3:00 - We run to catch a bus into NYC. We know we're pushing our luck, trying to leave as late as we can and still have a view of the ball...
4:30 - The bus is running late, so we arrive in NYC at 4:30 rather than 4:00. We meet up with our friend Allan, who was staying on the other side of the city and came in by train. We make a quick run to the DR pharmacy for some food and batteries. The line in
side is quite long but moving fast, so it only takes about five minutes to get through.
5:00 - We start the long march around Times Square, trying to find 'pens' that aren't full and sectioned off yet. At each block, the answer is the same - "This block is closed, keep going to ___ street".
5:30 - The pens and blocked off streets seem to end. We are able to turn inwards, where Kelly asks several policemen whether any good spots are still open. They are friendly but very pessimistic, and tell us that we might as well go to a bar or something like that and watch the ball drop on TV. The general consensus is that we arrived half an hour to an hour too late for a decent spot. Our spirits crushed, we walk around somewhat aimlessly.
6:00 - Suddenly, we stumble into a few open pens, a ways off but directly in line with and within view of the square. We can see the Toshiba advertisements... we're in! Our location is just behind 52nd street, by the Sheraton Manhattan. The pen quickly fills up and closes behind us. It is crowded but not unbearably so... we can all move in a circle, face each other, get food out of our bags, play sudoku on our phones, etc. Still, sitting or walking around are out of the question.
Photo: Our view. All that light is Times Square... somewhat hard to photograph from here.
6:30 - The feeling of excitement melts into a realization that we have six more hours to wait... Kelly and Amy text all their friends and try talking to the people around them. We are positioned near the right hand barrier, so Allan and I help those who are having second thoughts to escape. Allan has an interesting conversation with an upper-middle aged woman whose daughter is encouraging her to climb over the fence.
Allan: You can do it, just sit like this and swing over...
Lady: No, you don't understand, I'm wearing a skirt...
Allan: Listen, I come from Scotland. We wear kilts. I have a lot of experience getting over fences in skirts.
But, for the most part, things are uneventful and boring. I sit on the barrier and look out over the crowd for a while, I also try looking straight up at the dizzying height of the skyscrapers against the clouded grey sky. Allan warns me not to use up all the fun so early in the evening.
The Toshiba screens occasionally display messages like, "Cheer if you're a girl". All the girls cheer. It's even less exciting than it sounds.
7:00 - The screen goes into countdown mode - this is actually quite exciting. At the end, instead of saying Happy New Year as we all semi-expect from TV, it reads, "5 hours to go!" Indeed. During this countdown Allan and I are playing War with a deck of cards I bought from the M&M store.
Photo: A shot from Amy's superior camera of one of these hourly countdowns.
8:00 - Another countdown. "4 hours to go!" We are one third of the way through the night, already tired and bored. The one thing we aren't is cold, thanks to our layers and layers of clothing. Then it starts raining - hard.
I carry a very small umbrella in my purse, so I pulled that out and the four of us assembled into a 'survival pod'. It looked a bit awkward but we all stayed more or less dry inside of it. I was the shortest so the others sort of leaned down on me, and my head was inside our human shelter, with the umbrella covering their heads. Our bags were at our feet. Even in the midst of the crowd we could hear little except the rain on top of the umbrella....
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