Over the last several weeks at work I've been busy working on a project to integrate to various building systems at a new data center. My work has been in the office gathering information, building and reviewing web graphics, and coordinating any site work that needs to be done. I've occasionally had to go on site, but not often.

We're nearing the end of this phase of the project, though, and my presence has been requested on site to help coordinate. Since it's a construction site, hours are from 6 to 2:30. This week, I've gotten up around 4:45 every day to make the 45 minute drive to the site location in one of the exurbs south of Seattle.

I had hoped that my time on site would be limited, but right now it appears that I could be out here for the next couple weeks. I dislike driving so much, and working at a construction site isn't the best environment, but I suppose it's not all bad. So far I haven't minded getting up early too much, and I've been working until almost 4, so I've sometimes been able to pick up Lesley from work on my way home. And, since I'm working longer hours, I won't have to work a full day tomorrow, which is something that I'd like to have more often.

I mentioned in my last post about work that I was working in a temporary department and there haven't been any changes since then. I had been taking on small projects for other departments, but that has mostly ended, except for one project.

For my one freelance project, I am developing an Excel-based tool that will be used by offices nationwide. I reviewed the existing spreadsheet, identifying its deficiencies on with feedback (complains/suggestions) from others. From there, I worked to improve the existing spreadsheet making sure to get regular feedback, which has been very positive. The tool has come a long way from where it was and is almost ready to be rolled out.

Overall, though, most of my time over the last several weeks has been focused on my temporary job, mainly on a single project. I've really enjoyed working diligently on getting the pieces of our project lined up, including working with our web development subcontractor, and coordinating the project. I've also learned more about the types of things that I don't enjoy as much.

I'm not sure how this temporary position will work out - whether it will become permanent, and then what kind of role I would have. I am looking for more chances to have ownership of projects and processes that will allow me to work with and lead others. I'm not sure whether I will fit best in a role in my current temporary department, another position in this company, or a position with another company, but I am looking forward to finding more career development and professional growth.

I mentioned before that my department at work had been eliminated and that I was looking for a new position at work. I had been staying busy with small projects for a few different people until recently when I was given a temporary position in another department.

While I had been enjoying the freelancing I'd been doing within the company, this new position has been good for a few reasons. Now I'm part of a team, and a team that wants to do a great job. I've also become much busier completing some relatively urgent tasks, which have made the work day more exciting because of their urgent nature. It sounds like I will get more ownership in this department and hope to have the opportunity to collaborate with and lead others on projects to improve processes and solve problems.

While this position isn't technically permanent, it's very possible that it could work out well for my boss and me, though I may have multiple opportunities with this company to choose from.

The department I had been in at work is being eliminated. Nobody is losing their job, but I don't have another job yet, so I am in transition. I've been offering to help other departments and have come up with a couple projects that have been keeping me occupied. I'm still looking for other things to do in the short term so that I stay busy until I find another position. I don't know what my next job will be, but I've talked to various people within the company that I may be interested in working with. I don't know how soon something will open up, but I may have some options. I'll have to be patient for now, but I am looking forward to having some clarity on how things will go.

It's hard to believe that I've been at my job here in Seattle for a full year now. So far the initial impressions that I had a year ago seem valid. I still believe that this is a pretty good company to work for and I could see myself staying here for a while.

My current position was created for me and I haven't had a lot of external definition of my role, so I've done what I can to find ways to contribute. As this is also a relatively new department without a lot of managerial oversight, I've put a lot of emphasis on better defining and improving how we work through standard processes and documentation as well as through leading team meetings and implementing tools to facilitate collaboration. I've worked with others across the company to help manage projects for my department and I've helped with several small projects outside of my department. My visual design skills and web experience have also been very useful as I've lead the design of a few web interfaces. Also, as I'm new to this industry (or I guess, I was new to it a year ago), I've learned a lot about facility systems and HVAC, especially with regard to building controls. Also, my experience as an IT business analyst has helped me to understand our integration controller hardware and better define our project requirements. And, while I haven't been able to work with others as much as I'd like, I've made the most my involvement to build relationships across the company.

Just looking at the highlights, I've really enjoyed what I've done. I appreciate the freedom I've had to identify things to do and have worked on a lot of things that I've been interested in. But, a job is more than highlights and, to be honest, I can't help but feel disappointed that my role has been limited and I still am not contributing to the level that I'd like to. I'm doing my best to try to find ways to help others and am continuing to look for additional opportunities to contribute. I'd be interested in having more ownership and working with others to manage projects, improve processes, and serve our customers better. I think I'll be able to find some more of those opportunities soon and am optimistic that my second year will be more exciting and fulfilling than the first.

