Yabba Dabba Doo!

Quittin' time is Quittin' Time here at Sidhe Interactive where I'm working down here down under the world.

I've never worked at a company where quittin' time was Quittin' Time like this. It's kind of amazing, in my experience. I've worked in Video Games for coming on 15 years now. I been t' four state fairs 'n two hog callin' contests and I shore ain't seen nuthin' like it!

The workday here runs from 9am to 6pm. At fifteen minutes to 9am, the offices are pretty much deserted and dark save a few early risers. At right around 9am, give or take a few minutes, there's a huge wave of people splashing through the doors and by fifteen minutes after 9am, the office is lit and humming with activity with people seated facing their monitors and reading and sending emails. A handful of them are crunching their way through a bowl of Milo.

At a quarter to 6pm, people are still intently focused on their screens, scrawling on paper or hunched over their desks working. At 6pm sharp, there's a flurry of jackets being zippered, chairs being pushed in, monitors and computers being shut down and shuffling of feet. By fifteen minutes after the hour the office is dark and deserted, with a few stragglers still finishing up a few things at their desks before heading out.

I've never seen anything like it.

To offset this rigorous punctuality is a sort of workday focus I also haven't seen in my industry. During the workday no one is reading and sending llots of emails, paying their bills, doing online shopping, reading news, posting in online forums, standing around and making chit-chat or the like. Everyone's focused on doing their work either at their desks or with their teams.

Sound restricting? It's not. And when 6 comes and you're expected to get the hell out and go do something else, you come to love it. And I do.