Torrential

Well, we've been in New York for three days so far and it has pissed with rain pretty much consistently. The storm is responsible for power outages, felled trees, damage to buildings and beach erosion, on top of which the satellite TV in our hotel is completely out, meaning that our tiny hotel room offers even less opportunity for entertainment than it did previously. However, given the astonishingly unpleasant sensation of wandering around with squelching shoes and sodden jeans, it's still the best of the options available to us, so the Boy Wonder and I have procured some cider, snacks and an internet dongle (they don't call them that here by the way - cue some strange looks in the Verizon store) and spent last night listening to I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue on the computer in an admirable display of British stoicism. The Verizon store was an experience in itself - there's always something a little unnerving about shopping in a strange place as every country has its own peculiarities when it comes to the simple things, but I have never actually failed to shop before until we went there. Part of the confusion arose because despite giving all the outward appearances of working there, the guy by the door who nodded at us when we went in subsequently watched us wandering around looking at the displays and trying hopefully to catch the eye of a member of staff who could help us, without thinking to mention once that you have to 'check in' on a computer and put your name down in a queue to be served. However, once we had mastered that, the rest of the process was relatively simple and we returned to our room sodden and disenchanted with the Big Apple, but at least with an internet connection which has gone some way to relieving the boredom of the constant downpours and allowed us to Skype our parents and read the New York Times's predictions for when the weather might break. We did have an hour of reasonable weather earlier today and used it to enjoy the luxury of going outside and breathing air which wasn't fresh from the alley between our hotel room and the next building, which was nice while it lasted, a period just long enough for us to get ensconced in a diner from where we watched the renewed downpour while we ate three eggs each. This seems to be standard - everywhere we've been that serves eggs so far has offered three eggs or more. I asked for two eggs today and was told that I could have two, but would be charged the same as for three, so I bit the bullet and went along with it whilst secretly wondering whether I might single-handedly have discovered the root of the USA's obesity epidemic. When we last had TV, they told us the weather should be fine again by Tuesday, so here's hoping our shoes will have dried sufficiently by then to go out and make the most of it - there's a Grateful Dead exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History, so no prizes for guessing where we'll be once the sun comes out.