How'd I end up here?

I went to a job interview yesterday in scenic Westchester County, outside NYC. It was fairly last minute, and I went via the train. So I figured, train to the town, train back home. But then, there wasn't a convenient train home so they put me on a train from the town to Grand Central Station, then I had to go over to Penn Station, then take a train home from there.

The result of this was that I found myself unexpectedly here:

walking through the middle of Manhattan at 5 p.m. on a Thursday amidst the throngs of people, remembering why I dislike NYC so much (it's dirty and unpleasant and overcrowded and just generally sad, in my opinion).

I did walk by the big library with the stone lions which always reminds me of Ghostbusters and is cool for that.

I also had a struggle getting out of Grand Central Station to a surface-level sidewalk, but when I eventually just followed a stream of people, I got put out just where I wanted to be, which was nice.

Then, on my way to Penn Station, I needed to pick up some dinner. I kept passing McDonald's and Burger King, but I wanted something unique to NY. I love the giant pastrami sandwiches you can get in NY delis, so that was what I was looking for. But I mostly saw chain fast food and pizza places.

When I got to Penn Station, I figured I'd walk around the outside, but the only cool-looking non-major chain I saw had Seattle in its name. So I went inside the station, found a deli, and got my pastrami. But it was miniscule. The bread was smaller than the palm of my hand and they didn't stack the pastrami much more than an inch.

So I ended up getting a $4 hot dog on the train. That, incidentally, was microwaved and a bit soggy, but gigantic.

The other point about the trip was this: If you ever have an opportunity to vote on whether cell phones should be allowed on airplanes, take a train trip and then decide. People on trains use cell phones (except in the quiet car), and it's awful. At one point on the trip down, I had a woman in front of me discussing her career change, someone across and up a seat ordering theater tickets indecisively, and a person across from me trying to get a dinner date.

Fortunately, I had some tunes.