Quick First Day Post

A few first-day observations:

• All in all, a good day. Smart, supportive boss and a good staff, as far as I can tell.
• The everyone-sitting-at-one-table environment will take a bit of getting used to, but this is a start-up and the days of Monday lattes, $100 make-your-office-your-own allowances and foosball tables in break room (which is filled with free soda and snacks) ended with the dot-bomb fiasco of 2001. And really, lean and mean (well, not mean) makes much more business sense, so I'm fine with it.
• After 4 hours of frustration, I can tell you that I'm not a fan of Vista -- but I am appreciative of a cool new laptop and Treo.
• I think the 10AM - 4PM and 9PM - 11PM schedule will work fine, as long as I don't fall right back into my regular workaholic mode.
  
• What will keep me heading out at 4:00 is my commitment to go to the gym every day after work. It took me almost an hour to drive those 14 miles today, so I'll be experimenting with alternate routes.
• I'll appreciate the "heady" time at the gym, especially if it's heady-underwater! Today I planned my upcoming laptop file swap, planned dinner, and mentally composed a letter to my professional network, announcing my two new jobs, one as a Senior Product Manager and oneas a board member for the non-profit. Somehow I'll need to find a way to gently solicit donations to Open Arms in that letter. (<-- Notice the round-about plug for donations and the link to the place to make them?)
• Glad I started work today and not yesterday, the day after a sleepless night (because when Elisabeth took Peter out for his first legal drink two nights ago, it ended up to be just a tad more than one, and they ended up to be the wrong kind of drinks... and that's all I'll say!) and also that I'm not starting work tomorrow, a date that would lead to long-term logistical HR nightmares. It'll be a busy weekend of getting up to speed...
• ...and hiring a housecleaner!