Started my new job at the Green Valley branch on Wednesday, and getting used to the new situation and commute has thrown me off a bit, hence the uneven postings schedule this week. I've seen new TV shows, just haven't had a chance to write about them yet.

As far as the job, it's okay. The commute is about an hour long, which is a pain. However, that's taking the 215, which goes around the city. I could take the more direct route along the freeways, but those are always clogged up with traffic, and would probably take just as long. More importantly, for my well-being, while the drive may be longer, I'm moving constantly at a faster speed, and that just feels less frustrating. The drive doesn't feel like an hour at all. A new car is a definite must, however. I've shifted my interest from a hybrid Accord to a hybrid Civic, just for the size. Need to get out to a Honda dealer and actually check them out. Since that would involved getting out of the house, I'm a bit wary, but it'll have to be done.

The new-to-me branch is nice. It's a more upscale neighborhood than West Las Vegas, and kids seem more likely to come in with their families and less likely to spend the entire day. I think I'll like it, but I'm still in that weird place where I'm out of my usual routine, so I don't have that comfort zone to fall into. And I don't feel like a part of this team yet. It's this weird mix of feeling like the new guy who has to prove himself mixed with the knowledge that I've spent the last few years proving I can do this job, just somewhere else. Hopefully, that'll fade with time.

As for TV, Wednesday saw the premieres of two new series: Lost on ABC, and Veronica Mars on UPN. (Veronica Mars reruns tonight, for the curious.) Lost is the new series cocreated and produced by Alias creator JJ Abrams, so I was particularly looking forward to it. If nothing else, it isn't a new cop show, a new lawyer show, or a new family drama. I read an interview with the other creator (whose name escapes me, even though he's apparently the main showrunner while Abrams goes off to produce Alias, another new pilot, and direct the next Mission: Impossible movie) where he said the starting point was to create Survivor: The Drama, and that's as good a description as any: about 50 people stranded on an island after a plane crash. Only what helps make the show work, at least for me, is it gets right down to business, without any of the usual TV moments you'd expect, like scenes of everyone sitting around the campfire telling who they are and where they came from.

And there's some weird giant creature roaming around the jungles of the island they're trapped on. So it's sort of Land of the Lost for grownups.

Veronica Mars, on the other hand, isn't quite for grownups, at least not in the same way. It's about a high school girl who helps her private eye dad solve crimes. Sort of like Nancy Drew, only called Veronica Mars instead. It's stylishly shot, but I completely failed to connect with it on so many levels. First, I was pretty put off by the voice-over narration. That can be a tricky thing, and here, it just felt overdone. I mean, she was saying something else, but what I heard was, "I may be a high school girl, but don't dismiss my show as a kiddie show, because I'm really much more mature because I'm jaded and cynical and world-weary and use lots and lots of big words, almost as if my narration were being written by Dean Koontz." The high school scenes felt completely different in tone from the rest of the show, in a very 90210 kind of way. And, ultimately, there was nothing particularly special about the show for me to connect to. I didn't feel particularly drawn to the character, because the narration irritated me. There is a continuing mystery story that had my attention, but the trouble with that sort of thing is it'll end eventually, and my interest will go with it. Or the series will be cancelled first, and I'll be unsatisfied.

Oh, and Paris Hilton guest-stars on the second episode, which is another turn-off.

Clubhouse, a family drama, premieres Sunday night before moving into its regular Tuesday night time slot, same time as One Tree Hill and Veronica Mars. So the determining factor as to whether I follow Veronica Mars or not will be whether I like Clubhouse better or not.