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Back in New York...
Oct. 29th, 2011 09:05 pmI do not remember the last time I was so happy to be back at the house in New York.
The presentation this morning went very well. Almost all of the seats in the room were occupied, some folks stood through the presentation at the back, and quite a number of people stayed for several minutes after the time for my session had run out.
I headed for the airport after my session, and when I got there, it became apparent that my attempt on Thursday to change the date of my departure from Sunday to Saturday had failed, and that I had merely successfully rebooked my flight to a later time on Sunday. Changing my reservation to a Saturday flight would cost something like $150, which simply didn't make much sense, given the circumstances, so I left the airline counter and fired up my iPad.
It turned out I could catch a 1:50 pm Amtrak run from the Back Bay station (basically, from back near the conference hotel) which would get me to Pennsylvania Station in New York a few minutes short of 6 pm, and do so for $69. So I reserved a spot and retraced my steps on the subway. Boston's subway, by the way, is a very straightforward system, or at least the part of it that I used.
Looking out the window during the trip to Manhattan, I was impressed by the accumulation of snow on the ground. My Android weather app suggested that the snow in Locust Valley was "heavy." Finally, about 90 minutes from our destination, an announcement came over the PA system, informing us that because of the snow, the train would be about 30 minutes late getting into Penn Station.
As it turned out, the train arrived only 20 minutes behind schedule, early enough for me to catch a train headed for Jamaica, which is where Oyster Bay trains (which are diesel powered) truly originate, requiring passengers to change trains at Jamaica. In the end, I walked into the door a little more than an hour ago. There was slush on the platform when I descended from the train, but as far as I can tell, any snow that has fallen has been melted by a persistent cold rain.
All I plan to do right now is go to sleep. It has been a long day.
The presentation this morning went very well. Almost all of the seats in the room were occupied, some folks stood through the presentation at the back, and quite a number of people stayed for several minutes after the time for my session had run out.
I headed for the airport after my session, and when I got there, it became apparent that my attempt on Thursday to change the date of my departure from Sunday to Saturday had failed, and that I had merely successfully rebooked my flight to a later time on Sunday. Changing my reservation to a Saturday flight would cost something like $150, which simply didn't make much sense, given the circumstances, so I left the airline counter and fired up my iPad.
It turned out I could catch a 1:50 pm Amtrak run from the Back Bay station (basically, from back near the conference hotel) which would get me to Pennsylvania Station in New York a few minutes short of 6 pm, and do so for $69. So I reserved a spot and retraced my steps on the subway. Boston's subway, by the way, is a very straightforward system, or at least the part of it that I used.
Looking out the window during the trip to Manhattan, I was impressed by the accumulation of snow on the ground. My Android weather app suggested that the snow in Locust Valley was "heavy." Finally, about 90 minutes from our destination, an announcement came over the PA system, informing us that because of the snow, the train would be about 30 minutes late getting into Penn Station.
As it turned out, the train arrived only 20 minutes behind schedule, early enough for me to catch a train headed for Jamaica, which is where Oyster Bay trains (which are diesel powered) truly originate, requiring passengers to change trains at Jamaica. In the end, I walked into the door a little more than an hour ago. There was slush on the platform when I descended from the train, but as far as I can tell, any snow that has fallen has been melted by a persistent cold rain.
All I plan to do right now is go to sleep. It has been a long day.
