All About Work

So, time to write about the job in a bit more detail than I've managed so far! Seriously, the adjustment to working again has been huge. Getting back into the routines is not easy, and I require my routines to function. A perfectly timed quote via the Happiness Project:

“Habit simplifies our movements, makes them accurate, and diminishes fatigue.”
-William James

Some of the specifics I've been adjusting to:

• eating on a schedule, and not just eating but cooking, and not just cooking but planning, and not just planning but shopping, and not just shopping but planning the shopping
• work clothes: choosing them, discovering something is missing a button or doesn't fit well, and then there's laundering them; also, dressing for chilly inside and boiling hot outside

• lunches and snacks, particularly snacks since there's nothing in the building to "just grab" so I have to plan ahead (whereas there's plenty around for me to go out for lunch if I need to); also, due to the open seating described below, quiet snacks are preferable! Not that everything has to be silent, but too much crunching makes me self-conscious when it's quiet, so I prefer food in quiet packaging that can be quietly eaten. No celery!
• the alarm clock in general. Also, I may have to switch away from the news station; what with the Jerry Sandusky trial, there have been a few moments of "I didn't want to hear that" recently.
• the newspaper, and the fact that the guaranteed-6-AM-delivery is not always there at 6:30. Or 6:45. I may have to start another calling campaign, like I did a few years ago. If they say it will be there by 6, that's when I expect it. And dude, if you would get it by the door, you would see some tips! (He barely slows the truck down before flinging it out, so it lands at the bottom of the steps, often among the trash cans. I can't see it from upstairs, so I have to keep going down to look for it, or give up on it for breakfast and read it at lunch. Plus, there was the day the neighbor's dog peed on it there, that was a new low.)
• highways at rush hour (after a year of back roads and then no commute)

Commute

Off-rush hour, the drive takes 20 minutes. During rush hour, it's another story, and has varied tremendously. Twenty-five minutes, over an hour, there's no predicting. It's a challenge! A complicating factor is that close to my town, there's been a traffic shift that results in literally twice the traffic going down the street I usually go home. Of course, the night last week when there was an accident there, it was far worse: 15 minutes to go under half a mile is pretty painful. There are not a lot of options that make any kind of sense, but I'm going to have to experiment, because it's been nuts there. Adding to my personal frustration is how close to home it is: I'm almost there, but not quite. Honestly, though, I could have just about walked in the time (though not carrying the groceries).

As a side note, one of my new co-workers actually lives a few blocks from me. I'm not suggesting car-pooling, as he usually works earlier than I do, and I rarely drive home without stopping for at least one errand, but I'm thinking we could help each other out when one of us has car trouble. Could be handy!

Location

The company is not that far from the job I left 2 years ago (remember the psycho SVP and his mind games?), in an area full of stores and restaurants, and one that I am very familiar with. It's handy not to have to learn my way around, but simply to know where things are. This also helps with the commute, because if the highways are too bad to even try, I know a million ways to go. They may be just as busy, but at least you get to move, and have the illusion of progress, which is sometimes just what I want.

Office Layout

Outside: We are in an office park, but it's one with a lot of grass, flowers, and trees, which I really like. It's a good set-up for walking at lunch, when the weather is neither rainforest nor inferno. Our building is on the edge and our office faces trees, which are pleasant to look at, and provide some shade. It could be a lot worse! There's a cafeteria in a nearby building, and apparently a health club too; I have yet to check that out.

Inside: The office itself is one large room, with a few offices and conference rooms, and a small kitchen, on the periphery. I'm not a big fan of open seating, and this is very open: cubes in blocks of four, with walls low enough to see over while sitting, and they don't even go all the way to the center, so there's a lot of view-through. That probably doesn't help you understand, does it? Well, picture a plus sign (you know,+) and imagine a person sitting in each of the four corners. Then imagine that at the center of the plus, the lines don't meet. Like this:

   |

--  --

   |

So if you're sitting in the lower right, you can see diagonally through to the person in the upper left. Also, one of the side walls in each square is split, with a foot-wide opening in the middle, so you can see one of your neighbors completely. It would be great if you were collaborating on something, but since I'm not ... I just like a little privacy to blow my nose unobserved, you know? They're such odd little cubes. (I hope they were cheap, since that's the only excuse I can think of for getting them.) Another weird feature is that the walls aren't made of the usual fabric that you can use pushpins or cube-wall-hangers in; neither are they magnetic. Post-It notes stick to them, or you can tape things to them, and you can tuck things into the bottom edge and they kind of stay, but that's it.

