The Cage

Over here at Grand Central, my coworkers and I all very affectionately call our "office," located in "the bowels" of the station, our "cage"… mainly because just around the corner, to the right of what you can see in the picture below, is a stairwell leading up the tracks, that is very cage-like. Our office space, which is just under 5 feet wide, and 16 feet deep or so, is where I typically spend 14 hours a day, 7 days a week. We got Easter, Good Friday, Passover, and St. Patrick's Day off - all of which were awesome days. I think the next one is Mother's Day. All are days off because they affect rider-ship on the trains, and so the MTA isn't interested in collecting data.

That said - I love this job and frequently tell Janet (my friend who hooked me into it) that this is the best job I think I'll ever have. She always tells me that she seriously hopes I'm wrong. But there really are a lot of perks once you get past the space and the hours. For instance, the work is very straight forward - so it's very easy for anyone to feel very competent down here - and, I have about 100 surveyors deferring to me as if I'm important (which is a trip since most of them are in their 40s… doesn't feel right most of the time, actually) and, more importantly, there is a lot of down time. Hours between trains that I fill preparing for future days, and, when I've done all the preparations that can reasonably be made, I spend my time reading, surfing the internet, applying for scholarships, writing emails, talking on the phone, and playing the guitar (yes - I have a guitar and all the privacy I could want to play without fear of disturbing anyone/making a fool of myself): all of which my employers are totally fine with.

Other than that, I'm going to Florence again to visit Kate on Thursday and am excitedly bouncing off the white walls down here in anticipation! I'll be sure to post some pics when I get back. Hope you are all doing well!

"The Cage"