Visitors, Football, and Yet More Hockey

That pretty much sums up the first 2 weeks of living in this flatshare.

There have been work visitors; Justin, Andy and Anthony which of course has meant a handful of nights out, on the company dime of course. I will spare this blog the pictures of some of our less-than-impressive ideas (one of which was "Eggs and Shots" - invented by Work Matt - a devilled egg then a shot of whisky - best forgotten about). But they were fun times. Enjoying a drink with Anthony when there aren't 50 people out made for a refreshing change and reminded me of the "old days". I passed my 5 years at Telemetry (or various guises) on May 14th and it really doesn't seem like that long ago.

I've been trying out the NYC-NJ travel thing outside of work hours; namely a couple of jaunts into Manhattan for wandering and beer. One night I met up with Ash and went around Greenwich and West Village, and another I enjoyed a pleasant day before meeting up with Ash, Ian and Melissa - but more on that in a later post.

I also tried out a sports bar for watching football and I was very impressed. It's on 33rd Street in Manhattan, called "Legends" and was showing every single game live on the last day of the Premiership season. No need to talk about that drama, but watching it in amongst NYC-based supporters for various teams made it even more exciting. I think I'll be trying to get in here during Euro 2012 and I believe the NYC branch of the Tartan Army meet here for Scotland games - score!

And hockey. Well, unfortunately I'm in a tight spot as many in the office are supporting the NY Rangers, and my flatmates, being in Jersey, support the NJ Devils. And right now, they are playing each other. I've been happy to cheer on the Rangers in bars near work with the office folks, and in a nearby bar (quite good, and cheap!) in Jersey with the flatmates. So no solid allegiances just yet, and actively cheering on rivals on alternate days is rather treacherous!

Just... don't tell anyone about that... or the eggs and shots...

Surfing USA

Before I could move into my flatshare, which I couldn't do until May 1st, I had to go surfing. Couch surfing, between three different sets of workmates. Matt, Melissa and Ian, Ash, then back to Matt's (so I could easily move down the road in Jersey City).

This was obviously very nice of my colleagues to offer their couch spaces and sofa beds (all of which were very comfortable, thanks guys!) but it meant having to ensure they were home and that I was pretty much tied to where they were on the evenings I stayed there. Thankfully, this was made a lot of fun.

When staying with Matt we watched some hockey; the NY Rangers being his team and fast becoming my team of choice. We of course enjoyed this with some proper New York style pizza.



Staying with Mel and Ian meant fairly long subway rides but wasn't all that bad. We spent a couple of nights out, mainly due to visits from London work colleagues. Then I spent a weekend with Ash, during which we went with Melissa up to Yankee Stadium. I cheered on my new "local" team, the Yankees, whilst Melissa (who hails from Detroit) cheered on her beloved Tigers.





This was a lot of fun (although the beer was pricey and the food simply terrible), and of course involved a lot of drinking, during and afterwards. Melissa was celebrating a Detroit win, I was annoyed the Yankees lost, and Ash couldn't have cared less!

Finally I went back to Matt's where there was more hockey and then I was ready to move!

Oh, I forgot to mention, I saw a space shuttle fly past the office on the back of a 747. Like you do, I suppose..