Sometimes the open-ness is fine; there are times when the only sounds in the office are the clicks-and-whirls of computer use, and the hum of the air conditioning. Other times, there can be three serious-science conversations happening around me at once, whoa. It is odd to be the English major is a crowd of mostly scientists. There are times when their talk to each other sounds to me like the adults in the Charlie Brown cartoons: waah waah waah, waah waah waah, waah waah. Apparently the idea of a candidate having two PhDs but both in physical chemistry is sort of ridiculous? Who knew.

People

That said, the people are all nice. There are currently 11 of us in this office (and more in the division elsewhere), but it's about to be 10 because one guy got an offer too good to refuse from his old company. (Which is too bad, he's a fun guy and I liked working with him so far, but oh well. Pity his wife: they just moved from California to be here in March, and now are moving to New York. Ouch.) Back to the office: they're still hiring, so the numbers should go up, while hopefully the general niceness level will remain high; everyone seems motivated to hire the right people, so I'm not too worried. We have desk space enough for 20, and room for more; it will be interesting to see where we are in a few months. They're looking for another editor, and I really hope I like him or her. So far, though, I haven't even heard if they've found any candidates for it.

Work

Oh, right, the actual work! Yes, there is some of that. It seems to be going well. I may not love working again, but this is the right work for me to be doing (until I win the lottery). Another quote:

“The test of a vocation is the love of the drudgery it involves.”
-Logan Pearsall Smith

 And when we talk about proofing and editing, I don't consider it drudgery. It can be tiresome, correcting someone's repeated mistake, but the thrill of eliminating errors and making something better, more readable, consistent, well, this makes me give a happy sigh.
My first week, I was given the Editorial Guide that the writers are supposed to use, and that the editors use to check their work, and then a test to take--open book, so to speak. I pretty much aced it, which was comforting, and I also found an error in the guide, where it says in a certain instance, do A, then shows an example which doesn't do A. So I impressed the editorial manager, who isn't actually my manager (the editors so far are in London, and they're not just for our division), but it doesn't hurt. The guide actually needs a lot of work*, and I'm meeting with my manager on Monday to discuss how much latitude I have with it.
*Call me crazy, but since the guide explicitly states to write in American English, I think the guide itself should also be in American English. No "spelt", no "exclamation marks" or "full stops", and exactly what does "at a push" mean anyway?

In closing, I just want to say that proofing spacing in justified text sucks. Justification throws off my eye for spacing.

The Start-Up Mentality

Although this company is not brand new, the division is pretty new (less than 2 years, I believe), and the office only opened a few months ago. The boss picks up coffee when she goes to Costco. My first week, I was surprised to hear someone asking around for "the" stapler. (How many people will there have to be before we get two, I wonder?) Meanwhile, my desk didn't even have a trash can. I could have asked for one, but when I was at Target I picked up a small bucket-like thing from the dollar area, that works just fine.

The Water. Yes, the Water.

I drink a lot of water. I'm not a water snob; at home, I happily drink tap water, no extra filtration required. But the setup here has me looking for workarounds already. There is a little side faucet on the sink to dispense filtered water. I tried the tap water itself, since sometimes that's perfectly fine, but it does taste unpleasant, so okay, I decided, I'll use the little one.

Well. It is slow. And by slow, here is what I mean:

• Put 12-ounce glass on the counter and turn the switch. (At least you don't have to stand there holding it.)
• Step to freezer, get out a bowl of ice*.
• Step back to the glass, add cubes.
• Go put the bowl back in the freezer.
• Go back to the glass.
• Wait another 10-15 seconds for the water to fill.

*Because the water is slightly flat-tasting, and comes out just above room temperature, so it's better when iced.

Thirty seconds doesn't sound like a long time, but it feels like it, ten* times a day (plus refilling the ice cube trays). It's long enough that I zone out, then panic that wait, I was filling the glass, it will overflow! But no, it isn't full yet.

*That's an estimate, but I do drink a lot of water. And yes, that does require a lot of bathroom breaks. It's good to get up from the desk regularly.

