Worst commute ever

You know it's bad when this is said:
"No subway line was unaffected by the heavy rains and winds, according to the M.T.A. For the time being, the M.T.A. was advising commuters to stay at home."

It certainly was an interesting morning. The trains were a complete mess and since I didn't have an alternative train to take (they were all shut down), I decided to find a taxi. Met up with my neighbor, hoping it would make the fare cheaper. We went up to Flatbush (major street to Manhattan) and it was a parking lot. Blaring horns and jam-packed buses. Since it looked like walking would be the next option, I went to Bergen Bagel for breakfast to fuel the long haul. After that we started our trek and right away we saw people boarding a double-decker tour bus. We were like, "Hell, why not... better than walking". So we got on, cleaned off the wet seats and enjoyed the ride. I've always hated those buses in Brooklyn, don't think they should be coming to my hood. But since it literally saved me a huge long sticky HOT walk, I have new respect. Anyway, we rode in, went over the Manhattan bridge and finally walked into the office around 10:30 AM. Worked out fairly well, but it was one of the worst rides in I've had to deal with in a long time.

Looks like the trains are still screwed up and everyone in the city is trying to grab the same cab. Let's just hope the ride home is easy smooth and quick. Water taxi?

Pictures of the tornado in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn

August

It has been a busy few weeks. Not much breathing time. Went to the Rock the Bells concert out on Randall's Island last weekend. It was awesome! Got to see Cypress Hill, Public Enemy, Wu-tang Clan (they really rocked), and Rage Against the Machine (kicked ass in concert). Even besides the rain, we had a good time in the mud and then the sun came out for the last half. When it was all over we were able to escape from the masses and found a back way out. Even with security hot on our heels we did it. Walked over the bridge to the upper east side of Manhattan and hailed cabs to take us back to the hotel. Good times!

The weekend before I entertained a friend's cousin who is from Texas. It was his first visit to NYC, actually first time north of Madison, South Carolina. He was so fun and a real cool guy. Lots of great stories to tell. We went to South Street Seaport, then had dinner at a mexican place called Mary Ann's. Then finally went to White Horse Tavern for beers at the outside picnic table. I believe that was a good tour of NYC.

Yesterday I spent the whole day in Park Slope, walking around and window shopping. My girl from Australia made it to town finally. We had a great time catching up.

BIG News

I finished Harry Potter #7! Yippie. But that isn't the big news. Haha. My brother and sis-in-law have decided to adopt a baby from China. We are all so happy and proud. Mom can't stop crying. To follow along with the progress, here is their blog:

jonathanandkristal.blogspot.com

shhhh...

Quiet, reading Harry Potter... doing nothing but reading. Up to chapter 18 now. =)

Ferals

Ghost Hunters

This show always freaks me out. I love it. It is one of the few ghost shows that doesn't go over-board with the dramatization. They kind of do it with a "just the facts" kind of experience. Basically these two Roto-Rooter guys decide to explain paranormal activities in places of interest and people's homes. They get real emotional if a child is being haunted in a home. They are family men. Anyway... they walk around creepy places with cameras and other fancy equipment. They explain everything. And are actually pretty jumpy for doing this all the time. Guess sitting in a dark room waiting for a sound makes you jittery no matter what. Tonight they go to some old navy ship. Those things always make noise. The thing is on water, duh. Can't wait to watch it. =)

Boston road trip

Went on a road trip to Boston over the weekend. Had a great time. Had lunch at the "tourist" Cheers. Did some walking around. The weather was fanatistic. Then Saturday night we hit the North End for Italian dinner. Finally a few Irish pubs for beer and sailors. Good times. Had brunch on Sunday then started the long drive home. I've got more sleep to catch up on.

a little advice

You boys can take it or leave it, but here comes some advice. First off if you are in your early 30s, read something else besides the Da Vinci Code. Next, drinking with your buddies (every other night) is not the way to a girl's heart. Do something interesting. And don't call/text said girl to tell her how drunk you are. Maybe I've grown out of that or maybe I'm a bit angstful. But either way, its annoying. Like when I was little and boys would pull at my hair or something.

