Lesson One: The Subway & Metrocards

        My first day was a hell of one. I woke up to the sounds of traffic and car horns, something that doesn't seem like a big deal, but boy, is it different. Aside from that, I had a terrible time waking up. I snoozed controlled for about an hour and a half before finally dragging my butt up. And then I was in a rush. Perf.

Subway.

        So I took the subway to work. I knew that I needed to get on G, go up towards Queens, and at some point switch over the E to get into Manhattan. I figured it'd be easy enough, but that was the usual over-zealous Janai thinking too much. First, I had to buy a metrocard, easy. Then I had to go through the gates. Now, these gates are like those spinny doors, but they have metal bars on them instead of glass. I had to let a guy go ahead of me so I could figure out how to swipe the card, and then when I did it, I tried to go through the gate, but went tried the wrong section and ended up locking it again. So I had to double pay. But I was able to get on the right train headed in the right direction.

Subway again.

       Then, I was the clueless tourist on the train that had to break out the big gigantic map to make sure I knew when to get off and where to switch. I managed to switch trains fine by following the crowd. My next mistake was getting off at Rockefeller Center, near 49th, and thinking it wouldn't be too far of a walk to 66th. WRONG! It was a pretty hefty walk, and driving to each individual class this semester did not put me in a good position to be prepared for all that walking. I have shin splints like you wouldn't believe. And it was hot! Missouri gets balls hot over the summer, but I definitely didn't expect this place nearly as hot as it is.
       But while those rookie blunders behind me, and after meeting with a lady in HR, I was no sooner overwhelmed with the vivacious newsroom. Starting a new job always sucks because the first few days you're thrown so many new names, directions and jargon that it's hard to make sense of any of it. I remember four or five people that I met, and could still probably get lost in the huge building. But it was a pretty awesome first day.
        Diane Sawyer and her studio is like down the hall on the same floor, so I got to see that. I was told that it's pretty common to run into her in the bathroom, hah, and since I'll be working nightside after the first two weeks, I'm looking forward to an awkward post-potty encounter. Besides that, I got to watch the sports intern do a phone interview with Danica Patrick and we had live feed of her responding and stuff, which just kind of caught me off guard at first. We also had live feed from a Florida affiliate of the Casey Anthony trial, so I was able to watch a couple of witnesses on the stand. And then we had a live interview broadcasts to all of the affiliates of a journalist that was held captive in Libya for like two weeks. His story was incredible, but he told it almost nonchalantly. And then I learned how to provide affiliates with file video that they may request and post video to Pathfire, and blah blah. I've learned from talking about work with friends and family that half of the things I say/do are kind of confusing unless you work in a newsroom.

Passed Radio City Music Hall at some point.

      After work, I lollygagged through Times Square and mozied around. Luckily, a guy in the newsroom lives near me and helped me figure out a much more efficient route to take to and from work. So I gave that a try on the way back home, and it proved to be a lot better. Now, I'm laying in pain from shins and watching the Bulls go to work on the Heat :)