Shock Culture Reverse

Last Post

2007-03-05T05:44:00.000-08:00

This is my last post to this blog. As I said in my previous post, we are more or less over our culture shock after more than a year as suburbanites. I hope you have enjoyed this blog.

I have started a new blog -- The Dashing Commuter -- so that I can continue sharing the little stories that crop up along the way.

See you there!

Tempus fugit ...

2007-03-05T05:23:00.000-08:00

I plan to close down this blog soon and start up another. After all, we have been living the commuter life for a little more than a year now, so the cuture shock is pretty much over.

But, before I move on, I thought I'd write a little about the one thing you lose the most of when you become a commuter.

Time.

The time spent on commuting every day -- in our case about an hour and 10 minutes to an hour and 20 minutes each day -- blows a hole in your daily life. And, if you sleep on the train -- as I often do on the morning commute -- that's more lost time. And, for reasons that continue to baffle me, I wind up feeling very, very tired by the end of the week.

For Diane and me, this has been the biggest adjustment. But we have figured out ways to cope. In the beginning, we wound up doing nearly all our errands on the weekends -- which added to the exhaustion factor. We have learned to try to do as much as we can in the evening after we get home. Diane recently bought most of the groceries on a Friday night, which completely freed up the weekend.

I still find the time thing odd. After all, in both London and New York, my daily commute took 45-50 minutes -- not that much different from now -- and I did not feel it nearly as much.

Maybe it's the inflexibility of the train schedule. After all, if you miss a subway or a bus in the city, you can always wait for another one. If you miss a commuter train, you have to wait anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour for the next one. That increases the pressure to make your train.

Time and timetables have also hit our social lives. A friend not long ago e-mailed me that she had seen more of me when I lived in London or Bangalore and saw friends during annual home leaves. I am now consciously trying to see more of my friends, but it is not always as easy as I would like it.

Jay has probably had to make the biggest adjustment. New school, new friends. The hardest thing for him must be the lack of freedom of movement. In London, he was able to travel around the city by Tube or bus, and we felt comfortable about his safety. In New Providence, N.J., he can only travel as far as his bike will take him. That means the mall and other destinations are out. He can take the train, but that has its limitations and his friends -- used to being chauffeured everywhere by their parents -- are not inclined to use the train.

I hope this does not sound like whining. It is intended to be more of a reflection on the changes brought by a change in scene.

Back ...

2007-03-03T13:44:00.000-08:00

We are back from a wonderful vacation in London. We saw old friends, bought some books and walked around London. I got to see the wonderful Hogarth exhibit at the Tate Britain museum and drank some great British ale.

I took this picture at the Tate Modern, the modern art museum in a former power station on the South Bank of the Thames. The structures behind Jay and Diane are giant slides.

Yow!

2007-02-03T13:36:00.000-08:00

Saw this sign in my dry cleaner's today:

LEATHER
WEDDING

Sounds like fun! Or a Billy Idol song ...

Strange logic

2007-01-29T06:45:00.000-08:00

On this morning's train, I found a flier on my seat advertising auto insurance.

The ad concluded, "You deserve it. You are a COMMUTER!"

I wonder what else I deserve. Chocolates on every ride? A neck rub?

And Happy New Year to One and All

2006-12-31T22:21:00.001-08:00

Grim Mnemonic ...

2006-12-31T22:19:00.000-08:00

Driving home from a visit to my brother, Jeremy, yesterday, Diane noticed that Holy Sepulcher Cemetery is on Granny Road ...

Strange (holi)days

2006-12-23T20:26:00.000-08:00

This billboard for "Adult Swim," the Cartoon Network's late-night show, can be seen en route to Penn Station as you walk south on 7th Avenue. It creeps me out.

I'm baaack

2006-12-19T18:10:00.000-08:00

A friend recently expressed concern because he had not seen a posting to this blog from me in a while. Well, I have been "away" due to embarrassment.

This blog wound up getting hammered by the Awful Blogs Web site a few months ago. And, I have to admit, some of the criticisms are accurate. I did get a little carried away with my new Macbook and it's built-in camera (and I have since deleted some of the pics that were "quoted" in Awful Blogs.)

I also plead guilty, as charged, to writing some mundane, banal stuff. After the first couple of months, I had found it hard to find much to write about. Let's face it: living in New Jersey, working in New York City and commuting between the two of them are not as interesting as blogs about living in London or living in India.

The other problem: my audience is not necessarily the general public. This blog is intended for a) friends and family in the States and b) friends in Britain, who have an interest in how Americans live (There are differences. What we take for granted in America may be unusual elsewhere).