"birds do it, bees do it
even educated fleas do it
let's do it, let's fall in love"

Lost Drives and Props

Where have the A & B drives gone? Its not fair that as we advance in technology, and old technology is left behind, it is very difficult to clean up. The old 5" and 3 1/4" floppy drives are gone, PCs don't even come with them anymore, yet the OS still refers to those drives as A & B. Can't get them back. Anything after C is given letter assignment automatically. Sure there are like 24 letters left to use, but it just stinks when you are working in an enterprise environment. Space can get tight when applications and departments are fighting over the use of the letter M because they like it. Anyway, the OS would need to be altered anyway to make it work. Who knows maybe they'll actually do this clean up work on the next version of Windows.

Also, big huge mega props to the firemen in my hood. There were at least 2 rooftop fires that I watched. Those poor guys in heavy coats and equipment trying to get up ladders quickly and make sure that a little grill fire doesn't get even worse on a sweltering hot day. Plus I always like men in uniform. So thanks, you guys rock Prospect Heights.

Elvis

Garbage Card Game Rules

Garbage Card Game Rules

HAND	Card Combinations	Wild Cards
1	2 sets of 3	1 in each
2	2 runs of 3	1 in each
3	1 set of 3 & 1 run of 4	1 in each
4	2 sets of 4	1 in each
5	1 run of 5 & 1 set of 3	2 in run & 1 in set
6	3 sets of 3	1 in each
7	1 run of 7	3
8	1 run of 6 & 1 set of 3	2 in run & 1 in set
9	2 runs of 4	1 in each
10	2 sets of 5	2 in each
11	1 run of 9	4

Notes:

• Jokers and 2's are wild
• Low Score wins
• Aces are high
• Deal 11 cards to everyone. If the exact amount is picked for deal - subtract 50 points from score.
• if discard is not wanted - cover and player who discarded picks up.
• If discard is wanted - pick up. That card does not have to be played immediately.
• Wild cards can be picked up from table if replaced with their value.
• If you can't play before someone goes out you stay on that hand until you can.

Points:

Joker 50

Aces and 2's 50
8 - K 10

3 - 7 5

Emily Songs

Here are a list of my favorite Emily song's

• "See Emily Play" - Pink Floyd (vinyl is best)
• "Emily, Please" - Luke Doucet
• "Emily" - Barbra Streisand
• "Emily" - Bowling for Soup

....more to come!

Feral Cats

This week I'll be taking care of a feral cat colony in my hood. The usual people are both away and I raised my hand to volunteer. There are about 10 of them in this backyard. They recently moved from an empty lot because it is going to be torn up soon. It is really important to keep the colony of cats together. Anyway, one of the neighbors commented on finding "caca" in their yard. I had to listen to this whole explanation about the "caca" and the cats jumping into her yard. She totally has a legitimate right to voice her opinion about this... but I just can't help to laugh at the work "caca". Love it! Haha!

Summer Movies

Here is my must see summer movie list:

Spiderman 3 - it was going to be a must see, but now I don't feel it so much.

Pirates of the Caribbean 3 - going to the Ziegfeld baby (digital!)

Daywatch - Russians know how to do it with less money, can't freakin wait

Fantastic 4 - never had anything bad to say about the 1st, the 2nd will kick ass

newly added... Stardust - Neil Gaiman finally gets what he deserves, a big budget movie, with big name movie stars too. (another novel movie coming out next year starring Dakota Fanning, very cool).

The Bourne Ultimatum

Transformers (duh!)

The Simpsons Movie - it just can't possibly be bad, so it will be funny.

Hot Fuzz wasn't exactly on the list, but I went to see it last week, laughed through the whole thing. It is brilliant!

last by not least, Harry Potter, a book and a movie... what more could I ask for!?

School's out for summer...

The finals for school are over and I'm freakin' happy. Catching up on all of my shows tonight. The Sopranos, then the Tudors, and finally Entourage. I laughed and I did shed a tear. They always throw in the best episodes at the end of the season. Love it.

I've been tanning as of late. I decided that white really isn't my color. When I went today, they actually closed the salon and moved it down 10 blocks. Totally annoying. But in the end, it's all good. Got 2 more sessions plus $9 lotion. Plus I got to try the Diamond bed. You won't get red from it. Pretty cool.

Anyway... I'm happy for the chilled out nights to come and a bit less stress. At least for now. :-)

UPDATE: got an 80 on the final and total class score of 84.3 (B)!! Yippie!!