Bits and pieces ...

When you move to a new city you are always comparing things against the last place you lived (in my case - London). So here are a few of the bits and pieces that have struck a chord:

• NY weather is not stacking up over the last couple of weeks - lots of rain and not very warm - about 70 degrees on average which I now know is about 21 degrees according to the rest of the world. London is warm and sunny since I left
• Fruit stands - in midtown there is a fruit vendor on almost every corner. So why does everyone still stuff their face with O'Henry bars and twinkies? I had decided to give my fruit custom to the guy on the corner just before my office, and he was fine for the first few mornings. Then I branched out from bananas, and got two apples as well. Well, one apple had a large cut in it from what looked like a wire basket, and the other had a giant bruise. Needless to say my custom has moved across the road... no complaints so far
• Subway vs tube - tube wins by a country mile on balance. There are some ways the subway is better - the buskers tend to be 3 men doing some gospel singing which is great as opposed to that annoying guy on the Northern line with his: "Sorry to disturb you all. I know it has been a long day and you are probably fed up and don't want to listen to me, but I would be ever so grateful... etc". Also the subway runs 24 hours, but no one would really catch it after dark. Those are the only upsides. Downsides of subway - dirtier; no indicator boards so the next train could be in 10 seconds or in 20 minutes - on the weekend I waited 25 minutes for a particular train(!); fewer seats, and the seats are hard plastic; subways only run north-south on Manhattan, so are useless for going across town - need to rely on buses or taxis (which are very cheap I have to say!)
• food - still huge portions. My favourite advert of the week is for Papa Johns, which goes "Do you like fajitas? And do you like pizzas? Well, we have COMBINED them!" then it goes on to describe this delicacy in lurid detail, together with pictures of cheese, crust, chicken, more cheese, fajitas and fat families guzzling. Ugh!
• laundry rooms - for the first time in years, I have a laundry room instead of an internal washer/dryer. I thought this would be awful, but there are actually only upsides so far - rather than waiting for one load to finish and then doing another (eg whites, then colours, then bedding etc), I can run three washers simultaneously - whooppee! It costs USD2.50 per load in the laundry room (provide your own washing liquid), and I felt great knowing everything was going through at one - a small frisson of excitement never goes to waste
• tipping - still annoying to have to tip everyone, but you do get used to it. I feel a bit like the dad on Married With Children at the opening credits, where I just have a sheaf of USD1's and hand one to anyone who looks sideways at me. I have not been to a hairdressers yet, where I understand that you must separately tip the person who washes your hair, the person who cuts, the one who makes you coffee, the one who blowdries etc etc. Humph.
• KMart - I am back in the land of the department store. Yippee. I miss that in central London, when John Lewis has to satisfy all department store needs at central London prices.

Oh, an update on the clothes airer - I now have one! KMart came through (once I found it - it had moved from its previous address). Many thanks to Sindy's friend K who suggested such an obvious answer to a fundamental problem. My unmentionables are now happily drying in the sun today in the window of my apartment. I am guessing that since I am on the 23rd floor, people will need binoculars to really be annoyed by them in any way. I was down to my last pair too, so saves me buying more (which was option no.2) ...