Nov. 19, 2008 – 16.00 EST
At this very moment I am (“proof”) reading a front page story by Larry Altman for tomorrow’s paper (Monday.) Yeah, I’m in Manhattan, in The New York Times new and very flashy building near Times Square. After a crazy-busy week, about four hours of sleep per night and three Bloody Marys (my official travel drink,) I am sitting here trying to give some constructive criticism on an article written by one of the worlds prominent investigative reporters, Dr. Lawrence K. Altman. Hahahahaaaa…

Before we printed the massive article (nine damn pages!) which is about the health condition of the four candidates in the presidential election, I staggered around on the second floor of the high-rise, which is home to the science, sports and the business desk -- jetlagged as hell. N.E.E.D. C.O.F.F.E.E. Looking out over the landscape of neatly planned cubicles, many empty as it’s Sunday, I all of a sudden spot a familiar face.
”Oh my gawed!” we both burst out as our eyes lock.
”What are you doing here?” Mike De La Merced asks and we share in a big hug. I explain that I ran into Dr. Altman (courtesy titles are very important at the NYT and considering that Larry is 70 years old, I conform to etiquette) during the Nobel festivities in Stockholm last year and how he asked for my assistance on a story. It’s just three years since I showed Mike the ropes of a crime reporter at a New York Times-owned community paper in North Carolina. Now he’s a big dawg, a business reporter for the NYT and sits in the swanky designed NYT building which goes in orange, dark wood, silver and black. Mike is as tired as I am, minus the jetlag. He’s worked night and day for the last month, covering the American financial crisis (now global), which has its heart just a few blocks away. We began, just like good old times in Wilmington, to talk about projects and stories and I invite Mike to Stockholm. Wouldn’t it be great if he could write a story about the global financial crisis with a Stockholm or Scandinavian angle? I ask. That’s an awesome idea, Mike responds. We split after deciding that I’ll swing by his desk after having lunch with my editors on Monday. I begin to get this sneaky suspicion that I will spend my few days on Manhattan inside The NYT building. I don’t mind.