This is my first trip to NY. I find NY to be sticky. That's my official review.

We got in, got a cab, went to the hotel. We weren't allowed to check in because we were too early, but they did agree to hold our luggage. Which meant I had to dig through my luggage in the lobby to pull out the giveaways I brought for our meeting that afternoon. That was exciting for all involved. I managed not to send underwear or other embarassing items skittering across the floor where I would be required to dive after them in my usual graceless way.

Another cab, and we have a lovely lunch meeting with our business partners wherein I eat far too much greasy food. Good for me.

We take the subway back. Everyone talks like it's a terribly scary thing, but really it just wasn't that bad. I'm sure it's not that bad on a Tuesday afternoon. I probably wouldn't want to try it at 3 am on a Saturday morning.

Back to the hotel to check. The Holiday Inn is in the process of becoming a Radisson at the time we check in, so there is a long wait. Oh joy. They let us have free drinks in the bar to make up for it. You know, that really does help.

I've been given a smoking room. Apparently the last person to be in the room smoked a spruce tree or something, because it smells like woodsmoke in here rather than cigarette smoke. I suppose that's better than cigarette smoke.

Then we meet a friend who takes us to Times Square and Rockefeller Center and then to a restaurant. Odd little place. The food was quite good, quite expensive, and yet the atmosphere was that of fast-food restaurant. But who cares? Good food and good time.

So far NY is not too bad, but I will never wax poetic about it the way some people do. I should have felt a sense of awe about being in Times Square or about being in NY at all. I don't know, maybe I'm just too old to be awestruck or perhaps it's the fact that I'm completely dead inside. Maybe if I lived here and began to feel in tune with the rhythm of the city I might see it differently. Right now I just can't have any emotion about it at all. Perhaps today I'll feel differently. I'll let you know.