Started Software Job Today
Looking backward from 2009-12-02.
This day was my first as a software engineer. Work hours ran from 8:00 AM til 5:00 PM, with an hour in there somewhere for lunch. So to get to work on time, I rose at 6:30 AM, and was surprised to find that sun already blazing through the window of my new bedroom. No mountains here for it to hide behind, which differed markedly from Altoona. Back home there, you didn’t see the sun until it got above Brush Mountain at around 7:10 or so at this time of year.
Though I hadn’t slept well, I nonetheless felt refreshed, and made my way to the dining room table where I switched on Pap Jewell’s Panasonic portable radio. I heard WGTZ FM (Z 93) playing New Sensation by the group INXS, and Michael Jackson’s hit Dirty Diana. I’d become acquainted with both these hits before moving to Dayton, and now, they induced a brief yet intensely sad homesick feeling. But once I ate and showered, those blues disappeared, and did not come back, at least not until that night. It took three years for me to stop missing Pittsburgh and Altoona.
My actual job title was an associate software engineer, and they paid me $28,500 per year to start.
I marveled at all the art work on the walls in building IV, and the fountain out front. People seemed high on their jobs. This company was in a rapid-expansion phase, and thus, bringing in lots of out-of-townees to work there. Lots of transients therefore, and most everyone was, therefore, on their best behavior; they were all so polite and nice.
I enjoyed living within a half-mile of work too, because I didn’t have to drive or rely on anyone else to get me there.
The weather impressed me as well; sunny every day throughout that entire summer, and this day was no exception. In fact, unknown to anyone at the time, this part of Ohio was in the beginning stages of a four month long drought. Indeed, I don’t think we got any rain until sometime in late September, 1988.
The employees enjoyed playing volleyball, baseball, racquetball, and touch football. One could see all these activities being executed, just by walking around the campus at lunch time.
The company took great pride in its campus and facilities; the building all had that new-building smell, and all the glass was clean and shiny; no dust to be found anywhere. Most areas were carpeted, even the walls in the cubes, and no place appeared too dark; except for the closets. You couldn’t tell the highest-traffic areas from the lowest-traffic ones on the rugs, because they kept them so clean, and they replaced them quickly at the first signs of wear. This place had the bucks to spend to create a warm and welcoming establishment, and I felt lucky to have been invited to join this intense team of high achievers.
I met my boss this day, and the guys I’d be working with. All were wonderful, and I made several friends within the first week.
Somebody in our group always went out to lunch and around the Dayton mall, restaurants were a plenty. My favorites were the Olive Garden, Amar India, Casa Lupita, and the Jade Garden on route 725. Getting a ride to these, though a necessity, was never a problem since so many others liked them too. I don’t think we ate out this day, because there was some sort of orientation all the newbies were required to attend.
I got little sleep the night before; not because I had to sleep on the floor since I had no bed yet. But I was nervous about meeting all the new people, and seeing again those I’d seen a couple months earlier when I’d flown to Dayton for my on-campus interviews.
[Lenee] was anxious to hear all about the day; we must have talked an hour that night on the phone. She hinted that night that she’d gladly move to Dayton to be with me. But I wasn’t interested in a long-term relationship with her at that point, and I just didn’t wish to deal with her request becauseI was already sufficiently busy just getting this new career off the ground.
I noticed lots of pretty women walking around and quickly convinced myself that before too long, I’d be dating one of them. There were polite and pleasant, and I couldn’t be sure if this was because they were just being cordial to a new employee (like me), or if they really liked me. The answer to this dilemma would have been clear to any clear-headed fellow. But I was not clear-headed at this time. I feared the unknowns that were in store for me, but I was high on the opportunity I’d received with this job offer, to explore those unknowns.
The new hires learned this day that we’d not receive our first paycheck until June 30th, 1988. Fortunately, this didn’t rattle me at all, because I had money saved from school to get by until then, though some of the others seemed quite concerned about going the entire second half of the month without income.
They assigned me my own cubical, and even though this office space was located in one of the most noisy spots on the second floor of building I, I really loved it. This cube was situated adjacent to a revolving security door that connected building I with building IV, and lots of people wene through there. A white board hung on the southwall, and a chair rested beneath it; apparently for coworkers who might stop by to socialize and confer on designs and such. The east and north walls could not be seen for the most part, as my L-shaped desk, file cabinets, and upper cabinets occupied almost all their space. The cube walls stood only five feet tall. So one could stand up and easily peer into his neighbor’s workspace. Plus, you could hear every conversation going on within thirty feet or more. But people usually kept this down to a soft murmuring normally.
A warm white fluorescent fixture illuminated my cube but they also used lots of indirect mercury vapor lighting, which spread lots of pink luster around. In this pre-electronic ballast era, loudly humming lights was typical. But I was so focused on understanding the overwhelming amount of information being presented to me, that I didn’t even notice the hum; not until weeks later.
I don’t remember doing any real work on my first day; I spent all of it either in orientation, or walking around meeting other new hires as well as the senior mentors who would be ”showing me the ropes.” It was scary. But I went home that night a little less afraid. After all the reassurance and encouragement, I was ready to meet day two head on, even before I’d been to bed at the end of day one.
I would work at this company for close to fifteen years, before resigning to start my own business in 2003.