I have worked for small companies for 10 years now and my re-adjustment to corporate life is taking longer than I expected.  Not only that, but being an Independent Contractor means I am treated...shall we say...differently, but more on that in a minute. My first realization that re-adjusting to the corporate environment would be difficult came on my first day.  From 8:00am to 11:00am we had to attend an HR orientation.  I can't believe the stuff they have to put in these HR presentations.  For example, did you know it is against corporate policy to bring illegal drugs on campus?  I know!  It surprised me too!* The second realization that re-adjusting to the corporate environment would be difficult came this morning.  I spent 45 minutes on a conference call where the last 15 minutes was dedicated to each party's ardent refusal to take on a new task.  The task in question made the round trip three times before it was decided that they would wait until tomorrow's conference call, they have this conference call every day, to decide who will take this task.  I am beginning to suspect that people attend conference calls just so they can deflect tasks.  My suspicion is that if you don't attend the conference call then you get assigned tasks whether you want them or not. Oh, did I mention my cubicle?  My cubicle is in the "low rent district" A.K.A. the Independent Contractor section.  Our cubicles are very, very small.  Imagine a small closet you have at home.  Now imagine a space half that size and you have an IC cubicle.  No seriously, since I use a laptop I decided to turn in my full sized keyboard to IT so I could recapture what little desk space I have.  Let me restate that.  My cubicle is so small I had trouble finding room for a keyboard...for a keyboard! FTE's on the other hand (that's Full Time Employee's for those of you outside the corporate world) get a veritable Taj Mahal of a cubicle with 20 some odd linear feet of desk space.  There is enough room in a FTE cubicle for 6 people to stand without touching.  I like to visit FTE's cubicles.  It's like being let into the prison yard after spending time in solitary... or so I am told. On the up side, from my desk I have a view of the A/C unit on top of the building next door.  So it's not all bad. - Sean *  For the record I don't do drugs, never have, never will.