"i don't want your boring life, and i don't want your 9 to 5"

Thank you, Good Charlotte. Your words are very inspiring.

In high school a good friend of mine told me that she could never imagine me going to work every day in a button-up shirt and tie. I got the last laugh on that one - I don't wear a tie.

I have now officially started Week 2 at Accenture. We have five weeks of Analyst training before we're actually staffed on a project. The first three weeks are here in Boston, the last two are in St. Charles, IL. Home, sweet home. I think I'll give a few close friends a call while I'm there. It would be great to see Yaniv and Ana and Cam.

Today we've been learning programming. "But Derek," you ask, "isn't that what you majored in? Don't you already know how to program?" Yes, that is what I majored in. And yes, I already know how to do it. That is precisely why, at 1:44PM, I've already finished all the training for the day, finalized my monthly budget, and am now blogging. Who knows, I might even make it to Facebook today.

It has been a very rough transition. I moved out here with very little money into a ghetto unfurnished apartment with my auto insurance expiring within the week and insufficient business casual clothes. I left all my friends and my girlfriend back home. It was hard.

There's a moment that comes every time I move, every time I have my entire life in an automobile and am doing something that will forever change me. It's the moment I become completely overwhelmed with emotion.

It happened when I went back to school after my mission. I was in the minivan with my mother and siblings and we parked to go to the Creamery on 9th. We had to park in the Law Building parking lot because the Creamery lot was full. It hit me then.

Last summer as I was driving out to Santa Clara, it hit me while driving over that bridge you have to go over to get from Sacramento to San Jose.

Two weeks ago it hit me as I drove along I-90 and passed through Buffalo at night. I took the closest exit and found a hotel.

When it hits, it's like a punch of emotion. Both the excitement of something new and the sadness of something gone. Knowing that life will never be the same. Knowing that you've closed a door. The old room was comfortable, warm, bright, and familiar. The new room is dark and cold. Change takes time.

I'm getting settled, slowly but surely. I still have frustrating mornings when I miss the bus. Or when I go somewhere I've never been before. Lots of logistics. But I got my first paycheck and I'm not dirt poor anymore (just poor), so life is on the upswing.