I purposely don’t talk much about work here except in generalities; there’s something to be said for establishing some boundaries between my lives there and out here in the digital æther. That said, this new job involves some definite life-changing arrangements that seem like proper grist for the blog mill, so, I’m going to talk a bit about how things are working out a week into the new circumstances.

First of all, I’m feeling pretty good about the job itself. I’ve only just started, so the new “normal” hasn’t been established yet (I also still haven’t had vital IT equipment issued to me, but that’ll come). I have a basic idea of what I’ll be doing, and I think I’ll be able to handle doing it. That’s about all I’ll say there.

The biggest changes are the fact that I’m in a car four hours a day. I’m not sure how I feel about that yet – once the IT issues get worked out, working from home will be a welcome possibility; I’ll be able to cut the commute out of my life for two days a week. I was in the office four days last week (I had meetings locally one day) – I put almost 900 miles on my car. That’s a bit intimidating, and something that I’m glad that I’ll only be doing for the next couple of months assuming everything else works out. Luckily, my car gets really good gas mileage, so it’s not as expensive as it could be, and with luck, I’ll be able to shave 200-250 miles off of that thanks to being able to work from home a couple of days a week.

I’ve also sorted out, to a great extent, what my new life schedule is going to have to look like. I’m getting used to the idea. I’ve found that hitting the road by 4am is the sweet spot to arrive early enough and depart early enough to beat the worst of the traffic snarl of the greater Washington area. That’s basically shifting my normal day ahead by two hours. In order for all this to work and maintain some semblance of normalcy, I’m having to give up my beloved four 10 hour day workweek with every Friday off. I’ll get used to that, but I really, really liked having every week be a three day weekend. I got so much done.

I’m also going to bed really early, but that’s just part of the deal. It sucks, because this week, I’ve seen my wife and kids about as much as I did when I was on the road. I get home, and they’re usually gone or on the way out for after school dance classes or cub scouts or choir rehearsals. Plus, I’m losing my Friday of hanging out with the spouse. I’ll miss that the most, I think. Still, I’m in my bed every night, which is nice, just a little while before the rest of the family. Eventually, I’ll cut this schedule down at least an hour on each end once the move happens, but for now, it’s just weird. Thankfully, I’m not a huge appointment TV guy, so I’m not broken up about missing stuff. I can see how this would suck for someone who’s gotta see that show about doctors or lawyers or whatever every $weekday at 10pm.

Otherwise, I’m feeling more or less okay with things, given the fact that I’m a creature who’s very attached to his habits and patterns who’s had all those habits and patterns upended and haven’t totally gotten through the shakeup just yet. I’m dealing, though life will be much better once I get used to things.

On the bright side, at least I have a chance to work through more audiobooks.