Big Apple

If you don't know by now, I'm no longer in Iowa (or Nebraska for that matter).  I have had the fortuante opportunity to take an IBM training class.  That's a pretty big perk in itself.  Having your work pay you to take a $5000 class is great but my class is in New York City.  I'm pretty much on a vacation paid for by my employer with a pesky little class in the middle.  So far, I've been here for about 24 hours. 

I've only flown once before, and that was before September 11th, so I did not know what changes I was in for at the airport.  I did my research ahead of time but pretty much took a monkey see, monkey do approach and didn't get strip searched so I guess that's good.  The next hour and a half was spent playing Picross DS across from a very jealous kid who only held a book.  I was a little nervous once on board but after we were skyward I was okay again.  It was an overcast day in Omaha so it was neat to see the sun after we flew free of the clouds.  The clouds persisted all the way until the dreariness returned as we came down at Laguardia.  Rainy days are in the forecast for the next few days.  I'd like some sun but I'll be happy if I can just avoid a downpour. 

After a few wrong turns at the terminal, I found a taxi to take me to the Renaissance New York Hotel 57.  I could fit my $300/night hotel room inside my home's master bedroom but it has a cylindrycal sink...and I'm not paying for it. 

My class isn't supposed to finish each day until 5pm so I used the extra time yesterday to walk around the midtown area.  I saw most of the Empire State Building (cloudy), Rockefeller Center, the New York Public Library, Times Square (see left) and the Nintendo World Store. 

I have walked with the people and noticed several things.  There are no fat people here.  I'm probably chunkier than almost everyone I passed.  I guess if I walked everywhere I wouldn't be either.  There are also no pickups here.  Granted about 50-60% of all the cars in the streets are taxis but the rest are either sedans, buses or delivery type trucks.  ...I can also verify the people here drive like maniacs.  My New York City for Dummies book (yes, that's right) says you're supposed to ask your cab driver to stop using his cell phone while driving but I didn't feel like walking for the better part of the distance from the airport. 

Also, practically everyone here has an iPhone.  On top of that, I can say that AT&T has this city covered.  At home, I get maybe 1 bar in my basement or the movie theater but here I'm on the 9th floor of a 20+ floor building, in a windowless room no bigger than my son's bedroom, and I have full signal.  Plus, this phone is worth its weight in gold as a map alone.  The only way it could be better is if I had the 3GS with the built-in compass but my iPhone has helped me find my way around. 

I'm halfway through my first day of class, waiting for the others to finish lab exercise #1.  My lunch was a hot dog from a street vendor since I couldn't find a better place to eat.  I will need to search a bit to find a "better" place for tomorrow.  On the plus side, my instructor says the class may be over by 4:30 so maybe I'll be able to go to the Nintendo store again since it closed early yesterday...I mean...take in some more sights.  I also have about $60 left of today's per diem to spend on dinner...assuming I can find a place to spend it.