I managed to wake up on time and make my train to work for my first day. I was 30 minutes early but not wanting to look like a try hard I walked around until my orientation started.

There were only two people in the orientation and the other person was a contractor much like I was at my old firm.

HR Person: So you’re back as a contractor?
Contractor: Yes. So, no health benefits for me.
HR Person: Yeah, and no flu shot, paid time off…
Contractor: Yep.
HR Person: I guess you don’t go to our company lunches either.
Contractor: Nope.
HR Person: Wow, it’s like you’re not even a person.

I think that summed up a part of my experience at my old firm.

The presentation was long and boring. Not falling asleep on it should make my accomplishment links on LinkedIn. Next I was picked up by my boss and introduced to my new cube. While I was making 50% more than before, my office space was about 1/2 the size. A trade I’ll gladly take.

My first whiff of what I’d be doing for my job came when I was asked to troubleshoot a VBA function that was spitting out the wrong file format. I lost myself in that for a few hours. I didn’t fall asleep during that either. Two victories.