Intermet!

One of the silly-ass things I'll miss about Seattle is the Vern Fonk commercial with the pitchman who calls Al Gore's series of tubes, "the intermet." But that's not why I'm writing.

I'm writing because I can. The intermet is up and running here in Medford. You might argue that I don't need the internet to write a nice little thingie. The chosen dear diary format has made me what I am today. It's a manageable size which has kept me writing.

My purpose today is to check in and report on my first week, which went very well. The one thing I've noticed with this job versus the job at the Times of Seattle: Here, I'm enduring training and I'm itching (or is it scratching) to get to the actual work. Reversed at the Times: the best part of my day was the training. I hope that's a positive indicator. Maybe the most positive sign is that I am interested and engaged.

As each person in my world runs through another system, procedure or hunk of info, I've been able to find something that needs attention. That might mean that there's a lot that needs attention or that I like the problems in front of me. A bit of both probably. I like to think of myself as attentive and starting to control my universe.

I've gotten myself into what I thought I was getting myself into: a dynamic company with growing pains; an intelligent, warm, professional group of co-workers. It feels like I'll undergo a skills upgrade since the general level of systems competence is so high here. That I welcome. Overall, I couldn't ask for much more. That's good news indeed. Yup, it's still early in the game but I'm hoping for a long tenure here.

Medford itself still isn't on my map. I have a thin little slice of perception centered around my main drag, Biddle Road. Biddle gives me what I need: groceries (Fred Meyer), coffee & books (Starbucks and Barnes & Noble), and Oz Fitness (for a less creaky me). Just up the way, Costco provides gas at good prices which must be pumped by Trained Oregonians. It's the law. Really.

I'm typing from my middle bedroom. Typical apartment: living room box, 2nd bedroom box, master bedroom box in a tidy row. The middle room is the stillest of the three so that's where the books and the 'puter live. As I get settled in, I hope to be in here daily, piling words on words. For now, I'm happy to be in a room that isn't wild with corrugation.

I'm ready for bed; off to box three.