Phrosty Philadelphia

It's about 8:30 PM local time and I'm sitting in a 17th floor apartment in Philadelphia, looking out over 30th Street Station, the Schuylkill River and the now-moving traffic at the intersection of I-76 and I-676. A couple of hours ago it was a parking lot. Right next to the train station there is a new building I have never seen before:

I didn't bring my real camera and I had to use the phone instead so the picture isn't great. But, as you can see, the view is quite different with the giant blue-lit office building in the middle.

So, what am I doing here? I'm visiting our main office for the week and am staying in one of our corporate apartments. Like most companies, we've cut back on travel lately, but we used to have enough people visiting from India and Romania to make it worthwhile to keep a couple of apartments in the city.

What else? Oh yeah - I'm freezing my ass off!!! Not inside the apartment, but outside. It's 30 degrees Fahrenheit (-1 C) which isn't even that cold, but I've completely forgotten what that feels like. I haven't been this uncomfortable in years: I'm wearing a thick sweater and a long winter coat, but the miserable, punishing wind goes right through me. I've become both a wimp and a grump, and keep muttering things to myself: "I can't believe people put up with this. Why would anyone consider this acceptable? We developed transportation for a reason - to leave places like these."

I've lived my whole life in cold climates, and while I've never really liked cold weather, it never bothered me anywhere nearly as much as it does now. It's amazing how your perspective can change in just a few years. And, it isn't just the weather. I went out to get some dinner, and since walking wasn't a realistic option in this weather I took the car.

I found that I reacted as an outsider to several things that used to be "normal" to me when I lived here. The traffic here is much less orderly than what I've gotten used to in Arizona. People swerve in and out of lanes without using their signals, cars stop randomly in the streets backing up traffic, and the driving is generally much more aggressive.

And, it's impossible to find parking. I drove around Center City for a good 30 minutes, prepared to stop just about anywhere since there are places to eat on almost every corner, before I gave up and drove out for some fast food instead. In retrospect, I realize that finding a spot would have done me no good since I don't carry quarters anymore. (Parking is generally free everywhere in Arizona - even in parking garages, with the exception of the ones around the downtown stadiums and the convention center.)

Finally, the streets are so narrow and the buildings are so dark and so close to the street that I felt trapped; almost like the buildings were sinisterly leaning in over me, waiting for the right moment to suddenly come crashing down on me.

Obviously, the city hasn't changed. I have. Am I still me?