I’ve been a bit MIA recently, but I’ve been working out of another office site for the past two weeks.  I’m currently riding the rails, and working in Jersey City, which is a first time for me. Sure, I lived in Jersey City in the past, but never worked there. I’m wrapping up week 2, with two more weeks to go.

It’s been an interesting change of pace:

1. I’m parking in New Brunswick, and riding the NJ Transit train to Newark Penn Station, and switching a few PATH trains to get to the office in Newport, a swanky area of Jersey City. I haven’t done the regular commute-to-work-a-la-train gig in many years, but it’s both tiresome and interesting. I do love the train, but I sometimes forget how spoiled I am that I get to drive to my regular office by car. I do like reading on the train, but rushing to catch it can be stressful at times. It does often result in good anecdotes!
2. Also, people are animals! I don’t remember people being so rude and pushy back in the day…… in 2005. Was it always like this? Maybe the Midtown Direct lines weren’t so crowded, but at least people were courteous. The folks riding the PATH and the Northeast Corridor will elbow and shove past you to make the train. Be nice, people. You don’t have to be jerks.
3. I like working in a new city. New faces, new places to eat, and Hoboken is close by for meeting with friends, and drinks. For example, last night, I went out for drinks with friends in Hoboken after work. It was swell.
4. Lovely views of the lower Manhattan skyline.
5. I’m learning a lot about the business side of the bank, and it’s phenomenal. Such complexity, and so many darn right smart people that I’ve never met before running the place.

I do miss being in my regular office, but this is a nice change.

Today was one helluva day. So much happened today, but I’m just going to write about one particular event.  Today will be known as “The Day I Ran Over My Laptop.”

I was heading out the door this morning, and my wife was trying to get the kids in the car so that she could drop them off.  Joshua needed help to stop wasting time, get in the car, and get buckled in.  Instead of stowing my laptop bag in the car like I normally do, in my rush, I just placed it next to the back wheel of my car.  After I got Joshua buckled in and I closed his door, I forgot about my bag, and got into my car. 

As soon as I began to reverse, I felt the car hit something and the rear of the car raised upwards.  Realizing instantly what I had forgotten, I quickly went forward, and jumped out of the car. The screen and laptop initially appeared okay, but I didn’t boot it up until I reached the office.  That’s when I saw how bad the damage was to the laptop.  The laptop shell and the hard drive were fine, as I seem to have just rolled on a corner of the bag, but that was enough for me to fracture the screen in a hundred places.  See my handiwork below.

My poor laptop

Since the rest of the laptop is okay, I’ve been working with it hooked up to the LCD monitor on my desk. Desktop support says they’ll be taking the laptop from me for repair, and it will take three days (minimum.)

In the ten years that I have travelled the world with a work laptop, I have never done this. Never damaged one, never lost one, never even spilled a drink on one. I have now officially driven over one. I suppose there is a first for everything.

Sigh.

I’m back in Canada this week, so please don’t call my cell, as it’s getting expensive!

I slept from 12:30am to 2am, and then organizing, dressing up, and packing my bag for a 6:55am flight out of Newark this morning.  I drove to a coworker’s house @ 4:30am, and we shared car service to the airport (saving money.)  I prefer the Sunday evening flights, but the Ipes had prior committments this time around, so that wouldn’t work this week.  Big surprise, I personally am not an early morning person, but you do what you need to do.   

I’ll tell you a big plus of early morning flights — no delays.  Seriously, no problems with the flight this morning, and we arrived on time.  That never happens, so lesson learned.  You know what annoyed me?  Canadian Immigration.  They have been asking the nuttiest questions to people  (I know this personally and anecdotally) every time I come into the country.  You never know where they’re going with it.  This morning, I had this big, bald, burly guy.  As I was walking up to him to hand over my passport and immigration form, a small part of my mind wondered, “Hey, isn’t this kind of guy the type to give me trouble?” 

Yeah, he did.  He asked the usual questions about what I was doing here, name of the subsidiary, etc. Usually, you just say you are here on business, attending meetings, etc, and they leave you alone. This asks me in a very hostile tone, “What kind of business takes 5 days?” I told him an audit, but he didn’t reply, marked up my form, and didn’t say a word.  I then had to talk to the 2nd-level Immigration folks to explain the situation.  What a jerk. I tell you, wherever you travel, and it doesn’t matter personal or business, the bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe.

Other than that, smooth sailing, great weather, yada yada.

I’m working in Delaware this week.  First time, ever.  Delaware isn’t even all that far from home — 90 mins each way, which is just 15 mins more than it takes for me to get to my office in NJ! I don’t want to drive 160 miles found trip every day, so I’m doing a mix of staying overnight and driving home.  One of those on-off-on-off deals.  This way, two nights I can work late, and two nights where I can see my family. I was glad that I had the flexibility to do what was best for me and the family, and balancing what work I had to do. Makes life easier.

Delaware looks the same as the rest of America, though I still don’t understand why their automotive license plates are so weird.  You know what I’m talking about — the dark blue plates with a with just a “4″ on it.  What’s up with that? It must be a popular place — the hotel is booked solid, and I’m stuck in a smoking room. Listen, I don’t care how much the staff says they cleaned the room.  They put an air ionizer in here as well, and I’ve got it running nonstop.  The room still stinks.  Strangely enough, I’m in the mood for a cigar.