The company I work for recently added onto the office space in our building and I was in one of the groups that was selected to move into the new area.

At first I was hesitant to move because I liked how my old desk was in the central part of the building and convenient to a lot of places. But, as the move grew closer last week, I became eager to move, and after almost a week in this new space I'm really happy with it.

For one thing this new area is a bit quieter and I don't have people walking behind me all the time. It also seems like I'm closer to other people I work with and have more chances to interact with them. While I'm not sure what to do with my huge cubicle, I'm also glad to have a nicer break area nearby. Also, the restrooms nearby are a lot less busy than the restrooms were near my previous desk which were sometimes so busy that I had to wait behind other people.

One of the best parts is that I have a new phone. It's the kind of phone that I had at my old company, and has features that my previous phone didn't, like a mute button and a messages button so I don't have to remember the extension to dial for voice mail. It's also connected to the corporate directory and I can forward my phone from the intranet.

But the best part is just that sometimes change can be good. I feel refreshed in my new area and hope to see these positive feelings extend to other aspects of my job.

The company where I work partnered with a non-profit organization and invited all employees to help clean up a local greenbelt this week. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to participate, but after seeing some great weather in the forecast last week, I figured some time outside (while still getting paid) would be good, and signed up to help out last Monday.

I went with about 15 other employees to meet with members of the Nature Consortium, which is in charge of the project to restore several acres of land near the Duwamish river. I don't know the full story, but the area has been overrun with invasive plants and so the Nature Consortium is trying to restore it to how it used to be before human settlement.

We started by potting some baby trees that were loose in a bucket. They were going to be planted, but apparently it is too late in the season to plant them so they'll be saved for next year. Then we mulched the side of a hill, which was probably my favorite part, though it was also possibly the hardest. Then we had to dig up some invasive blackberry species and remove some ivy, which can add a lot of weight to existing trees and cause them to fall over in strong wind.

It was 4 hours of hard work, but I really enjoyed it. The weather was great and it's really cool that my company sponsored this community service activity.

The past couple weeks at work have been a little different because I've been spending a lot of time at a job site instead of in the office. There's a project that I've been involved with for several months but recently it became necessary for me to go to the project location to test and complete a few things and better manage the remainder of the project.

I've been more tired at the end of each day than normal because I've been up and walking around rather than just sitting at my desk. It's also been different because I haven't been taking the bus.

I've learned a lot from this project and it's been challenging and rewarding to get these last steps taken care of. There were quite a few things that could've been done better, especially at the beginning of the project, which contributed to it taking longer than it should have. But, I'm glad to have been able to get things done.

This project along with another project that concluded a few weeks ago used to take up a lot of my time, so now I'm not really sure what I'll be doing next, but it will probably be back at the office.

1. Having time to read - I've always had a hard time finding time to read at home in the evenings or on weekends, so I haven't read much. However, I do really enjoy reading. When I take the bus, I have 30 minutes available before and after work and have been able to read more books over the past six months than I had in the previous few years.


2. Being able to walk - I love to walk but, like reading, it can be hard to fit in time and a reason to go for a walk from home. However, I get to walk every day when I take the bus. If I don't want to walk far, I can take a route that goes by where we live, or if I want to walk longer, I can take another route and have a 10-15 minute walk home in the afternoon. There's another route that takes me by Pike Place Market and gives me about a 20 minute walk home. It's a great time to get outside, see the city, talk to people on the phone, and get a little exercise on my way home.


3. Environment - By not driving, there's an extra half ton of greenhouse gases that our car didn't release into the air.


4. Money - Over the past six months, I've saved about 1000 miles of wear and tear on our car and about $100 in gas. Not a ton of money, but it adds up.


5. Less stress - Seriously, people here drive so slow and are always in the way. That just doesn't bother me on the bus.

1. It's slower - It takes about 40 minutes to get to work by bus, including walking time and I can drive to work in less than 20 minutes. I don't see the extra time as wasted, though, since I can spend it reading or walking. But, it is nice to shorten the time spent in transit. Sometimes I'll drive if I'm running late and some days if I just want to get home at the end of the day I'll wish I'd driven.


2. I can miss it - This doesn't happen nearly as often anymore, now that I've found One Bus Away, but I sometimes try to catch the bus from work and don't give myself enough time and end up missing the bus. Usually this isn't a big deal, but it's especially frustrating if I'm working late when the buses don't run as often.


