Things that are Awesome

1. My dad fixed my car! It doesn't do that weird coughing thing when I'm idling at lights anymore. Woohoo!!
2. I spent last weekend in NYC with my dear Uncle Duane and his partner Lee. It was refreshing to see them in the context of everyday life, outside of visiting with family or them visiting here. NYC is smelly and dirty though and I don't think I could live there.
3. Traveling by Amtrak, assuming the trains are relatively on schedule. My ride home was pleasant and quick (by Amtrak standards anyway). The ride to NYC, on the other hand, was a complete disaster. Twelve hours on a train that should have taken something like ten. Amtrak shares its rails between Erie and Albany, NY (and other routes in the US, not necessarily just that one) with a myriad of freight lines, so unfortunately, traveling can take much, much longer than expected. Especially if the train is delayed by something before it comes in to Erie. I don't mind traveling by train, it's comfortable and pretty cheap, but it just doesn't go anywhere quite fast enough for my liking.
4. New York City Museums. OMG. Visited MoMA FINALLY and it is AMAZING. Want to go back, like tomorrow. Also saw more of the Met's 20th Century collection (I refuse to refer to this as contemporary or modern art, the terms are pretty blanket and I truly think that in 2011, 20th century art, like Warhol, is no longer quite contemporary). I'm slowly becoming an art snob the longer I work for the museum, so now I'm starting to recognize certain artists' works before looking at the labels, at least enough that the names aren't an incomprehensible jumble anymore.
5. MTA/the public transit system in NYC. Despite the map looking like a pile of multi-colored spaghetti, the buses and subways in NYC are quite efficient. I'm glad I didn't have to figure them out myself though, or I'd probably STILL be standing in Penn Station from Thursday night going, but if I take this train, will it get me where I'm supposed to be going??

Things I have learned today

1. My car sometimes doesn't like to start. Apparently, it just needs me to step on the gas while turning over, but this seems somehow counterintuitive. Anyway, it tried to do the "I'm not starting" thing this afternoon on the turnpike on my way to Virginia and I was like, no car. Don't do that here. I still have three and a half more hours of driving before I'm even close to anyone I know. Good think I have AAA.
2. Airport area hotels--sometimes a reasonable deal. I'm staying at a Hyatt Place, with a little suite for about $60 a night. It's 12 miles farther northwest from where Dennis lives, but it's nice and not full of bedbugs. Woohoo! Also, free internet. Slow, but free. So that works out.
3. There are at least two types of bike trainers, which is this neat little gadget that allows you to use your bicycle as a stationary bike indoors. Both attach to the rear wheel of your bike with some kind of little spinner thing for resistance. One wears the tires down, the other runs on the rims. They're unfortunately kind of expensive, so I'm still looking.