NY update coming soon; Manic Monday

I know some of you are expecting updates about New York and my first real days of work. I promise that they're coming. In fact, the NY entry is ready, but it's on my work computer because that's what I had with me in New York, and my work computer takes forever to boot up. I don't really want to mess with that right now, especially since L&O: SVU is about to start. I'll get it off of that computer tomorrow at work and post it in the evening.

I guess I can start with an update on yesterday and today - my first real days on the job.

I start out on my first actual client engagement at the end of February, so for the next three weeks, they've staffed me with four different teams to start learning about internal audit. Yesterday (Monday), I was supposed to be at my first assignment at 8:30 am. It was down southwest of downtown, and you know how far northeast I live, so I left at 7:00 thinking I would be safe and allow myself enough time to get there. I mean, also, it was my first time really navigating that part of Dallas by car, and it was smack dab in the middle of rush hour. Anyway, I got there at 7:45, but that's allowing for about 10 minutes that I was lost. Mapquest gave me some unclear directions. So I get there, and when I get up to our floor, no one is there.

I pull out my phone to call my transitional coach, who got me staffed here, and realize I've got a voicemail. First, I never would have answered my phone while I was driving in that mess. Second, my phone is screwed up and sometimes calls go straight to voicemail, which is what happened here. So the voicemail says that everyone ended up having meetings that morning and I should go to the KPMG office until I hear from her again at noon with my afternoon assignment.

So I pull out my map and figure out how to get to the KPMG office. Pretty simple, actually. Then, I get there and have to figure out where I'm going to park. I'm only going to be there for about three hours, so I want to just park at a metered spot right across the street from the office, but I didn't have any change. There was a deli close by so I stopped in and got a few quarters to last me. I ended up just working on more of my training stuff at KPMG while waiting for information on the rest of my day.

My TC called me at noon and told me I would be out at a client in Las Colinas, so I Mapquest that. This time, Mapquest was pretty close, and I got there in 20 minutes. I was there all afternoon and left at about 6:20 (wow!). It took me an hour to get home!

--------- Aw, L&O's a rerun and I've seen it. :( ---------

Anyway, I'm hoping that's my only day like that because, I mean, waking up at 6, leaving at 7, and getting home after 7? Factor in the 8 hours of sleep that I would like (I'm learning to handle 7), and that leaves about 3 hours to eat, shower, and get ready for the next day! So different from college! Then, I could wake up at 7:30, throw on some clothes, go to class, come home, eat lunch, take a nap, go back to class, come home, and have about six hours before I had to go to sleep!

It's okay, though. I know that each client is going to differ in what they need, and I'll just have to learn to adjust to those needs. After all, flexibility is good, and I'm never going to be a "college" student in that same sense again, so I'd better get used to this.

Today was less hectic. I only had to go to my Las Colinas engagement, and I stayed pretty busy. Tomorrow, I think I'm actually going to start with some real work for the engagement, so I'm looking forward to that.

And the best part is that there is a Rosa's in Hurst about 20 minutes away, so I'm planning to take a trip over there on a lunch break this week or next!

So, that's what's been happening. It's crazy, but I think that's just because it's so different from what I'm used to. As I become more familiar with the driving situation over here and learn to prioritize and maximize my time in a work setting, I think things will settle down. My living arrangement is really nice. Even though it's a long drive, I've got family to come home to which clearly separates work from home and relaxes me. I know I'll have to move out eventually, but hopefully by then I'll have adjusted to it all a little more.

Oh, the good part about my commute (yes, there is one good thing) is that I get to listen to Kidd Kraddick for a whole hour! That commute is hard because I'm used to driving in Lubbock. I would complain about my 15 minute commute to work, which was far in Lubbock. That's nothing compared to this, but in Lubbock, I was always a little disappointed when I had to turn off the radio in the middle of a good segment. Now, I get plenty of listening time. I'm planning on getting one of those language learning courses, like Pimsleur, for Spanish or Italian, and using my afternoon commute to learn a new language. It'd be a shame to just let that hour go to waste without doing anything productive.

I think that's pretty much all I can think of to share right now. I'll try to get NY details up tomorrow, but I'll go ahead and post some NY pictures tonight.