My Birthday in NYC with Jane - not just for the birds

To see photos from the day click here

So for my birthday this year, I wanted to do something cheesy, and wouldn't you know it... Jane helped deliver :)

So the day started pretty early, we took a 9 am train I believe from Stamford to the city, playing a little mad libs on the way (you all remember those right :). When we got to the city we figured the best bet would be to go to the Empire State Building first because it would probably get busier as the day progressed. So when we got there... we took the elevator up to I think the 60th floor, where we had to take another elevator to the 80th floor, from here you waited in line for the next elevator to take you to the 86th floor observation deck... or you can do what we did and climb the remaining 6 stories... I must tell you from 86 stories up.. things do look pretty small... You could see the bridges on all four sides, the East river, the Hudson, Yankee Stadium, Central Park, lots of pigeons... it was fun.

From here, we had to take care of Jane's car... it had broken down near Harlem the other day and we had to arrange to pick it up. The name of the company was Expert Automotive Inc, European Auto Specialists. She was going to pay for it via credit card, but after they finished, they told her they didn't take credit cards for more than $200 and demanded that she get a bank check to pay for it. I got on the phone with them and told them they were violating the contract they signed with the credit card companies that say they can't set limit on acceptance for credit cards. They offered to do it 50/50 on the card, but I told them no way, and was calling AAA to let them know about how this station was treating us. They called back and said they would do the whole thing on the card, and we picked it up. A little bit of aggravation on the phone with them saved considerable time fighting with them, we got the car, and parked it near the start point of the tour company we bought the bus tickets from.

We took one of those cheesy double decker bus tours of the Upper East Side from Gray Line NY Tours. We saw a ton of really cool stuff along the way, Grants Tomb was pretty cool, we didn't hop off, but it look like the capital which was cool, and the inscription on his tomb is cool. He write it himself "Let us have peace", odd for a man of war, but couldn't be more right.

We didn't hop off until we got to Strawberry Fields Memorial and the Dakota Building. This was the site of Lennon's assassination, and sad as it is, it was unfortunate that a man calling himself the "Mayor of Strawberry Fields" or "Gary". I understand why he does it, and he is fighting for his freedom of speech to talk about John, but unfortunately what would have otherwise been a spiritual experience for a music fan, turns into a political spectacle and will always be remembered that way. Ehh... I almost wished I hadn't listened in to what he had to say.

We drove through Black Harlem, saw where the Cotton Club was, and the Apollo... in Muslim Harlem we saw the school, mosque and Bazaar created by Malcolm X's wife in honor of her husband's teachings.

I learned a few things too... you know those buildings over 6 stories require water to be pushed to the roof and stored in rooftop water tanks so they can have enough pressure for the entire building. Read about it here.

Also, the word Manhattan comes from the Lenape Language meaning island of many hills.

After the tours... we stopped at the Caswell Massey store on Lex, and I bough some of that Hair Wash I saw in the catalog because I like the bottle and wanted to try it. From there we went to B and H photo where I got a new lens hood, and looked at tripods to replace the one I had stolen from me.

We watched 21 at the 34th Street AMC theater and the headed home around 9ish and had ourselves a muffin at the diner before going to bed.

All in all, this was a great birthday... am a little tired from it still today, but that is OK... I'll live.

Ponderisms

Can you cry under water?

How important does a person have to be before they are considered assassinated instead of just murdered?

Why do you have to "put your two cents in".. But it's only a "penny for your thoughts"?

Where's that extra penny going to?

Once you're in heaven, do you get stuck wearing the clothes you were buried in for eternity?

Why does a round pizza come in a square box?

What disease did cured ham actually have?

How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?

Why is it that people say they "slept like a baby" when babies wake up like every two hours?

If a deaf person has to go to court, is it still called a hearing?

Why are you IN a movie, but you're ON TV?

Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground?

Why do doctors leave the room while you change?

They're going to see you naked anyway.

Why is "bra" singular and "panties" plural?

Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat?

If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a stupid song about him?

Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool lane?

Why is that tool who used to work for me even bothering to show up, after she quite out of incompetence?

If the professor on Gilligan's Island can make a radio out of a coconut, why can't he fix a hole in a boat?

Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto remains on all fours?

They're both dogs!

If Wile E. Coyote had enough money to buy all that ACME crap, why didn't he just buy dinner?

If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, what is baby oil made from?

If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

Do the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune?

Why did you just try singing the two songs above?

Why do they call it an asteroid when it's outside the hemisphere, but call it a hemorrhoid when it's in your butt?

Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him for a car ride, he sticks his head out the window?

