Differences between the old job and the new....

Some general notes on the difference I have experienced between my old, corporate job, and my new "world of academia" job in no particular order:

1. My new desk chair most likely cost more than a month's mortgage.
2. I went from two 17" monitors that I had to cobble together from parts I brought from home on an old, outdated PC, to a 24" LCD for my brand new laptop and a 22" LCD on my Macintosh desktop.
3. Lost: Cafeteria. Gained: Coffee machine that is smarter than I am and which produces a variety of coffees (including cappuccinos, espressos, and mocha drinks), teas, and hot chocolate.
4. One word: InfiniBand.
5. Hot: College campuses. Not: Corporate buildings.
6. It's a tad lonely. The researchers are out of the office the majority of the time and I am often one of two or three people in my part of the building.

That's just my impression after a short first week.