Heading out to company headquarters always feels like a vacation in itself: Factset‘s generous meal allowances, hotel arrangements, and proximity to NYC almost makes up for the crappy weather, time away from home, and terrible, terrible jet lag.
So I’m out here for a conference this week, and naturally the weekends are spent in the big city next door: travelling to the city, travelling in the city, walking from landmark A to B, then finally travelling out of the city. For every minute that you’re experiencing something interesting or extraordinary, chances are you spent 10 minutes getting there. The less cynical would point out that the commute is in itself an experience, which may be true in the rarest of cases and such occurences would deserve to be documented in some form of writing to be savored by future generations.
On a completely unrelated note, I had an awesome bike ride through Central Park. Bay-Area-like weather, well designed bike paths, myriads of people, and a storm of spring pollen made it probably the best ride I’ve ever had on a bike. Central Park is probably the best designed inner city park in the world sporting the world’s most expensive maintenance bill, so it comes as no surprise that a trip through it is exhilarating and refreshing.
But don’t rent bikes from those guys in the park; they’re ripoffs and will make you sore the day after from their award-winning anti-ergonomic design, a.k.a. cheap and crappy. Next time I come here, I’m packing my own bike.