A Nearby Walk

One thing I loved doing in London was wandering. Just picking a direction and going with it. More often than not, I accompanied my fiancée for walks along the Thames, on the path near our flat. I decided to try out some of the new area where I live for the same effect. I was in luck; the nearby Hudson riverside of New Jersey is a nice little walk. Not quite London, but it boasts dramatic views of Manhattan and a few other sights on the way.

I took my camera and walked the area from the harbour at Newport:

Past the little lighthouse:

Enjoying some wildlife on the way:

And eventually into Hoboken:

Hoboken is lovely, if not a little pricey and loud and trendy at the weekends. But it has a nice grassy pier to sit on and some more of the riverside path. You can watch cruise ships go by or just people watch. I did both.

I'm glad I've found a walk to relax my brain for a little bit. I even shared it with my fiancée when she visited, so we have some similarities at times to life back in London.

The rest of the pics from the walk can be found here!

A Day of Nostalgia

Still catching up, but getting there. This involves the day & evening of May 12th - where I had a nostalgic trip between 3 places I had previously visited in NYC when travelling over here for work over 18 months ago.

The first stop was the High Line. This is an "elevated park" - and one of my favourite uses of space in New York. It has been converted from an old rail line which runs between Midtown and the Meatpacking District in Lower Manhattan. When I was here previously, it was only a few blocks long, but was very pleasant. Now it is a proper walk all the way up to 30th Street, and it is still being extended. It is full of grass, flowers, plants, trees, and now water features, a few food/drink stands, and a great view of the Statue of Liberty from afar. It makes a great short cut without having to stop at every intersection, and of course the greenery make it a more pleasant experience whilst you walk. I've since been up here two more times; taking a visiting friend to see it and also when my fiancée visited (more on that later).



After this wander, I kept going North through the less-than-thrilling Midtown area, until I landed upon Bryant Park. I enjoyed lying around on the grass taking photos of tall buildings until Ash turned up, followed by Melissa & Ian, for some beers in the Bryant Park Cafe. Ash and I used to come here often during our trips over as it is one of the few & best places to enjoy a sunny day with a spot of booze. So we enjoyed a seat and a few drinks until the sun went down.



Our final stop was one of Ash's favourite bars, which he took me to a couple of times previously. It's called Lillie's and is on 17th Street - so we needed to get a quick cab over there. It apparently was once a bar in Ireland until they shipped the entire contents over to New York. The result is a long bar, full of "stuff", atmosphere, and usually a lot of people. We had a few more drinks here, before calling it a night



You can find the rest of the pictures from the day/night here if you like.

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...

A Temporary Home

Moving-in-day finally came round on May 1st. My grand plan of taking a half-day off work for moving all my stuff a few blocks from Matt's was hampered by the fact I was really ill most of the day. Flu or something. I eventually got my things round in the evening. I blew up my air-mattress which is now not as uncomfortable as you might think as I have piled sheets and covers and such all over it.

My new flatmates came home shortly after, sadly our socialising didn't happen because my illness meant all I wanted to do was sleep! Anyway, they are nice people. They customise guitars with arty designs and their decor kind of matches their personalities; a bit arty, a bit old-school rocky. Here's a picture of them looking completely different from their actual characters (the overalls were from painting, the rest was just them being silly). Lyuba and Matt:

I've made my bare room a little more bearable; the aforementioned bedclothes and a rug helped, as did hanging a Scotland flag (what a cliché!) and of course, putting up a picture of me and Laura, and our Caveys!

I also have my own bathroom, so I bought a rug, some towels, and a new shower curtain for that. I have to remember I'm only planning to be here a couple of months so anything else could wait. I'm missing a TV (for my XBox) and a guitar to play with (especially as I hear Matt playing his a lot!) but maybe I'll pick those up soon. Until then, this is home, in the Garden State of New Jersey!

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..

The First Week

So, by way of a catch-up, here's a quick run-down of my first week as a "resident" of New York City.

Ok, I say resident. The first 10 days I was in a hotel, but a nice one. Here was my room:

And the view from the window:

It was just off Wall Street. Whilst I was glad of work paying for the hotel and flying me over, I tried to spend as little time there as possible. Working the day after I got off the plane helped! We're in 7 World Trade Center; currently on the 30th floor and looking to move even higher. The current view is not too shabby though, aside from the 9/11 Memorial's construction:

Then, on the first full night, I went round to Matt's in Jersey. He has a mat with his name on it:

Well, sort of. Anyway it was a good idea to check out his place as he has one of the most enviable commutes in any big city; a 5-minute walk and a 7-minute train ride, to the door of the office! I was thinking of moving to Jersey for this great commute and also it might suit us better when L moves out here with me. Also, Matt's place is huge and for a similar price as I might pay for a closet in Manhattan. More on that later.