Another issue: because my "day job" is that of a journalist, I can't write anything containing political opinion. That would be wrong (and could get me in trouble with my employer). So, I have to keep it pretty vanilla sometimes. Like my other blogs, it's more of a travelogue.

So, what to do? Change the blog. It will be more like my London blog in its later days. There will be an occasional posting when I see or hear something interesting or funny. That includes pictures. I almost always have my camera with me.

I hope this makes the blog more interesting and more fun. And will keep me from getting the attention of Awful Blogs again!

No, thanks ...

2006-09-14T12:58:00.000-07:00

Sign seen in the subway: WET PAIN

Seen on a T-shirt worn by a woman ....

2006-08-16T02:56:00.000-07:00

STILLETOS

It's cheaper than therapy

In the news ...

2006-08-10T18:56:00.000-07:00

Spotted this headline in the Weekly World News supermarket tabloid: "ALIENS ABDUCT CHEERLEADERS".

The subhead read "Half-time turns into nightmare".

To grill or not to grill ...

2006-08-02T13:36:00.000-07:00

The New York metro area is caught in a bit of a heat wave this week. Last night, when I went home, the "comfort index" was around 100 degrees, give or take.

Diane and I had planned to grill some chicken outdoors for dinner.

We took our plan inside. Instead of marinade and charcoal, the chicken was graced by garlic and rosemary. Just as tasty and a heck of a lot cooler.

Free stuff ...

2006-07-24T17:47:00.000-07:00

Jay, Diane and I went into the city on Saturday (Jay was on "furlough" from summer camp). Jay and I split off from Diane.

We walked through Times Square and up Sixth Avenue and Fifth Avenue. And kept encountering people giving away free stuff.

First, we were handed some Nestles Crunch bars. A little further along, we got some Excedrin pain reliever. Finally, near the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue, we were given bags of microwave popcorn to promote the movie "Final Destination 3."

So, I suppose we could eat the candy bar and the popcorn. Then take some Excedrin if they give us a headache!

New Jersey Transit haiku

2006-07-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

New Jersey Transit trains have electronic signs at the end of each car that often produce impromptu poetry, such as the "verse" I spotted this morning:

NEVER GET ON
OR OFF A
MOVING TRAIN

Rare cellphone experience ...

2006-07-17T09:58:00.000-07:00

Going home on the train last night, some fellow passengers and I had a unique experience: a young man making a loud call on his cellphone with the speakerphone option turned on.

Yes, you guessed it. We got to listen to both sides of the conversation.

"HI, CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

2006-07-17T09:48:00.000-07:00

Cellphone users are unavoidable on the train and fall into several categories:

- Very considerate: keep their voices low and their conversations short and sweet, e.g. "Hi, I'm on the 5:20, I'll be home at 6:10. Bye."

- Considerate: keep their voices low, but the conversations go on longer.

- Not-so-considerate: loud talkers, short or long

- Really inconsiderate and clueless: loud talkers who appear to be totally unconscious that others around them are trying to sleep, read, etc. Especially annoying when the conversations are either very work-oriented ("YES, WE'LL SELL 50 AND THEN MOVE ON TO STRATEGIC RECONVERSION OF BLAHBLAH. PLEASE PASS THE WORD ALONG TO JIM AND THE REST OF THE TACTICAL OPERATIONS TEAM") or personal ('MY COLONOSCOPY IS SCHEDULED FOR THURSDAY. THEY SHOVE THIS TUBE UP ....").

Luckily, the clueless ones are relatively scarce.

Overheard on a late train home ...

2006-07-17T09:45:00.000-07:00

Older woman on a cellphone: "I'm just going home sloshed."

Change of scene ...

2006-07-15T07:57:00.000-07:00

For a change, I'm attending a professional event: the South Asian Journalism Association. Events include a panel on blogging, which I plan to attend. Maybe this thing will improve!

Wit ...

2006-07-13T05:43:00.000-07:00

When you emerge from Penn Station or the heavily used subway entrance on Times Square just around the corner from my office in the morning, you almost always encounter one or more people offering one of two free newspapers, Metro or AM New York. I often walk right by them because I already have a paper and possibly other reading matter.

This morning, a young man handing out AM New York had a novel approach.

"It's got words in it," he told me.

I still didn't take the paper, but I had to laugh.

Ahhhhh ,,,

2006-07-12T19:20:00.000-07:00

Every now and then, I need to get in touch with my Inner Brit. So, yesterday, I bought a bottle of Pimm's No. 1, a refreshing, lightly alcoholic drink mix. The drink is called Pimm's Cup.

