burning man earth
on Wednesday we leave for the burn! this year, the burning man earth project has partnered with the google earth team to map out black rock city in google earth.
the region:
the city:
our camp (the Q):
our stuff is here
the movers came by yesterday while i was at work. Amo dealt with the onslaught of boxes – about 60 total pieces, i think. it was a mess when i got home! after several hours of unpacking, it’s starting to come together. i got the sound system going, xbox 360 connected, dell set up with the desk, while Amo did the art & other fluff. it’s going to be much more comfortable than the old apartment!
all together now
after 17 days apart, my baby has finally joined me in SF! after a stressful late night arrival with 2 catatonic cats in tow, i picked them up in our new CAR and brought them home to their new HOME. everything’s gone smoothly so far *except* the fact that the kitties haven’t peed or pooped yet…which is worrisome because we’re not sure the toilet training will carry over to the new place.
work week 1
week 1 is done, and things are going pretty smoothly. like most fast-paced organizations, starting a new job is sort of like trying to get on a moving bus. there are lots of moving parts, and you have to get up to speed quickly and throw yourself into the mix. this time however, i feel more at ease with my utter state confusion. i know the domain expertise will come (with time), and i don’t feel the need to kill myself trying to prove my worth to my new peers.
my manager runs the entire technology group and his time is limited – but he seems really smart, fair, and level-headed (really important). the timing is also pretty good. i’m the last of 4 new project managers, so i benefit from their new-hire learning experiences. i’m quite impressed with the caliber of these pm’s. my first project is big, important, under-resourced, and has an unrealistic timeline. woohoo! this is also my third experience in a row of joining a group right as the PM group is building up, which is good resume fodder.
i got most of the administrative stuff out of this way this week: signing up for benefits, taking mandatory online training courses, ordering my laptop/equipment (looks like i’ll have both a new desktop *and* laptop to use 
), starting to get to know the org structure and who does what, figuring out how to bypass corporate firewall rules…this place is so locked down tight they don’t allow instant messaging (except with other co-workers) or web-based email (gmail, yahoo mail, etc). i think it’s actually a good thing – i’m a lot less distracted, even though i’ve figured out workarounds.
working in the bay area is distinctly different from NYC. here, white or native-english speakers are the clear minority. this place is at least 50% indian and mostly male. they seem to be a tight-knit group, are friendly and sharing of information, and super-smart.