overhead windows: which means you get great views of city above you but also means you may well roast in summer. Seriously, I’d be all for this is traffic wasn’t getting exponentially worse with every passing week and I didn’t fear slow braising on my way to my destination.
charging stations for cell phones: well, thanks but um – why? Unless I am taking the taxi to the airport, I (and most people) are taking it from one Manhattan location to another. Dear God above – how long do they expect me to BE in this cab. Well, if the previously mentioned traffic gets any worse, possibly this isn’t a bad idea but in that case, vending machines might be good too.

floor lighting: now THIS I heartily approve of. Sure, I risk getting too close a look at that weird blob in the corner but if I drop my phone (wrestling it from the charging station), I can find it without accidentally TOUCHING the weird blob in the corner.

anti-microbial seat covers: these, we are told, going to take care of “those unpleasant new york city odors that have come with taxis in the past.”  Um… guys, it wasn’t just the seats. It’s summer in New York. Seat covers – even anti-microbial ones are like trying to mop up the Atlantic with a paper towel.

But despite these small misgivings, I look forward to trying one out – in 2013. *eye roll*

Yes, THAT is what has everyone’s knickers in a twist. Suddenly, the whole thing has escalated from ” some guy puffing up the benefits list for major donors, those donors making the VERY IMPORTANT DECISION of chicken or fish and then No. 10 telling everyone ‘calm down it ’cause was just dinner for crying out loud.‘ “  (which is what happened) to ” OMG! David Cameron is taking orders from people writing checks of £250,000 or more! And he refuses to tell us who was sitting at this table dictating to him” (which isn’t what happened). But why stick with boring facts if you can blow things utterly out of proportion – which makes far better copy and has the added bonus of distracted the populous from the fact that all the parties do it (as demonstrated in the Cash for Influence scandal of 2010, some even more directly than others – I’m looking at YOU, Labour. Remember Cash for Influence 2009? I won’t even bothering mentioning Cash for Honors. Oh. Sorry. I just mentioned it, didn’t I. It also helps politicians of all stripes keep anyone from noticing that they aren’t doing much else these days.

Call me cynical but it’s hardly worth yawning over. Not when it could have been so much worse. Such as, oh let’s see – convening an actual policy-making task force, let’s say an Energy Task Force for the sake of example, and holding those meetings behind closed doors and refusing the publish the list of people they met with or the companies those people represented. That? That’s worth a few twisted knickers. People writing big checks so they can get their picture taken with the PM or say they know people?  Calm down, Britain. It’s called fundraising. It’s reality. Your choice is that or funding it yourselves. Frankly, I’d prefer choosing between chicken or fish.

Anyway, the whole thing sounds like a rip-off to me.. For £250,000, dinner better be damned entertaining. Dining w/ Cameron? Snore. Mayor of London Boris Johnson? Now THAT’S value for money *grabs checkbook*

A round trip into London (approx a 45 minute ride) will cost me about $80.00! More than twice what a comparable trip on the MTA would be with less reliable service. And while I am not the BIGGEST fan of the MTA (It has its flaws as does any system) but they’ve done a ton of working improving service since I started riding them 25 years ago (and that work was recently recognized when they won the Brunel Jury Prize for overall design excellence), I think I’m gonna miss it.

So I ask you, National Rail, private rail companies, or whatever you call the head of transport in the UK: Is this crap supposed to encourage people away from cars?

I mean, I know petrol is expensive over here (stop whining, my fellow Americans – it IS more expensive over here which is why the cars have to get such good gas mileage) but damn, the train isn’t much better. I could fill up the old Ford Explorer back home for less.

And what do you get for this princely sum? Comfortable, clean rides with on-time arrivals? Hardly. You’ll get on the train but wear comfy shoes ’cause you may well be standing the whole time (running trains short is the norm since you pay the same whether you get a seat or not so what do they care). Clean? Compared to what? A boy’s high school locker room, maybe. On-time arrivals… if you define on-time as the airlines do, sure.

