yesterday was my first day at faust. it started with a relatively early morning to catch the bus, then 40 minutes on that route until i made it to the metra train. at this point, it was a relaxing wait in the sun after a strangely stressful bus ride. the trip on the commuter train was simple but strange as my stop took only 11 minutes to reach. i am used to doing rides on the metra in excess of an hour so it felt weird to not have out a book or something. a fifteen minute walk to faust from the train stop found me in a really cool office space. dave was there to greet me and let me in. i was shown my new workstation, a sweet g5 setup with 3gb of ram and a cinema hd monitor... which doesn't mean a lot unless you're a big geek. basically, it's a sweet computer setup.
when sally came down to the slab (aka office level) i was offered coffee, which i gladly accepted, and she invited me to hang out and chat for a little bit until bob came back from the dentist. i had a little time to get my computer set up as i like it before sitting down with sally to go through the employee manual. it was loaded with things that set up the employee as someone who carries weight and responsibility in the day-to-day stuff, and basically lays it out as a place where adults come together and get shit done. there are guidelines to work from, but it leaves a lot to fall on the shoulders of the conscience of the employees, and less on the authoritative position of the owners. i think this is absolutely the way it should be. i'm excited to have so much responsibility in this place. it makes me feel like i'm finally being treated as an adult.
around lunchtime, sally and i went into a nearby town to pick up lunch for everyone. i had a wonderful veggie burrito over lunch with my new coworkers and it was a great time. the rest of the day pretty much consisted of finishing up the employee manual, doing my basic tax forms, taking the more-detailed office tour, and talking with bob a little on how to get started on the tech side of things. all in all, it was very chilled out and they didn't ask me to do anything other than just breathe and get acclimated. later on in the day, one of their original employees came in and i was invited to sit and chat with the group. this guy, jason, had worked with faust for four years and they had clearly absorbed him as family after a little while. i hope i'm around long enough to find something similar.
dave offered to give me a ride home, which was super nice of him. dave is one of the nicest people i've met in a while, always lighthearted about stuff but hardworking at the same time, which seems to be everyone's attitude at faust. i think he's filipino in background and seems to have a great west coast sort of style going which i figure he picked up from going to school in california. he got his masters at UIC and grew up in oak park so he seems to really know the city. anyway we rode home and kind of talked about random stuff, but it was really easy talk woven into smart conversation. right up my alley, you know? i think dave and i will get along really well. we had to run by his place in ukranian village (a rather cool part of town) and he was able to take me right to my place since it was on the way to his volleyball match.
today was just as easy, even though i actually got to start working on things. i have two jobs running right now, one for the school of the art institute of chicago and one for a regional printing house. the first will be a couple of giant window banners that will go on the SAIC's new fashion gallery space in downtown. these will advertise the event while covering up a couple of giant storefront windows that are boarded up for some reason. the gig for the printer involves redesigning the panels that they apply to the sides of their delivery trucks. both large projects in scale, but not too intense... both working within a pre-existing design system... clearly intended for me to use as a way to get my feet wet and learn the faust process a little while at the same time giving bob an idea of how i work and what kind of skill set i'm bringing with me. i came up with a couple of really simple ideas for the banners today, one of which bob seemed to be pretty interested in, so already some positive results. not huge or anything, but simple and positive is a good way to start, yes?
the day was filled with good music and an easy atmosphere, despite the fact that bob and dave are constantly crunching work for deadlines. you'd never be able to tell if they didn't mention it... everything stays so positive. it's just a great environment, and i feel energized coming home at the end of it all.
the joke in the office today spun off of a story in the news about a cougar that was found in the city (in my neighborhood, actually), and was subsequently killed in a hail of police gunfire. nothing really funny about that, but of course i had to bring up something about "which bar was it hanging out at?" then that crack led to the story of my falsified legend among friends as a cougar hunter, then dave's equally fictitious crush on the older mom who owns the local cafe, and things just went on and on until by the end of the day i'm pretty sure the four of us had conjured up a nice little inside joke. hey, these things matter.
well, i'm getting sleepy and though there is more to go into, the gist is that i made it home after a flat tire and later realizing i'd left my keys in dave's apartment... got some really healthy groceries at whole foods (including THE BEST GRANOLA EVER-- and it's made locally!) and in general all is well. i feel so good; things have sort of eased into place, and i'm ready to really start making stuff happen.
in may, brian moves up to start at his new t-mobile location and get rooted in the jazz scene, and then in june we will move into our new apartment (wherever that may be). in july or august, eric will move up to start at northwestern in september. in the midst of all of this stuff in the summer, suzie will have flown back to cleveland for the summer and we finally have time to hang out after the big new years rendezvous... so these are all the Next Big Thing and i'm ready for it all.
i'm stoked about life again... it's been awhile. well i have to look over some material for the SAIC meeting in the morning, so off to that. peace, readership.
No comments:
Post a Comment