11:45am

Had a great dinner last night with my gracious Brooklyn host and a friend who lives nearby in Park Slope. Both of them, like so many others in Brooklyn, have been working from home this week, with Manhattan office locations still out of power. We talked about how our survival instincts have kicked in this week — the evidence of which is:

• Eating more than normal — our dinner last night, for example, was a celebration of carbohydrates
• Sleeping more than normal
• Vivid dreams, not all of which are pleasant

I walked to Barclays Center and was happy to see the free shuttle buses were still running, and there was no long line like there was earlier yesterday. Zipped across the bridge and the bus dropped me off at Houston St, and from there it was a quick walk home. As our bus pulled off the Manhattan Bridge and we entered the surreal darkness of the Lower East Side, the guy sitting next to me removed his headphones. Eyes widening, he said “That is not the Manhattan I know.” He paused, repeated this sentence again while slowly shaking his head, and put his headphones back on.

I had a phone meeting this morning at 11, so I walked northwest 20 blocks to find a Starbucks with room for me to take the call. I passed maybe seven Starbucks locations that were much too packed, before ending up where I am now, at 35th and 7th. Standing room only in here — I took the call standing at a small bench, with people around me on laptops and phones. 

Plenty of inconvenience, of course, and it’s difficult to actually get work done. Still, I think I’ll look back on this time fondly. Waking up in the morning without any access to the internet — it’s relaxing, actually. You’re freed up from the urge to check news, the weather, emails. All you can really do is sit there and read. Or think. These are probably things we should be doing more of.

Guy next to me here in Starbucks is telling the guy next to him:  “I boil water every morning for my sponge bath, and I read by candlelight. That is my life right now.”