Connecticut is the third smallest state in the United states and has the highest per capita income. The corridor neighbouring Manhattan (Greenwitch-Stamford-Norwalk) is basically commuter country. The affluence is reflected in the name by which these parts are known (gold coast), the upscale malls, the designer wear of the friday evening crowd and most visibly - THE RENT! It is killing.

We thought that one of the good things about the apartment complex where we moved in is the business center that has internet access. So we had decided to forego internet access at home until we know whether we are gonna be here beyond a few months.

We didn't take into account the underage kids playing online games all day or equally bored women chatting on AOL all night. The upshot is that I simply don't have a lot of leisure time on the net these days. Thanks to a firewall, I can't access my personal mailboxes from work either. Those of you who have been writing to me, please bear with me. I would eventually get back.

However, if I can ever forget the price I am paying for the privilage of living here, coastal Connecticut is a great place to live in. Stamford downtown itself is very pretty, colorful and has loads of interesting hangouts. There are old churches (that actually has bells that toll regularly), a huge library, interesting museums (it even has an extension of the Whitney museum) and it kinda extends into the campus of the University of Connecticut. The downtown also has very cool lifelike statues captured doing everyday things at most street corners. unfortunately, this has resulted in my stopping on the road to admire people who look like statues only to see them start moving almost immediately.