Yup, today was the first day of the new job. And it felt a lot like a first day of school, at least in the preparations. I was in new clothes and had a new backpack stuffed with a new laptop and I had a new Blackberry (okay, those last two things weren’t something I had when I was a kid, but you get the idea). Why so much new stuff? Well, with seven years at The Princeton Review I didn’t have a lot of business-y clothes. TPR was extremely casual (as in shorts and t-shirts in the summer) and while I did have a couple things to wear if I had client meetings, it wasn’t enough to dress that way daily. The new backpack happened because my old one was returned to TPR with the computer that came in it. And, as I detailed earlier, I got the new computer and Blackberry because my old ones were TPR-issued. So, with all of that, it felt like first day of school… and that was kinda fun.
As for work itself, also a good time. Although I have to admit it’s a little weird being the new guy… it’s been a long time since that was the case. I like the environment and the people, and the projects so far. I’ve gotten some really good, solid projects to dig my teeth into and that’s exciting. It’s also a a good physical space to work in, with open seating and lots of natural light (tall windows plus sky lights since we’re on the top floor)… pretty amazing views too, the Empire State Building and down towards Battery Park City (I can see the World Financial Center, but can quite see home) and to the north is Times Square. It is odd getting to and from the office though, I’m actually working in mid-town now and that’s a lot more bustling that the Upper West Side was.