So when I was at the grocery store Thursday night, I picked up a gallon of store-brand spring water (for 50 cents), and brought it in Friday (and almost finished it by the end of the day, I told you I drink a lot of water). The idea is that if I fill it at home* and bring it in, I will spend less time than I was before, and my drink will taste better (and my arms will even get some regular exercise, oof, have you carried a gallon of water lately?). We'll see how that goes. If it works out, I may have to get a larger tote bag, because the one I use now is big enough for lunch/snacks, purse, and book, but not for a gallon of water too.
*Where, by  the way, it takes less time to fill the gallon than it does to fill one glass at work.
 

Other Things I Appreciate

• Flexible scheduling. I don't have to punch a time clock or even fill in a time card, and no one seems to be monitoring my movements and time spent at desk. How refreshing to be treated like a responsible adult! And since the commute varies and thus so does my arrival time, it's nice to be able to vary when I leave accordingly, without anyone being bothered. Some people come in earlier, some later, some work at home a day or two a week (and particularly Fridays, naturally; there were five of us this Friday), and it's all very relaxed.
• Speaking of Friday, we work a 7-hour day on Fridays, which adds an extra hour to every weekend, and adds up to more than another week of vacation time spread through the year. Nice little perk!
• Speaking of relaxed scheduling, I can eat lunch when I want. And I get an hour, so I can run an errand if I need to.
• We can take vacation time without counting "hours accrued" first. It's so nice to be able to take a day off in July without fussing about if I've earned all of 8 hours yet. (My mother will be at grandma's for a week, so I'm going up for the weekend. Yay!)
• This one is small and may seem weird, but I like my mouse's quiet scroll wheel. One of my neighbors has one that goes bzzz-bzzzz-bzzzz as he scrolls, which makes me realize he scrolls rather a lot (page-down, dude!). Mine, on the other hand (ha!), is a little slow, but silent. Phew. It's the kind of thing you might never notice at home, but in a quiet office, well, wow.

Things I Don't Like As Much

• The open plan seating, obviously.
• The temperature. It's usually chilly, but not always. I'd rather have it consistent, even if uncomfortable, so I knew how to dress for it.
• My boss is in and out of meetings all day, and gets so much e-mail that she tends to skim, so catching her in person looks like the best way of doing it. That isn't my preference (not that I get to choose), and it takes work.
• No business cards. I know, it's a little tiny thing, and I don't really need them, but I liked having a business card.

And that's the new job, three weeks in. Now you know!

Slightly Cranky, Mostly Tired

Arthur Dent couldn't get the hang of Thursdays, but for me, based on an extremely small sample size, I am not that fond of Tuesdays. Last week, Tuesday was my second day, the CEO was around, I barely saw my boss, and I had to find work to do because she didn't get to forward me the getting-started e-mail with actual work until Wednesday*. It was just an irritating day.

*I didn't have my computer set up Monday, so it wasn't her fault that I didn't get it Monday. And it's more the CEO's fault than hers that I didn't get it Tuesday.

 

This week, there wasn't an external force like that, but just the same I felt irritated well before the day was out. Starting new jobs is hard, and I should know, I've done it way too much lately. I hate the period when I'm straining my brain to remember the thousand separate things to do on a project. I sent the first report I worked on (which was frankly a disaster when I got it*) back yesterday to have my work reviewed. I didn't expect my work to have been perfect--right and wrong is one thing, but style and company preferences are quite another--but that doesn't mean I like getting to see all that I missed. It's going to take time, I know that it will, but I don't like it.

*I am certain that there are many non-native English speakers who could write a report so well you would never know, but the author of this report is not one of them.

 

Also, I made the mistake of wearing a dress and sandals to work, and my legs and feet were freezing most of the day. I noticed temperature fluctuations in the office last week, where it was warmer in the mornings and cooled down during the day, but this week it's just been chilly, and when I got in the car I turned the heat on, despite the 75 degree weather. (Also this week, traffic has been worse, which I didn't need. It took me almost an hour to get home tonight, a ride that would take 20 minutes out of rush hour, and has been taking about 30-35 most days.)

 

It doesn't help that I'm extra tired today. I stayed up to watch the Kings hoist the Cup last night, which was fun so I kind of don't regret it, but I could have used the extra hour of sleep so I kind of do.