So, I then hit the weekend. Of course, the office took me to a couple of local bars by way of a welcome. I drank too much and staggered back to my hotel. Saturday I had planned to go see an apartment in Brooklyn. Whilst my plan was to look for a cheap flat-share to get me out of hotel stays (allowing me to then look for a place for me and L), I wasn't expecting as er... studenty... as the place I saw. Not a nice neighbourhood, and a window-less room in a converted factory which smelled distinctly of *ahem* "special herbs" and looked like they had thrown a party until 6am. Which they probably had. Not for me. I had very little luck looking for a place to do me after my 10-day hotel stint; so I changed my approach. I figured I could look for places starting May 1st and deal with surfing the many couches my wonderfully kind workmates had offered. But as for Saturday, it was a write off. So I went up to a friend & colleague's place in the Upper West side of Manhattan, and had a blast. Drank in a couple of really nice bars which were, naturally for NYC, open until 4am. Taxi back to the hotel, awaiting more flathunting hungover the next day...

I wasn't too hungover. Thankfully sticking to beer mostly paid off. So I went up to the Upper East Side and saw one of the strangest places ever. It was 4 floors up (no elevator in these old buildings) and the "room" was a loft conversion. Well, not exactly a loft, but a loft SPACE. I wouldn't store my suitcases up there, yet there were TWO rooms, accessible via a hatch, which somehow had a mattress in each. I could lie down in my room, but that's it. Surely that has to be illegal?

So, feeling rather out of luck I went all the way back down to South Manhattan and caught that luxury 7-minute commuter train out to Jersey City. There was a room for grabs out near Matt's place and I figured it sounded good. It may have been the sunny day, the hangover, or the really nice friendly people (a couple) in the place but I decided pretty much there and then I would go for it. It was a bare room, and I had no bed, but that seemed trivial compared to the dismay of no responses and looking at terrible apartments. Plus, it was CHEAP and that commute! So good!

I walked to the nearby park and enjoyed the sun, calling L on a cellphone I had borrowed from another saviour of a workmate. Living without a phone is weird in this day and age! I then decided I would check out one of the nearby "trendy" neighbourhoods that Jersey has to offer; Hoboken. They had a nice riverside walk and I snapped a quick pic of Manhattan on my (SIM-less) phone:

Not bad. That place in that picture will be my home for at least a year. Well, looks like I'm going to be in Jersey for a little while at least, but the proximity to the office where I spend 5 days a week means that NYC will still very much be "home" for now!

What's Happening?

I haven't used my blog much. That's going to change. Why? Because a lot is happening, and people will want to read about it. Maybe not many people, but enough that makes me happy to know they're in the loop. Here's the quick breakdown:

1. I got engaged, to the delightful Laura Kate. 
2. We packed up our things, put a load in storage, moved out of the flat in London. 
3. Laura moved home to Wisconsin for a bit. 
4. I transferred to my company's New York office. 

And what's going to happen?

1. We will get married in October, in Wisconsin 
2. Laura will join me in New York 
3. ...who knows. Probably go back to London! 

Already after 3 weeks in New York there is much to share and talk about, as it's a bit of an adventure for me. So we'll have some catch-up posts then hopefully start a regular (probably every other day) "Today in New York" posting, probably with a photo. Flickr is also the best place to get the full picture-story, but I'm behind on that right now.

But the blogging and updates start here and now!

A Natural Progression of a Day at Work

An Open Letter to Virgin Media

FAO Virgin Media Accounts and/or Customer Service Team:

Hello,

I am once again emailing with regard to a Virgin Media account which I have tried to transfer for 18 months now:

Account Number: XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Address: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When I left the residence in June 2010, I asked on at least 2 occasions for the account to be transferred to the tenants who wanted to keep the service. On both occasions, I was assured the account had been moved. I contacted this email address once more having been hassled repeatedly by Virgin Media to pay bills or handle correspondence regarding this supposedly transferred account. Again, I was assured the matter had been resolved and that I would not be further contacted about the account.

I have now been contacted by tenants of the property, whose Virgin Media service has not been functional for some time. Virgin are supposedly unable to discuss the matter, without a password from the account holder, which supposedly is still myself. As I have been assured at least 3 times that I am no longer the account holder, and have not been at the property for over a year and a half, I no longer have such a password to hand.

Due to a complete absence of a contact email address or direct phone number on the Virgin Media site (I have been presented with many tempting opportunities to discuss this ridiculous affair with members of the "Community Forum" - but not the actual organisation involved) I have no idea what sort of information I can provide to allow Virgin Media to actually discuss the matter with the residents of the property involved. I am hereby giving full authorisation of the account to those at the property above. I have copied in (name removed), who originally got in touch with me about this situation. Please can a member of the Virgin Media accounts team liase with her to resolve the problems with her service, and to transfer the responsibility of the account from my name.

Urgency and effective resolution of the problems would be very much appreciated. I have thus far received neither from Virgin Media during my many discussions with their Customer Services, and frankly am insulted that I still have to deal with their mess 18 months later.

Best,
Alan Sharp

Juxtaposition

Been meaning to take this for months, since I found an amusing arrangement of disgusting takeaways and signage between my flat and the train station...