Brrrrrrrr . . . But I Heart NY

I'm here, but there's a word of the day: frigid. Yes, I tell you, it's darned COLD! --especially 86 stories in the air! (at the open observation deck of the Empire State Building!)

(Low tonight about 16, wind chill at 0 or -1. High tomorrow about 23. Lisa had to approve the new gloves I had to buy today; after all, her being from Wisconsin, and this feels like home. She also knows what things keep you warm (and even loaned me her gloves for the first half of the day today, with her wearing mine because she wasn't as affected by the cold as me. (And mine are good for driving, but not warmth. What a sweetie!)

So yes, I arrived safely in New York City late Tuesday night, after yes, yet another delayed flight. Sigh. (I'm actually missing American Airlines right now. And that's not totally fair. Northwest had many many timely flights for me this year. it just so happens that these last three in a row have all been delayed over an hour.)

Anyway, Lisa's flight had gotten in about thirty minutes earlier, so she had waited, then we were off to Midtown Manhattan--to the New York Hilton, just about five blocks south of Central Park and about the same north of Rockefeller Center.

Standing in line for a taxi took about twenty or thirty minutes, and when we finally got to a cab, there was a sea of them! An entire parking lot was filled with taxis just waiting to pick up the next fare. I think that's when the cab became my NY symbol, as that's now one of the two magnets I bought for my fridge. (I collect magnets from places I travel, and that way my 'fridge is always a happy memory wall..) I also I bought a small metal cab for my office. (I also get something small for my office when I travel for work.) And my friend Lisa surprised me with a taxi cab pen for good luck when I had to take a couple of hours today to work on tomorrow's presentation.

Anyway, it was a fabulous day, and I'll post details and pictures soon. But seriously--this is an amazing city. And except for one grumpy man in a wheelchair (which I would be grumpy too at that eye level on a very crowded sidewalk), everyone has been very friendly--even the cabbie who stopped and picked us up tonight although we were standing on the wrong side of the street. After all, he said, it was cold.

No, actually, it's FRIGID! Brrrr.....