first day of (sort of) work
I started a new job this week, but I didn't go in to the office until today because I've been waiting on a clearance investigation and an ID badge.
It's not really work yet. I have a cubicle, but it's going to change because there's another small group being moved into our space next week. I'm probably going to end up sharing a cubicle with an early-morning person (I'll eventually be 2nd shift) or someone who's mostly at the remote site (in Ashburn, VA). There's a phone and a computer on my desk, but I don't have any accounts yet. So I'm reading (stale?) documentation to get some idea about the layout of the system.
The first 2 hours of the day were getting the temporary badge. anniemal took me to Alexandria (because she needed the car during the day, and the van isn't running now) and we marveled at all the traffic heading the other way (or rather, trying to head into D.C.). I then took a shuttle in that same abysmal traffic to go to the SEC's headquarters in DC (near Union Station) to get my badge. 45 minutes there, 20 minutes back. (The shuttle took the HOV lanes going both ways. I didn't realize the lane reversal happened that early in the day.) 15-20 minutes to get through security to get to the badge office. (There were a lot of suits there for a meeting, going through the line with us.) There was another guy with me who'd driven to Alexandria from Frederick, MD. He was astounded by the traffic, and I told him I thought this was typical; he should find a house on the same side of the [Potomac] river as his job. (He's just moved from Philadelphia, but won't have time for house-hunting until August.)
I didn't notice until after I got back to Alexandria, but my name is spelled wrong (no "n") on the SEC badge. I don't see that it's much of a problem, since it's a temporary badge, but it might add to the confusion since there is a "Brett" in our group. (Haven't had that problem since high school.) It certainly doesn't seem like it's worth another 2-hour trip to correct. (Plus there will definitely be a trip back for a "permanent" badge before long.) They took another photo this morning, so the photo Thursday seems like a waste of time (although it's probably filed with my fingerprints).
There is a shuttle between the Alexandria site and the King Street METRO station, so taking public transit can work for the people working "normal" hours. As often seems to be the case, public transit isn't any faster than bicycling. It took me 1:15 to get home, which is probably what it would have taken for Andrea to make a round trip to bring me home at rush hour. I'm estimating the bike commute at 1:00 each way, and driving (opposite the rush flow) is about 30 minutes. If you can take public transit on a direct route with no transfers, it can beat a bike, but if the route is indirect and has connections (in this case, the shuttle, 2 trains, and a bus) it loses its advantage. There are often some fare subsidies from employers, so transit can be more cost competitive with driving.
[This entry was originally posted as http://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/343227.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]
It's not really work yet. I have a cubicle, but it's going to change because there's another small group being moved into our space next week. I'm probably going to end up sharing a cubicle with an early-morning person (I'll eventually be 2nd shift) or someone who's mostly at the remote site (in Ashburn, VA). There's a phone and a computer on my desk, but I don't have any accounts yet. So I'm reading (stale?) documentation to get some idea about the layout of the system.
The first 2 hours of the day were getting the temporary badge. anniemal took me to Alexandria (because she needed the car during the day, and the van isn't running now) and we marveled at all the traffic heading the other way (or rather, trying to head into D.C.). I then took a shuttle in that same abysmal traffic to go to the SEC's headquarters in DC (near Union Station) to get my badge. 45 minutes there, 20 minutes back. (The shuttle took the HOV lanes going both ways. I didn't realize the lane reversal happened that early in the day.) 15-20 minutes to get through security to get to the badge office. (There were a lot of suits there for a meeting, going through the line with us.) There was another guy with me who'd driven to Alexandria from Frederick, MD. He was astounded by the traffic, and I told him I thought this was typical; he should find a house on the same side of the [Potomac] river as his job. (He's just moved from Philadelphia, but won't have time for house-hunting until August.)
I didn't notice until after I got back to Alexandria, but my name is spelled wrong (no "n") on the SEC badge. I don't see that it's much of a problem, since it's a temporary badge, but it might add to the confusion since there is a "Brett" in our group. (Haven't had that problem since high school.) It certainly doesn't seem like it's worth another 2-hour trip to correct. (Plus there will definitely be a trip back for a "permanent" badge before long.) They took another photo this morning, so the photo Thursday seems like a waste of time (although it's probably filed with my fingerprints).
There is a shuttle between the Alexandria site and the King Street METRO station, so taking public transit can work for the people working "normal" hours. As often seems to be the case, public transit isn't any faster than bicycling. It took me 1:15 to get home, which is probably what it would have taken for Andrea to make a round trip to bring me home at rush hour. I'm estimating the bike commute at 1:00 each way, and driving (opposite the rush flow) is about 30 minutes. If you can take public transit on a direct route with no transfers, it can beat a bike, but if the route is indirect and has connections (in this case, the shuttle, 2 trains, and a bus) it loses its advantage. There are often some fare subsidies from employers, so transit can be more cost competitive with driving.
[This entry was originally posted as http://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/343227.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]