Madison Ave. Closed For the Day

My second week at work flew by faster than I could imagine. It started out slow (as expected) but quickly picked up as I began to receive more and more work toward the end of the week. I've found that Friday, when you are trying to leave at 5:30, is when most of your work swarms onto your desk. One of the account executives took the last two days of the week off, which left me with some of her responsibilities that I would eventually take over as my own anyways. It just meant jumping into my clients a little sooner than anticipated, but it made Friday go by fast because I had no time to look at what time it was.

I've seemed to have fallen into somewhat of a routine, but the great thing about my job is that I am working with 7 different clients-- all in different industries, so on any given day my "duties" can change. It keeps me interested, and the job from becoming monotonous. I wake up at 7 a.m. after getting about 7-8 hours of sleep. I've quickly learned that anything more or less than that I am exhausted throughout the day. I've found myself going to bed during the week as early as 10:30 p.m., which I can't remember doing since the 3rd grade maybe? I get ready, eat breakfast and organize my things. I try to be out the door and on my way to the subway by 7:45-7:50 in order to make the 7:55-8 o'clock 'B' train to Manhattan. I ride the subway for 20 minutes and arrive at 42nd & 5th by 8:15-8:20 a.m. Just enough time to pick up a coffee at Starbucks, a breakfast sandwich at Cafe Europa or if I'm really running late get to the office by 8:30 a.m. I arrive in my cubicle, get situated and typically begin my morning reading with The New York Post, U.S.A. Today or Daily Variety (Gotham issue). Depending on the influx of work I'll have time to read PR Weekly or Entertainment Weekly. At this point it is usually around 11 a.m. before any of my "superiors" decide to interrupt me and give me something to do. Typically, I finish my work within 30 - 45 mins. with minimal questions. I suppose its the "new worker" ambition. I take my hour of lunch somewhere around Bryant Park and spend the rest of my day either working on something or reading articles online or in the publications mentioned above. I've been assured on numerous occassions that "this will change" due to the easing in process of a junior account executive. I say "bring it on."

Apparently, in New York (and this may be true in other cities) there is a business standard called "Summer Fridays." The concept is simple. Employees are given the option of leaving work at 1 p.m every other Friday assuming their work is complete and their teammates don't need any assistance on any accounts. The best part is you get paid as if you had worked the entire day (hence being on salary). Isn't that great? My first summer Friday is this Friday after pay day, so you can imagine my excitement.

This past 3 day weekend, aside from remembering the brave and continuously being reminded of Fleet Week (where the Navy and Marine ships are docked on the New York and the sailors get time off to roam the streets), I spent my time taking advantage of the many New York highs. I visited the enormous Bronx Zoo on Sunday and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) today. I spent an exhausting 5 hours at the Bronx Zoo with Michelle checking out everything its sprawling landscape had to offer. The interesting about this zoo is that its animals aren't so much set up in cages, but rather are free roaming in a loose sense of the term. It was the perfect day to be out at the zoo and when you were out there it hardly felt like you were in New York. Again, its amazing the diversity this city can offer you.

Today, I spent the better part of 2 hours admiring art by Andy Warhol, Vincent Van Gogh, George Suerat, Robert Sierra and Roy Lichtenstein at MoMA. Typically, it is a $20 admissions fee, but being a Bank of America customer you were admited free. The museum was a piece of art in itself. Recently renovated it rests right smack in the middle of Manhattan and constructed with glass pane walls that give this boundaryless essence. There were some interesting pieces featured on the 6 floor + garden museum. It was also nice to do something to stimulate the mind, get some creativity back into the brain and become enlightened. I've noticed that being out of college-- it takes a lot more effort to keep your mind stimulated. After spending almost your entire life reading, writing and learning-- it's strange to not have that as part of your world anymore, so I am making a conscious effort to maintain that spark. Not to mention that I hardly watch any more television, which if you knew me was all I seemed to do. I can't really say that I miss it, but it's nice to know that it wasn't a source of dependence. It was really because there was just nothing else to do in Gainesville. More importantly, I certainly hope that being in a city as large and expansive as New York that I will never become so bored with the idea that around every corner there is something new in which to experience. For instance today, the city closed down Madison Avenue for a street fair. Madison Avenue (a.k.a. 5th Ave.) is a major street in Manhattan and it was just closed off, so that hundreds of booths and miniature tents could line the sides. It was fantastic.

This 3-day weekend was just long enough of a break to finally get back into the swing of things at the office. I find myself actually looking forward to going into work tomorrow. It will be week 3 and the excitement has yet to have faded or seem to be dying down. On that note. I bid you farewell and goodnight.