A Week of Nine to Five

So as you probably guessed, I've been busy. And felt busy.

Training continued Tuesday through Thursday. Information Technology training, information security training, AS/2 audit software training, a class case study, independence and objectivity training, HR presentations, lots of introductions over and over again, issuance of the company laptop, online courses, and more. 8 hours of work per day. Tomorrow is Deloitte's firm-wide nationwide Impact Day, a day of community service work for all employees. I'm stoked that my friend Jarrett Cohen and I's assignment is to chaperone third graders to the Bronx Zoo. I need some kids in my life again. New York's too serious, I need some little children.

What've I been doing about dinner, eh? Well, Monday night we had a Deloitte-provided party at PJ Clarke's restaurant. Tuesday was diarrhea (pardon my bluntness), so I had soup, yogurt, and a banana, clocking in at a whopping price of $3.50. Now that's economic/healthy consumption. Wednesday night was dinner with coworkers at a local 2nd-floor hole-in-the-wall bar and grill. Burger and fries for $7.95 plus tax?...in NYC?...not bad. Tonight 2 TV dinners and like 10 Keebler Chips Deluxe Chocolate Lovers Cookies. Lots of water all week. I'm going to buy a skillet and pot this weekend and try some mac n' cheese and chicken fajitas. It's time to take the plunge and use that cooking manual Amanda Marie put together for me.

Wednesday was a fun morning. Destin and I decided to try going to work a little later. Of course, the subways were slower and took longer to catch on the same day. We also happened to get very LOST when we got off at our exit, as well. We ran in circles like decapitated chickens in the financial district till we somehow found the Vesey Street Overpass once again. Made it in only 1 minute late by some sort of heaven-bestowed grace.

Yesterday Destin and I tried the gym. We moved some weights around. I would say I lifted weights, but I felt like I was dropping them more than lifting. So it is true to merely say I grunted and groaned and weights moved around. I wished I hadn't taken an 8-month break from that. The Columbia U. gym is kind of shabby compared to home at LSU honestly. Today Destin and I ran Central Park. It was sensational. Those hills were crazy...oh yes, I am getting back in shape this summer. A man who's getting married has got to be fit to contribute to his wife's happiness, eh?

The devotional time with Christ suffered until today. Talking with Amanda last night convicted me of what I already knew. Reading David Wilkerson's book on the new covenant (as revelatory as it is) on the subway in the morning is no subsitute for good and stripped-down, laid-bare time in the presence of Yahweh. Today provided that, indeed. And not just time reading the Bible. Folks, we need that time to just sit with hands raised in our room and just sing "Refiner's Fire" or some old Christian song and rededicate our hearts to holiness. If you are reading this blog, hold me accountable to do this daily, please, I beg you.

Other than that, nights have been fun having to take review courses for Deloitte and even study for an AS/2 software test, which I passed with flying colors.

The weather has been most pleasant. A little hot (surprisingly) in midday, but the mornings and evenings are quite cool, almost meriting a jacket and a smile-laden face at the cool breezes that blow in from the coast (I assume).

So it's been rather surrreal, amusing, and euphoric to be living the "9 to 5" "dream" life in the nation's greatest city, in the world's greatest business district. And to even have to swipe my security badge into work. That's fun for the more boyish elements of my sentient being, but it's moreso a sobering reminder of what's right outside the office windows. Piles of six-year old rubble, sky-high cranes, and a vale of tears, Ground Zero.

This weekend I'm going to take some serious pictures in this city and take a trip into Brooklyn. Monday I am staffed on my first engagement, with IBM. I met everyone on the team today, including the senior manager and a gentleman I had met during Deloitte recruiting at LSU back in February. I do not feel it appropriate to list details of the engagement, nor future engagements this summer. It is important for auditors to maintain the confidentiality of client information to appropriately add value to the organizations they serve.

I'd better get to my 60 or so work e-mails as rise'n'shine comes at about 5:15 ante-meridian tomorrow.