Brighten the place.

Plans are moving forward: my family will be in the upstate New York/Niagara Falls region in early August, the first through the third or fourth. This is exciting on a number of levels, as it gets me a chance to see the Falls, and it also opens up the opportunity to see people I know who live in that general area that don't get to come to me all that often.

The option of taking the bus or the train back to Manhattan is open - especially if I'm meeting someone on the way back down.

So anyone out there got a free couch and an open afternoon? Anyone? I'll scrub your toilets and cook you breakfast.