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5.26.98

It has been two weeks since I have started at my new job.  I was nervous previous to this new position.  Since being hired in as temporary help, via a third party, to work with the first party (this all gets kind of confusing), sometimes the accommodations are not as friendly as they can be.  This is just how this field of software consulting sometimes is.  But, I have been lucky and the accommodations here at Kodak have been pretty excellent so far.

Compared to my old job, there are a few differences -- well, two to be exact.  One -- I have to show up for work a little earlier.  I get there by eight AM.  At my old job, I usually wandered in around nine thirty AM.  There is flex time at both places, but flex time here ranges from seven till nine, whereas my old job, it ranged from eight till eleven.  And two -- the dress code is slightly more formal here.  And, I use the term slightly liberally.  About three quarters of the people here, including my peers, dress in business casual.  The other quarter wear jeans.  Myself, I choose to wear khaki's and a button shirt.

I work in the Health Imaging Department on some hush hush type of project.  When I signed up, I had to sign a nondisclosure form as not to reveal any of the secrets here; so, I have to be a bit vague in my description here.  All I can really mention is that there are a few projects that contain pretty cool technologies.  What I can tell you about the current project I am working on is that it deals with digital X-Ray systems that contain some pretty intense imaging algorithms.

The client's manager, or, the manager here at Kodak that I do work for, is named Roger -- A friendly guy in his mid-forties that stands about five foot ten who has a happy disposition.  Wearing a smile, usually he is the first in the work unit to crack a slap-stick style joke.  My coworkers here are an assorted bunch ranging from mid twenties to mid-forties.  Overall, I would have to say that everyone is a happy lot of people.

During my first week here, I familiarized myself with the computer systems that I would be using and read up on some of the available supporting documentations for the projects.  After a few days, Roger passed me a few technical specifications explaining digital X-Ray image detections and informed me of a meeting I was to attend in a couple of days.  I opened the specs and it resembled periodicals containing calculus equations describing advanced computer algorithms dealing with medical imaging.  Well, I tried to make some sense of it and felt a little proud when I understood parts of it.

A couple of days later, I found myself, Roger and a coworker named John, sitting in a conference room with a team of doctorates from Kodak Research reviewing a presentation of algorithms on projector slides and white board diagrams.  Once again, I felt somewhat proud of myself when I understood some of it.

Along with John, the other person I work closest with is named Xin; pronounced Shin.  He is originally from China and is currently residing here via a Work Visa.  Actually, I have to use the word currently loosely.  I will explain -- It was about mid-day Thursday when Xin ran over to me obviously concerned over some problem he was having.  He was babbling on about some phone call he just received.  Putting two and two together, it was noticeably NOT good news.  Hearing the words immigration and Visa, I started to realize that his current work Visa was expiring by Friday, and he had not heard any news yet of a new one being granted.  he had applied for the new one several months ago and has spent the last few weeks tracing the results.

Here I sat in my chair listening to him telling me this story and I started feeling like any frustrations that I may have felt prior in my life so far, could not compare to what Xin was feeling at this very moment.  The thoughts that were running through my head were thoughts of possible deportation, possible lack of funds, etc..,  This would be difficult for someone like me to handle and I imagine it is even more non-comforting for him, for he has a family (wife and kid), a house, basically, a lot more at stake.

All I could do was listen.

The end of the day arrived on Friday, and he had not heard of any news from his lawyer.  Apparently, legal representation is always a smart move.  Roger checked with the Kodak legal department and they informed him that Xin was welcome to continue working as long as it checks out with the lawyer.  Seeing how Monday is a holiday, guess I will have to wait until Tuesday to see what happens.
 

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