I'm on my 2nd 12-hour sudafed within four hours, and, as you can tell from the hour at which I'm writing, I'm not having a good night! More of that later.

I got up early, yesterday morning, as I had to completely repack my luggage, check out of the hotel I'd been staying at for the last five days, "On the Ave" (great bargain right now, at least until they put their prices up when the renovation is finished), and get my stuff to JFK to pick up my new rental car by 9.00 a.m. Packing, I was so glad I didn't get those shoes yesterday.

I had time to go out for one last cup of coffee at the Xando down the block, and read the New York Times. I also had time to reflect on my current feelings about New York. There's a guy I've noticed each morning when I've gotten my coffee - a slim, dapper, middle-aged guy with economical movements and a constant twinkle in his eyes. If he wasn't dressed casually for the Summer heat, I'd expect him to be totally at home in a khaki suit and bowtie. He always greets the staff at the coffee shop and asks them knowingly about their weekend or their family, and there are always one or two other regulars he sits down with.

This is one of the things I've started noticing, again, about New York - despite the rudeness of many people you encounter, there's a lot more humanity than you expect - people like this guy. I would have loved to strike up a conversation about him and find out more about him. But time had run out for me on this trip to New York. I feel that I'll be looking forward very much to my next trip here.

With my bags packed, I waited on the corner of 77th and Broadway to hail a cab. A limousine pulled over, which is one step up from a Yellow Cab - they offer a fixed rate out to the airports. This turned out to be a blessing, as it took us a while to locate the car-rental company at the airport - it wasn't where the others was. But finally, I was underway in my tinny little car which was, however, two grades up from the even tinnier little car I'd originally reserved online through Yahoo.

I made it to Philadelphia by noon, which was earlier than I'd expected, and this gave me a while to revisit scenes from my earlier life, when I lived here, before rendezvouzing with Patrick for lunch. Having lived in Philly from 1986 through to the end of 1992, the quaint, cramped streets of downtown were instantly familiar to me again.

905 Clinton Street, where I lived for my last 3 years in Philly with Dougal, my Scottish roommate

At the top of this pic is the window of our living room - in Philly I could afford to live in style!

A pic from ten years ago taken just inside the same window.

Downtown Philly from the South Street Bridge - skyline unchanged in ten years

I met Patrick in his office in Meyerson Hall. It's kind of hilarious that he should work there of all places, as that relatively small building was where I was based when I did my Masters in Energy Management & Policy. We had lunch at the White Dog, a somewhat ritzy - in fact, just a little pretentious restaurant nearby. Patrick turned out to yet another unbelievable sweetheart. Really, I know it must be getting kind of boring that I keep describing the people I meet in such glowing terms. "So and so was really nice", etc. (Okay, I didn't actually say Mitch was nice, but actually ... he was kind of nice :) Either I'm a terrible judge of character, or I'm extremely lucky with the people I've met!

Hanging outside my old grad-school building (and Patrick's office) at U. of Penn.

Statue of Ben Franklin on the campus

Outside the building I worked in for five years after my degree

After leaving the Penn campus, I realized I was flat out of gas, so I took an immediate exit from the freeway I'd just entered, and found myself near the Art Museum. The views from there are fantastic. Those famous steps which Sylvester Stallone jogged up at the start of the first Rocky movie.

I couldn't find a gas station to save my life. For half an hour I inched through car-crowded streets designed for horse- drawn carriages, before making it to the one downtown gas-station. It was quite frustrating - I wasn't on the freeway again until 3.30.

To make up the time, I sped the rest of the trip to D.C. (don't tell any officers of the law :), and was parked in Chevvy Chase by 6.00 p.m. at the home of Kevin and David, where I'm staying here. Again, I'm sorry to have to bore you with the fact that both Kevin and David are VERY nice. Not only are they nice, they both seem sweet, witty and cultivated. They've shared their personal and work lives (as documentary film-makers) together for almost twenty years, and, based on what I've seen so far, their relationship rivals John and Al's (the guys I stayed with in rural Pennsylvania) as being a long-term relationship that really works.

They have a lovely old home in tree-lined Chevvy Chase. My room has a painting of the early US Frigate "Constellation", and in the closet is the old marine uniform worn by Kevin's grandfather, who served on her!

I'd had long-standing plans to meet up with a guy I'd met on the Internet, Michael, in downtown D.C., during this trip, and my schedule had worked out such that Tuesday was the best night for this. So after Kevin had gone out for his weekly run with the D.C. Frontrunners, I took a shower and headed downtown.

Michael turned out to be quite an amazing guy. He'd been a child actor in many television series, and has lived by himself since the age of seventeen. We had a great time over dinner at - oh Lord, for once I didn't write it down - some place on 17th Street. Michael's been performing in radio, and also writing and producing television and other media for years now, and for the last few years has been building a hilarious character called Ester Goldberg, who's on the cusp of breaking out into celebrity, by the sounds of things.

Dinner with Michael on 17th Street in D.C.

Michael has a very engaging personality, and is someone who's lived a lot - I could have listened to his stories for hours. But I'd been up since 6.00 a.m. and by eleven I was fading fast, especially after my second drink of the evening at Chaos, a cute piano bar, where I met Wes, the owner and some of his staff. I want to head back there on Thursday, hopefully with Michael, for "Latin Night"!

Keith, Evan, Wes and Michael at Chaos

If you're read much of my journal, you probably have realized that I'm somewhat prone to self-doubts. There's plenty of times I've asked myself if I'm doing the right thing with my online journal. But when I end up meeting people like Michael, Kevin and David, and Patrick, I know that I'm doing something right.

A helluva long day today. Three cities - six states - New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, D.C. (I know, it's not really a State!) I really needed a good sleep tonight. Unfortunately, what I dreaded has come true. Kevin and David have three cats. I'd hoped that their hardwood floors and the privacy of their guest bedroom would mean that my allergies wouldn't bother me, but it ain't so. Hence this very late night journal. I hate to be a total, ungrateful pain in the ass to Kevin and David, but I don't know if I can sleep here for the rest of my stay in D.C.