After work, we did have a very nice team lunch, which is always a plus when travelling on company business with your colleagues.  If it’s a good group like this one, then it’s a good experience. I can’t remember the last time, if ever, that I had a bad trip because of the group dynamic.  Basically everyone is fine to travel and work with.  I guess I’ve been lucky, or people in general are not that bad, you know?

It’s been a year, but I have made my fateful return to the Toronto area this week.  I’m here on business, and it feels nice to be back.  I’m here on work, but I always enjoy Canada.  To be honest, I think Montreal is okay, but I like the city of Toronto.  It’s very metropolitan.  Lots of places to see, lots of great restaurants, and I think the people are nice.   I’m not actually staying in Toronto this trip – we’re in Mississauga, but maybe we’ll get to visit.  One of my wife’s cousins lives somewhere around here, so I should try to visit him and his family.

The trip itself was pretty uneventful.  No problems getting to Newark airport, flight was on time, no problems with bags, and the hotel is pretty nice.  Even better, they upgraded my car rental (at no cost) and I’m driving a Chevy Trailblazer.  What can I say?  So far, so good. 

This is also a good week, as it’s my birthday on Wednesday, which marks it the 2nd year in a row that I’ve spent my birthday in Canada.  Coincidence? I think not.  I think it’s a conspiracy involving the Canadian Prime Minister, and possibly the Queen of England?  Why the British Queen?  The question is why not?

I think I’m rambling.  Long story short: I’m north of the US border, everything is peachy. Don’t text or email me, because I’m roaming, and will cost me each and every time you write. Wait until I get back, but if you need to reach me, the cell phone works fine.  I love having a phone that works internationally.

UPDATED: Man, I have such a bad memory.  My wife was kind enough to remind me that I was home last year during my birthday, and not up north.  I was actually working in NYC that day.  I wonder why I thought I was in Canada during my birthday last year?  Blame the encroaching senility!

I drove my car to the office for the first time today. 80 miles round trip.  It was a very comfortable ride, fun to drive something new and in good condition, with plenty of features that I’ve never had before.  After work, I had to stop by the Babies R’ Us in Bridgewater to pick up some much needed supplies. It was so nice to have the powered rear door, and plenty of room to fit a new high chair and other items.

I ate some McDonald’s for dinner in my car (carefully) as the restaurant dining area was closed for the night.  I had the angus burger with swiss cheese and mushrooms.  I have to admit, fully knowing that I’m one step closer to death’s door after eating that burger, it was pretty tasty.

Back to the title of the post, egads, that car is no gas sipper.  I’m already at a 1/2 tank of gas left (or a 1/2 tank full for you optimists out there) after only 170 miles.  According to the onboard computer, it looks like I’ll be only getting 320 miles per fill-up.  Considering my old Honda in its decrepit state used to get me between 360 – 400 miles, this isn’t a plus for small SUVs or crossovers.  I’m going to stick to 65 MPH during my commutes, and determine if this improves the situation.

Or just apply for a flexible work schedule with 4 days in the office, 1 day working from home.  I’ve been meaning to apply for that for the longest time

Ain’t it the truth? 

Study Finds Young People Remain Apathetic About Office Politics

Ever heard of Emotional Intelligence (EI)? We had an interesting all-day session on Wednesday at the office about EI. Turns out that my social style is “The Expressive Style.” I found the session useful, but similar to a class I took through the IIA a few years ago. Reading up on the Expressive was rather on the mark about my personality, and helped me understand myself a little better. That’s the first part — to have self-awareness. After that, you learn to use that social style in the right way, an eventually learn how to work with other people who are of the other styles. I’m actually glad we took the time away from work to do the class.

Here are some highlights about me (from the book we got):

• Focus their attention on teh future with intuitive visions and outspoken spontaneity.
• Be imaginative and creative.
• Make decisions quickly, based on feelings and opinions.
• Be warm and approachable, yet competitive for recognition and involvement in relationships.
• Generate enthusiasm.
• Behave in stimulating, exciting and fun ways.
• Behave in flighty, impractical and overly emotional ways.
• Make mistakes and have frequent changes in direction and focus because of their desire to act on opinions, hunches and intuition, rather than facts and data.
• Use time in an undisciplined manner.

Determining your style is based on what your Ask-Tell behavior and Control-Emote behavior are. I’m more Tell and Emote, so that’s how we arrive at Expressive. Based on my test results, I emote alot (meaning my mood is written on my sleeve) and I like to tell people about my opinions (but I also like to listen almost just as much.) I apparently have a tendency to interact with others in a spontaneous manner, and can be a form of competition wherein I quite frequently become the center of attention (I am an attention hog at times.) I also view myself as a warm and open person whom others will applaud as the source of a light-hearted atmosphere (I try.)

I also apparently see dealing with details as a burden to be avoided. It is more pleasant to encourage interactions in which others will assume that responsibility. You know what? It’s true. I like facts, and will collect them, but up to a point. I’d rather have someone do the dirty work, so I can make a decision.

Finally, some other highlights on my “style.” In working with others, I am frustrated when they cause delay by taking time to assure themselves that a course of action is comfortable. To me, their data gathering is largely unnecessary. A good choice will validate itself as you go along. I do think data gathering is important, but I feel if you have enough to make your point, move on already. Maybe I don’t dig deep enough after all. Food for thought.

I also supposedly offer opinions readily, but can give the feeling that I am expressing ideas and attitudes “off the top of my head.” Thus, I can appear disorganized and ill-prepared in situations calling for a systematic approach.

Those were the interesting highlights. Definitely gave me some insights into myself, which helps me understand a little bit more about what makes me tick.