The New Adventure

Aaarrgh! Can't sleep. I should be exhausted. I've been trying to jump-start my workouts the last few weeks by getting up at 6:00 to put in an easy half-hour on the recumbent bike in addition to workouts in the evening. Tonight after work I ran 5 miles with the dogs then went to the gym for a mile-long swim workout. Don't know why I'm not more tired, but am instead feeling rather wound up.

One of the things going around in my head when I was lying in bed (before I gave up on it a few minutes ago) was work, and it occurred to me I haven't commented on the new setting. There's not much to say, really, besides it's nice. Nothing much to complain or get excited about yet. Everyone's friendly, but I'm a bit slow to warm up to new people and I can't really call them friends yet. One advantage over the old branch is they like listening to music every morning, but one strike against them is they couldn't make it through all of my Violent Femmes CD this morning. True it's not exactly an easy-to-stomach sound, and there's something to offend in almost every song. But I think it ultimately got to be too much when I didn't know the player well enough to skip ahead a song so the manager heard the first bit of Dance, Motherfucker, Dance!, so I can't really blame them. Actually my biggest reaction to the new branch borders on boredom. I've been working the desk and such, but I don't know the place and my role there well enough yet to be taking on many projects and the like in between patrons. I've spent a lot of time just observing and taking in the atmosphere and learning the place. I've been reviewing the adult reference sources and web pages since I'll be doing more of that now. And I've been gradually moving into my new desk and making the space feel like it's mine. But overall I just don't feel that productive yet. I'm sure it will come with time, though.

I've also spent some of my time emailing my friends at the old location (finding work-related reasons, of course). My last day there was a Saturday, which meant I didn't work Friday, but I wasn't really thinking about saying goodbye until Saturday. The thing I overlooked is that the Thursday was my last day with most of the staff. They bought me balloons, brought in food, and such. Hugs on my way out the door. It was harder than I thought it would be, especially since I wasn't prepared for it. Perhaps that's also contributed to my being less than excited at the new place, because I miss the camaraderie of the old one. And, now that I think about it, I wonder if excitement about seeing some of them tomorrow isn't contributing to my restlessness in bed. But I've gone on too long now and this isn't putting me to sleep. More updates on the new branch to come, I'm sure.