1 Week Down, 13 To Go...

So today is Friday; the end of my first week. People are becoming a little more friendly around here, although I still get plenty of stares from the audit staff sitting on the row next to me. But no worries. I will get to know them more in the coming months.

As it is Friday, today is business casual day here in the office. To me, that means that I am wearing slacks and a dress shirt, with my leather coat instead of a suit jacket. But to the folks here, business casual means casual. Almost everyone here is in jeans, and some are wearing tennis shoes. I missed out! I mean, I got a copy of the dress code before I came over, and saw that jeans counted for business casual. But I was not about to venture into that kind of outfit, assuming they meant something other than what I was thinking for jeans. Nope! There is a guy sitting next to me today, and he and I were talking a little bit. Nice guy. But when I walked by his desk to get a drink, I noticed that he didn't even have his shirt tucked in. And there are lots of people just like him around the office! I guess it is some sort of reward for wearing suits all week! Well, the next time I am in here on a Friday, I guess I will at least downgrade to khakis!

So tonight is “Night Out” here in the office. All of the "upper levels" (basically managers) are going to get together for drinks after work. Apparently there have been a lot of new people who have started here, and the managers all want to get together so that people can meet. I replied today that I was coming, and the girl who is coordinating apologized for not making it by to say hello. It sounds as though a lot of people have been busy around here, so it is sort of the exception that I have not gotten to meet more people this week. So that’s a good sign. Maybe I will get to meet several folks tonight and in the coming weeks.

I still have no idea what I will be doing next week. No word on whether this client is ready for me to come out and be the controller for the next month. Probably a good thing, since I have no car, no place to park at my apartment (no garage), and no idea where the place is. Hopefully I will be able to come in here on Monday and get instructions before going out to the client. I have not heard anything about going, and the director told me he would be in touch. So I guess I can assume that I am not going out Monday, since it is 5:00 Friday evening...? We shall see!

Thanks to everyone who has posted comments on the site! I just wanted to take a minute to reply to them: Yes, no, no okay, yes. Kidding! Seriously, though... Mom, I’m doing fine. Don and Bootsie, thanks for reading. Tony, there are some of what you would call "little people" around here, but I can’t seem to find any Irish folk. Maybe I need to stumble into a pub and see what I can find there... (Or stumble out of a pub...) And Mom, thanks for making me feel old. For those of you who want to know, the Jenny Humphries that my mom is referring to in her comment post (about the girl who is pregnant) is someone I used to babysit when I was in high school. Yep, I’m old.

Okay... Just for you guys, I brought my lunch this morning so that I could sit at my desk for an hour and upload some photos. But then I figured out that I do not have the CD with the software for my camera, and they monitor Internet usage relatively heavily here for big downloads. So I am going to take my laptop home and get some photos uploaded onto it over the weekend. Maybe tonight, depending on how long everyone stays out after work. But I promise that I have pictures for you, and I will add them to the page as soon as possible!


Just to let you know, I went home last night and took some photos of the apartment. I have placed a slot for a slideshow to the right so that you can see my place, once I upload the pictures. And I will add some text below the pictures to sort of walk you through it. Also, I sucked it up and rode sitting on the outside deck of the ferry this morning. (The things I do for you guys - it was freaking cold out!) I took plenty of pictures of my morning commute, and have added a spot for the commute slideshow and a little narrative for those photos, as well. Maybe tomorrow, but hopefully first thing Monday, these pictures will be ready for the unveiling!


By the way, I must say... The ghetto peanut butter from the Sydney grocery store I am eating for lunch doesn't quite compare to the stuff at home. But because it was only $2 for a little jar, instead of $5, I think I will suffer through it.

Once they are uploaded, if there are any photos you have a hard time seeing, or if you just want to see bigger pictures, you can check out all of my photo albums online at: http://picasaweb.google.com/JPisDownUnder.

Enjoy!!!