US Road signs are crap. I mean really crap. O.K. there are many large over head ones, and some by the side of the road, but very few give much in the way of notice and none are lit – making navigation at night fun.

Petrol is cheap to us. Ok a US gallon is 7/8ths of a real one, but it cost me $2.13 per gallon to fill up the hire car.

The Air Train from the airport to Jamaica (for the Long Island Rail Road and NYC Subway) is good, quick and at just $5 cheap. I’m not sure how much the LRR is, but the subway in to Manhatten is just $2 more. Down side is I had to change line (having to carry my case up and down stairs) and then walk 2 avenues and 7 streets to get to my hotel, Gershwins. Took time, was more tiring than I expecteed, plus the slightly twisting motion due to towing a case put a lot of strain on my left knee, which I had forgotten to put a brace on. For the way back I think I’ll take a cab to Penn St subway, then subway it back in.

The hotel is slightly further down town than I expected, but still, strictly speaking, Middle Manhatten. The room is quite small, but has character. There is a wireless network, but the signal is not that good and it is going to cost me $10 for each 24 hours. Not too bad, but I’ll miss the free service the Holiday Inn provided. It’s also only 802.11B service, not 802.11G so I can’t take advantage of my faster network card.

Not sure what I’m going to do tonight, but a late lunch is on the cards in about 15 minutes time. I have to phone a friend of Chris’s tonight too. He’s jsut changed jobs so is now working near Stony Brook, not in Manhatten, but there’s a good chance he’ll come over tomorrow evening for food.

O.K. that’s all for now.