Cough cough

I think I'm coming down with a cold. Actually, I'm rather certain...looks like I'll be able to ring in the new year while kinda sick. heh. It could be worse.
Don't go to the supermarket while hungry and slightly medicated from DayQuil. One buys the oddest combination of stuff. (I could have sworn I've learned this lesson before, but I must have forgotten.) I got a frozen pizza burrito, vegetable egg rolls, and four different types of microveable soup. It's like I'm doing a taste test or something. I would normally never buy any of that crap...
I also bought the movie Big last night, on a whim. I've seen the movie dozens of times, but for some reason had the urge to watch it and tracked it down last night. So, I'm gonna spend the next two hours drinking a hot tea, watching a classic 80s movie, and wondering if my head could get any more congestedd
Good times!

Old friends

The bummer about having one of my good friends living all the way over in Austria is that we rarely get a chance to meet up. Nevertheless, when we do, it usually makes for a pretty memorable time. This last weekend, as a precursor to Christmas, I met up with Andreas and his wife Evelyn (the last time I saw her was at their wedding well over a year ago) in NYC. She had never been to the city before, so Andreas and I got to play tourist guides. I get a kick out of showing people who have never been to NYC around. Their reactions are priceless.
We met up in Times Square and hightailed it on down to Chinatown and Little Italy, where we ate at a little place on Mulberry Street. We continued on in the general neighborhood and ended up in SoHo so that we could quickly run into the Apple store.
While the morning's weather was questionable and suggested a gloomy afternoon to follow, it was perfectly clear and sunny...an ideal day for a vist to the Empire State Building.
As a wedding gift, instead of buying them a picture frame or something, I decided to buy them some memories, should they ever come up to the city...that being a trip up the Empire State Building as well as a carriage ride in central park.
So, we headed back up to Midtown to get ourselves in a line so that we could wait in another line and yet another. It was much busier than I thought it would be, but the great weather had a big part to play, as did the timing. I prefer to go up just as the lights come up in the city....I think that makes for the most exciting view, but that's just me. Had the lines not held us up for what seemed liked 2 hours, it would have worked out perfectly. It was already dark as we got up there, but the view was still astounding, and I think I got some pretty cool photos.
We ate a nice dinner in Times Square and took a walk toward Grand Central. We ended up at a bar that, incidentally, Andreas and I, along with Greg, had been at over 6 years ago to watch the Knicks lose in the playoffs or something. It was amazing to think how different life looks at 26 than at 32, and how much life changes in 6 years. We have more control than we realize and less than we wish.
Overall, it was a very enjoyable day, made all the better with great company.

More running

Holy crap. 26.2 bleeding miles. I must be crazy. Where did I get the notion that this would be a good idea?! Still, the race is in November, so if I did decide to do this, it's not like I won't have a chance to prepare.
NYC Marathon.

Walking and running

I've gotten pretty well entrenched in the latest book I'm reading, Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods," a book I highly recommend.
Anyway, it's about his trek on the Appalachain Trail, which stretches from North Georgia all the way up to Maine. Even since high school, I thought it would be fun to try to walk the trail, but I guess I never quite got around to it. It is quite an undertaking, not to be taken lightly. While reading this travelogue allows me to walk the trail vicariously, sometimes vicarious isn't good enough, and it sets the travel bug in motion.
I was in the hiking and camping section at the local sports store, and it got me to thinking how much fun it would be to plan a trip like that and then to actually do it.
The travel bug hasn't stopped with wanting to walk the trail. It's reawakened a desire to explore...there is so much out there I want to see that I don't even know where to start. I have to balance my dream of travel with the reality of everyday life. This means I have only a few weeks of free time to play with (seeing as how I am an "adult" with a real job now).
My buddy and former college roommate Greg have made it a bit of a habit in May or June to meet somewhere around the country to go explorin'. This year we are expanding our boundaries a tad and will head off to Europe for a few weeks. Can't wait to start planning.
Another thing I thought of today, and anyone who knows me will most likely start laughing and thinking I'm crazy, is to run in the New York City marathon. I'm not really a "runner" (heh. understatement) so to speak, but if I set entering that marathon as a goal, I might be able to organize a plan to get me there...something to shoot for. I doubt I'd even finish it, but who knows. It would be quite something to say "I ran the NYC marathon."
I told my brother and he started laughing. Then, he looked right at me, and with a straight face, said "If you enter that race, I'll give you $200." I have a slight feeling he doubts my intention. Heh.
Silly, silly brother. Taking an easy $200 from him would be motivation enough. :)

Thanks for the heads up!

Report: NYC rail tunnels vulnerable
Uh, yeah! I think most people figured that one out a long time ago. Thanks for the heads up!
It's always in the back of my mind when I head up to the city by train, but the chances are so minuscule that I don't get too worried about it. If my luck is that bad that I beat the huge odds and end up in such a scenario, then so be it. Granted, it's decidedly NOT the way I want to go...but that ain't up to me.

New car?! nope.

I have one more thing to add to my bag of neuroses: going to car dealerships. Everything about the process of buying a car is a headache. If it's not the constant pressure they feed you to buy something that day, it's the sheer amount of paperwork one has to fill out when one decides to actually buy the thing. Also, you go in realizing you're going to get ripped off on either the price of the car or the value of the trade in.
They are set up to take as much money from you as possible, and you go in trying to get the most for your money. Therein lies the conflict.
I hate conflict. And I know that going into dealerships will eventually lead to it. Ug.
I bring this up because this weekend I went to test drive a Mini Cooper S. It was an automatic, which might not the most desired transmission for the car, but it certainly makes driving in the nightmare that is NJ traffic easier.
Given my distaste for dealerships, I was trying to find reasons not to go, but I went anyway. After all was said and done, I found out I had a perfect reason not to go: some dude had already bought the thing off of Ebay! They neglected to tell me this during the two phone conversations I had with them on Friday and Saturday. Ug.
They did give me a chance to at least take a look at it. I kinda dig that little car, and the automatic has paddle shifts on the steering wheel...cool.
I guess there's one other thing about car dealerships I don't like: with the amount of research I do beforehand (what, me? cautious?), and as I am somewhat of a car guy, I usually know more about the car than the guy who's selling them. (might be more the case with used cars than new.) This I find highly annoying, especially when they feed me information I know to be incorrect.
Anyway, I didn't buy it...but if that guy hadn't gotten it on ebay, I might have just.
Wasn't to be this weekend.