3. I don't get it all to myself - When I first started riding, it was always full and I always had to stand. However, after gas prices dropped, seats opened up and I can always find a seat. Just, sometimes, it'd be nice to have the whole row to myself.

I started my new job in downtown Seattle exactly a year ago today. Time sure does fly. I've gotten to know my co-workers pretty well and enjoy talking to them. I'm still walking to and from work every day, which really saves time and gas by not driving. It's nice living so close to work. I really have a great view of the city and Puget Sound - although we lose more and more of our view every month with buildings being built.

Sometimes I have to go to job sites at work, but normally I can anticipate this. Last week, however, I unexpectedly had to go to a job site by myself, and I had taken the bus to work that day, so I didn't have a car. The company has a fleet of vehicles, so I asked to borrow one, but apparently they had to do some kind of driving background check first. With that option eliminated, a co-worker let me borrow his Prius, which I was thankful for.

The next day, I had to go somewhere again, but drove to work so I'd be prepared. Getting reimbursed $.55/mile was kind of nice, but I can't plan on driving my car to work every time I might need to go somewhere.

This week, I had to drive somewhere again, and since I submitted my papers for the background check earlier, I was able to borrow one of the company's Toyota Priuses. I don't know if anyone had driven this car after it was picked up from the dealership because it only had 623 miles on it. It was cool to drive the nice, clean, new company vehicle, though the "How's my driving" sticker made me drive extra-conservatively. I think it's funny that I've now driven three different Toyota Priuses in the past year, when I've only driven one of any other model of car. It's a nice car and I'm glad to have been able to drive it when I needed to.

Taking the bus to work has had its moments of inconvenience, and having to borrow a co-worker's car last week was one of them, but now that I can borrow the company's vehicles, it makes it easy to keep taking the bus to work.

I like my new job more than my old job, but one nice perk that I had at my old job was that my desk was by a window with a view. And then while I was working from home for six months, I could look out our apartment window. But now, at my new job, I sit away from the windows, which have blinds over them anyway.

I've missed seeing the sun this winter, but that's more because I don't have a window at work than because the sun never comes out. It's been cloudy a lot lately, but according to Lesley, who works in an office building with a lot of windows, the sun has been coming out often. And, this week's forecast shows clear days for most of the week.

I guess I need to make a habit of walking by the windows or taking breaks outside because I do miss seeing sunlight.

I had to adjust to this job for the first few months that I worked here. I didn't know anyone and was mostly just assigned individual tasks to work on rather than being given the opportunity to take ownership of things and work with others to get things done, like I had at my previous job. However, I would say that phase has ended and I've involved myself more and things are going better.

Again, my position is new and not pre-defined so what I do will evolve over time as I find the best things for me to work on. A few weeks ago I was mostly doing web development for a particular project. That project has slowed down lately and I've been doing a lot of work for another project, which involves upgrading the lighting controls for a customer in order to help them turn their lights off when they're not needed in order to save electricity. I've been communicating with the customer, answering questions from the electrician, and identifying and requesting the data that we'll need to have provided for the interface that I've also been developing. I've also been working on helping our group coordinate better and protect and prepare ourselves better by developing standards and backing up some of our project data.

What's been most interesting to me as I've adjusted to this job is how much my previous job has influenced me and helped me here. The familiarity I gained with information technology at my last job has helped, but what I've really noticed is how my last job taught me to be assertive and take initiative. I've been given almost nothing to do here and almost everything I'm doing is because I've looked for it and started to do it. The lessons from my last job are what have really helped me to find things to do here and just start doing them. I think if I came straight to this job right after college, it would be totally different for me than it is now and I wouldn't be doing nearly as much.

I think it was good for me to leave my last job to come here, though, because as I've said before, this job and this company, especially, fit me a lot better than my old job, and I'm optimistic about the opportunities I'll have here. Right now, I think everyone's happy with what I'm doing, including me.

I've been at my current job for almost three months now, so I've gotten more involved and have a much better understanding of things.

I work for a company that designs, builds, operates, and maintains building facility systems, like HVAC, electrical, and lighting. My department works for customers on projects to integrate and apply technology toward their building control systems. So, for example, a customer might have multiple buildings and we provide them with a single web interface that shows the status of and gives them control to all of systems. I'm still learning and we're still defining what we do.

So far, I've mostly been helping out with the web interface for a particular project. But, I've also been working on a few things to help us work together better as a group and to refine how we should be doing things. I expect that as I get more comfortable and find more ways to contribute that my job responsibilities will evolve.