One night at the train station - an observation

It's 11:04 pm and the train is now late. Apparently it stopped in Rye for an ambulance, although no one seemed to know why. Meanwhile I am sitting in Stamford at the station waiting for it to arrive. As I sit and wait, I am mesmerized by the line of taxis and the efficiency of this system, cabbies don't fight over fares, everyone in line gets there own turn. New taxis would move up to fill the spots left by those who had taken fares from the incoming trains. Then there was one cab driver, probably figuring he would be there a while got out of his car with soda can in hand. He finished it off, and walked over towards the trash but stopped around 15 feet from the can. This was not a simple can, it was one of those covered cans with a small opening. The man began playing a "horseshoe-esque" game with his tin can and the trash barrel. He would throw the can towards the trash with an overhanded underarmed throw. After 5 or 6 minutes of this he switch to a soft overhand pitch towards the barrel.. He got close a number of times but never made it. Each time walking towards the trash and picking up his can and walking back to his made up line 15 feet from the trash barrel. On his last time to the pick up the can he was verbally berated by his fellow drivers for playing with trash and holding up the line as their was space now between him and the open spot. Defeated, he walked back to the trash and placed his can through the small hole. He walked back to his car, head hung low, knowing that for a brief moment he was doing something unique, taking a break from his everyday existence for a little bit of change.

Just an observation

San Fran - Day 2

OK, so not so much to report from Day two.... I was in the office at around 4:15 am Pacific Time... not as hard as you might think... and did my work, and left.... got back to Merle's around 2ish. We chilled for a while and then around 4 left for the ball park. I didn't bring my camera to this game, but now am kind of sorry I didn't. We were right on the line near the foul pole. I mean we were so close that any kind of action and we were on TV.. in fact chances are you may have seen us. So we got there right as BP started and it was really cool watching everyone warm up. Although it took us a little while to get in because I think during our walking tour of San Fran, I twisted my ankle... It was sore all day yesterday, and still bothers me this morning. I hope I am ok to carry my things to the airport... maybe i will leave early... ok back to the game. The game was great, there was that amazing catch on the long fly ball by Varitek by Buck that made the highlight real... Varitek "double to deep right" should have been a homer... the whole section was chanting home run because it was above the line... the umps botched that one.

Then there were these two guys in front of us, had to be in there 50's... really obnoxious, telling Merle and I to go back to Boston, before he realized there were more Sox fans than A's fans around us... then continued to make comments through most of the game make derogatory remarks about the Japanese and claiming Dice-K's father was a pilot who bombed Pearl Harbor... He kept going on, and Merle and I laughed, and then this guy to his left stood up and got in his face calling him a racist, then went back and forth verbally a bit, vulgarity flying, before they eventually sat down... Then the idiot who was making the rude comments went to get security, I mean the nerve of the guy, he was being obnoxious, and then ran and called security on the guy or called him on it. Security came over to talk to the guy, and in a matter of seconds I was up talking to security trying to set him straight... This guy had fed him full of bullshit so he could have the complainer removed. Between myself and a guy in front of him... not to mention most of the Sox fans, came to this guys defense. Before long security was back and in the end simply escorted them to other seats... they were actually closer to the field than the ones they had, and were now behind First Base... c'est la vie.

The game was cool, I think it was the first one I have scored so that was fun. Merle gave me a few pointers on how to do it... Pretty easy once you get going, and makes the game more interesting... Last nights game was pretty short, under 3 hours for a 2-1 game. Not sure why they pulled Dice-K out though, he had less than 100 pitches, was throwing a 2 hitter, just happened one got away for a HR, but he was money the rest of the night...

Let's see what happens tonight... Congrats Dice-K!! Congrats Paps!!!, Go Lester!!!, Go Sox!!!!

Oracle, San Fran, and the seals

OK so it is 5:10 am, day 2 of my trip to San Fran, I am in the office. I am trying to keep East Coast hours to make it easier on myself. I walked in the doors here at Oracle HQ 401 Island Parkway at around 4:15 am, and the crazy thing is, it is easy to do...

So I arrived in San Fran Sunday night roughly 35 minutes late... Dave was right, Delta blows... but for $25 round trip (i used points for the flight) I can't really complain. I pick up my car... and I told them to give me something inexpensive , all it had to do was run since i was going to drive it a total of maybe 50 miles between the 20 miles each way to the airport and back, and the 4 mile round trip to work. What do they give me? The no thrills, no frills Aveo... this car blows... that's all I have to say about that.

Day one was cool, Merle was up around 4 and left at 4:30am for work. He keeps the East coast hours too. Still hadn't met his roommate yet, but he looks like a baseball fan. I left for work shortly after Merle. I got to Oracle HQ and I must tell you this campus is huge. I drove around it for a good 25 minutes before I could find a security guard who told me I was on the wrong campus. I found my building and tried to go in. Apparently my card for these buildings had not been activated yet, so I ended up sitting in my car working on my laptop from 5am until roughly 7am when the door was open and I managed to get in. Security helped me find where I was going but said I would need to activate my card at lunch.