You put some ice in a glass, pour in some Pimm's, then ginger ale, lemonade or lemon-lime soda (think 7-Up or Sprite), add a slice of lemon and -- viola! (misspelling intentional) -- you have the perfect summer drink. It refreshes and takes the edge off without slowing you down.

Diane and I had Pimm's yesterday and today (AFTER work, NOT for breakfast). If I closed my eyes, I could almost imagine those cool London summers on the terrace of our flat in Belsize Park.

Ahhhh ...

NB: I was introduced to Pimm's by a friend from Brooklyn, when we still lived in New York.

Train agony ...

2006-07-09T15:29:00.000-07:00

Last week, running late, I jumped on the train.

Turns out that it was the wrong train. Instead of the Morris and Essex Line train headed for Murray Hill, I was on North Jersey Coast line headed for Bay Head on the Jersey Shore. Much as I like the Shore, I don't like going there during the work week.

I didn't realize I was on the wrong train for some time -- I was reading. I looked up from my book, noticed some oil tanks out the window and thought, "I don't remember ever seeing any oil tanks on my route."

I soon learned I was on an express train for South Amboy.

I got off at South Amboy. After a wait of about an hour, I was on a train headed back the other way. I got off at Secaucus, the last stop before New York. I had never been in the station and my train was late. So, doing my best headless chicken impression, I ran for my next train.

I got off that train in Newark, then got my fourth and last train of the day, to Summit, the big town where the Morris and Essex line splits into two branches.

I would have had a 45-minute wait for the train to Murray Hill, but Diane took pity on me and drove over to pick me up. I got home nearly 3-1/2 hours after I had left New York and 2-1/2 hours after I had expected to arrive home.

But it wasn't all bad. Diane and our friend, Joann, who was visiting from Philadelphia, knew I would be tired, hungry and grouchy from the long ride. So, they made a very nice meal which erased the entire bad trip. Well, nearly erased!

Hot dog ecstasy

2006-07-07T05:45:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to buying a grill: a Weber "Smokey Joe" portable model. I also bought a chimney starter, my first. It's a metal cylinder a little bigger than a coffee can with a handle that enables you to light the charcoal and get it burning very quickly.

After years of struggling -- often clumsily and comically -- with newspaper, lighter fluid or paraffin starters, I have finally found something that makes grilling a joy.

It's so easy now that last night, after work, I fired up Smokey and grilled some hot dogs. Diane, meanwhile, heated up some beans.

The dogs were scorched, blistered and just a little bit burned. Diane and I ate them on the steps in the back of our house. The weather was cool for this time of year, so it was just right.

Heaven.

'lease 'tand 'y

2006-06-27T19:22:00.000-07:00

The other day, I was in a car whose public address system (British English: tannoy) was defective. So, instead of entire town names, you heard the last part of the name.

"Brick Church" became just "church" (Which sounded like the train was delivering you straight to Mass)

"Secaucus" became "caucus" (Congress meeting?) and later "cus" (Hey! Who's a cus?)

"New York's Penn Station" became "Ation"

Surreal

Great headline ...

2006-05-30T17:30:00.000-07:00

While I was on vacation, former Enron chiefs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling were convicted on fraud charges.

The New York Post -- famous for great tabloid headlines like "Headless Body in Topless Bar" -- put the story on its front page with this headline:

BAD LAY

Enron's Kenny Boy guilty, faces 165 years

Classic!

Long time gone ...

2006-05-30T17:19:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the long dry spell. I have just returned from a wonderful weeklong vacation in Ireland -- mountain climbing -- and London. Getting ready for it and going on it ate up a lot of my time.

But I'm back. Brace yourselves ...

Burgled ...

2006-04-27T18:25:00.000-07:00

I had a small shock at my health club yesterday. When I returned to the locker room after my workout, I saw the first sign that something was wrong: my lock was hanging off the door and one of the fixtures attaching it to my locker door had been ripped out.

I opened the door to find my clothes lying in a heap and my wallet -- which had been in my rear pants pocket -- sitting on top of my pants (Brit friends note: we Yanks call trousers pants).

Fearing the worst, I opened my wallet to find that every single dollar had been removed. There had been more than $160 in my wallet.

It could have been much worse. The thief could have taken my credit cards or -- worse -- taken the wallet and my driver's license.

The folks at the gym were upset and sympathetic. After I pointed out that I should be compensated in some way, they waived my fee for the next month.