 

Still, they won, and it was nice to see the happy people. And now, as Puck Daddy said, 

Now then. Someone lock Gary Bettman and Donald Fehr in a room until they work out a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. Or fall in love. I don't really care, just so long as the 2012-13 season begins on time.

Right. That. Now early to bed for me. Eventually I will have more coherent thoughts on work, but, you know, not now.

So, So, SOOOOO Tired

Oh, you guys, I am so tired. SO TIRED. It's going to take me a while to get used to this working thing again. All day I'm supposed to sit there? Acting all grown-up? Wearing grown-up shoes and clothes and not reading blogs? Not snacking whenever I feel like it*, especially when it's something loud or messy? Remembering to tone it down a little until these people get to know me?
*Thinking about the last four months, I'm kind of amazed that I didn't gain weight, but I didn't. I may weigh more than I would like to, but it appears that my body is happy here, serious ice cream/gelato consumption to the contrary notwithstanding.

Not that I think it's going to be a problem, everyone's been really nice so far. Beyond just not-annoying, I mean. Welcoming, personally as well as professionally. Examples? Well.

• The CEO was to be in the office today, and we were advised to be sure to "dress smart". At the end of Monday one of my neighbors let me know that I might want to wear a jacket, since the last time he was there she was the only one who didn't, which made her very uncomfortable. (Good thing my "dress smart" outfit was comfortable, as I saw him across the office at one point but otherwise he was in the conference room from before I arrived until after I left, so I never got to meet him or impress him with it.)
• A couple of cube-neighbors were discussing tea today, as one gave the other a tea-bag, and I was asked if I like tea. I admitted that I do not, and she promptly said, "Leave the cubes," and smiled. I redeemed myself by declaring my love for chocolate, and bacon (though separately).

So I think they're going to be good to be around. So far there are under a dozen of us in the office, but the goal by the end of the year is 40, so change is happening swiftly.

I'm trying for coherence, and just sat here blinking at the screen for a minute, unable to form a thought. I was so tired last night that although I went to stitch and bitch, my friends were laughing at my zombie state. I turned the light out before 9, and I bet I do the same tonight. That alarm, she is a harsh mistress. And I am so tired. So here, look where I'm going now:

The Night Before

I've done a bit today to get ready for the new job tomorrow, but mostly I've been Not Thinking About It, because thinking about it leads to over-thinking it, which generally leads to trouble. Which reminds me, I need to put out a sleeping pill for tonight. My conscious mind may be sadly all too used to starting new jobs, but my subconscious needs to be turned off the night before such things. At least I get to ease into the whole getting up early thing, as I'm to report in at 10 tomorrow (and 8:30 thereafter). I saw this on Facebook this morning:

In pursuit of Not Thinking About It, I've been greatly aided today by Doctor Who. I'm currently brushing up on the modern era, and am nearing the end of the second series now (and I'm a lot closer than I was this morning). Requested third series from the library, check! I still like Christopher Eccleston (the 9th Doctor) a wee bit more than David Tennant (the 10th), so we'll see how I feel when I reach the Matt Smith era. Also, knitting on the Tardis shawl while watching Doctor Who feels sort of circular.

In other news, if you're not a hockey fan, you may have missed the story that Bruins goalie Tim Thomas has decided to take next year off. I always said that goalies are extra crazy, but wow. Apparently he's finding hockey a little frivolous in these crazy times. Two lines from Puck Daddy's coverage of the story struck me:

• "the irony of forfeiting $3 million dollars in annual salary because you're afraid of an economic meltdown is hilarious"
• "if there's any consolation for Bruins fans, it's this: if this statement truly reflects his mindset, you shouldn't want him to play next year any more than he does"

Yup. Reports that he moved his family to Colorado this season make me suspect that rather than being in Denver or Boulder, they're somewhere off the grid, with a lot of supplies. I may be doing him wrong, but ... I don't know. His was the story of perseverance, of dedication, of continuing against the odds and then making it, making the NHL, winning awards, winning the Cup, and one would have understood had he chosen to retire at that point. But to take the year off, to stick the team with his cap hit and walk away, seems very selfish, and hockey is such a team sport. Makes me wonder if he damaged that team feeling irrevocably after the shunning of the White House visit, which was after all the antithesis of team-first.

