Hiving and skiving

So, we’re now fully signed-up members of The Hive @ 55, a co-working space downtown. Today was our second day there, our laptops set up on the large communal tables.

I can honestly say I never thought that I’d ever purposely seek out an office ever again after 4 years of working from home in my pyjamas! Nevertheless, it’s a surprisingly positive experience. With people working all around, you can’t help but be focused and Stacker’s Sudoku app has been getting plenty of TLC.
There’s no  avoiding the dreaded commute though as we have to slog down to Wall Street in order to go there, but so far that’s been mitigated by the novelty of just being in NYC.

Tonight, depressingly, we’re not sharking about this buzzing city but curled up at home watching the Sharks play in the Stanley Cup semi-finals (and it’s not looking at all good for the Sharks right now…)

One of the downsides to a nomadic life is making itself pretty obvious as I’m shaking off my second cold in as many weeks.. all these trains, planes and automobiles we’ve been taking are clearly equipped with anti-Brit germs.
Disasterously, I’ve managed to pass this cold on to Stack where it has morphed into a scary man-flu, hence the night in. It’s frustrating, but we’ve been cheering ourselves up making lists of all the places we’ll go to when the phlegm recedes.

On the up side I’m enjoying this ice hockey business. It seems to be the only sport where fighting between players is not just tolerated but expected. It makes David Beckham’s 1998 red card for a light tap to Simeone’s leg seem somewhat ridiculous..

Watching sports here does highlight how ad-orientated everything is here. It’s not a replay, it’s a “Corona Replay” and the commentator announces it as such. Each time there is a break in the game, we switch to targeted ads for 4x4s and razors. When the TV presenters do any kind of analysis it’ll be using statistics sponsored by Subway. And, dammit, they got to me! All of a sudden I am feeling the urge for a sandwich washed down with a beer….

This is definitely a country where you are constantly being sold to, where you can get whatever your heart desires and things you didn’t even know it desired (until someone told you on tv..).  Last week we ate popping-candy-encrusted sushi floating over dry ice, served to us in a ninja castle by someone dressed as a ninja. Don’t get me wrong, it was a fun experience.. but which poor lackey in which deadly silent boardroom was under so much pressure to come up with an idea that he pulled that one out of his derriere?