A wonderful life

I love the movie "It's a Wonderful Life." I make sure to watch it every year when they show it on TV before Xmas, and it just happened to be on TV tonight. It's a tradition I've made over the years. I think the movie is classic, and I only hope that one day I can develop a story that so deeply resonates with the people who watch it.
Makes you think of all the things that make life wonderful, and how important a role you play in the lives of your family and friends. It's reaffirming.

Bridges and tunnels and airports

My brother and I took my parents to JFK airport (boo hiss!!) last night, and from my brother's house in Clinton, the GPS system told us that the best way to get to the airport was through the city.
Ha.
It took us 2.5 hours to drive about 80 miles, thanks to brutal congestion through the Lincoln tunnel, Manhattan, and the LIE. Absolute nightmare.
We thought the way back would be somewhat easier if we could take the Belt PArkway and go over the bridges.
Ha.
Before we knew it, we were on to another fucking bridge into Manhattan. Sure, the city looked cool from the vantage point of the huge bridge, but that view doesn't make up for the bumper to bumper traffic all the toward the Holland Tunnel.
Ug. If we had any real maps to go by beside that GPS thing, we might have been able to make it home faster, but nope...we were the GPS's bitches.
I have learned something, though. The next car I get will be tiny and agile, so if for odd reason I have to drive through the city again, I'll be prepared with a car I can dart around with.
Pedestrians, beware.

Operation Get Rid of Half My Stuff

My possessions are causing me suspicion but there's no proof.
I own a bunch of useless crap, and I am a world-reknowned pack rat. I think it might be time to go through all of my things without sentimentality or nostalgia and toss what I no longer need.
A prime example: I have an interest in real estate. Always have. However, nothing is gained from keeping 10-year-old Unique Homes magazines lying around. I even found real estate listings from when my parents lived in Lake Tahoe in the late 90s. Those will all be tossed.
I should also go through some of my other things with a keener eye toward organization. It makes no sense keeping books I've already read on display on a shelf in a my room. I have an attic that's about the same size as the whole apartment. So, I think some of my books will find a new home soon.
As for clothes, I have so many shirts and things that have tell tale signs of cat ownership, that being cat claw holes (stoopid cats). I'm most likely never going to wear those again, so I think it's time for them to go.
It occurs to me I said pretty much the same thing in the summer. Heh. I wonder how much of this I'll get accomplished this time!

Id-ol

I had a dream last night that I was on American Idol, and I did really well! However, I was knocked out at fourth place. Nevertheless, I took defeat graciously, saying that I was happy I got that far...happy even that I actually tried out for American Idol in the first place.
Why fourth place, I don't know. Maybe this is telling me I need to give myself some credit, but not so much credit that I get a huge ego.

Everybody needs a hobby

Over the last few months, I have developed a new hobby, and it seems to involve losing things. Now, that's entertainment! First it was my watch, and now it is my lease for my apartment. Can't for the life of me figure out where the hell I put it. ARG! It's not in any of the typical places where I usually leave fairly important papers.
I need this lease as I need it to renew it. All I really need to do is put new dates on it and initial. That's apparently how my landlords roll. Whatever.
There was a rather funny "My Name is Earl," tonight, on which they fly for the first time. The flight attendants go through the typical safety spiel, but when they get to bit about the oxygen masks, Earl says, "Ok, that's my stop. I'm getting off!" He then remarks to the flight attendant that they could at least add something about the plane not crashing.
Classic!
Then, he goes to the doctor to get pills to ease the flight anxiety...

"So, you have a fear of flying?"
"Not of flying, but of crashing. And dying."

I can definitely relate to that! I don't fear flying at all, it's the crashing and dying that rub me the wrong way.

What's "Go Gators" in French?

Haven't had internet access since last week. What a drag...thankfully, they came around today to fix it. Apparently, our cable hookup outside was so bad that it was amazing we were evn getting cable...a really bad splicing job held together by tape and sheer will.
Kinda stoked that the Gators got into the championship game against Ohio State. No school has everr held the championships for basketball and football in the same year, and that will most likely continue as I fear the Gators will have their asses handed to them in shoe boxes.
My old college roommate and I, and possibly some others, are planning a trip to Europe next May or June. Sweet! I think the idea will be to visit the south of France and maybe Spain, hanging around the Mediterranean coast. I plan on being a typical tourist, as whenever I head back to Europe, I usually do family stuff. (It's kinda like going to my brother's in Clinton, but instead of a car, I take a plane to get there, and I have to pretend I understand more French than I really do. "Malhereusement, je ne vous comprends pas. Vous parlez plus vite!" How's that, eh?! That's my entire allotment of French for the year, mind you.) Not that I mind the family stuff...I get totally immersed in the culture, and of course, I get to hang with my oldest sis and the fam. Getting immersed in the culture is what most visitors strive to do, so I'm fairly lucky. Nevertheless, I still want to be a tourist.
I went to see Borat this weekend. Weird. Also, trauma inducing in certain parts...Overall, though, it was very funny!