Settling in

It was my first full day yesterday in Building 18, Microsoft HQ and as well as unpacking my new laptop (another X61 Tablet – solid as a rock) I got settled in my office.  I won’t lie to you – it was a little bit on the bare side, with just a desk and chair but I spent some time getting a few bits and bobs ordered off the internal online shop.  I order myself a couple of lamps and a bookcase to put all those books I haven’t written yet :-)

Another thing I learned was that it’s extremely easy to get lost in my building – I mean it’s like a rabbit warren, everyone must have known I was new as I walked past their rooms multiple times. I’ll get there though – I’ve memorized the routes to the toilets, kitchen, my bosses office and Adam Kinney’s.  So far so good – I’ll keep you up to date on my wanderings.

Next thing I was quick to learn was timing of the commute from downtown Seattle to Redmond.  Traffic is not brilliant at rush hour, although with the traffic views in Virtual Earth (only available in US English language) I was able to figure out when all the traffic had cleared on the 520 and leave at the right time.

So a good first day and now I’m in San Fran for the Web 2.0 Summit where I’ll be bigging up Live Services and Live Mesh to the masses.  The election has reached fever pitch here and I’m out to see what kind of parties are on tonight.