NEW JERSEY

I actually parked the car in Jersey City and caught the train across to NYC (I heard it was approx $50-60 to park in NYC overnight, and I figured it was easier to park across the river and commute in, than navigate traffic, and try to find a park in one of the worlds busiest cities).
I have to add, Jersey City is a real dump …. Surprising how you can have the wealth and status of NYC on one side of the river, and such a contrast just a few miles west.

XMAS and GLOBAL WARMING

I never thought that much about global warming … but walking around the streets of NY, I’m going to point the blame at Christmas … Just think about it … how many pine trees get cut down every year (in their prime), so that someone can stick it in their living room for few weeks, dress it up with lights and crap, and then throw it away like a …. well …. ‘used Xmas tree’!

WTC SITE

I visited the site as ‘just another one of those things to see’ … but seeing the memorial photos, one can’t help feeling some sense of sorrow for the events of 9/11, and innocent lives lost.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

I was planning on doing NYC in the new year … but then I remembered hearing how crazy it get around Xmas time, and I figured it was a good way to spend the weekend.
Its pretty much what I expected … and a weekend is nowhere near enough time to do it thoroughly … so I wondered around, doing the regular tourist things.
Best thing about NYC is definitely the corner delis … with great variety of sandwiches, pizzas, panini, and everything else one may want for a snack.
I have to say, after living in London (even though just for a short period), NYC is not that intimidating, and I think London is a much more liveable city, with lots more to offer….Don’t get me wrong, I like the vibe of NY… and I’ll defiantly be back within next few months (probably with Pamela, for a weekend), but I don’t think I could live here.
There are definite characters (almost everyone is a caricature), and people seem to have a hard edge to them, with attitude around every corner.
The streets and crowds around Manhattan were nuts … and as for shopping … forget about it … I think you need the attitude of a New Yorker to push your way through the crowds during the festive season!

KEENE

The city itself is quaint … there is no other way to describe it.
The insurance company has its headquarters here (other offices all over the US and Canada), and approx 500 employees located in Keene, so I guess it’s a significantly large organisation.
One thing that has come out in last week or so is that the Moscow project has been staffed, and that I have been allocated to this project for next 9 months (4 weeks on, 1 week off flying back to London) …. So I guess Im still taking it all in.
I find it a bit ironic that I move all the way to London (to be in Europe), and I end up in the middle of nowhere in the US of all places (no reflection on Keene, it is quite a nice place) …But on the positive side, the skiing here is supposed to be great … so I guess its one way to learn to ski.
So that’s where Im at …Im heading to London for Xmas & New Year… and I think I will re-asses everything then … talk it over with Pamela (we are thinking of going to Egypt over the Xmas week, a cruise down the Nile) … so it will be a nice break, and time to take the last few months in, and assess the upcoming year.
From a Career point of view … I still think its an amazing career opportunity …. However there is the sacrifice of being away 4 weeks at a time, in a city the size of Mount Gambier!!
New York is a 4 hour drive south ... so i will defiantely aim to see it .. and if I choose to stay in Keene instead of flying back home (during the week off), my UK firm will pay for Pamela to fly down ... so that is a positive too!

RED EYE

I left Vegas on the Red Eye …which is the nickname for a flight that leaves the West coast late at night, and arrives on the East coast the next morning (ie Las Vegas - Boston).
I never thought much about the name … but when you leave Vegas at 10pm, and have a 5 hour flight, and lose 3 hours time difference .. you arrive at Boston at 6am .. and feel like crap…. With minimal sleep
That’s what I did … then hired a car and drove towards my assignment … approx 2 hours north-west of Boston....it was snowing … (sideways, that’s how much wind there was), and I sort of got lost … so it took closer to 3 hours to get there … enough time to check into the hotel, quick shower … and off to my first project.

DOWNTOWN FREMONT

The Vegas downtown is actually where it all began in the 50’s .. and its located approx. 5kms north of the main strip casinos.
I visited it on Saturday night, and it had a great feel of a yester-year … the neon lights were buzzing and the casinos had the old-school atmosphere about them …. I really enjoyed this place probably more than the Strip!! (I wondered how many tourists don’t ever wonder down this far).
Unfortunately I came back to visit the next day, and without the disguise of neon, it is quite a sad place … run down and definitely looking run down.

I have to say, two nights in Vegas was enough for me .. its definitely not enough time to see all the hotels/casinos/shops, but after 2 days you get sick of all that.

VEGAS BABY

I have to say that on first impressions it’s a collection of the worlds greatest tourist attractions (all be it downscaled immitations), crammed into 3-4 miles of the Strip (Las Vegas Boulevard)….. New York, Paris, Venice, Cairo … quite a sight…. You can honestly come here and not have to gamble …. the hotels/casinos are so over the top its an attraction in itself.

Well I did have a wager … and no … definitely did not come out in front!! … but I guess that was on the cards !! …. (ahhhh, irony in words)

CERTIFICATION COMPLETED

On the last Friday of week 4, I made a final presentation, and was certified by Guidewire … I think quite an accomplishment, considering that only 3 of our group finished the work load in allocated time (the other 8 or so were running behind scheduled into week 5, and its not an indication of their inability, but rather an indication of the demanding workload).
As for visiting Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge … that did not happen… during the days prior I found out that my shadowing project is in New Hampshire (approx 2 hours north-west of Boston).... On the positive side … the flight to Boston is cheaper if I stop over in Las Vegas … so that’s a no brainer!!
I certified at 10:30am on Friday .. and was on a plane heading for Vegas at 1pm …. Pretty hectic … but it gave me Friday till Sunday night to experience something which is truly American.
.......Viva Las Vegas ...... thank you, very much ... hmmm .. thank you

SAN FRANCISCO

I made my way into SF a few times during the month … expecting to do Alcatraz and walk across the Golden Gate Bridge once training was completed … It was hard to relax with such an overwhelming workload waiting back in the hotel.
The city itself was ok … but nothing really grabbed me … ok … it had the steep streets and trams, famous bridges and the marina, but I suppose that being in the hotel 40kms away from the night life … its one side I didn’t get to experience, and I heard its supposed to be really good.

GUIDEWIRE

The software that Guidewire has developed is highly configurable (which means that 3-5 consultants can come in to any insurance company, and within 6-12 months integrate it into current claims processing system)….its mainly aimed for claims and policy processing, using a web front-end … which is pretty innovative considering that most insurance companies are still using outdated mainframe ‘green-screens’.
The training was in two parts …. Modifying the web display to add functionality that may be required, and the back end … integrating it with existing system.
The company itself is experiencing a snowball in demand (doubling in size every year for past 3-4 years) and currently has a global presence …. with two projects in Australia (QBE in Sydney and Suncorp Metway in Brisbane) … Who knows I may be back in Oz a lot sooner than expected!!

CERTIFICATION TRAINING

Its been a while since I have updated the Blog …. but I have beef flat out for the past month completing the training …. And I have to say, its probably one of the most challenging things I have ever done, and could probably not do too many times again … 14 hour days, 7 days a week, for a month …. Completing exercises, and checkpoints which targeted system modification, integration and implementation of plug-ins … if that doesn’t make much sense … don’t worry … it was all fairly new to me (and the dozen others doing the course)….All participants found it very overwhelming .... thrown in the deep end … trying not to sink.