Anticipation

The drive to NJ was pretty smooth apart from some crazy merges and aggressive drivers with PA & NJ license plates...

I rolled into town a little too early to meet the family with whom I'll be staying for the next 10 days, so I decided to drive to my store and back. It turned out to be a brilliant idea, because it cured my nerves entirely. It was a lovely drive on a lovely 70 degree weather day. The trees were beautiful, the town quaint, the roads windy, and the drivers HORRIBLE. I nearly left tire marks on the pavement a few times when drivers took their left turn in front of me at an intersection!! It happened 4 out of 5 times, so from now on I'm assuming they'll turn. I think one reason drivers are so aggressive here is because many (most?) of the road are one lane each way. It makes for a long wait if you're coming out of a side street making a right turn, and a longer wait if you want to turn left. Needless to say, I have become a very alert driver in these first moments of my NJ life.

A second reason to be extra careful is the amount of deer! In my short drive, I saw more yellow danger signs than I've seen deer in New York! In fact, one caution sign even read "high accident region". So my eyes were darting from side to side, aware of every little movement... until a PLANE went over my head!! That's right: I was going along when suddenly and with a loud noise, one of those 20 passenger planes goes right over my head! Scared me half to death. A moment later, I realized I had found the airport. Whew.

When I arrived at the store, I parked (parallel!) on a side street and decided I'd introduce myself and ask about parking. On the way to the store, however, I walked by a group of hobos & hippies sitting on the pavement doing who knows what. One of them, barefoot with big dreads and a beard, had a sign that read "Zombies ate my brains". Oh my.

The store is much bigger than I had expected. Already I noticed there was plenty to straighten, but I refrained. After all, that'll be my job for the next billion hours, so why start now? I met my first coworker, let's call her Herbert Fernandez III: an older Indian woman with an accent. She said she was anxious to meet me, but she seemed happy to meet me too. When I told her I wanted to ask the manager about parking, she said "good luck". The parking problem was solved in no time, and they said that I was all set!!! Naw, just kidding. I left happy and calm, knowing that I would sleep well.

And I did. This morning, I feel refreshed and ready to learn my new responsibilities. I'm eager to meet my other coworkers and to get into a routine. On my lunch hour, I plan to walk along the main street and window shop. But I hope my brains don't get eaten by zombies...