Well, it’s been a while and I’m willing to bet people are wondering how things went in New York. Short answer? It was interesting.

I had thought I would like New York, since I really kind of liked Los Angeles - both are big cities. I was wrong; NYC was too cold and gray. The sun never reached the ground because of the tall buildings, and the sidewalks were narrow for being so crowded (it was even worse in the stretches that were undergoing renovation and were bordered with wood or plastic fencing). Everything was ridiculously expensive, and the hotel didn’t even have SciFi. I don’t know the daily rate, since I wasn’t paying it, but with every pay-channel you can think of, they didn’t see the need for the SciFi channel? What’s the matter with these people? ;PThings started off strange - when we got to the airport, our first flight out had been postponed because the incoming flight had been delayed due to weather. (I wanted to talk to someone about my frequent flyer card anyway - my name change hasn’t gone through with them yet, so they couldn’t put my frequent flyer number on my tickets) The lady at the counter managed to get us on an earlier flight that was just about to start boarding, so we went through security (Dad got stopped for closer inspection - apparently there was metal in his shoes’ soles) and got to the gate in time to hear them start the call for boarding. We got to DC in time for an earlier flight to NYC, so they let us switch, saving us an hour layover. It was a commuter flight - no assigned seats. That was weird to me, but we were waiting at the desk (to see if they could switch our luggage so we wouldn’t have to wait for the later flight in order to get it) so we got pretty much first dibs on seats - we sat in the second row, since the very front has no room for under-seat storage of carry-ons. When we got to the baggage claim in NYC, our luggage was already there and set aside (apparently first off the plane;) so we had no delays from beginning to end of our flying. Kind of nice, if a little unusual. We started to head for the door, and that’s when the hoarde of black-trench-coat-wearing drivers descended on us offering to take us where we needed to go. The lady who arranged our hotel told me that taxi fare should be about $35 from the airport to the hotel, so we held out for that fare. The first guy quoted $55, the next $45, and the last guy to push forward agreed to $35. Dad and I looked at each other and shrugged. Okay. We had expected to go outside and look for a yellow taxi, but this seemed to work. He took my rolling suitcase, and led us to…

a limosine.

It was kind of beat up, but it was still a limo. So, my first limo ride was from the airport in NYC. BUT! Things still got more interesting. He had told us he needed to stop and pick up something for his next fare (he said wheelchair, but he meant carseat), and since we were in no hurry we didn’t mind. Unfortunately, he got pulled over by a cop standing (yes, STANDING - no car or bike) on the corner (apparently for using his push-to-talk cellphone) and managed to get three tickets in one blow for being improperly licensed for commercial transportation. The cop had him roll down the window so he could talk to us, and asked us a few questions. I didn’t really want to get the guy in trouble, but there was no way I was going to start my stay in NYC by lying to a cop. He offered to flag down a properly licensed cab for us, but Dad decided he didn’t mind taking a chance on this guy, so we stayed put. Took a while, though; I’m thinking the officer wanted to give us a nice long wait;) The hotel was fancy; only a block or so from the WTC site. I’m so not used to having doormen and bellhops and so forth. Was kind of nice, though. The room was an odd shape, on the 15th floor, with a decent view of other buildings (and at night, some of the lights visible between the buildings along the river were pretty). We went to the WTC site that afternoon, since it was the biggest chunk of free time we had. The “do not buy from vendors in this area” signs along the tall fence around the site reminded me of the signs on the beaches at the Great Lakes, so I pointed at them and said, “Don’t feed the seagulls.” I thought it was funny, but Dad didn’t react until later; apparently I didn’t make the connection clear enough.

