Who Needs B.I.T.P.L.D?

In only two weeks the new job totally has "Beer In The Parking Lot Day" beat.  On Friday morning I was meeting with my boss to discuss some documents I had been reviewing (and he seemed kind of impressed with all the issues I had found, so that was nice to get some positive feedback) when the secretary called his office and said there was a whole bunch of extra beer lying around and did he want it?  He said sure and decided to plan a happy hour!  He asked me to go to the secretary's office and help load the beer into the fridge to cool down.  There was a whole strange secret back room (actually, right behind the auditorium where I had given my interview presentation) filled with beer and wine.  The cute little old lady secretary was explaining that she had bought it awhile back for an event, but she didn't realize that beer went bad.

My boss sent out an Outlook meeting reminder to our department, but when 4 o'clock rolled around I felt a little nervous and uneasy.  The idea of drinking at work just seems a little foreign and against the rules.  I gathered up my stuff (trying to obey the PPD rule of not going back to your work space after drinking) and headed down to the atrium/break room.  There was already a group sitting back, chit-chatting and enjoying some chips and beer.  Apparently there was no need for me to bring my stuff with me, because no one else did.  It was nice to be able to socialize a bit with my new coworkers since I'm still just getting to know everyone.  Unfortunately, there were a lot of people that skipped out and just went home.  Who passes up free beer?!?  As things were winding down everyone was encouraged to take home the extra beer that had already expired.  I haven't tried any yet, but hopefully it's still drinkable.

In other booze news I got together with Leslie (the girl I met on my first day at Dendreon) for a fun Cinco de Mayo happy hour on Thursday and then we went out again last night and stayed at the bar until closing!  It's great to have found, not only a friend from work, but also one who lives so close by.  Tomorrow we're going to check out another happy hour with a hiking meetup group.