up with something.

So let's see...15 minutes each way times two is 30 minutes per day, 2.5 hours per week, and roughly 240 hours per year that I don't spend hating the world and everybody in it. Think of all of the sunshine I can spread with that extra 240 hours per year!  That's 10 FULL DAYS of extra time.  It's as good as getting an extra 2 weeks of vacation annually. 

Never underestimate the power of a good commute!

Another bonus of getting a new job?  It will be a hard job, no doubt, but right now there is so much to learn it will be weeks before I can really useful in any way.  I am getting paid to learn new technology at a very reasonable pace.  I am walking on air right now.

I had NO IDEA how stressed my old job made me.  No idea at all...probably because I liked what I did, and I did what I liked.  I'm a development programmer, and for years it was really fun....if I didn't like how the old system did something, well I'd just build it better!  That's what we all did, and despite whatever anybody thinks or says about the product, we all know we put our best effort in.  I'm proud of it, even if it's still sort of a reckless teenager of software.  It knows what it's supposed to do and how it's supposed to behave, but it still screws up and misbehaves.  It needs more guidance to grow up into a mature, responsible adult.  When it does get into trouble (at least the part I built) I don't blame it...I blame me.  Ever since it went out to our beta site I have been holding my breath, waiting for them to find the first problem.

Then overnight, with a mighty whooosh, I'm out.  All of that stress, all of the burden of responsibility...it's just gone.  That weight is lifted, and suddenly I can look forward to new challenges again.

The weight will return and I know that, but for now, all I can say is...WHEEEEEEEEEEEEE!