IT'S OFFFICIAL!

3 days until I move.

I'm very excited as I'm officially ready to enter the UK as a work permit and Visa holder. I picked up my Visa today (it's stamped inside my passport) and that means I have 60 months (5 years to do the math for you) to live and work in the UK until I need to renew it! WOOHOO!

Work permit - tick
Visa - tick
Packed up - tick
Ready for a new adventure - tick
Cannot wait any longer? - tick

I'm ready to gooooooo!

Flat Hunting in London

Hello from London!

I've been here since 1st of March and what an adventure it has been. I've walked around a lot of areas in London and have really enjoyed my time here. I love it and can't wait to move here! I've had this odd feeling all week that I actually live here now and it really feels like I do but not yet...one more month.

I've secured a flat in the south part of Brixton near the Herne Hill Thameslink station. It's a really nice area...well at least part of it. There are some seedy spots but I'll avoid those. The nice bits are that there's a beautiful, massive park called Brockwell Park not 5 minutes from my flat. It's also a really modern and new building and less than my budget so it's great in multiple aspects. I'm also less than 10 minutes from the nearest station with a 15 minute ride straight into work! it's really an ideal location for what i need and i am very excited that I was able to secure the spot. Brilliant, i say!

Here's a google maps view of where I live, it's south and a bit west.
google map of my new flat in London!

I'm at Leon's right now which is fairly close to my hotel and they have free wireless which is very nice. I haven't been able to get internet in my room since it's £15 per day which is complete codswallop! So this is the first time i've been able to type anything up about the trip. It's been wonderful so far and I can't wait to come back in April.

Here are a few pictures from the trip so far:
View of the city and the Thames from the southbank


St. Paul's Cathedral (literally right outside of where i work)


Brockwell Park


London street


Near smithfield market


My flat building


Lounge area


Outside my window


Lounge area and kitchen view


Bathroom


Kitchen



It's been a very lovely and successful trip!

The Start of All Things...

BAMM! The wind runs across the still room and pushes the door shut behind me. My hand leaves the knob giving it one turn for safety. The silent but warm hall meets my eyes with a blend of monotony and fatigue. I walk slowly to the end of the hall and turn the corner, my bag gently sliding off my shoulder. A shrug shifts it squarely back on as I push the arrow for the lift and patiently wait to see which one has chosen to pick me up today. Ah, my favorite, the middle one greets me with a ding of happiness, the doors open with a smile. 'L' is chosen and I'm whisked away in a brass-lined box which reflects my image on all sides.

I walk out through the lobby throwing out a less than enthusiastic "good morning" to the somewhat disgruntled woman behind the counter. Only sometimes do I receive a reply, often as I'm walking out of earshot. The doors open, a smile arises on my face and genuine greeting rolls of my half asleep tongue as I nod my dreary eyes toward the coated man in the cap. The brisk chill hits my face; my hands snuggled tightly in my jacket pockets constrict around my body to trap in the warmth. A grin erupts on my face as I continue walking around the corner. I am no longer dripping with sweat nor about to be a flame-haired pizza in an over-sized, heat box jammed full of a mixed pies being delivered to work.

Around the corner I walk, balancing my satchel on one shoulder while massaging my ears with some morning tunes. A selection is made. My pace quickens. I round the corner to the busy chamber everyone seems so intent on entering. My hand reaches out to receive one of two free publications but my mind has already chosen for me, my choice has become a habit. I enter the darkness and which triggers an instinctive reach for my wallet. My eyes stare ahead. In one fluid motion, my feet, hands and waist lock in rhythm as my fingers slide into the flap under my ID, pull out striped yellow card and run it through worn, metallic reader. My legs are outstretched as if no obstruction existed and turn the wheel as my arm releases the pitch. BEEP! 'Go' flashes on the screen but my eyes do not wander. The card returns itself seamlessly to it's home in the exact same alignment as it left.

The next 30 seconds are a flash of exuberance and sprinting depending on the outcome of my peripheral glance towards the far platform. The race is on today, my mind and body explode into dash down the hallway and up the next staircase. My heart is racing, the veins in the temples are throbbing as I hurdle up three stairs at a time. I grab hold of the cold steel railing and swing myself towards the closing vice. My eyes light up! Empty seats stare back at me, a rarity at this time of day. Crap, the gap is narrowing and my daily exercise isn't working. My hope falters and a with a lurch forward, my morning comfort leaves the station.

I stand and patiently wait in my usual spot, marked only by my mind. My ears are still tingling from the entertainment streaming through my head, at least I chose a good playlist this morning. The local train chugs in behind me and lets loose a hoard of desperate souls propped up against the glass doors, hoping to catch the next express ride downtown. Still no express. Still waiting. Another local arrives letting loose another batch of jumpy, pushy wally's. Still no sign as the platform fills up with heads emerging from the darkness below.

CRACK! CLING! CLING! BANG! The speeding tube rushes through air blowing newspaper in the air; mine is still tucked into the side pocket of my bag. The doors pass by dizzingly fast as first but then begin to slow and finally stop and aligns themselves with my shadow. A few people step off and break the seal as a rush shapes fill the train like a car crashing into the sea. The last ounce of fluid finds empty air at the very top. The doors close once, twice and finally slam shut.

Off I go, streaming down the middle of Manhattan as cars drive on the surface, people walk about, buildings sway in the wind, planes fly overhead and clouds float like outstretched fingers over the horizon.

The Story of My Project Go-Live

As most of you know, my big project was rolling out on 9/28. After a grueling night of work all seemed well by 5am when me, John and Jenny left the office. We deployed all of the designs and processes and restored databases to four regions around the world. It was now in the hands of the testers.

