Morning in New York:

I've created quite a routine, catching the 8:19 train out of Port Chester, arriving at Grand Central about 9 . . . then I have to walk three blocks west and 5 blocks north to Rockefeller Plaza and my office. I purposely take a different route every morning just to see different sites; because Manhatten is mostly laid out in a grid (especially midtown like this) it's pretty easy to switch things up.

That morning walk pretty much is all the exposure I've gotten to New York so far, but even just glancing at the shops is kind of interesting. For instance, the awning with the big red sign "99cent dreams" - I haven't gotten close enough to that one yet to tell what it's all about. And then there's "Daffy's - Bargains for Millionaires" which I also haven't quite figured out. I mean perhaps it's meaning is obvious, but my sense of reality keeps rebeling against the obvious. I keep trying to make it more complicated, like maybe they're trying to say "You'll feel like a millionaire if you shop here but it's really cheap" or something. Taking that sign literally just seems so audacious that I can't quite believe it!

And then, for my excitement, there's a Bank of China just a couple blocks from my office building, and the "China Trust" building just down the way, and the people on the 22nd (or is it 23rd) floor all speak Chinese - Mandarin, at that, because I often end up in the elevator with a few of them, struggling to keep up with what they're saying, trying to understand. I really need to get back in practice with my Chinese!!

But it's time to start actually working now.