Okay, end tangent! I start the new job tomorrow, tra la. If I have the energy at all after, I'll go to my stitch and bitch, so blogging may or may not happen tomorrow night. Don't read anything into silence, should it occur. Have a good week!

Day Two: Able to Summon a Few More Words

Only two weeks between jobs, and I am finding the return to working life extremely tiring. Note to self: for the love of Pete, remember to buy a lottery ticket! It will lend an air of verisimilitude to your oft-voiced desire to win the lottery.

Now, on to an early-days version of What I've Learned:

• The work I'm doing is pretty much the same as the last time I was a proofreader. I have to get used to new products and a new style guide, but it's very comforting to know what to do, and it makes the strain of a new job somewhat less.
• The number of times I will bash my knee on something that is unexpectedly (and inexplicably) under my desk is: two. Under my desk on one side is the computer tower, and another tower and monitor. No, I don't know why the second computer is there. All I know is, I had a laptop at work for the last 18 months, and before that I had an iMac, which has no tower. My knee was not expecting anything to be there. Ow. (The second smash broke the skin, for heaven's sake!) I believe I cursed under my breath, but it wasn't very much under.
  
• I have monitor envy. At first I was pleased with mine, because hey after a laptop it's huge. But it seems like everyone else's is even bigger...
  
• Also I hate the mouse on the work computer. It barely moves, so I have to move it (scrape it, really) over and over to get it where I need it. (Not having a mouse pad probably doesn't help.) Then when I get home, I send the mouse flying everywhere because whoa! it moves so fast!
  
• So far, the people in my group seem nice, but not in a seek-me-out-and-make-me-feel-welcome way. Which isn't the end of the world. All I mean is that everyone's nice to talk to, but no one asked me what I was going to do for lunch. Yesterday morning, my boss introduced me to the people who were at their desks at the time, and she had someone take me to security to get my badge which resulted in a slight tour, but that's it. Not that I expect hand-holding, it's just ... I had to ask someone where the ladies room was, because no one thought to tell me. Maybe it's because it's a really big company, and I've been working for smaller ones. Not bad, just different.
• There was a farmer's market at Copley Square today. Turns out that they're there every Tuesday and Friday, score! Not too much produce yet, but lots of bakery temptations and I had to restrain myself from buying a pot of basil just to keep on my desk. I'll be happy to go back to that this summer.
  
• Today I ate lunch on a bench in Copley Square, and people-watched, and though it was a little chilly it was still fun. Tomorrow is supposed to be much the same, with rain, but after that some 70s are on the way, which will be excellent lunch weather. Tomorrow perhaps I'll try out the "winter garden" area inside the building. And sometime I should look into the cafeteria, though if I'm buying lunch there are a million options in the area.
  
• Speaking of the area, I love the architecture of the Back Bay. Love it! You will probably see a lot of pictures this summer.
  
• I can take an hour lunch, so I've been taking my lunch to eat outside, then walking around the rest of the time. I'm hoping this will help provide some of the exercise my life's been lacking.
• So far (all two days) I've ignored the temptation to shop, though there is much nearby. I may have to go into the BPL some days, though. Or maybe I'll go after work, and keep walking at lunch ... we'll see.
  
• Even the five-minute walks from the house to the bus and the T to the office add up. That's 20 minutes more exercise a day than I was getting before! Plus, seriously, standing up on a bus or subway and trying not to fall over from the jerky motion has to count as exercise. That is a workout.

Well, I don't think there's much coherence to this, but at least I managed some content before my brain started to turn to mush. I need to take chicken out of the freezer, and think about what to wear tomorrow (work clothes! and shoes! deserve their own post after a year and a half of jeans), and pet the kitty. And so to bed.

Nervous, Yes

Boy, there's something about starting a new job, isn't there? No amount of rational thinking disperses the butterflies.

I'm finding that trying not to think about it is the best things, today. And somehow I'm balancing "not thinking about it" with "preparing for it", mostly.

Can't wait for the first day to be over!

Math is Everywhere! Unfortunately

I was certain, all those years ago in math class when we started word problems, that I would never, never need any skills contained in such a form. "A train leaves the station at..." drove me nuts, perverting my lovely friendly words into math problems in disguise.

Today, however, I spent a deal of time and brain cells computing how best to get into Boston to the new job. Driving is nothing I considered, both the traffic and the cost of parking being frankly ridiculous. But even leaving out the bus factor, there are multiple train and T* options, and fares and parking fees to consider, and the savings on monthly passes but for half of May is it worth...? Ow.

