With a few hours left in NYC I took a stroll down 5th Avenue. You could bankrupt yourself in all the designer stores crowded on both sides of the street. At least, book shops still appear to be thriving in Manhattan despite the advent of Amazon and I happened across a smart Barnes and Noble. (Sadly Gotham Book Mart - of 'Wise Men Fish Here' fame - closed in 2007). Just the ticket to pick up a copy of the forecaster's latest bible: Nate Silver's 'The Signal and The Noise.' The store, well-stocked and well-staffed, on two levels, occupies the prestigious address of 555 5th Avenue. The number 555 has a high profile in a completely different context in the USA. For many years now US TV and other media have used it as a prefix for telephone numbers in series like Columbo and Monk, and many more. I always thought this was because the prefix was fictitious but 555 numbers actually do exist so there are probably people who get calls out of the blue from weirdos calling Mr Monk. Reminds me of phoning people randomly from the phone book when we were kids. When someone answered we'd ask 'Is that Mr xxx on the line?' If they answered 'Yes' we'd say 'Well you'd better get off the line the train's coming!' and crack up laughing before hanging up. So silly. Headed on down to the old World Trade Center site to see the new Freedom Tower which is nearly complete. Designed by Daniel Liebeskind, it's a soaring, sleak blue edifice, 1776 foot high, testimony to America's determination to rise from the lows of 9/11. Liebeskind was born in Lodz, Poland. The QSL is from Radio Poland, heard on longwave in Kent in 2004.
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