another anniversary

Today marks one year since I started working at my current job. That's pretty good. The last time I held a job for more than a year was General Dynamics Land Systems in Tallahassee, when I was senior PCB designer.

Sure, I earned $30/hour more at GD than I do now, and my work has a much smaller global significance, but I affect people's lives directly on a daily basis. I like to see them smile when I have their cigarettes already in my hand when they reach the cash register, before they even had a chance to ask for them. I like having fresh coffee and freshly cooked breakfast available for them, and even though I run around like a tweaker most of the time, I am enjoying myself.

Quite often, a customer will tell me, "oh, you don't have to hurry," as I walk up to the cash register from the coffee island. "Ah, but I do," I respond with a smile, "it's my nature." Shades of my days in the stockroom at Detection Systems. I ran around like a maniac there, too.