Looking for America… - February 2

I write this from somewhere in Connecticut, or New York, or Massachusetts. To tell you the truth, I don’t know where exactly I am. I’m on a train heading from Providence, RI to New York, NY. We were going through this little town a few minutes ago and I was looking out at the scenery. The iPod (codename: Pdiddy) was jamming away and it suddenly struck me how romantic (not in the “I love you so much” sense) the whole thing is. Perhaps romantic isn’t the right word. Cinematical sort of comes to mind. Almost like the music was the soundtrack for my life. It was No Doubt, and if I had to come up with a soundtrack for my life, they would be heavily featured in it. No Doubt and Cake.

I’m on a four-day tour of some of the coldest places in America. Except that they’re not really all that cold right now. I expected three feet of snow and temperatures somewhere between ridiculously cold and insanely cold. Instead it’s really just irritatingly cold. Actually nothing worse than what we would experience in one of our seasonal cold snaps in Dallas. Kind of disappointing really. I kind of wanted to see what that much snow piled up would look like. Tuesday night and Wednesday were spent in Providence, RI. We were doing some work at a distribution center in Massachusetts, but Providence was sort of an easy place to come and go from. It was interesting to get to see some of the more operational aspects of the company. Fairly cool.

Last night was pretty low key. We went to eat in an are of Providence called Federal Hill, which was highly recommended by our co-workers who had been to the area before. They say that Federal Hill used to be a center for Italian mob activity, so we’d be able to find some of the best Italian food there. Don’t know about the mob stuff, but they were certainly right about the food. Amazing stuff. I recommend Andino’s if you’re ever in the area. It was small, but the plates were huge and the service and food were both excellent.

We’re now on the way to New York, via Amtrak. It’s not my first train trip, but it’s the first one I’ve done in the states. The scenery is different from what I saw on my way from London to York in August. Oh, land looks like land pretty much everywhere, but there seems to be way more stuff on our land, at least in this part of the country, than there was in the UK. I’ve seen some ratty-looking homes perched on the shores of lakes, or they could actually be bays now that I think about it. I’ve also seen some nice homes, but it’s the ratty ones that stick in my mind. It’s obvious that the land is worth a lot; you always end up paying a premium for lots with a view of the water. The houses could do with a little fixing up or, in some cases, tearing down. One thing that’s different, all the houses are wood. They may have siding on them, but they’re definitely not brick. I wonder why brick is so commonly used in Texas but not here. I would think it would be the better building material. Maybe I’ll look that up sometime. Don’t count on it though.

We’re only spending a couple of hours here, 9 at the most, unless we miss our flight. We’re visiting another distribution center. Tonight we hit the air for a visit to Pittsburgh. Great timing for that one, what with the Steelers in the Super Bowl on Sunday. The city should be going nuts. Thank God we don’t have to stay over night there. I can’t stand the Steelers. After that it’s home again. A short trip by our usual standards, but an interesting one nonetheless.

Fast forward a couple of days…

I have now returned from my little adventure. New York was as much as I could have expected from only being there for one day and that spent entirely in a warehouse. Entering was great because I got to see the city laid out in before me on from the train. I love New York. Too bad it’s so expensive. It would be great to live there for a year or so, but I’m not willing to take a cut in my standard of living just to do it. Pittsburgh was a surprise. As expected, everyone had some sort of Steelers’ paraphernalia working, whether it was a hat or a jersey or a sign on a building. The town loves their Steelers. What was completely unexpected was how pretty the city was. The rivers coming in and the high hills riding along side them really contributed to some very pretty landscapes. There were some buildings that were built high enough on the bank opposite of the football stadium that the residents would be able to watch the game for free. I wonder how long that’s going to last. I can’t imagine the owner of any professional sports team allowing people to view his product without paying for it one way (tickets) or the other (advertising on tv). I’ll bet that’s a happy city today. Funny enough, after being there and meeting some very friendly people, I almost feel a cooling of my somewhat irrational hatred of all Pennsylvania sports teams. On the other hand, I am a Cowboys fan, so don’t expect any Steeler-love out of me.