I came home to a "paralyzed" girlfriend lying in bed. The poor thing had major back spasms and could hardly move. It still amazes me how she made it home from the lower east side, on the subway. I took care of the her best I could and tried to rest my mind and body for the little time that I had to sleep. I needed to be on a status call at 10am. I woke up and checked my voicemail only to hear Jenny saying the testers reported Critical issues with the system and I needed to log in immediately.

I rushed to my computer and onto the conference call at 9:30am. The New York database was crawling and had severe errors, ones capable of invalidating all my work the night before.

I worked with Jenny and Eric to resolve the issues and after 4 hours we fixed them in time. The testers completed for all regions and gave official notice that this rollout was SUCCESSFUL! Oh man, I am so tired but so relieved that all my long nights and detailed plans paid off. WHEW!

Merle Goes to Work

Listening to: John Mayer - Gravity

I forgot to add one crucial bit about the weekend...the drawing. My sister and I came up with an idea of posting a picture on the stairwell so everyday I would have something to make me chuckle. Thanks to my sister, 'Merle Goes to Work' was born...

First Real Day of Work

Listening to: U2 - One

It's quite a trip to actually have a 9-6 job everyday. I'm still recovering from moving to NY and coming to the realization that I am indeed here. When Michelle was here last week she said "I seriously can't believe you're here..." to which I replied "where? 72nd street?" Her eyes got big and she excitedly said, "No, in NEW YORK! I really can't believe you're living in New York City." Yup, I can't either...it still amazes me.



I'm trying to fight off a cold right now that I've had since Sunday. It's not fun being sick at work but unless I'm so sick that I cannot move from my bed to the bathroom then I'm going to work. So let me get on with my story of work.



My first day was very introductory. I set up my computer and got to know the office. I met a couple of people and my manager sent out a really nice email that asked everyone to welcome me to the team. He was the first to do it and then other managers followed in his footsteps and sent out emails about their new hires. That made me feel really good and it continues to. I have a really nice and intelligent team and I have a lot to learn. Right now, I'm trying to learn the lingo of sales and the sales applications we use. There's a lot to get down but I'm going to a lot of meetings and reading over past presentations to enhance my knowledge. I'm not currently on a project but I hope I will be soon. I want to get my hands dirty. But, I'm liking the atmosphere and people a lot and I'm looking forward to working with everyone.



So some sad news on the home front, two of my plants died: Howie and Fronsy. I don't think they were fit to be indoor plants, especially in my apartment where I get very little light in the back of my apartment. Fortunately, my spider plant and my succulent are still in great health and are growing rapidly. Tonight on my quest to find more undershirts I stumbled upon a snake plant. I'd had read about these online and they are known to be very forgiving indoor plants. I bought one even though it was a little pricey and I'm glad I did. It's a tall curvy plant and it adds character to my apartment.



I've haven't considered myself a 'gamer' since early high school and middle school when I played video games all the time. However, every once in a while I'll get back into the scene. It happened a few times in college, mostly when I had nothing better to do or I really wanted to avoid doing work. But, these times were infrequent and happened in blocks. Well a new block has arrived. I've been playing a new game called Company of Heroes which is a strategy based WWII game where you command a team around the battlefield. It's much different than other WWII games and I'm a big fan of strategy games so this one really has me hooked. What? It's not like I have homework to do or anything? I'm aiming to be more productive when I come home but the combination of being sick and...well being sick has made me lazy, hence a new block of time for games to occupy once again.



I'm going to my sister's this weekend which I'm really excited about. I was planning on going in early October but it worked better for the both of us for me to come this weekend. It'll be really nice to escape the city for a weekend and get out in the country. I expect to take a lot of pictures to be prepared to look at flickr when I get back. I'm hoping for signs of fall but don't think there will be much color. A few more weeks and central park will be on fire. I can't wait!

Done With Training!

Listening to: Bob Schneider - Flower Parts

My 8-week training program came to an end yesterday. I haven't had a whole lot of time to think about it so now feels like a perfectly suitable moment. I've had such a great time these past weeks and it's mainly because of the people. The first week was a firmwide training program in which there were hundreds of people to meet. It was very intimating and actually not all that fun. The time crept by and I was constantly having the same conversation with as many as 20 people in one day. I asked the same questions and received fill-in-the-blank questions. My brain was quickly overwhelmed with information so it was really pointless. The only valuable thing about seeing all those people in one place is that I have really good visual memory so if I see them again I can at least say “you look familiar.”



Let's fast forward 8 weeks. I'm done! I've met some extraordinary people in my training program that I will remember for my entire career. We went through many long, intense days, boring days, many hardships, long hours and lots and lots of meetings. We quickly bonded and grew to know each other well. After two weeks of being with my fellow technology analysts, I recognized and greeted everyone I saw, struck up conversations and just enjoyed having everyone around. It was great!



As for the learning part, I gained quite a bit of knowledge in new languages, applications and so on. I learned valuable things about the company, industry and people. This program was a great transition from collegiate life to work life. It prepared me well and eased me into a corporate environment.



This past week, I worked close to70 hours to finish the project. I was at work until 1am on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to help complete a crucial part of the overall project. It was intense but it was fun in a way. I was there late with people who were dedicated to getting things done. I knew those that remained past 10pm each night were the diligent leaders and were committed to this project.



I'm excited about starting my actual job on Monday but I'm also going to miss everyone from my training class. Some are going back to their offices in London, Tokyo or Bangalore while others are dispersing across NY and NJ. I'm confident that my ties with these people will be strong enough to hold through distance. I see myself getting together with some of them after work or on weekends.



All in all, training was a lot of work and definitely not what I was expecting but meeting so many interesting and fun people made it worth it. I'm glad there was a transition period from college to work.