Today was the worst day of my visit...weather wise that is. It might not have been as cold and windy as the past couple of days, but it was definitely wetter. However, the rain was not hard or steady so an umbrella was more than sufficient to keep me dry, especially for the 1 block walk to the conference. I guess there are advantages to being so close...the quality of the hotel is not one of them!
Breakfast this morning was good...same food as the first day but buffet style so I could get bacon that looked like it had actually been cooked. The morning session's speaker was excellent. A consultant, which is not unusual for these types of events, she makes a living teaching law enforcement, military, homeland security, etc. how to be more observant. The title of her presentation...The Art of Perception. It was very good and had some good information for security, risk management, emergency management and business continuity folks in the room.
The two morning break out sessions were very good as well...one on workplace violence and the other crisis decision-making. Following lunch...during which I had a good talk with a guy from the University of Florida...there was yet another good session on human behavior during a crisis situation. All of the sessions today could have been expanded to a much longer format...even a semester-long class. In fact, most of them only gave the audience a taste of what they were talking about and then offered suggestions for further research and/or reading on the subject.
I'm in the room right now...just bought a ticket for the Broadway production of Chicago. Shortly, I will make my way to Penn Station to catch the subway "uptown" but more importantly I will try to find out how to catch the train in the morning. I have already purchased my ticket for the train leaving at 7:17am so I won't have much time to mess around in the morning. I'm looking at a 3-hour ride down to Washington DC then I'll probably catch the subway out to Reagan International and a shuttle or taxi to the hotel nearby.
The day/night isn't very good for picture taking but I'll see what I can do for those who would like to see bits and pieces of NYC...perhaps a few shots at the theater tonight. Wish me luck....
Good morning, I'm back. It's 0520...yep, that's right, really early. I decided to try to finish this update so I can be downstairs checking out by 0530 or so. That should give me plenty of time to catch a cab and get to the station. Then, I have to find the machine to scan my printout...which very clearly says it isn't a ticket...then find the correct track.
The performance of Chicago last night was pretty good. Of course, it would have been better had Katie Holmes been in it. However, when I walked up to the Upper Mezzanine, the usher asked me if I was by myself and when I replied yes, she took me to the back row of the Front Mezzanine and let me sit on the end. This was good for a couple of reasons: First, the seat was much closer to the stage...probably not more than 30 feet...and second, I was on the end and could stretch my legs a little bit. As I discovered at the last theater, there's not much room between rows and it can get cramped really fast.
Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so could not take pictures...my phone camera uses the flash and I didn't want to get kicked out of the theater. The key characters in the play/musical were very good. Looking at the program, they had performed in several plays over the years, some of which I even recognized.
Actually, I don't even mind the singing and dancing in these things...although as a guy I'm not really supposed to like it. I'm always in amazement that people can actually dance and sing like that...especially the men. The performance was over about 10:20pm and I quickly left the theater and headed for the subway station...only a block away. I actually went the correct direction this time and found the right track quickly. I was in my room at the hotel...even after searching for the Amtrak area at Penn Station...before 11:00pm.
Well, it's 5:30 so I better get going. I took some pictures using my cell phone...for what they're worth. The weather was a bit rainy last night but not terrible so they're not the worst pictures I've ever taken. I think the one of the giant M&M is probably the best. It's from the huge electronic billboard on the front of the M&M Store in Times Square. As you can probably tell, on this trip I kept returning to the Times Square area. It's definitely where the action was in the Manhattan area.
Oh, by the way, I decided to eat at one of the smaller, local restaurants last night and it wasn't too bad. It sort of reminded me of the old Sizzlin Sirloin type place back when I was younger where you order at the counter and everything is taken to the table on a tray. The baked potato was tiny, but at least fully cooked. The steak was the strangest Filet Mignon I've ever seen. I would have had a hard time picking it out of a line up of meats. It looked more like skirt steak or a thicker version of steak-ums...if you know what I mean. Luckily, it tasted alright...not like an expensive Filet Mignon but alright.
After dinner I still had an hour to blow before the show began so I visited a couple of the local NY souvenir shops and then dropped in to a TGI Fridays to have dessert. I didn't need the extra calories and I wasn't particularly hungry, but it did take 30 minutes or so and after all that was the purpose. The only problem I had with that experience was that the number of calories in each entry on the menu had the calorie content next to the description of the item. In this case...1450! Oh well, back to the gym when I get home for some serious cardio. I used my hurt ribs as an excuse for the last couple of months but I think I've milked that one for all it's worth.