I have a habit of staying up all through the night before traveling (it’s weird, I know, but that’s me) so I was exhausted enough to go right to sleep after we had supper and went back to the hotel. Dad stayed up to call Mom on his cellphone and watch Skating with Celebrities (we caught the first episode by accident and liked it - it’s more interesting than watching all the experts do pretty much exactly the same thing one right after another). We (or rather, He, since I was asleep by then) would have watched the Stargate SG1 mini-marathon that SciFi runs every Monday, but as I griped above, the SciFi channel wasn’t available. Our meeting the next day was to start at 9:30, so we planned to get up early enough to go a few blocks for breakfast. The way restaurants and stores and other businesses are crammed together on almost every street is very strange to me, even more than LA. Possibly because, while LA has some rather tall buildings, it has far fewer of the extreme height that NYC seems to specialize in propagating. Earthquakes, and all that. Our meeting was on the 33rd floor, and that was maybe 3/4ths of the way up, nor was it the tallest building in the area, if I recall correctly. (Nice view of Lady Liberty from the conference room, though) Most of the buildings in Brentwood Los Angeles were no more than 12-15 floors. I don’t have a problem with heights, but the proliferation of tall buildings made the sidewalks oppressive and claustrophobic. Never had a problem with claustrophobia before, but the streets of NYC - too cramped and dark. It was better at night, oddly enough, because the lights from all the storefronts contrasted cheerfully with the dark of night. In the daytime it was just gray. Some of the people there complained that sometimes it gets to be 95 degrees in summer, and it’s horrible! Snerk. Try the Tennessee River valley - triple digits with just as much humidity, if not more. (Does NYC ever get tornados?) Of course, I’m quite willing to admit I’m a bit of a wimp about the cold. It was mild for New York, but it was bitter cold compared to home. Our worst winters here in Alabama are about the temperature it was there; I was wearing layers and doing my best to stay warm, but the wind was biting.

Dad liked seeing the bull statue they used in the movie Hitch. He seemed a lot more excited about recognizing landmarks he’d seen in movies than I’ve ever been. It seemed odd - he’s usually not excitable about movies/TV at all. Oh, and the fact that the Stock Exchange is stuffed in the middle of all the same businesses and restaurants and high schools and police departments? That was strange. I’m used to having official buildings separated from the rest of the “riffraff.” Maybe it makes me sound hick, but really, it seems a little like mixing plastic spoons and stainless steel in with the silver.

We took a regular yellow cab back to the airport; the doorman (and doorwoman!) took our luggage to the cab that was waiting and told the cabbie where we needed to go…if we’d been experienced NYC visitors, we could’ve told the doorman everything and never talked to the cabbie at all, but that would be snooty. Dad asked both drivers (on our way into NYC and on our way out) for their opinion on illegal immigration. I cringed inside; politics can be instantly inflammatory, but both drivers were legal immigrants who seemed to share the opinion that illegal immigration needs to be stopped and the illegals need to be made to go through proper channels. Not surprising; they had to go through the hoops, so why shouldn’t the rest of the would-be immigrants? The guy who took us back to the airport is still working on getting the legal process finished to bring his wife to the US. And wouldn’t you know it, the cab fare was about $36, like the lady had told me. The flights back were just as scheduled - no special speedy connections this time. We got home too late to pick up the pets from the vet (we board the high-maintenance ones;) so I had to get them next morning, but we were home in time to watch SG1 and Atlantis. And Dad watches Monk.

He told me recently that it’s no fun watching Monk when I offer my hypothesis of what happened/who’s guilty before the episode plays out, so I’ve decided not to watch it with him anymore. I didn’t mean to ruin it for him - and it turned out I was wrong, anyway! Can I help it that I’m *almost* as observant as Monk when it comes to Film/TV Shows? (I loved the episode when Monk was on set because an actor was suspected of killing someone - he’d be a good continuity clerk, because he focuses on details, but he’d be bad for the director’s nerves because he’d insist on fixing *everything* even if it wasn’t in frame!) He’s started watching House, too, which is weird because both he and I are extremely squeamish, and the images of surgery and other medical procedures are more than I care to watch. (When I was a newbie car salesperson, the New Car Manager took great delight in telling us trainees about the time he was working on his deck and gashed his hand open. By the time he was done describing it, I almost passed out, much to the amusement of some of the more veteran salesmen.)

So that was New York. I probably won’t go back until I’m filthy rich and can have my own limo waiting on me everywhere I want to go;)

In other news, Mom’s back in AL, which means we’re going to have to make special trips to MI to make sure the house up there doesn’t develop problems (like breakins, pest infestations, etc) It also means we’re going to be cramped again, once all the stuff gets moved back, so I need to hurry up and move out. Soon as I can, I will;) On the upside, having her coming means incentive to get the house straightened up a lot more, so the living room is blissfully empty now! (Except for a few boxes Mom brought with her - still have to get those emptied out and put away;) And the kitchen is clean, and the hallway is cleared out… Wow, it’s almost like a normal house!