So I’m taking a break from my history recap for a few quick updates.
To start off, I’m in Manhattan, new York City, new York, USA. Wow.
I flew out here on Tuesday, and it was a long day of flying. I was awake for almost 24 hours
At my stopover in London’s Heathrow, I picked up a laptop charger/adapter that allowed me to connect my laptop to the airplane I was flying in – and that kept me going for a good few hours.
Once we landed, I breezed through passport control and customs, and my uncle picked me up and drove me into Manhattan, where we did some basic food shopping and then got me into the apartment.
The next morning, Wednesday, after a fitful night of sleep, I had my first interview in the middle of all the action – at the Empire State Building. I had a nice interview there, I think it went rather well. It was with an IT services firm that support multiple clients around Manhattan, and the HR interviewer was fairly thorough, and I’ll be surprised if I don’t hear back from them.
After the interview, I headed back and changed to street clothes and went out & about. (Advice: if you come to NYC for three days or more, get the 7-day unlimited MetroCard. It’s great!) Had a good time, saw some stuff, got home relatively early and got some sleep, due to jet lag. Not before I headed out to Staples and got me a wireless router to get me online anywhere in the apartment. Very important, that. Then sleep until 3AM. Ugh.
On Thursday, I went over into the DUMBO area of Brooklyn for another interview – this one with a software development company. They are looking for a senior-level sysadmin to join their existing team to flesh it out further. I think it went well – I spent a few hours there and spoke to three different people. Let’s see if an offer comes through – it looks promising.
Afterwards, I headed back, switched to street clothes, and walked the Brooklyn Bridge, end to end. Let me tell you, it’s pretty breathtaking. Once arriving, I met with a pre-scheduled Big Apple Greeter, named Reva. We had a nice walk around Brooklyn Heights, and I got see and hear about the neighborhood from someone who has lived there pretty much her entire life. It was interesting and I had a great time.
Friday was an interesting day. I made some phone calls in the morning, setting up some interview for the next week – and one of them, a friend’s brother-in-law’s brother that has a company in Manhattan, also an Isreali expat, had me come down to chat. While chatting, he asked many questions, and we discussed possibilities, and then someone called into his office – they found his company via Google site and needed some immediate help.
He informed them that his security specialist was out, and that he’d have to get back to them. He then discussed the details of their problem with me, and we decided that I would go to the client site and see what’s what, and try to help. The client is a car & limo company, and they sent a Lincoln town car to pick me up. i felt like a million bucks, getting ferried around in the back of a cool black sedan. Whoa.
Once there, I met the local IT techie, and got to the source of the problem within 30 minutes or so, due to delays communicating with a third party. We then took steps to rectify this, and after two hours, I had to leave, and we agreed that if this was not resolved by Monday morning, we would be in touch again.
Back home, I reported to the consulting firm guy on what happened, and he believes that I could fill a part-time position as a project manager/coordinator and that I should meet his team, and we could get to a good arrangement.
Then on Saturday, I spent the afternoon wandering around Central Park, and that was awesome. Saw some great stuff – skaters, street performers and more – and then ended with a Broadway show – The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. This came highly recommended by a good friend,and someone who knows a thing or two about theater. I had a great time, and laughed a whole lot. See it if you can.
So that’s the past few days. The next couple days have a few interviews, and I’m getting together for lunch with a friend tomorrow. Should be fun.
Have a great week, y’all!