March 8, 2008

Five days down, about 795 to go. The first week has gone quickly. It is really amusing to be back in the corporate world. Some things are always the same.

Things are going well. I went to 5 meetings on my first day and only two of them were training. I was actually doing work on my first day. It feels good to be able to hit the ground running. I still have a ton of details like benefits, travel, personal protective equipment, and computer setup to deal with, but these things will be done in time.

I tricked Kris into cheering for Michigan. I have two choices of schedules. Since the alternative work schedule gives me every other Friday off, I get to choose which set of Fridays. They call the two choices the Red Team and the Blue Team. I showed Kris the schedule and she was looking at how the Fridays lined up with the holidays. I asked her which team I should go with and she said, “Go Blue”.

I am working long hours already. I go in a half hour earlier. I get out an hour and a half later, but haven’t left on time yet. It is changing our dinner schedule, but it is really only cutting into the time I typically waste in the evening. Time will tell if this becomes a matter of drudgery. For now, I am motivated and happy to be at work.

When I interviewed, I mentioned that Chevron’s international presence provided interesting career options. It was a casual comment, sincere, but casual. Well, it was apparently an important statement. I was reminded that corporations love employees who are willing to move for their jobs. I was reminded that they really love employees who are willing to move anywhere. My boss mentioned these things as part of preparing for goal setting for the year. I mostly listened through his deep Texan drawl and the only response I could come up with was that I wasn’t willing to move anywhere. I simply refuse to move to Texas. His laugh came as a relief.

Kris and I looked at the website one evening and went through the list of countries where Chevron has a significant presence. We found only a few options that were unacceptable to us. It was fun to imagine perhaps taking a foreign assignment to finish out my career. I think our conclusion was that we shouldn’t rule out anything. A couple years here, a couple years abroad, a year or so anywhere until retirement. Could be a plan. No need to contemplate it further for now.

The contrast with state employment is stunning. I forgot what it is like to work for a successful corporation in good times. The free spending ways result in food at every meeting. Free coffee is a like a $20 a month raise. I don’t have to bring my own plates, forks, or cups to work. Travel doesn’t require an act of the legislature. It is nice to have some perks. I hope times remain good for awhile. With the price of oil, I think I can count on getting fed at every meeting.

It isn’t without frustration. The computer system is the worst I have ever seen. I used to joke about the “hourglass of death” while trying to work with the state system. The Chevron system is even slower. I think they are trying to do too much by routing our email through Houston. Outlook locks up frequently, sometimes requiring a complete reboot. The intranet is well developed, but not intuitively organized. As a new employee, I can handle most of the initial paperwork through the intranet, but when the pages fail to load every third try, it makes it difficult to search around, get used to the organization of information, and find what I need.

We went to the Banf Mountain Film Festival showing last night. We saw about 8 short films on all matters of outdoor sports. One particularly memorable film followed a female base jumper over a few years, ending with a crippling crash. The short interviews along the way provided insight into the mindset of extreme sports participants. People are basically twisted. Another film made me want to buy a new bike. Watching a rider ride on a narrow elevated log and then make a 90 degree turn onto another log was amazing. I want to do that. I might be too old to learn.