I returned to work full-time this week after a three month departure from regular employment. It took all of ten minutes to make myself at home in my new cubicle. It was honestly as though I hadn’t left. In response to the first e-mail message I sent, proclaiming my triumphant return to CubicleLand, my one friend responded, “Wow, it’s that time of year already? Seems like just yesterday the leaves were changing…” They didn’t let me down.
My cubicle is in an excellent location, out of the path of traffic, near a wall of west-facing windows, good for day-dreaming or bird watching or checking out the volume of traffic. I can see the Toronto skyline from here if I swivel my chair around, crane my neck, and squint a little.
Now that I’ve obtained my permanent parking pass, complete with in-and-out privileges, I’ll be heading out most afternoons. There are several regular destinations in the neighbourhood frequented by the employees of this company, including Evil Wal-Mart (although my boycott is still intact), Chapters, Scarborough Town Centre and Costco. Oh, and IKEA is just two exits away on the highway, so a lunch excursion there will be in short order.
My access to Sirius online is an absolute necessity here, since the sound of a CD starting up in the CPU drive is like an airplane taking off. Almost everyone listens to music or talk radio through headphones all day. Like studying, most people either can’t get anything done with music on, or the silence without it is too deafening to accomplish a thing. For me, it’s the latter. It also helps to block out sounds like the cell phone ring tone of the guy using the desk in front of me, which he changed since yesterday to play that music you hear whenever Darth Vader comes on screen during Star Wars. Sometimes finding humour in the corporate world is just too easy.
Congrats on the new old job, Ames! I know exactly how you feel with switching up the jobs. I am contemplating yet another job change after being back at my job for only 5 months.