A colleague who also uses the gym told me there has been about one such theft a month for the last three months or so.

Like him, I'm going to start leaving my wallet and watch behind when I go to the gym.

More vacation stuff ...

2006-04-25T14:44:00.000-07:00

While in Philadelphia, we also:

-- Visited the teeming Reading Terminal Market and had a really good cheese steak at Rick's Philly Steaks (hmmm, wonder why my recent cholesterol readings came in so high ...).

-- Went to a fantastic tapas place, Amada. It was beautiful and had great food -- one great nibble after another: grilled scallops, pork chops stuffed with cheese, etc., etc. (hmmm, why is my cholesterol so high?).

-- Walked around the old part of town and took Jay to see the Liberty Bell in its relatively new center. The bell is now placed in such a way that, when you look at it, you're also looking at Independence Hall, where the bell once hung -- and rang. It gives it meaning.

We had a great time. Later in the week, we drove out to Long Island to see my brother, Jeremy, and my mom, who live in Suffolk County (Long Island consists of two counties: Nassau County, which is closer to New York City, and Suffolk). We had a good time, eating out, visiting a nature preserve and just generally hanging out. It was good to see both of them.

Anyway, that's our vacation. Hope this was not TOO boring a tale!

Transit ...

2006-04-21T04:02:00.000-07:00

A British friend asked me if New York-area mass transit is as well developed as the trains and subways that serve London. The answer is yes. But there are some differences.

Unlike London, where the Picadilly Line, Metropolitan Line and others extend well into the suburbs -- and serve suburban commuters as well as the urban variety -- New York for the most part has a very clear separation between commuter trains and the subway (Although, to be fair, many subway lines serve New York's two major train stations: Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal).

Another major difference is that New York is much more dependent on commuter buses (Many suburban communities either don't have any train service). And a lot of us drive.

Finally, ticketing for subways and trains is separate -- in London, if you have a long-term pass for Zone 2 and beyond, you can get a discount on any train tickets. In New York, a subway pass -- we call it a MetroCard -- is good only on the subway. Commuter train passes are a separate purchase.

So, how does New York City-area transit work? First, there are the trains (New Yorkers, you can skip this unless you're a glutton for punishment or a commuter transit buff):

-- New Jersey Transit serves large chunks of New Jersey (like, duh). The trains connect commuters with Philadelphia as well as New York. I use the Gladstone branch of the Morris & Essex lines (Morris and Essex are two New Jersey counties). New Jersey Transit also operates commuter buses.

-- The Long Island Rail Road, or LIRR, serves Long Island, and is part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).

-- Metro-North rail serves New York suburbs north of the city and Connecticut.

-- In addition to New Jersey Transit, various buses head into Manhattan from the outer boroughs (Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island), Long Island and points north of the city.

-- The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey operates a subway-like train, the PATH system, from New Jersey cities relatively close to New York. (PATH trains, which make a number of stops in lower Manhattan and Midtown, are $1.50, compared with $2 for the subway. One city-dweller trick for saving money -- providing you planned to go no further north than 33rd Street -- is to take the PATH instead of the subway.)

The MTA also runs the city's subway and bus systems.

And that's New York transit, not counting train systems serving Newark and JFK airports!

Vacation ...

2006-04-19T16:51:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the long absence. I spent last week on vacation, traveling here and there. And I tend not to blog when I'm away about my travels. Call me paranoid, but to me it seems like telling potential burglars, "HI! NO ONE IS HOME NOW. COME ON IN!"

Anyway, last week we drove to Philadelphia to see our good friend, Joann, for a couple of days. During our stay there, we visited the National Constitution Center, which has a great exhibit on Benjamin Franklin on now (ending April 30). The exhibit traces Franklin's life and amazing accomplishments: Founding Father, scientist, public citizen, printer, etc., etc. The exhibit includes hundreds of documents and artifacts such as bifocal glasses, a Franklin stove and numerous documents written or printed by Franklin.

More later. I gotta run.

Only in New York (or Kyodo)

2006-04-04T17:05:00.000-07:00

New York's capacity to surprise remains one of the great joys of working or living in the city.

Today, on my way back to my Times Square office building from a break, I spotted a platoon of young women, dressed in traditional Japanese robes and make-up, reminiscent of geishas (for all I know, they were dressed as geishas, but I'm not enough of an expert on Nippon's culture to say for sure).

Delighted by this sudden burst of color amid a mostly drab early-spring tourist throng, I called out "konichiwa!" to one of the five or six young women as I rushed past. She smiled and said "hello" in Japanese back to me.

