[Place photo of New York skyline here]

Hey everyone!

I’m having a great time in New York! I wish my connection here in my hotel room wasn’t so sporatic, or I’d take the time to update more often. I’m on a “borrowed” wireless connection from someplace pretty far away. I’m barely getting a signal, and I’d hate to think what the speed is, when it works. It’s certainly better than dialup which would cost me .75 for the first minute and .15 USD for every minute after that — And that’s just the fee to call out of the hotel. Add in the service fee from an ISP, and it’s over the top to connect here.

It was so great to have Jenn here until Monday evening. We certainly had some adventures… It was lonely coming back to an empty hotel room that night! What with no one to snuggle with in the queen sized bed, (place silly grin here) I felt a tad abandoned! LOL! Seriously though, my first weekend wouldn’t have been the same without her — She had some awesome ideas for what to do.

I’ve learned a few lessons this week… I’ll share a couple:

a) When paying a cab driver with travellers cheques after drinking too much on the plane, have someone else look at the denomination before signing them over! I’d asked for $20 cheques at the bank that morning, and assumed (ya, ya, I know — I should assume, but it was dark, and I wanted to go out and play!) they were $20s I’d paid the cabbie for the $67 cab ride. It’s quite the sinking feeling the next morning when you see $50 cheques in your wallet, let me tell you. ARGH. $150 to cabbie. What an asshole. (Not to mention the extra cash I gave him to make it $67 plus his tip… SHIT!)

b) New York subways are really, really disgusting when you are already not feeling great. Don’t go there when you are feeling nausiated! I had taken a couple of ephedra at lunch on Saturday morning to help wake up, but did so on an empty stomach, and by the time we left the lunch place, I was feeling pretty gross. I felt just fine when I woke up — I shouldn’t have taken the ephedra. I also wasn’t expecting the subway to feel like a wet, thick, disgusting oven. On my way down the escalator, the motion of the halting movement made me feel like I was going to puke on the spot. That would not have been good, because Jenn was standing right in front of me. I managed to hold back the urge until I got to the bottom and ran around the corner and vomited just as a train was arriving. How completely embarrassing is that? I must say though, once I lost that lunch, I felt much better for the rest of the day.

c) Buy GOOD walking shoes when seeing the Big Apple. Jenn and I must have walked for about 7 hours straight on Saturday, September 11… Including a visit to Ground Zero. What a strange, and emotional experience that was. There was such an ecclectic group of people visiting there that day — Jenn took some photos of some of the people. As a matter of fact, we hadn’t planned on going there, but we missed our stop and when we got off the next stop, we walked out of the subway right near the World Trade Center site. It was an interesting day, but my feet certainly felt like they were going to fall off by the end of it!

While Jenn was here, we saw the lower east side, met some cool, friendly people, went shopping, ate Afgan food, saw a Burlesque show and stand-up comedy, drank cosmos, watched a cab run into a light standard, saw the Hudson river and battery park, and took Jim out to dinner. I’m sure I missed a ton from that run-down, but we definitely kept busy.

This business week has been exciting as well. The tradeshow turned out to be excellent, and Jim and I both made some great contacts, as well as finally meeting some people in person that I’ve only met through email in the past. My feet were killing, but the experience was worth the pain

Last night I decided to go out and meet some locals on my own after a late dinner with Jim. I went for a walk down the road, and went to the bar that the front desk guy suggested only to walk right back out as it smelled like pee. Ewww. The next bar right near it was okay — Good music, and when I sat down, two guys immediately bought me a martini and talked with me for a bit. Suits that were from out of town as well. I didn’t get a good feeling from them, so I quickly finished off there and went to another bar that a cop suggested I try. (I figure if anyone will know the night life, he would). He was right — It was a laid back place that immediately felt comfortable. I sat and talked to a guy from France who demanded that he buy me beer… (How can you say no to that?) He had some fun stories, and it was a neat departure from the standard pickup lines I usually hear in bars.

Finally, I thanked him and left as it was getting late, and I needed to be up early in the morning to work on some things that have been waiting for my attention all week. What a great night… Guys outside of Vancouver are so much more outgoing, in my opinion. I didn’t make eye contact with anyone before they started talking to me, and it certainly didn’t take long to have someone initiate conversation. It was a great experience, and I’m glad I decided to head out last night.

Well, I should get back to work here. Only one more sleep until I leave for home. I can’t believe the crazy hour I land — 2am Saturday morning. It was very sweet of Vern to offer to pick me up. It’s so much nicer coming into an airport knowing someone will be there to greet you.