I've had to adjust to this job. I work with engineers now instead of businesspeople. Rather than sitting far enough from the main walkway in a quiet hall with a view from my window, now I sit in a big room with my back to a busy walkway. I went from an environment where I took ownership of projects and systems to now being assigned individual tasks. That's definitely the most frustrating thing, but I expect to gain more responsibilities.

I've been a little frustrated about a few things, but I still am very positive about this job because I see a lot of opportunity. My position was created for me, so I'm getting to define what I do somewhat. I've been doing web development as a hobby for more than 10 years, so it's kind of cool to get to do it at work. I don't expect to be doing web development for my job long-term, but I expect to continue to be involved in the web aspect of our department. I'm excited about how things will go with our department and the types of things that I might be involved with.

When I started my previous job, I tried not to think about work when I wasn't at work, feeling that they were only paying me for the hours I put in at the office and that my only obligation to them was during the working hours. And I wasn't very career oriented, either, I didn't really know what I wanted to do with my career and work was just a job to me. I was fine with my boss and where I was in the company and what I was doing, so I didn't really have a long-term vision. It was a corporate-oriented environment and my co-workers there were very career-minded, however.

During the time with that company, I changed in a lot of ways, and most of the changes were positive. One interesting change is how the career-mindedness of all my co-workers there influenced me. One of the last pieces of advice my boss gave me was that nobody is going to watch out for my career and that I should take charge of my career and where I'm going.

After starting this new job, I've been spending a lot of energy focusing on my career. I think part of it is that I now have work experience at a full-time job, so I've been comparing this current job to my previous one. There are some things that I don't have in my current position that I had at my previous employer. For example, I don't have the same level of responsibility or involvement in projects. So, I've been trying to figure out what I need to do to get back those things I used to have and to get more things that I want. I've been thinking of what kinds of things I want to do and who I want to work with and things like that.

The interesting thing is that I never really wanted a conventional career. I just wanted to work for a while until I figured out what I really wanted to do. But now I'm thinking and acting as if my career is very important to me. When I got my first job after college, someone said that I could start "climbing the corporate ladder" and that really turned me off. I didn't want a job like everyone else. But, now, here I am, in a regular job, focusing on my career, even though I still don't see myself following this career path for the next 40 years. I guess we'll see if I start climbing that corporate ladder, or maybe I'll someday figure out what I've wanted to do all along.

On my first day of work, I got a new cell phone. It's just so that people can contact me if I'm at a job site during the day. As I expected, I've barely used it. I left it in my drawer for the first month.

However, one co-worker insists on calling me on my cell phone. So, now I kind of feel obligated to keep the phone on my desk. That also means that I need to make sure it has power. So, now I have to remember to check it occasionally to make sure that it's charged.

It was not charged this morning, so I had to plug it in. However, there aren't any available outlets at my desk. My boss and I share a power strip, so I had to unplug something of his so that I could charge my phone.

Anyway, the whole thing is annoying. I don't want or need a cell phone for work.

I took a few more pictures of my view from work back in July that I never posted until now. We had really clear days for most of June and July, which made it possible to see Mount Baker in the distance. A few buildings are much closer to completion now and one building is over 30 stories tall and blocks half of my old view of our apartment complex.

I've been consistently taking the bus at least four times per week. After finding out about MyBus.org, I've been missing the bus a lot less. I missed the bus in the morning once last week, so that was the day I decided to drive. However, I really like taking the bus, mostly because I get to read along the way, but also because I don't wear out the car. It takes a little longer to take the bus, but I've really enjoyed it. I'm still thinking about getting a bike to ride to work, but for now the bus is just fine.

I don't really know what to say about my job. It's been going well, I guess. Lately, things have been a little slow, and I've run out of things to read and learn for the moment. However, I've slowly been getting more responsibilities and have been contributing some with one of our projects. We have projects where we integrate HVAC controllers so that building managers can see the current temperatures (and air flow and other things) in all of the rooms of a building and also make changes from a web console. I've been doing a lot of web development so far.

The department I work in is relatively new, so I'm helping out with some of the organization of our files on the network. I'm also helping with our weekly meeting and figuring out how to update and display a list of our current projects. (Wow, all of that seemed so much more exciting until I just typed it out.)

I'd like to get a better understanding of what exactly we do and the phases of our projects so that I can help us get things done more efficiently. Anyway, it's still early and not too exciting yet, but so far I like my job.