Checking out the birds

2006-04-04T16:59:00.000-07:00

With the advent of spring and warmer weather, I've been seeing a lot more birds and different kinds of birds from the train to and from work, and at the Great Swamp Wildlife refuge.

From the train, I've seen a lot of Canadian geese and ducks, swimming in the lakes and streams of the Meadowlands, the great expanse of wetland that you pass through on your way from inland New Jersey to communities along the Hudson like Weehawken or Hoboken.

The Meadowlands, which bear the marks of decades of industrialization but still retain a trace of wildness, have a reputation for being heavily polluted.

When I told some of my co-workers about my commuter birdwatching, they joked that the ducks and geese glow in the dark.

Torpedos Away ....

2006-03-27T17:59:00.000-08:00

On the train home tonight, I noticed a small, red locked metal box in the entryway to my car. The label appeared to read "Fuseless Torpedos."

Intrigued, I asked a conductor about the box.

He explained that:

-- The label actually read "Fusees & Torpedos"

-- Fusees are essentially handheld signal flares

-- In railway parlance, torpedos are something that used to be put under the wheels of a stopped train. If a stopped train rolled, the wheels would roll over the torpedos and cause them to explode, alerting the crew.

According to the conductor, the torpedos are no longer used by New Jersey Transit because when they exploded they sounded too much like gunshots and because train crew were taking them home and playing with them.

Very amusing but a little disappointing. For a few, brief moments I was thrilled to think I might be riding on a torpedo-armed train. Oh, well.

Star Gazing

2006-03-26T17:20:00.000-08:00

Our London friend, Amanda, is visiting New York for a few days. We hooked up with her on Saturday for some ice skating at Wolmann Rink, fantastic hot chocolate at one of ABC Carpets' cafes and dinner at Tribeca's Odeon restaurant, a favorite of ours.

During dinner, actor Harvey Keitel walked in and took a table nearby, facing me. A few minutes later, I was told that a party including singer Debbie Harry of '80s rock group Blondie fame had taken up a table behind me.

Seeing Harvey was a surprise but not a huge one. He lives in the neighborhood.

This is one of the things I've always loved about New York -- seeing stars.

As always, we followed proper etiquette: you recognize the star in question and you quietly confirm their identities with whomever you're with. But you do NOT go up to them and tell them how much you loved their last book/movie/whatever or ask for their autograph. You let them be (To be honest, I think Debbie Harry caught me checking her out to confirm that she was she. Sorry, Debbie).

At the mall ...

2006-03-12T14:31:00.000-08:00

I'm at the Mall at Short Hills -- which just happens to have an Apple shop with handy laptops.

In the 'burbs, the mall is the gathering place. Much of what you do here is shop, of course. But there's coffee and meals and, on a cold, rainy day today, a chance to walk around without getting cold and wet. Not terribly orginal thinking, but true.

I'm not much for malls. But the Apple shop and Nordstrom's espresso bar makes this one a lot easier to take. If only there was a book store.

Ikea furniture, on the other hand, can be the Pit of Hell (Went there today to buy a TV cabinet).

Shock

2006-03-10T11:25:00.000-08:00

During a slow moment at work today, I "Googled" a former girlfriend from many years ago, Beth Hill, to find out what she was up to.

I was stunned to find out that, about a month ago, Beth suffered a stroke, went into a coma ... and died. At 50.

An old friend, Dottie Ashley of the Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier, wrote an appreciation of Beth. I think it captures her well. Beth was smart, cheerful and spontaneous.

Diners ...

2006-03-07T08:45:00.000-08:00

Our continuing exploration of New Jersey includes checking out the diners in our neck of the woods.

For my British readers: the diner is an American institution. The closest British equivalent is the caff. Think good, fried breakfasts and hamburgers. The main difference is that the classic caff is an urban phenomenon whereas the best diners are found on the road.

We live not far from New Providence's Prestige Diner. Breakfast is OK, but dinner is to be avoided (think mountains of food with heaps o' cheese).

Last weekend, we went diner-hunting and found the Stirling House Diner Seafood Pavillion, about 20 minutes to the west of us. VERY good breakfast, including a generous helping of home fries whose ingredients included chopped green peppers. Mmmmm.

The Summit Diner is also on our radar. Stay tuned.

Get It? Hic!

2006-03-03T09:16:00.000-08:00

Took a slightly different route out of Penn Station this morning and noticed a bar named "Kabooz's".

Caboose. Booze. Kabooz.

I'll take my laughs where I can get 'em.

