Catching on to me

I've finished my first week at the new job, and I've seen a lot of what I'll be doing there. I've observed several different projects during my work week. When I started this company, I knew that a lot of what they were doing, I have done at other companies I have worked for. Yet, with the expectation that I would jump into this position on my feet and running, I haven't contributed much. I've spent much of it as a tag-a-long, observing what other engineers are doing. To sum my first week all in one word, I have to say it is: Booooring.

Yeah, I'm disappointed. I guess my expectations had been higher than I thought them to be. That's not to say that I dislike the place. I've met a bunch of people who all look to lighten up the day with oddball humor. More often than not, I am greeted with a smile when I pass by people.

It's just that I expected to be doing something. Anything. Activity that involves not standing to one side to observe what an engineer is doing. Or spending half the day reading specifications from four governing bodies on what I might be working on some day in the future. Especially something that I actually know how to do. Patience isn't a virtue that I am blessed with in unending quantities. I keep reminding myself that they don't know what I am capable of.

Somehow, I thought engineering would be more merit based. I expected to walk into some project and contribute in a meaningful way. And I suppose I would be, if I didn't have the title: F.N.E.G. (for those not well versed in engineering acrynoms, it stands for f*cking newbie engineering guy) Yeah, I am the low man on the totem pole, and in that respect, have the stigma of not "knowing" enough.

And during lunch, I am spending my free time reading on how to best capture pictures of fireworks during the upcoming Independence Day festivities. Perhaps, everything I am doing is merely to pay my expensive camera bill. Who knows? Would following my desires make the challenge less fun?

Next week it will be more of the same until they can determine whether I am useful or not. *shrug* I'll just have to keep counseling to myself that I must be patient. Maybe, as I wait for them to catch on that I really am capable, I'll plan on where I'll set up to take those shots next Wednesday.