I’ve recently embarked on a couple new careers. First, I am now officially a free lance writer. I also just completed my first week of working as a bicycle courier in Manhattan.

I’ve now been in the Empire State Building for the first time and I’ve seen Gran’ts Tomb. Actually, if you see Grant’s Tomb as a bicycle messenger it sucks. It means you’re super far uptown and you won’t be doing a lot of deliveries. At least I got a nice ride in the park out of it, though.

Yes, working as a bike messenger is dangerous, but the company that I am working for has never had a courier killed on the job, which either means they do indeed put safety first or that they’re due for a death. Basically, though, as long as you’re alert and use your head, you’ll survive. I’ve quickly found that the most important thing is to be aware when you’re getting tired. It’s when you’re tired that you might not take that second look over your shoulder for the taxi or truck approaching over your shoulder.

A lot of the clients for my company are fashion, media, law and architectural firms and one area that I spend a lot of time in is the Times Square neighborhood. Cruising along on my silent steed, I’ve given some tourists quite a start. I’m so proud to be part of their official New York experience.

I actually had a more detailed post about my experiences as a courier, but my session timed out because I ran off, on my bicycle of course, to view an apartment and my norlos session timed out. You can be certain that I’ll add more about my experiences later.