And this is the improved service they were aiming for when they privatized? Maybe I’m just missing the point – being the American in the Room – but I thought the point of privatizing was to take the tax payer out of the equation but I am told that the privatized rail companies still get a combined annual subsidy of £6.2bn/year! I’m not saying to claw the whole thing back to a nationalized service but for crying out loud, if the point was to improve things, they’ve missed the boat (probably because it left on time). Surely, someone – most likely many someone’s should be called upon to own up to this mess. Next time someone calls the US out for being privatization crazy, I shall point out that the MTA is a state agency and seems to do a far better job for less. Sheesh!

I can’t do anything about my stuff so I turn my attention to step-Sprog. This particular 6-year-old brain is in full-on, ‘soak up all knowledge’ sponge mode. This is an exciting and daunting prospect. Exciting because you can impart almost anything (if explained in manageable chunks) and daunting because you can impart almost anything and it’s hard to know where to start. I leave science and math to his father but I try and do my bit when it comes to:

• Geography. Off to a good start here. Put a giant world map on his bedroom wall and began showing him where NYC was and how far I’d moved from there to here. He was mightily impressed by the distance. Explained where he would be visiting over the summer – again, he was impressed. We discussed flags of many nations, why New York is the way it is (tall, quite dense and – oh yes, tall).
• Language. By and large, I fall into British usage pretty easily. This is partially due to my penchant for British TV documentaries and British history over the programs and history of my own country. And yet, there are times when I’m not wholly focused and I’ll say something that gets that look. It’s a look only 6 year olds can make and indicates both confusion (Sprog wonders why I’m telling him to put his pants away when he’s CLEARLY holding trousers) and pity (because OBVIOUSLY it’s “maths” and not “math” but I am too dumb to know any better).
• Music. Sprog’s got a good head start here – being very musical in a wholly instinctive and natural way. He frequently sings to himself, has strong views on the music played during car trips and likes bits of everything from current pop to baroque classics. I may have to slip a few show tunes in there just to round him out. I’m sure his love of all things Pirate related will make Pirates of Penzance an instant hit.
• Literature. I am already compiling a list of must haves for his bookshelves (the internet is great for list makers – as it’s almost certain that someone has already made such a list. Such as this one.) and as he is developing both a great love for and remarkable abilities in reading), this could end up being one of the great ongoing constants in life.  In fact, his current bookshelf has already required weeding out and is still bursting at the seams. If we didn’t need a bigger house for our own shelves, we’d need one for his.
• History.  He’s half way to a history degree already. Well, OK – not quite but he has decided that he wants to visit every museum in the world, he’s riveted by all things “Horrible Histories,” his Dad is a history geek and so am I. And even better, we have utterly different historical interests so we can field a very wide range of “but why…” when it comes up.

I’d forgotten what a great age 6 can be. OK, it has moments of ‘less than ideal’ (they see no point in sleeping late, toys that don’t make loud repetitive noises and even the most mature 6 year old is, when you get right down to it, only 6 years old). But he’s pretty awesome, highly entertaining and quite the cuddle-bug so I’d say I’ve lucked out in the step-Sprog stakes.

Now, I just have to cross my fingers and hope I am so lucky on finding a house and getting my stuff once more.

Bye Upper East Side, It’s been an amazing, fantastic, unforgettable 21 years…

For instance, I was away when the blasting at 72nd and 2nd began so I missed the blissful moment when it stopped. I’m in the middle of buying a house over here so I don’t know if I’ll be back in time for Blast Two: It Comes from Below. But I’m following it with interest.

I promise now that things are settling (not settled but getting there), I’ll be back regularly posting on New York and the experiences of a New Yorker abroad. In the meantime, have a great holiday and enjoy this tidbit of Gotham.

More than 700,000 people pass through Grand Central Terminal in New York City every day. Thanks to WNYC for sharing this quick VIP tour – and for showing some secrets and little-known facts about this iconic train station.