This was a busy week on both the work and play side of life.
My team of four people that I’ll be working closely with over the next five months came to New York this week and we all huddled in conference rooms on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. This allowed me to gain some valuable insights from the guy I’ll be replacing, learn about the project from a higher level, and get some face time with the new crew.
The good news is, they’re all really nice and the senior manager of our team is super cool, friendly and helpful. None of them are actuaries or even really technical people so it will be fun to bring that skill to the team. The bad news is that there are big deadlines approaching for this project so it seemed any time I wanted to just learn and ask questions, they were on to the next call and scrambling to put the next analysis or deck together. I like that fast pace so it’s going to be a good fit for me, but it was a little frustrating to feel somewhat useless.
We were able to fit in lots of team bonding as we went for a team dinner on Tuesday night at a really nice Italian restaurant in Midtown, then me, two others from the team, and another baseball fan from the office, bounced at 6pm on Wednesday to take the subway up to the Bronx and buy last-minute tickets for the Yankees/Red Sox game. It’s the third time I’ve attended a game for that rivalry and it never gets old. As a bonus, we got to see Brett Gardiner hit a grand slam – not something you see every day!
Thursday kicked off with a 6am boxing class that all five of the team members attended in Chelsea. It was a heck of a workout, and I added a two mile run each way (there and back) to burn a few more calories. The team left to their respective cities on Thursday afternoon and I feel as though I am comfortable around them and am ready to hit the ground running this week.
Outside of work, it was a busy sporting week with Yankee Stadium, an Arsenal match, and the Jets Playoffs. There’s a great hockey bar right around the corner from my place and I’m now part of the “Winnipeggers in NYC” Facebook group so we usually have between 10 and 30 Jets fans there when a game is on. I went to go watch on Thursday and witnessed the devastating loss, and also went last night to see their final (poor) performance of the season. Sad to not have a playoff run to follow, but my wallet and body will be glad.
Before the Jets game on Saturday, I went for the longest run since moving here (13.1 miles) and was able to see so much of Manhattan. I ran up the east river path from 3rd street (where I live) all the way to 102nd street in Harlem. From there I cut west and south, ran by the Guggenheim and into Central Park, then back down 1st Avenue home. Really loving the running paths in the city and definitely loving the warmer weather that we’re having.
Other than that, a buddy was in town on Friday night so we grabbed dinner at a great Greek restaurant in my hood. Nice to always try new spots, and they all seem to be amazing! We also discovered a whisky tasting bar in the Lower East Side so I’m looking forward to taking future visitors who enjoy brown liquor from time to time.
I fly out at 6am to Minneapolis on Monday morning to meet with the guy I’m replacing and work from his office for three days so I’m confident I’ll be able to soak up a ton of knowledge and get a better understanding of how everything fits together on this massive project.
More to come from the road this week – it’s going to be a busy one!
Thanks for reading,
Mike