Brrrr II ...

2006-02-28T05:55:00.000-08:00

It was COLD yesterday. The temperature in New York's Central Park hit a low of 18 degrees F (-8 degrees C) and it gets colder where we are. The low but constant wind made it even nicer.

Diane and I abandoned our usual morning walk and took the subway to work.

As far as I'm concerned this was the first REAL bitter New York bitter winter day we've experienced, the kind I'd been dreading after five years of mild London winters and balmy Indian ones.

I'm very glad I paid attention to the weather forecast on Sunday night. I swapped the light London parka for the long New York coat.

It's warmer today -- the forecast low is 23 degress F (-5 degrees C) AND we got a cosmetic dusting of snow overnight. I did the walk this morning.

Sylvan Heaven

2006-02-26T14:38:00.000-08:00

The weekend before this one, I went for a walk in the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge first thing in the morning. I was the only one in the refuge, and it was very peaceful. I walked through the forest swamp on a boardwalk path -- which still had some ice on it, so I had to walk carefully.

The 0.4-mile path leads to a bird blind, where I enjoyed watching lots of English, or house, sparrows, three blue jays, and a northern cardinal, among others, jockey for birdseed at a feeder. It was cold but not uncomfortable. When I had seen enough of the bird show, I turned back.

Then came the surprise -- though, looking back, I should not have been surprised. Two white tail deer that I'd spooked with my noisy hiking boots suddenly bounded into view and away. I only know they were white tails because that's about all I caught sight of as they fled. Wonderful.

Postscript: Today, Jay and I were driving back from a shopping trip (a mall, where else?) when we came upon a group of five white tails, including what looked like a younger deer. I stopped the car to allow them to cross the road. Four ran across. A fifth hesitated for a second, then realizing we were staying put, caught up with the rest.

OK, it IS the suburbs. But these suburbs are a little wilder than I'd expected. And I'm very happy about that.

Commuter Hell

2006-02-22T18:42:00.000-08:00

Last week, I finally hit a baaad commute.

-- Missed my regular 7:09 train (Note to self: Do NOT eat high-fiber cereal the morning after having vegetarian chili for dinner).

-- Took the 7:33 train. Which does not sound so bad, except that it's a short train (three cars) and is so crowded you have to stand for two stops -- or more (Quickly learned the trick to getting a seat: stand near one of the seats holding groups of teen-age girls. They get off at Summit two stops from Murray Hill, presumably where their school is located. You then zip into the seats they vacated).

-- The 7:33 goes to Hoboken, New Jersey, rather than Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan. So, you still have to get to Midtown. Options: The PATH subway or a ferry. It was a nice day and I was making good time, so I thought I'd take the boat. After being directed to one of two piers, I find that I have jumped onto

-- The wrong boat, heading for the World Financial Center waaayyyy downtown. As soon as the ferry puts ashore, I debark and

-- Run/walk quickly to the subway stop in the bowels of what's left of the World Trade Center. Take subway to 42nd Street.

-- Arrive at work breathing hard but just five minutes late.

Next time, I will make SURE I'm getting on the right ferry.

Things change ...

2006-02-15T03:16:00.000-08:00

When you're away from your home country for nearly five years, you find yourself in what I think of as a Rip Van Winkle situation every now and again.

For the most part, my Rip Van Winkles have involved inflation; e.g., a lunch that cost $5 now costs $7 (or more!). I'm STILL getting used to that.

But, a couple of days ago I had a bit of cognitive dissonance. When I left my building for a lunch break, I could not help but notice the three SWAT-type police officers standing just outside. They were wearing helmets and carrying automatic rifles. As I walked through Times Square, I noticed more cops than I'm used to seeing normally.

Before I left New York, this usually meant something was up, like a major protest demonstration or a specific threat -- and the cops were there to handle it.

In separate conversations, I asked some of the cops and one of our building security guys what was going on.

It turned out that nothing was up. I was told that, these days, the city puts 100 or so cops into given areas every couple of days or so, so they can rapidly respond.

It's a measure that went into effect after 9/11. How smart and how sad.

Our house in the snow

2006-02-12T18:36:00.000-08:00

Our house in the snow -- check out how much snow is on the little roof over the entranceway.

Snow ...

2006-02-12T17:55:00.000-08:00

We got hit with a blizzard of record proportions this weekend. According to Weather.com, the storm left 26.9 inches of the white stuff in New York City's Central Park, beating the record set back in 1947.

Out in New Providence, we got over a foot. I trudged through it to the supermarket to get a few things.

