I love NY

(written late afternoon/early evening, Thurs., May 24)

When I was looking around for a new job last summer and fall one of the things I told people was that I was looking for a job where I could telecommute from the Philadelphia area most of the time and then maybe go into an office in New York City once every week or two, or an office in Boston once every quarter or so.

This seemed like a brazen thing to ask for at the time. And maybe that is a self confidence issue. Like, why should I rank that kind of special treatment (although I am in a career where many people do just that, especially people with my level of experience.)  So even though it felt sort of brazen I figured I might was well ask for what I wanted because otherwise I'd never get it.

And it didn't seem to be a problem.  No one blinked an eye at the request. So I got a job where I telecommuted, first from Silicon Valley to San Francisco and then I got to take the job with me when I moved across the country.  Then I telecommuted from our new home outside of Philadelphia to the company headquarters in NYC.

I kept planning to go up to the NYC headquarters but between recovering from the move, and then going on a bunch of subsequent business trips I never made it up there. Until today.

I woke up at 5:30 am, still dreaming about last night's season finale of LOST. (In my dream I was giving Ben a bunch of my business cards and telling him about some Marines I knew, even though I know no Marines in real life.)

I drove to the train station in Trenton, N.J.  It took about 40 minutes, and I think in the future I will give myself an hour between the time I leave the house and the time of the train I want to take to allow for ample time to park and buy tickets.

Due to some electrical problems on Amtrack, my NJ Transit train was delayed, but I still got to the NY office by 10 am. The train took about an hour and a half.

And wow, it was fun to be in an actual office with actual colleagues again. It was nice to meet all the people I've been working with since December. It was lovely to work in a work space and then go out to lunch with colleagues.  I also got all the HR paperwork for my upcoming disability leave.

The train ride from Trenton to NY, although delayed, was pleasant.  The last time I took the train to NY was in December 2004, and it is still very strange to me to see the skyline with just the Empire State Building and no twin towers as the train approaches the city. There is a hole there. I guess you get used to that.

I took a cab from Penn Station to my company's offices this morning, mostly because I didn't want to end up going in the wrong direction for a block before I realized my mistake.  A block seems like an awfully long way to me right now.  But I did walk back to the station at the end of the day, and am writing this aboard the 5:30 NJ Transit train from NY to Trenton. 

Today was very much an experiment to try out all these different modes of transportation, to figure out my way, to figure out where to park, which way to walk in Manhattan, what it all costs, etc.

But I can definitely see doing this on a regular basis, if other travel doesn't interfere with it. I really love NY, even though I have not spent a lot of time there.

And I do believe it is true that it is beneficial to show your face at the office on a regular basis.

I've had two previous jobs where I telecommuted.  One where I telecommuted all the time and another where I telecommuted as much as I could. So I am talking from experience when I mention the political importance of some face time at the office. It goes a long long way. 

Comments

[Aurelia]

Face time IS a big deal in an office, isn't it? Always my problem because I needed to run and pickup at daycare and if I couldn't stay until 6:00 pm some people really got upset at that.

[Eva]

One of my best friend telecommutes and just loves it, but she does pop into the office every few weeks. She agrees it makes a big difference. How fun to go into the city!

[Eva]

Now I'm thinking about it--I telecommuted sometimes for my pre-baby job. I could actually go back to it and telecommute pretty much full-time except for some meetings. if I wanted to but as yet I don't. But I may. Maybe I'll ask you more about it if I decide to do that.

[thalia]

sounds like a very manageable day, I'm glad you've got a way of working which works for you (bad pun not intended)