A Wonderful First Week!

I realize I skipped a day (blogging) yesterday - I was EXHAUSTED when I got home from "work"!

Still no computer; not finished being investigated for my security clearance. Have an appointment Tuesday, though, so wish me luck! No computer means no official e-mail, which means no business cards (since my e-mail address needs to be on them). I DID get my name on my cubicle door, though! Worked on a couple of proposals the past few days; it is very strange to now have a job where I can't get into detail about what I'm doing!

Other things I have observed (or been told):
1. They clean the bathrooms a LOT! Which is a good thing, coming from a job where you were lucky if you could find toilet paper!
2. If you don't take your stuff out of the fridge in the "galley" (microwave, vending machine, etc.) by 3:00 PM on Fridays, they will throw it away. Which, considering the experiments that grew in the fridge in the teachers' lounge in Marianna, is probably a good thing!
3. There is a problem with mice at NASA. I was told never to leave anything edible out or the mice would take over my cube. Again, something I'm used to, but it's NASA!
4. Going through security without having a badge is a pain! Not used to armed people at work (although I probably would have been surprised by the number of students who were...) x-raying my stuff. Or having to go through a metal detector every time I enter the building.
5. Some things (not clearance, apparently) get done VERY fast when you ask. "I don't have a garbage can" - poof, one appears in my cubicle. "There's a big post in the way of opening one of my cabinet doors" - poof, someone comes and takes the door off. Not used to efficiency!
6. Personal observation: be careful opening/closing the sliding door on your cubicle. If you are not, it WILL come off the track and you will look like a dingbat (and lose a fingernail right before you were going for a manicure) trying to wrestle it back on!
7. Personal observation #2: when you work in a place with cubicles, you can hear EVERYTHING that is going on in the office. When someone sneezes, numerous voices shout "bless you" from their cubes. I find this funny! On the un-funny side of things, you can hear EVERYTHING that is going on, which is kind of distracting (people talking on the phone, having "private" conversations, etc. I am going to get some headphones (and eventually an i-pod) to tune people out.

Federal employee = 3-day weekend! I have a feeling it's going to be a good one!