It's quite beautiful around here. The Octagon House -- the eight-sided house that is a distinctive feature of our odd little development -- has a flat roof that was piled high with snow.

The trains are running, so getting to work tomorrow should not be a problem.

Goin' Mobile

2006-02-09T05:20:00.000-08:00

A first for me. I'm blogging on my Palm Lifedrive from the Juan Valdez Cafe on 41st and Broadway. The cafe has great coffee, leather armchairs AND free wi-fi. Heaven.

Superb Owl

2006-02-08T03:55:00.000-08:00

After a hiatus of at least five years, I got to watch the Super Bowl on Sunday. It was a lot of fun, and I made sure Jay got a look at this American ritual.

I am not a sports fan and rarely watch any kind of game on TV. But, in this age of 500 cable TV channels, the Internet, etc., there are very few events that bring all (or nearly all) Americans together. This is one of them. Watching is almost mandatory.

As I watched the pregame show (Stevie Wonder!), the game and the half-time show (the Rolling Stones!), I found myself remembering how good we are at putting on a spectacle. And let's not forget the commercials, some of them very, very good.

All in all, a lot of fun.

As for the title of this post: a friend of mine who is a native of Scotland says that when he first arrived in the States he saw a billboard for the "Superbowl" and innocently asked American colleagues what was all the fuss about the "superb owl."

Seen at Union Square

2006-01-31T17:59:00.000-08:00

Spotted this classical music trio at Union Square. Music with a political message.

Return to the Big Apple

2006-01-31T17:51:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, we all took the train into New York. It was great to be back in my hometown.

We walked from 34th Street to Tribeca, which is a longgg way. En route, we had lunch at Manganaro's Hero Boy (home to the six-foot hero). I had a meatball hero, which is one of my favorite New York sandwiches. Meatballs on fresh hero rolls, covered in tomato sauce (no cheese please, aside from a whisper of grated parmesan),

When our spirits flagged later, we popped into the Vesuvio bakery's cafe. Vesuvio is an ancient Italian bakery in Soho that added a cafe about four years ago. They serve some of the best espresso I've ever tasted (including Italy).

We went into and out of shops, ending up at the Odeon -- a New York institution -- for dinner. I had a great steak with spinach on the side. We split an apple tart at the end. Heaven.

Like I said, it was great to get back into town (and not for work!). I look forward to future excursions.

Brrrrr ...

2006-01-26T07:04:00.000-08:00

A really cold day today ... the first time it's felt like a real New York City January day.

Right now, the temperature is 33 degrees F, or 1 degreee C. It was even colder waiting for the train in New Providence or walking to work from Penn Station. Blowing winds didn't make it any more pleasant.

NOW I miss the milder London winters. And, in Bangalore, it's much warmer.

Our house ...

2006-01-22T06:47:00.000-08:00

Got the new PC, got the digital camera. Guess it's time to start finally posting pics to the site.

So, here's a shot of our "old" new house in New Providence, NJ. We live in an odd little development that feels like a cross between Epcot and Williamsburg -- all reproductions of historical houses. We even have a cobblestone street.

Before India, our homes were an apartment in an 1851 brownstone in Brooklyn and an apartment in an 1850s -vintage row house in London. They had character and charm but enough quirks that Diane and I longed for a modern "white box."

We now have the best of both worlds: a house that's basically new on the inside but looks old on the outside.

Bad news?

2006-01-15T20:06:00.000-08:00

You can expect more posts (is that a promise or a threat, you may ask :-) ).

I just set up the new computer. I've been posted from a laptop using an (as yet) unknown neighbor's wireless Internet connection (thanks, stranger). But now, I'm plugged in directly. Watch out.

Reacquainting myself with ...

2006-01-15T19:59:00.000-08:00

Snow. We had snow showers last night, which left about 1 to 2 inches on the ground. We can expect more as winter progresses.

Growing up, you learned to expect snow in the New York metro area from December to March. But we spent last year in tropical Bangalore and the previous four years in London, where snow is a rarity (I can remember one wonderful snowstorm during our time there).

So, I'm getting used to snow again. Or as I told my family last night, "I ain't driving the new car if it's really deep."

This morning, it was not not deep. And the roads were pretty clear. But I still had to keep an eye open for icy spots.

Good lord! The people here are ...

2006-01-09T18:25:00.000-08:00

Very nice. One of our new neighbors came by last night to drop off the key to our garage. And filled us in on the history of Murray Hill Square, the retail center-turned-residential-condominium-complex we are living in.

Moving in ...

