As I expected, my first day back in the working world was a bit rough, mainly because I had to wake up at 7am and I’ve been nothing but a bum for the last four months. I was told to be at work for 8:45am on my first day so I didn’t want to be late. I can’t remember the last time I woke up that early for work. I know I rolled into work around 10am on my first day on Halo.
The work day itself was fine. I was met with a steady stream of familiar and friendly faces. People went out of their way to welcome me back and they seemed pleased to see me. As with almost every first day, I had to set up my computer, install some stuff, grab a crap-ton of files off the server, and read up on some documentation. I’m still without a TV for my consoles and need a few cables but that should be ironed out in a few days.
I can say it was a bit surreal being back in the big Burnaby campus. I’ve had two separate stints working there: two years as a QA tester between 2000 and 2002 and then about a year when Black Box was forced to move from downtown Vancouver in late 2009. I wasn’t exactly happy with my job when EA finally laid me off in November of 2010, so I was pleased to leave Burnaby behind at the time. As you might imagine, there were a lot of different memories going through my head today.
My energy was fading fast in the late afternoon. The early morning coupled with actually having to do real work during the whole day made me want to nap bad. The first couple weeks of a new job is usually not that great as you try to figure out all this new stuff. I need to get settled and learn so much new tech. Obviously these last few months have made me soft. Nothing was a struggle for me. I woke up whenever I wanted to and I did pretty much whatever I wanted. When you work, you develop a certain cadence or rhythm to your day that helps you succeed and survive. I don’t have that right now. It’s like a callous that you form, when work grinds at you. I don’t have that anymore. I’m as delicate as a newborn baby right now.
I wish I could ease my way back into the working world. Work two or three days a week for the first month and then slowly ease into the full work week. Alas, life is not so kind. I have to go back tomorrow for another eight hours. Mondays mean something again. I already crave a Friday. Things were a lot more fun when I didn’t care what day it was.