first day at microsoft

07:00 Alarm goes off. Grr...I haven't been awake at this time in awhile.
07:20 Finally jump in shower. Brr..it's colder at this time.
08:00 Eat breakfast, give Misha his antibiotics
08:17 Finally walk out the door to begin my commute
08:32 Crap--this traffic sucks. I haven't even reached the bridge.
08:44 Oh good, it's picking up--moving faster.
08:52 Finally arrive on campus--where's the building again?
08:59 Finally find the NEO (New Employee Orientation)--check in, get my packet.
09:30 Orientation begins.
15:37 First portion of orientation ends--I decide to jump on the shuttle for the optional portion of visiting the Company Store and Visitor Center
16:30 Get back on shuttle to go back to orientation building--meet another Amazonian that also recently left to come to MS, chat with him for the ride back
16:46 Get in car for drive back to Seattle
16:53 Run into traffic before I even cross 405--this is going to suck.
17:36 Finally get home--going to have to get used to this commute.

Man, I'm really going to miss the short commute I've had going to Amazon all these years---lasting on average about 6-7 minutes. Orientation today was interesting and overwhelming. So many people work here--today, alone, there were 115 people in my orientation! Sheesh! My first thoughts going into orientation: I felt like it was my first day of college where you're sent from one work station to another to fill out the appropriate forms and stuff. I was really impressed by how organized everything was and the wealth of information presented to me. Orientation continues tomorrow when I finally get my badge (er, cardkey...I think that's what they call it) and eventually meet the team.