2006-01-09T18:19:00.000-08:00

We moved out of our temporary apartment and into our new home over the weekend. At the same time, the first of three shipments of our stuff arrived, plus the new beds. The first batch consisted of furniture and other goods we had in London but left behind when we moved to Bangalore.

Still to come: stuff we left behind when we moved to London in 2001. And the few items we took with us to Bangalore or acquired there.

There was a small problem with the beds. We'd found the showroom models to be a tad on the high side (Diane and I are both vertically challenged) and ordered shorter versions. But the full-height beds were delivered on Friday. I called the company.

The right beds arrived the following day. As I told one of the delivery guys, I've given up my hopes of joining the Olympic pole vaulting team and didn't need the practice.

More good things (backtrack)

2006-01-04T16:54:00.000-08:00

On New Year's Day, Jay and I went for a brief walk around the nearby Great Swamp, a national wildlife refuge.

We walked along two trails -- boardwalks through the swamp -- to observation blinds. Each blind had a bird feeder in view and you could watch various birds, including a cardinal and a blue jay, visit the feeder.

It was a cold and clear day, good for hiking.

I'd been to the swamp before, but it's about an hour out of New York and going there used to be more of an expedition. It's nice to have it in my backyard. Now, Jay and I can see the swamp change with the seasons.

(Not so) bad things ...

2006-01-04T16:48:00.000-08:00

Commuting. More than anything, this is the aspect of moving to New Jersey I'd dreaded the most.

But it hasn't been that bad. I have to hunt a little bit for a seat in the morning (the station I'm using this week is the last stop before the train goes express. So it's crowded). But I get a seat and, once I sit down, I settle in with the paper.

On the way home last night, I listened to National Public Radio's evening report. Nice.

Meanwhile, prices have gone up in the five or so years I've been out of the country (surprise! :-) ). A lunch that I'd swear used to cost no more than $5 was nearly $8 today. Oh, well.

Good things ...

2006-01-04T16:44:00.000-08:00

Having a dishwasher. In Bangalore, we did not have one, probably because of the chronic power shortages that bedevil India.

It was not the first time I'd washed dishes by hand, but I'd forgotten how much time the process eats up. I had to add about 20 to 30 minutes to my morning routine.

Now, I just rinse 'em, stick 'em in the machine and start it once the load hits critical mass. Whoopee!

Folks, don't ever take your dishwasher for granted.

On the ground

2005-12-30T07:08:00.000-08:00

Jay and I arrived back in the Home of the Brave on Dec. 19. Since then, Diane, Jay and I have:

Moved into temporary housing, a two-bedroom apartment of recent vintage that Diane refers to as a "white box."
Marked Christmas Eve with my mom with dinner at the Second Avenue Deli in New York City's Lower East Side. Pastrami heaven, but a large group that included a lot of rambunctious kids made for a not-so-relaxing meal.
Visited my father-in-law in the hospital on Christmas Day, then went to my mother-in-law's house for a take-out dinner of Chinese food. Dinner was really good.
Bought a car, a new Toyota Camry. We had originally planned to buy a Corolla but found the ride too bumpy for our middle-aged bodies. This car is a little bigger but it handles nicely and feels good.
Helped my mom move out of the apartment she had lived in for 47 years. I grew up there. She was the last Oatis to move out of New York. She now lives in a two-bedroom apartment below my brother's place in Middle Island, N.Y., on Long Island.
Acquired New Jersey drivers' licenses.
Bought two beds. I spent more time yesterday lying down and trying to sleep than I have in a while.

Today, we will be getting cellphones (that's mobile phones if you are reading in Europe or Asia.

What fun! This is nowhere near as fascinating as my Bangalore blog.

A new blog ...

2005-12-19T05:35:00.000-08:00

Hello and welcome to my third and newest blog: Shock Culture Reverse.

This blog is about the process a returning expat goes through on his return to his homeland after some time abroad. In my case, I am returning to the United States after about five years in London and India (chronicled in my earlier two blogs: This Is My London and Bangalore Torpedo.

In my case, the culture shock is not just from coming home. It's from moving from urban environments -- Brooklyn, London and Bangalore -- to a suburban one. We will be living in a small town near Summit, N.J. (Diane has already found us a place to live).

I have lived in cities nearly all my life, so this should be an interesting change: from subways to lawns, from busy city streets to busy shopping malls.

I will have a native guide. My wife, Diane, grew up in The Garden State, as New Jersey is known. That should help.

I am writing this in a British Airways lounge. We arrive in New Jersey later today. Stay tuned.