New-sroom

When you work 10 hours your first day, and don't mind it, you know maybe you've found the right job.

That's how I felt on my first day at Ignites, a Financial Times news service dedicated to the mutual fund industry. Never covering financial services before, I expected a steep learning curve and that's what I'm getting: acronyms I've never heard, players and sources I need to meet. And a daily format too.

Yet I got a real thrill over brain overload, and even the nervous feeling of whether I'll make the 4:30 deadline. It's always hard when you don't know who you need to call, much less what you should be writing about, so the pressure to produce is tough.

But there's nothing like being back in the newsroom -- the smell of coffee, the sound of clacking keyboards, the eclectic (and eccentric) personalities. I genuinely feel at home, a haven where I can be my crazy, cynical, weird self. We'll see if the good feelings last.

For now, though, I'm exhausted. Time for bed so I can get up early, go for a run and be in early in the AM.