It's my last day so... Oh the memories.

For the past two years and some odd months, I have practically "lived" in Philadelphia. If you think about it, most of my waking hours were spent in Center City - not at home. So leaving it, though not too too sad, is still just a little sad.

There are actually so many things I am going to miss. Funnily enough, all of these things have nothing to do with work or what I (used to) do at work. I am going to miss the city environment - the things I would see every day, the place I would have lunch, my desk. So I am documenting my favorite things I will miss (and maybe one or two that I wont) around the city...

My Mornings

At least in the beginning, when it was still new and exciting, I really liked my commute to work. Before I started here, I was driving an hour to work in a car that I lovingly call Ghetto 1. She was awesome except for the fact that you could hear me coming from a mile away and no one wanted to actually get in Ghetto 1. So my taking the train was a lot better and I could read on the train. I did a count and in the past 2+ years, I have read over 200 books. Not only is that a lot of books and time but that's also a lot of money. And I wondered where my pay check went...

Anyways, the first picture is of my train stop in the morning and of where I stood because I am crazy anal like that and have to make sure I am standing on the platform exactly where the doors are going to be when the train stops. 

The second picture  is this weird statue I've seen every day. I look at it as a landmark for the street. "If you go past the naked people statue holding some of their naked kids, you've gone too far."

And the 3rd picture is my view of market street walking to my building. I really am going to miss working in the city...

My desk... and stuff 

So one thing I am definitely not going to miss is going to be the commute to my actual desk. I had to take two elevators. Do you know how annoying that is? Especially if you have to go to the bathroom? I would get on an express elevator that shoots you up to the 23rd floor and then get on a local elevator that goes from 23 to (in my case) the 35th floor. And for the past few months, all of the elevators would stop on the 24th floor - with no one getting on or off. I know this sounds like something stupid to complain about but when all you want to do is get up to your desk and the elevator stops for 10 seconds after one floor, it's kind of annoying.

However, I am disappointed that I will no longer have the chance to bring my brother-in-law on to the top floor of a "skyscraper." I hope he isn't traumatized by this becasue I know he really wanted to go. So sorry, James. 

Finally, I would get to my desk. I know win the past, I complained (a lot) about my desk but I really love it and I am going to miss it. I like to think of it (kind of) like a mini-college dorm room because seriously, I used it as a closet, a pantry, decorated it with memories of inside jokes and people I heart. I think at one point I had 9 pairs of shoes in my drawer. I found 4 scarves while I was packing everything up.

My desk was in prime location, too - no one could ever see me. There was never any foot traffic or reason for anyone to even come and walk by my desk. I even spent a half an hour one day making my awesome friend, Giles the $1 bill origami elephant. He is pretty awesome. I have to say being secluded made life a lot easier. I didn't annoy a large amount of people with my humming/singing which I do for about 6 hours out of the day. (If anyone from Banet reads this, no nothing has changed. The people that did sit around me because you used to get the full musical review a well.) Anyways, I am really going to miss my desk.

Lunches

Just like in grade school - because I obviously haven't grow up that much - Lunch was my favorite time of the day. Like I have said in a previous post, I had some great lunch buddies. But on top of that, Center City really has some of the best food I have ever had and some of the best service, as well. Though, I don't know how good it is when the workers all know your name and what you are going to order even before telling them. (Billy Ray at DiBrunos, I will miss you most, I think.)

Qdoba, DiBrunos, ABP (both on 20th and at Liberty Place), Comcast Center... I am going to miss you. Comcast Center and DiBrunos - there are none of you in Boston and this makes me very sad. I think  I am going to have to mail order some of you spicy pasta, DiBrunos. Seriously, this is making me really sad.

The View

I have to say, one of the best things about working in this building was the view. This was something that never got old. From 35 stories in the air, I could see so much of the city.  From the window closest to me, I can see the stadiums. They are far away but I can still see them. From one of the other windows, it is like we are on top of Liberty One which I find funny because when you see pictures of the Philly skyline, I feel like my building and Liberty One look like they are miles apart. This is not so. The buildings are practically eating each other they are so close. And then there is the back window which has a great scene of my favorite parts of Philadelphia - Logan Circle, the Franklin Institute, and the Art Museum.

The ride home...

Ok, so I know I said that Lunch was my favorite part of the day but I think that was a lie because going home was definitely the best part of the day. The rush of everyone wanting to get home was a exciting because it meant that there was nothing to worry about - work wise - until tomorrow. It also meant that I go to read for 20 minutes while I was waiting for my train. And again, I have to make sure I was there 20 minutes before hand so I could stand exactly where the train doors would stop and open. (There were a few times I had to cool myself because people would try and push in front of me so they could be the first one. I would have none of this. This caused many passive aggressive fights.) I stood in this exact spot for well over a year and I am going to miss all of the crazy conversations I would hear while standing here. 

Well, that's about it. And I, of course, am going to miss many of the people I have seen day in and day out for the past 2 years. Most of them have been a pleasure to work with and I really hope that they know how much I am going to miss them. And how sorry I now feel for them because all of the humor just left the building. And if you are reading this and don't think I am very funny then just imagine how less funny it is going to be there when I leave. That's bad. 

Peace out (insert company name here). It's been a good run but now it is time for me to go and learn something new and move on to new experiences.Oh, I think I just realized I'm no longer part of a soap opera. YES!