Oh my did I like New York. Easy flight out there, helpful sedan waiting for me, smooth checkin to the hotel, nice 29th floor room looking out at other buildings (I watched a few people working...)
Monday night I set out to the Lower East Side to visit a small Austrian restaurant recommended by my dear sister. And I found it. The street I walked up was amusing however: Rows of tiny storefronts, shops no bigger than Isaac's bedroom really, with a mere handful of merchandise on display. How do these places exist? How can they do enough business to survive? Then it hits me - in a city this big (just like Tokyo, where I saw similar things) any niche will have enough devoted fans within shopping distance... NYC can support the strange small things, because there are enough people in NYC who happen to like them. Whereas in the midwest, population density is such that any strange niche here would need to aggregate the entire populations of MN, WI, ND, SD, and IA, if not more. Just can't happen. I think Chicago is just on the edge of supporting strangeness, but NYC really makes it HAPPEN.
Anyway, back to the restaurant: 4 tables, 6 bar stools, full on a Monday Evening, and from my bar perch I saw the cook working one burner, one oven, and a broiler, feeding the whole place. The staff was friendly and they gave me some delightful plum schnapps to finish the evening. I took the subway back and settled in for a quiet evening...
I watched Burn After Reading - the "light" Coen Bros movie... and I must confess there are around 5 things that were flat out brilliant in the movie: Clooney's invention revealed, Brad Pitt's idiot act, Tilda Swinton's revealed profession at the end, JK Simmons' "make it all disappear" CIA guy, and "The Russians". Unfortunately, the rest of the movie was mean dumb people doing mean dumb things... I sometimes like to have ONE person in the movie I can relate to. And when the only person I can relate to is the CIA chief who keeps wondering what the hell is going on, then perhaps it was lost on me. Not a wasted evening, but time that would have been better spent on, say, 30 Rock.
I had a GREAT meeting on Tuesday AM: One of those times when you really realize that in sales it helps so much to have face to face contact, and your travel budget is completely justified. No direct business yet, but a lot of credibility built up. Plus a nice walk up 34th street in the brisk cold, but hey, it's NEW YORK. Did I mention I like this city?
Took a commuter hop up to Boston that afternoon and wandered the skyways of Prudential Center, since it was freaking COLD, and I couldn't do my traditional Boston Walkabout (strolling to the North End). On the way, discovered that my two meetings were begging off and Boston will remain a no business zone for me. So I could have gone home... but I had a meeting Wed AM with someone from a sister company in the mothership, so it was good to stay, rather than schedule a followup meeting next month.
Tues PM I had dinner at Ciao Bella on Newbury Street. Haven't been for years - last time might have been in 1997 when I was in Boston for the Data Warehouse Institute Conference. And what was odd was that NOTHING had changed since that visit. The glass tables, the leather/chrome chairs, the soundtrack (Steely Dan Aja, Sting Dream of the Blue Turtles, and some Kenny G on the CD Changer). The food was great... but the place was deserted. Wonder if they'll be there in 10?
Today I had the meeting, and we caught a lunch at Legal Seafood, which is a chain, but a very very good one. Ice and snow was building up in Boston, and I had a 4pm flight home, with a connection in Cincinnati, which would put me home around 10pm. After lunch I caught a sedan out to Logan and discovered that due to the storms, I had been moved to a 6pm DIRECT flight (still going to arrive at the same time, but at least no layover in Cinci). But then they figured out that there was still room on a direct flight leaving... NOW! RUN!!!
So I got home at 4:30pm, surprising the family (in a good way). We all had dinner, watched some cooking shows, I put the kids to bed, had some cuddles, and got to blog, all before I was supposed to be home!
The week should be a bit quieter: I have some "hot leads" to follow up on at the office, but the family should also see quite a bit of me these days too. Next week is a trip to San Fran, then a 10 hour visit to Denver (No overnight, not sure I'll have time to visit E Mexico, but I'll try). But the following week: NO TRAVEL PLANNED. YES.
Allright, that's the update. I loved NYC, I need to go back, and I need to bring Pamela. She needs to see it. It is lovely. Boston this time was a bit of a bust, but the weather was a big factor. Bring me back in the springtime and I'll be a happy guy. But first, those clients need to get on the ball. ;->
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3 comments:
Wow, you're back! I will bet everyone was thrilled to see you! Love your stories. Glad you got back with no delays. The storm looks nasty out there.
Was it Tilda Swinton, or George's wife who had the surprise identity? I recall being surprised she was a children's book writer. JK Simmonds had the best lines in the film - "get back to me when this starts to make sense" is just one of them.
Peace and welcome home.
George's wife was the children's author... Malkovich's wife (Tilda) was a PEDIATRICIAN, with that great scene at the end where the's threatening that boy....
Good to be back!
Ah, I must watch that one again. Thank you.
If you do go to 5620, or call, the storms seem to have passed but the locals are pretty "spent" - that is the brother and two sisters who rode out this past one. So you need not fear....
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