The Matrix

Three months ago I accepted a job that ripped me from the quiet, comfortable, and small realm of research science and unapologetically tossed me to the wolves of the corporate world. It is a scary place. They use excessive acronyms, they drink loads of alcohol, and they deflect their responsibilities with ethereal catchphrases.

One such catchphrase is "work your matrix." This implies that they will not tell you what you should be doing or how the game is played, but that when you find yourself in a position of unknowing, you should feel free to harass the living daylights out of anyone you know (the matrix) within the company to find the answers. The more people you know, the better off you'll be.

Now this is entirely different from my last job, where I met only a handful of intelligent people (mostly women) and spent 40 hours every week in one building, trying to discover answers to a few questions. Suddenly, my world is exponentially larger. I've met dozens and dozens of people (mostly men, mostly not smart), my office goes from place to place in a hardside tool box and SwissGear pack, and there is an infinite number of questions I need to find the answers for.

My world has been thrown for a loop, but the places I've been going to and these people I've been meeting, they're making for outstanding stories. And so, I thought as I'm bored to tears in the king-sized bed of the week, I could share them with you. I introduce to you, my matrix.