*what we call the subway around here

I eventually determined that no, it isn't a savings to get a pass for half the month. It looks like for May, it's cheaper* to pay for parking and take the T. For a full month, the T-and-train pass will be cheaper than paying for parking would be. But it took me a lot of work to get there.

*not cheap, but cheaper

Then there are the new socks, in the Van Dyke sock pattern. I finished the toe and got ready to start the patterning, and hit a snag. It's a charted pattern, not written out, and I don't have a lot of experience with charts, but it's only a small chart and I copied it bigger and color-coded it to be sure I knew what to do.

It was only when I started knitting the first row that I saw the problem: you can't decrease by two and increase by one in a row without screwing up your count. Checked Ravelry and sure enough, erratum for row 1, stitch 7. I do feel wicked smart to have stopped and checked instead of blundering on in hopes that it would work out. There's trusting the pattern and there's that's just wrong, and it seems I'm learning the difference. Slowly.

Hockey note: holy crow, the Bruins are trying to drive me nuts. Win three in a row, lose three in a row? Maybe at last they will play as if they have something to lose, now that they do. If you need me tomorrow night, I'll be the one biting my nails and not watching the TV.

And Day Three

...was one step forward and two steps back.

Not an awful day, but not a great day. I did accomplish one or two things at work, but more was undone pending hookups to this and troubleshooting of that. The back of my neck feels very tense.

But! The Bruins won last night! It was a great game, and since it started at a decent hour (unlike Wednesday*), I got to watch it all.

*And by the way, Chicago was retiring a number before the game, so the 8:30 game didn't actually start until 9. I made it through the first period, then went to bed.

They beat Montreal in decisive fashion, and are 8 for their last 9, and fourth in the league standings. Ahhh. It's a good time to be a Bruins fan. Helps make up for the lean years. True story: I was wearing a Bruins shirt at a Charlotte Checkers game, in the late 90s, and someone walking past me snorted and said, "Yeah, they're doing well!" And while they weren't, of course, it made me want to ask the guy, do you only support teams that are winning?

Yawn! Working is just so tiring, isn't it? Bed now, and books tomorrow!

Two-Day Report on Life at GenericCompanyName, Inc.

I'm in slightly better shape than last night, but I'm still pretty zonked. Working full days is so tiring! How did I ever do it? I don't think coherence is in the cards for tonight, so how about some random-order bullets?

• I did not miss rush hour.
• Getting up early really bites.
• Everyone so far has been really nice. Very busy, hoping I'll get up to speed fast, but nice. A lot of people have told me what a good place it is to work.
• I got my maybe-permanent desk today. Due to recent expansion, things are pretty crowded, so change is possible.
• I'm in the manufacturing area, which is good and bad.
• Bad because it's cold; it's next to the cleanroom, and there is a distinct breeze. Brrr. Dig out shawl and wrist warmers.
• Good because it's peaceful. A few people in the general area, but no one right near me (which means I can cuss at my computer when necessary without feeling self-conscious, and I don't have to listen to others' phone conversations, work discussions, or anything else). Plus, the sound of the vents and things humming makes a nice white noise.
• Bad because no food and drink allowed. I can (sniff!) give up snacking at my desk, but no water? I drink water all day long! I'm really hoping this rule will have some flex. (If I promise not to spill or spit on the labels, can I have a closed water bottle? Pleeeeeze?)
• Speaking of snacks, here's what's in the break room: coffee, tea, cocoa, juice, soda, chips, cookies, candy bars ... take what you want.
• Plus they give us lunch on Fridays. Tomorrow is an early Thanksgiving meal: turkey, stuffing, potatoes, etc.
• I got a loaner laptop until mine gets in. And I'm getting a desktop machine for the labeling software.
• I don't know what I'm doing yet. This is probably my least favorite part of a new job. That and trying to remember names.
• Harold seriously hates me being gone all day. He pesters me for the first hour or two, love me love me love me, then falls asleep because it's exhausting, having to demand attention like that. Poor kitty. Pan isn't as bothered, since he's in his own world lately. He's not indifferent, exactly, just low-key.
• Starting on a Wednesday is good. Tomorrow is Friday already! Whew.