Well, off to Penn Station and Washington D.C.
Breakfast this morning was good...same food as the first day but buffet style so I could get bacon that looked like it had actually been cooked. The morning session's speaker was excellent. A consultant, which is not unusual for these types of events, she makes a living teaching law enforcement, military, homeland security, etc. how to be more observant. The title of her presentation...The Art of Perception. It was very good and had some good information for security, risk management, emergency management and business continuity folks in the room.
The two morning break out sessions were very good as well...one on workplace violence and the other crisis decision-making. Following lunch...during which I had a good talk with a guy from the University of Florida...there was yet another good session on human behavior during a crisis situation. All of the sessions today could have been expanded to a much longer format...even a semester-long class. In fact, most of them only gave the audience a taste of what they were talking about and then offered suggestions for further research and/or reading on the subject.
I'm in the room right now...just bought a ticket for the Broadway production of Chicago. Shortly, I will make my way to Penn Station to catch the subway "uptown" but more importantly I will try to find out how to catch the train in the morning. I have already purchased my ticket for the train leaving at 7:17am so I won't have much time to mess around in the morning. I'm looking at a 3-hour ride down to Washington DC then I'll probably catch the subway out to Reagan International and a shuttle or taxi to the hotel nearby.
The day/night isn't very good for picture taking but I'll see what I can do for those who would like to see bits and pieces of NYC...perhaps a few shots at the theater tonight. Wish me luck....
Good morning, I'm back. It's 0520...yep, that's right, really early. I decided to try to finish this update so I can be downstairs checking out by 0530 or so. That should give me plenty of time to catch a cab and get to the station. Then, I have to find the machine to scan my printout...which very clearly says it isn't a ticket...then find the correct track.
The performance of Chicago last night was pretty good. Of course, it would have been better had Katie Holmes been in it. However, when I walked up to the Upper Mezzanine, the usher asked me if I was by myself and when I replied yes, she took me to the back row of the Front Mezzanine and let me sit on the end. This was good for a couple of reasons: First, the seat was much closer to the stage...probably not more than 30 feet...and second, I was on the end and could stretch my legs a little bit. As I discovered at the last theater, there's not much room between rows and it can get cramped really fast.
Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so could not take pictures...my phone camera uses the flash and I didn't want to get kicked out of the theater. The key characters in the play/musical were very good. Looking at the program, they had performed in several plays over the years, some of which I even recognized.
Actually, I don't even mind the singing and dancing in these things...although as a guy I'm not really supposed to like it. I'm always in amazement that people can actually dance and sing like that...especially the men. The performance was over about 10:20pm and I quickly left the theater and headed for the subway station...only a block away. I actually went the correct direction this time and found the right track quickly. I was in my room at the hotel...even after searching for the Amtrak area at Penn Station...before 11:00pm.
Well, it's 5:30 so I better get going. I took some pictures using my cell phone...for what they're worth. The weather was a bit rainy last night but not terrible so they're not the worst pictures I've ever taken. I think the one of the giant M&M is probably the best. It's from the huge electronic billboard on the front of the M&M Store in Times Square. As you can probably tell, on this trip I kept returning to the Times Square area. It's definitely where the action was in the Manhattan area.
Oh, by the way, I decided to eat at one of the smaller, local restaurants last night and it wasn't too bad. It sort of reminded me of the old Sizzlin Sirloin type place back when I was younger where you order at the counter and everything is taken to the table on a tray. The baked potato was tiny, but at least fully cooked. The steak was the strangest Filet Mignon I've ever seen. I would have had a hard time picking it out of a line up of meats. It looked more like skirt steak or a thicker version of steak-ums...if you know what I mean. Luckily, it tasted alright...not like an expensive Filet Mignon but alright.
After dinner I still had an hour to blow before the show began so I visited a couple of the local NY souvenir shops and then dropped in to a TGI Fridays to have dessert. I didn't need the extra calories and I wasn't particularly hungry, but it did take 30 minutes or so and after all that was the purpose. The only problem I had with that experience was that the number of calories in each entry on the menu had the calorie content next to the description of the item. In this case...1450! Oh well, back to the gym when I get home for some serious cardio. I used my hurt ribs as an excuse for the last couple of months but I think I've milked that one for all it's worth.
Well, off to Penn Station and Washington D.C.
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