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Times Square - 26 July 1998

Wednesday morning this week brought a strange sight - Times Square shut down and the whole area full of emergency personnel and vehicles. I happened to be walking around the area later in the day and wondered what all the commotion was about. It seemed that everyone was looking up at one of the unfinished skyscrapers adjacent to Times Square. Once I looked up I could see the source of the problem, scaffolding and a construction elevator were hanging precariously from the side of the building. It was clear that another collapse was possible and justified the reason for closing down the area.
The news reported that part of a crane also fell from the building and killed someone in a nearby building as they sat in their apartment. Needless to say that closing Times Square caused a significant amount of disruption to traffic all through New York. It also seemed to increase the amount of people taking the subway as people elected to take it as an alternative to both buses and private transport.
At this stage most of Times Square remains shut down and will no probably be re-opened until later in the week. It is something that you don't see everyday - Times Square totally devoid of traffic and tourists.

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Happy Holiday - 6 July 1998

It was recently the big Independence Day weekend here - which meant a three day weekend since the 4th actually fell on a Saturday. So what better way to spend the holiday than on a bus tour to Washington D.C.. We left Friday morning and returned Saturday night and travelled by coach all the way. The cost of the trip, including one nights accommodation was only $55 ! Amazingly cheap. The only down side to the deal was that it was part of a Chinese tour and thus the whole commentary was in Chinese. That didn't phase us Aussies since we brought along some Chinese buddies from work and were prepared to do our own thing anyway. As long as they told us, when, where and for how long we were fine.
On the way to Washington D.C. we stopped in Philadelphia to look at the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. After that we travelled to the Port of Baltimore, which is so much like Darling Harbour it is scary ! During our first day in Washington D.C. we went to the Jefferson Memorial and the Capital Building. The following day we toured the Lincoln Memorial, Iwo Jima Memorial, Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and finally the White House.
To see so much in two days for so little it was great and I even had another day to recover before work started again today !

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Humidity - 29 June 1998

It is only the start of summer and we are already sweating under some pretty oppressive humidity. It reminds me of home, but it never seemed to last this long. The other difference is the complete lack of breeze to circulate the air. The humidity seems to be worst in the morning and in the early evenings - which unsurprisingly is when I have to travel to work. The subway stations get really hot and humid but the actual subway carriages do provide some relief if their air conditioning works ! You can't get any worse than standing in a suit in an unairconditioned, totally sealed subway carriage, packed to rafters with other sweaty New Yorkers. I'm sure this would drive someone over the top sooner or later !
Speaking of which, in Midtown on Sunday afternoon there was an incident with a man firing off a few shots. None of these were directly aimed at anyone it would appear, but as is always the case here, they did manage to injure an innocent bystander. The real worry about this incident was that it occurred in the "safe" touristy part of Manhattan. I just goes to show that you never know in this town !

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First week - 21 June 1998

Well it has been a full week at my new position at J.P. Morgan and hopefully I'm starting to get the hang of things here. I still have a ways to go until I'm truly up to speed on how everything operates but I look forward to learning this. The really good thing is that the people that I'm working with are really nice, very helpful and have made my transition much easier than I expected. This coming week will see me much more involved in the day to day operations of the team and dealing with other members of the group, such as those in desktop support.
The most amazing thing here lately has been the weather. At the moment it is very hot and humid. Nearly every night we have had terrific thunderstorms and torrential rain, making the whole place feel very tropical. It is amazing to realise how cold this place gets in winter, after all this humidity at the moment. It makes me appreciate what a stable climate we have back home.
I wish to thank all those people who continue to e-mail me on a regular basis. I really appreciate and look forward to each piece of e-mail that I receive from everyone as it makes being over here, away from home, much easier. Please keep those e-mails coming !

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Wall St at last - 12 June 1998

After awaiting another assignment for a few weeks I was finally informed that I would be starting with J.P. Morgan on Tuesday 9th June. After attending an interview on the Tuesday I have finally started working with a business unit within J.P Morgan. My role will be part of a team that provides Novell and server support to users. The servers are production machines which means that they need to be operational all the time. Since I have only really started with the team on Thursday 11th June I am still feeling my way around the position. The network at J.P. Morgan utilises Novell 4.11 and NDS, with Microsoft NT4.0 workstations as the clients. The teams role encompasses such things as creating new network accounts, installing and maintaining network printers as well as ensuring the continuing operation of a number of servers. All in all I am very happy with the challenge that this job presents and hope that I have an opportunity to demonstrate my skills and commitment to my clients. The team is located on the 17th floor of the J.P. Morgan building at 60 Wall St - yes that's right Wall St, New York, New York. I must admit that I am still pinching myself about my business address. Amazing !

J.P. Morgan 60 Wall St

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