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So I'm back in New York City, but not without a little craziness, just to make the experience interesting.

All the headlines here are about a new al Qaeda plot to attack the city's financial centers -- particularly the New York Stock Exchange and The Citicorp Center -- and everyone here seems a little tense.  This new threat, on top of all the security that's already beginning to pop up because of the Republican convention (oh, lord, how I wish I could be in town for those protests!), is making the city a little crazy.

Being away for most of the summer has left me a little shocked at how smelly this town is during the height of summer, and I'd forgotten -- or become de-desensitized (re-sensitized?), I guess -- to the noise.  I called Kevin Lageman while I was walking down Seventh Avenue, and could barely hear a word he said.  'Course, it's important to remember that he was at work, and he can't really talk all that loudly when he's there.  Still.  This fucking city is loud.

Anyway, my return to the city was kinda crazy.

My flight my from Pittsburgh was about an hour late taking off, 'cuz some sort of storm activity had the New York control center just grounding all the flights heading to NYC, 'cuz they were already so backed up that planes were just circling the city endlessly.  I finally got into the airport at 12:10, and it took 'til nearly 1:30  a.m. to get a cab!  In New York City!  I made the mistake of using the restroom before going to baggage claim.  The up side is that I didn't have to wait for my bag to appear; it was already on the belt.  The downside is that everyone else from my flight had gotten their luggage and was already queued up for a taxi, so I was at the end of a very long line -- and the taxis arrived at the rate of one every couple of minutes.  The upshot is that I didn't get home 'til nearly 2 a.m., and wasn't into bed and asleep 'til after 3 a.m.  And of course, my alarm went off at 9:30.  I'm whipped.

Still, it's good to be home.

I spent most of the morning, lying about and feeling the heat.  I must buy an air conditioner.  It's gonna kill me here without one.  Seems kinda pointless, though, since I'm going to be leaving in another two weeks, and won't be back 'til the middle of November.

We'll see how that goes.  Right now I think I'll just focus on getting my rent paid, my apartment painted, and getting my furniture out of Gavan's house.  I still haven't heard back from him on that; I e-mailed him about talk about what should go and what shouldn't while I was still in Pittsburgh.