Back & refreshed

Whee... I'm back... mostly. Still completely jetlagged, still tired from basically running around on my feet nearly constantly except for short periods of sleep, but I'm mentally refreshed and wide awake xD

Let's see... first up, impressions...

Manhattan/New York

Wow... this city is... smelly x.x; I think that every time I stepped into the subway I started to hold my breath... I was surprised at how dirty it is compared to other large cities that I've been to.

Had quite a bit of fun! Hit all the tourist sites, Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, natural history museum, etc. Managed to get to Central park too, which is completely alive and crowded with people. Caught Wicked while I was out there too.

Crazy crowded city... never sleeps... just what I felt like what a city should be like... staying out till midnight isn't an issue and there are always tons of people around. I love the cheap little street stalls where you can pick up really yummy food at any time!

Washington/D.C.

So... the capitol of the greatest nation on the planet... right? At least that's what the advertising says... I was surprised at how quickly D.C. shuts down in the evening, and how quiet it becomes at night. Ironically, it was in D.C. which I actually felt vulnerable and in danger. NYC always has people around, so I never felt that I was in danger of being mugged or worse... in D.C., everything shuts down so early that I often found myself walking down completely deserted streets as early as 6:30pm... just blocks away from government buildings.

I didn't like D.C. as much simply cos... well, there wasn't anything to do after 5:30pm! The Smithsonian museums shut down, and the government builds shut down even before that. Many restaurants were also shutting down, and the ones that stayed open were completely full with reservations. I guess I should have researched this aspect a little better.

Still... managed to do all the touristy things... White House, Capitol buildings, Library of Congress, as well as most of the Smithsonian museums and all the big memorials/monuments, so I feel like I've explored D.C. enough :)

Overall

Lucked out with weather... the few times it did rain happened to be the days which I was indoors for the whole time so I barely got wet at all. I think my decision to come during the off-season was still the right one even though D.C. shut down early compared to summer. There were simply very few lines or tourists around, so moving from attraction to attraction was really fast.

Now the bigger question... could I live in either place? Well, I never got comfortable in D.C. It felt like... a dead city no matter where I was. Not much in commerce, just pure government... I guess I should have expected that. I just didn't expect that there would be absolutely nothing else out there ~.~ NYC on the other hand might be possible... I like running around on the subway system (even though it stinks) and being able to go from one side of the city to the other without bothering with a car. I liked the pace of the city, that it never shuts down, and that there seemed to be so much to do in so many industries. I guess the only thing that I'd hesitate over would be cost of living... It's even worse there compared to where I currently am... though not by THAT much x.x; However, it is still on my list of possible places to move to... would be fun for at least a few years!

Reflection

The weird part about being on the east coast was being ahead of everyone I talk to as opposed to my usual being a couple of hours behind. That, and being alone, gave me a lot of time to think and reflect, so I have a few answers to my questions in the last post...

- I'm not happy with a slow-pace. I think in my whole career I've never been doing less than two full-time things at the same time... either two jobs, job + school of some sort. School is over... time to pick up the pace (unless I want to go for a doctorate o.o)

- My risk tolerance isn't high enough to jump head first into funding my own startup. I like my toys and having the money to make impulse purchases or have a nice expensive meal. I don't want to run out of money on a crazy idea. However, I wouldn't mind using other people's money! So... unless I come up with a killer idea for angels, it's either low-budget, or free/part-time startups for me!

- House-wise... I don't like being tied down... currently, this is the longest I've actually stayed in one area... normally I move around a lot more often xD Buying a house would tie me down and limit my options... plus I'd actually have to be responsible for fixing things instead of just harassing my landlord

- Linked to housing... location wise, I really want to go back to some sort of large city. Living in the suburbs is okay I guess... but I'd really rather be somewhere where I can stay out late and be able to get home without driving x.x;

- Career path... well, after doing a lot more reflecting, I'm definitely going to stay in technology... most likely moving more towards consumer-oriented things instead of B2B. Definitely going to have to move further into product management, though I'll probably stay away from marketing.

- Company wise... I decided that there is no way I can work for a company where I second-guess the executives, or believe that I can do a better job compared to them. Companies without a vision, or any company without a good leader is not one I can stand behind

- What about MMO commitments?

So... this is an interesting topic... I brought a computer along with me and was able to login to FFXI at any time during this vacation. I even had some evenings where I was done early and could have easily made events (especially being on EST). I just never felt the urge to do so. I found myself watching more TV with the news (imagine that!), Jay Leno and Conan xD

I still do not feel the urge to log back in to do things... I guess I'll still be coming to events, but since I've managed to delegate some of the work behind the scenes to other people, I'm hoping that they'll continue helping me there and give me a little slack so that I can take care of other things (thanks Zurar & Tasya!)

I'm pretty deep in XI still... the welcome back I got last night during ZNMs did make me feel welcome, even though I was still half-asleep and jetlagged. I'm not sure I'd want to start another MMO at all even when Star Wars is released... I'm now behind on TV, and significantly behind on other games (though I did catch up on anime & movies... Virgin America is awesome! xD) But I'm still going to look into reclaiming more of my own time from FFXI to use in other activities, including fun things like... well, console gaming xD

And finally... the big one... it's time to start up the career search task. I've been relaxing for the last 6 months since school ended... time to get back up and push even further ahead! With some luck, that would mean that I'd end up with an even more extended break from XI. The last time I decided to change my life direction I ended up quitting FFXI for quite some time... (and threw away a decently-equipped RDM75 back then) This time, less extreme measures... hopefully ;)

Alright! Enough about me... next posts will be back about FFXI and gaming!