Jersey Girl
Well, I came back to town this weekend to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers (who were incredible), well worth the drive which took 2 hours longer because I-84 through Connecticut sucks during afternoon rush hour. Anyway, as far as Jersey goes, I'm actually really enjoying it. Driving here is nuts sometimes, because a lot of busy streets don't have any traffic lights. You're forced to take these crazy u-turns that are nicknamed "jug handles" just to get to the other side. Another crazy thing is apparently by law, no NJ citizen can pump their own gas. I found this out when I got there and was yelled at by a guy who ran out of the store to stop me. I've asked people at work about this, and no one really knows why the law exists. I guess on the one hand it's nice, and you don't have to get out of your car, but when there are 6 pumps and only two attendants available, and cars are lining up, it's seems pretty stupid.
The malls out here are ridiculous. The Garden State Plaza has it's own parking garage, bus depot, and two traffic lights. I've never seen traffic lights once you enter the mall parking lot, and not just a bus stop, but a full on section for multiple lines from different states to bring people in and out. I thought that was the biggest mall I'd ever seen, but a group of us went to Dave & Busters at the Pacific Palisades mall in upstate New York, which put the Garden State to shame. The place is too overwhelming to think about, but I can say that it's four floors, has every possible store & restaurant you could ever imagine including a full Home Depot and DSW, plus an IMAX theater. The mall has valet parking which is actually necessary because after 15 minutes of searching, we gave up. So, I guess with the culture in NYC so close, Jersey is the place people go to find cheap mall thrills. Oh! I almost forgot to mention the full scale ferris wheel at the front door to.
All right, enough with the crazy malls, work is going really well. The store in Paramus is the management training store for the United States, since it's one of the oldest and the busiest. It's cool because I'm working with people from Jersey, Florida, and Canada here. My main trainer is currently in the head office doing recruitment training, so for the next two weeks I'm running the store. Little ole me. It's overwhelming, but exciting at the same time. I spent the past week assessing everyone to see their strengths and what they need more help on, and I'm sitting down with everyone on Monday to map out a development plan. So life is just rocking, and I feel like I'm gaining more confidence and moving on up.
Well, I've gotta finish packing all the stuff I forgot to take on my initial trek down there since I'm driving back this afternoon (how does one forget an Ipod? seriously). I'll try to update more often because the hotel does have computers to use in their business center whenever the business travelers aren't using it to teleconference or whatever the hell they do in there.
Take care my peeps.
P.S. - I know it's completely stupid and I fully understand this, but ever since I saw Harold and Kumar go to White Castle, I really want to go find one now that I'm in Jersey. I know the food is probably really shitty, but I think it would be hysterical.
The malls out here are ridiculous. The Garden State Plaza has it's own parking garage, bus depot, and two traffic lights. I've never seen traffic lights once you enter the mall parking lot, and not just a bus stop, but a full on section for multiple lines from different states to bring people in and out. I thought that was the biggest mall I'd ever seen, but a group of us went to Dave & Busters at the Pacific Palisades mall in upstate New York, which put the Garden State to shame. The place is too overwhelming to think about, but I can say that it's four floors, has every possible store & restaurant you could ever imagine including a full Home Depot and DSW, plus an IMAX theater. The mall has valet parking which is actually necessary because after 15 minutes of searching, we gave up. So, I guess with the culture in NYC so close, Jersey is the place people go to find cheap mall thrills. Oh! I almost forgot to mention the full scale ferris wheel at the front door to.
All right, enough with the crazy malls, work is going really well. The store in Paramus is the management training store for the United States, since it's one of the oldest and the busiest. It's cool because I'm working with people from Jersey, Florida, and Canada here. My main trainer is currently in the head office doing recruitment training, so for the next two weeks I'm running the store. Little ole me. It's overwhelming, but exciting at the same time. I spent the past week assessing everyone to see their strengths and what they need more help on, and I'm sitting down with everyone on Monday to map out a development plan. So life is just rocking, and I feel like I'm gaining more confidence and moving on up.
Well, I've gotta finish packing all the stuff I forgot to take on my initial trek down there since I'm driving back this afternoon (how does one forget an Ipod? seriously). I'll try to update more often because the hotel does have computers to use in their business center whenever the business travelers aren't using it to teleconference or whatever the hell they do in there.
Take care my peeps.
P.S. - I know it's completely stupid and I fully understand this, but ever since I saw Harold and Kumar go to White Castle, I really want to go find one now that I'm in Jersey. I know the food is probably really shitty, but I think it would be hysterical.