(no subject)
I just started working at Permabit Technology Corporation. Actually, I just finished my first week.
And I realized this week, all the other times I've started working for someone, at least since college, I've started with quite a bit better knowledge of the specific software I'd be working on, and the specific tasks I'd be doing, at least initially. Not that this is any harder; I'm just starting earlier on the learning curve than I'm used to.
It's also the first job I've had in a while where the product wasn't purely free or open-source software. (Technically, maybe Cygnus was in a funny position, because we would agree not to release certain development work based on free software until time X.) This time it's hardware plus software, which makes testing more interesting.
It's basically next door to the Cambridgeside Galleria... and Border's... and the Apple store... could be handy; could be expensive.
I've been trying to keep to a more regular schedule than I tended to have at MIT, and something to keep my evenings free, so in theory I could have a little more of a social life. (The Galleria shuttle stops at 7, though it runs at roughly 20 minute intervals with no fixed schedule that I'm aware of. Catching the last shuttle seems like a good external target to shoot for, during the winter; that plus getting in early enough to put in a decent day's work, of course.) So far, it seems to make me the early one to arrive and leave in my immediate group, which is something I'm really not accustomed to -- me, being the one closest to a 9-to-5er.
The environment is very open; very few offices or cubes in my area. I'm too much of a paranoid security geek to be entirely comfortable with someone sitting at my back all the time, and everyone around able to hear every phone or in-person conversation I have, but maybe I'll get used to that. Snacks and soda are cheaper than when I was at MIT, and I'm not one of the people doing the restocking! :-) Lunch options in the area look a bit better than at MIT, with the Galleria food court and some restaurants nearby.
I've been pretty tired this week. I think I'm accustomed to more caffeine than I'm getting now. That, and I'm accustomed to not getting to sleep until after midnight, which doesn't mix too well with my new schedule. Working on retraining myself there too...
As for the work itself, I think things are going well so far. There's a lot more to learn, but I'm getting exposure to a variety of pieces of the product and process. I'm not sure how much I can talk about publicly. They're using [redacted], which seems like a pretty slick package, and their [redacted] setup is pretty impressive too, even if it does take a while to [redacted]. I haven't gotten much exposure to the [redacted] or [redacted] aspects of the product yet, though, but I'm sure those will come in time...
And I realized this week, all the other times I've started working for someone, at least since college, I've started with quite a bit better knowledge of the specific software I'd be working on, and the specific tasks I'd be doing, at least initially. Not that this is any harder; I'm just starting earlier on the learning curve than I'm used to.
It's also the first job I've had in a while where the product wasn't purely free or open-source software. (Technically, maybe Cygnus was in a funny position, because we would agree not to release certain development work based on free software until time X.) This time it's hardware plus software, which makes testing more interesting.
It's basically next door to the Cambridgeside Galleria... and Border's... and the Apple store... could be handy; could be expensive.
I've been trying to keep to a more regular schedule than I tended to have at MIT, and something to keep my evenings free, so in theory I could have a little more of a social life. (The Galleria shuttle stops at 7, though it runs at roughly 20 minute intervals with no fixed schedule that I'm aware of. Catching the last shuttle seems like a good external target to shoot for, during the winter; that plus getting in early enough to put in a decent day's work, of course.) So far, it seems to make me the early one to arrive and leave in my immediate group, which is something I'm really not accustomed to -- me, being the one closest to a 9-to-5er.
The environment is very open; very few offices or cubes in my area. I'm too much of a paranoid security geek to be entirely comfortable with someone sitting at my back all the time, and everyone around able to hear every phone or in-person conversation I have, but maybe I'll get used to that. Snacks and soda are cheaper than when I was at MIT, and I'm not one of the people doing the restocking! :-) Lunch options in the area look a bit better than at MIT, with the Galleria food court and some restaurants nearby.
I've been pretty tired this week. I think I'm accustomed to more caffeine than I'm getting now. That, and I'm accustomed to not getting to sleep until after midnight, which doesn't mix too well with my new schedule. Working on retraining myself there too...
As for the work itself, I think things are going well so far. There's a lot more to learn, but I'm getting exposure to a variety of pieces of the product and process. I'm not sure how much I can talk about publicly. They're using [redacted], which seems like a pretty slick package, and their [redacted] setup is pretty impressive too, even if it does take a while to [redacted]. I haven't gotten much exposure to the [redacted] or [redacted] aspects of the product yet, though, but I'm sure those will come in time...