I sat down at desk expecting someone to be in at 9am to show me where I could plug in since I couldn't pick up the wireless. No one showed so I asked around and finally logged in around 9 am. These offices are pretty cool... the building I am in is almost all tele-commuters... no one was here, it was weird.

So on Oracle Parkway each of the 6 behemoth buildings have their own cafeteria, each one different. The one I ate in was a good grilled food selection and good salads. Apparnently there is one that has good Mexican Food and Indian Food. That being said, I kind of felt like I was at Epcot center... All the different world food options, people speaking 100 differnet languanges around me, and all of the buildings surrounding a lake in the front with a rather large fountain in the middle shooting water probabley 35 feet in the air... really cool. Oh and the caf I ate in, had a concert pianist (do you really think I wished for a 12 inch pianist?) sorry joke popped into my head. He was good, but he made noticeable mistakes, and was playing a lot of scales for the left hand only which I thought was kind of weird.

So I got out of work 2:45 or so (5:45pm west coast) and got back to Melre's right after he did. So he asked me if I wanted to go do the tourist thing... I said sure, so we headed into San Fran... First stop along the way AT&T Park - Home of the Giants, I must say this ball park was cool, they were playing in LA so people were in the stadium watching the game on the screens... apparently during away games you can watch the game for free for three innings in the park. McCovery Cove was really cool too... well not ready but I can picture now what it might have looked like with all the kayaks. The Don Newcomb Bridge wa skind of cool... a little creepy looking like it was cooking to unfold itself and start attacking the city like some alien robot... but maybe I just have an over active imagination.

From there we went down to the wharf. This was really cool. We walked along the wharf and I could see Alcatraz from the walkway... I debated taking my picture with a punk... weirdest thing.. there was a kid with a sign that read "take a picture with a punk rocker"... hhhmmm. There were a bunch of cool break dancers there too strutitng there stuff, and the infamous silver people... so we walked down to the end of the wharf and I must say the view was unbelieveable.

Just a thought... it is kind of weird being in the office at least 4 hours before anyone else shows up... I mean the cleaning crews were making the rounds when i walked in....

Ok back to the Wharf, I think the coolest performers had to be the Sea Lions, I found this info about them:

Sea LionsOur favorite Fisherman’s Wharf performers are, unquestionably, the sea lions that abandoned Seal Rocks and began to frequent Pier 39 following the 1989 earthquake. Boisterous and noisy, they spend as many as 10 months of the year (September through June) sunning themselves on the docks or playing in the waters nearby, and then head south to the Channel Islands off the Coast of Santa Barbara in July and August to breed. Be sure to attend one of the Marine Mammal Center (MMC) talks to learn fun facts about the sea lions like:
California sea lions are known for their playfulness and intelligence
These traits make them popular performers in many zoos and aquariums (where they are often called trained "seals")
California sea lions are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which prohibits you from feeding, handling or harassing them
If that isn’t enough of a warning, you should know that sea lions will bite if provoked!
To learn more about the MMC talks, call (415) 289-7325 or visit their web site.

So we walked around a ton and saw a bunch of cool stuff... I got a feel for the steepness of the streets during the walk... I am impressed that cars can get up and down some of these there are so steep. We went to Ghiradelli square and I bought some chocolate, so anyone who wants are welcome to some. I will proabley put them out Fruday night at Jane's when everyone comes over on the way to dinner. The trollies were really cool too, infact the whole metro system is basically green, I thought that was soo cool... the trains were electric, and I guess the buses were pretty green too. I saw the curviest road in the city. Lombard Street, we walked up to the top of this one way street... Here is some info about it:

Not all of Lombard Street is as curvy as the famous part of this road. Actually it is only curvy for one block going down from Hyde Street. The descent of the hill at that location is about 27 percent, which was too much for a simple and straight road. That is why in 1922 archictects came up with the idea of building the road with eight hairpin curves. Today the road is one of the top tourist attractions of San Francisco and a visit of this city is almost incomplete without having done a car ride on this curvy road.

I also have to say, that being used to flat FFLD county, I must say the San Fran is a bit vast, I mean, everything is so scenic, even the more industrial areas have gorgeous mountains for a back drop... it is beautiful... and clean...

Then we went down to Haight and Ashbury which was the scene of the 60's peace love and happiness movement. This place was kind of cool... You still have that bohemian feel here, altough it felt a little more forced than it might have been, it was still pretty cool. Took a field trip up to 710 Ashbury... anyone know what that was? Anyone??? It was the home of the Grateful Dead for many years... it was really cool being out there...

After that we came back and watched a little "How I met your mother" classic episode... but you can find info on that anywhere... well anyway, I am going to get cracking on some work... I will write more tomorrow morning probabley while the rest of this state is still sleeping... Pics will go up when I get back since I did not bring any cables with me.

L8r - -z-