The first week went by pretty quickly once I got everything up and running. A large portion of the week was just getting a system set up to work on. However, once that was taken care of, I managed to get some work done, with the assistance of my supervisor. The project that I’m working on consists of lots of code, and even knowing where everything is will take some time. But at least I got something productive done, and that’s a good start.

I always figured that it would be nice knowing that there would be a pretty strict delineation between work and free time, and that’s been true. Of course, it’s only been one week, so who knows, but it’s been nice to know that when 5:00 comes around, you don’t have to worry about anything until the next day, or in the case of Friday, the next week. Of course, free time is smaller in quantity than it was in college, but I figure that not having the sword of Damocles above you, reminding you of everything that you could be doing, makes up for that.

The biggest drawback to being in Birmingham for me is that Kelly isn’t here. The problem with your girlfriend being in Boca Raton when you are in Birmingham, is that, well, she’s in Boca Raton and you’re in Birmingham. We haven’t seen each other in over two weeks, but it really feels like a lot more than that. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, but I think that distance plays a pretty big role in it too. Add that to the fact that Kelly’s really busy now, and the fact that I have working hours and an implied “normal” sleep schedule, and I don’t get to talk to her as much as I used to. I don’t like that so much. I’m waiting for the day when I get to come home, knowing she’ll be there.