I'm getting settled in nicely to the new office and the new job. A little about each:

The new office is gorgeous - 2nd (top) floor of a building in downtown Boulder, right on the corner in a busy pedestrian area near the Pearl Street Mall. There's a restaurant downstairs, so every day at about 4pm we start to hear music and people laughing and talking. It's energetic and alive in this part of town, and one whole wall of our office is windows that look out at the mountains. I can see Mount Sanitas as I sit here, reflected in my monitor screen.

I wasn't kidding about the air conditioning. It's 75° outside, and probably 65° in here. I sit at my desk wearing a fleece.

As for the new work, it's been kind of overwhelming, but exciting at the same time. It's far more technical than anything I've ever done (for work, anyway) before. I'm writing code that creates little snippets of video streams that we use to test digital video products. The creation of these streams is very detailed and involved, and there's a lot for me to learn - but I'm so thrilled that I'm being given the opportunity to do it, after years of being stepped on and held back. I'm starting to find my footing with this work, but there is tons of help available to me. I think the plan is that I do this for a month, and if looks as if I can cut the mustard, then I get to make the change permanent and make more money (huzzah!).

About the only downside to this change at work (and I don't see it as a problem at all) is that I am spending lots more time at work than I used to - around 50 hours a week. I don't mind it at all, but it will start to cut into my ability to do other things, at least for a few months until I'm really rolling with this stuff. But the potential for me to a) work my way out of debt and b) be fabulously successful in my chosen work is well worth it.