Flight was only an 1 1/2 hours late - not bad for WestJet. There were about 1/2 dozen other couriers on the flight (from various and sundry places, who flew through Toronto), so we had a good time on the flight, plus we were able to navigate from LAG to downtown Manhatten as a group (a bit less scary that way).
I gotta tell ya this place is like a whole other universe! I can't imagine how people live here 24/7 - it's go go go. Midnight I'm coming from a soiree in Brooklyn to Ann's place (she was Scrabbling until about 11:30, so I couldn't meet her earlier in the day), and the streets are packed with people, everything's open, it's hot and humid (in Brooklyn we saw several fire hydrants turned on spraying water into the street with kids soaking themselves - at midnight - just like a freaking movie or something!). This place is wild. I'm in fixed gear heaven - at least 1/2 the messengers here ride fixies, and my bike has gotten some stares and nice comments (only Rossin aluminium so far...). As we've been riding around, we've been bumping into old and new friends, and our riding group gets bigger and bigger. So far about 500 messengers have registered, with one more day of registration today - it's a pretty massive event (and surprisingly well run, so far). I'm here at Ann's for a few hours until things get going again at about 1:00pm. First race is tommorow. Tonight is the meet and greet for international messengers (of which I'm obviously one), so that should be fun. Having a great time chatting with Ann, whose hospitality is (as one would expect) first rate. More later (if I survive this city <LOL>). cheers, frank -- "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson
