sgrildrig

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There's a song called "Farewell to Nova Scotia", which I'm rewriting in my mind to be "Farewell to New York City".  Just part of a day left and it'll be time to unwind the metro system back to the airport and about 15 minutes of motorized walkways (they put the terminal waaaay away from stuff).

Back to snow too.  Ain't no snow here.

But before I can get away I've been coerced to go to St. Pat's for morning mass.  We'll see if I vanish in a puff of greasy black smoke.

I'll have to come back, maybe when it's a bit warmer.  I still have to take the Staten Island ferry so I have see the Statue of Liberty, and NYC from the water.  And it's been a really long time since I've been up in a tall building to look over the city.  So that will have to be put on the agenda.

I also didn't get to chase enough pigeons or squirrels.

I did get a chance to spend time looking at the rare books on the third floor of The Strand.  I was sorely tempted to grab some Ace Doublebacks (I read a lot of those as a kid).  But I packed way too tight for this trip.  There's barely room for the fleas.

So, it's back to the great white north.  I'll probably laze out and post more pics at some point... 

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<randomrant>

I don't go to a lot of shows, mostly because I'm a lazy sod who can't be bothered.  As such when I do go it's because I've been bonked over the head and dragged off to a theater.  That's what happened when I saw Riverdance many years ago.  And it happened this time when I was shanghaied to Radio City Music Hall.

The interior of the place is pretty cool, providing adequate headroom with some obstacles, from the lobby...

...to the stage, which was pretty much the entire theater, since they had enough projection equipment to light up the inside of Godzilla.  They put it to superb use too, with a ton of animations... 
I'm not a huge fan of syrupy Christmas stuff.  It makes my teeth hurt.  But I was entertained.  I'm also not normally that focused on legs.  But in this case had to make an exception...

So, if you ever find yourself in New York City around the Christmas season, consider checking out the show.  It's sappy as a pine forest, but you'll have a pretty darn good time...

On a slightly different note, Manhattan has caved in to the fact that its buildings are perceived as gifts to those who like to play with them, and therefore has taken the logical step for the season...

PS: At rush hour the bodies are packed so tightly into each of the dozen or so 51' long subway cars that you couldn't slip an emaciated kipper between them.  Just sayin' for those who find that sort of thing interesting...
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<randomrant>

Dedicated to those who travel like me -- by the skin of their teeth...

- Leaving the airport I got on the Howard Beach instead of the Jamaica train, but this was easily fixed a stop later.

- I tried to pay tickets for peak instead of non peak, but an attendant caught me and fixed it, saving me $5 (alas, his good deed would soon be undone).

- I got to the LIRR on time to catch my train, but went down the wrong stairs, and proved not strong enough to rip the doors open at that end of the train.  Fortunately, the next train came five minutes later, and by that time I was standing by the bit of it where the doors actually open for you.

- I'd forgotten about the signage system at Penn Station (not helped by construction) that works on theory of only telling you which line you're at when you're at it, but not before.  Some cops sorted me out on that one.

- I got my metro pass, stocked it for a few days, used it once, and promptly lost it.  At this point I was laughing, because when I'm in bozo mode I might as well enjoy it.

- However, when I tried to get a new card to prep for tomorrow, I found my credit card company decided to it shut off.  I was amused because I used the same card to get my airline tickets.  Suddenly I'm not as fearful of them always knowing what I'm doing.  Fortunately, I was able to reactivate it online.

By way of compensation the walk to the hotel was easy and non-eventful.  So, either I have survived my little bout of bozoitis, or it's decided to save something for tomorrow.  Either way, it's shaping up to be a nice, memorable trip... ^^

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<randomrant>

I'm off to New York City in a few hours, once more to tour among the massive skyscrapers.  No car this time.  That means I get to use the metro for the first time since...well, since a long time ago, let's leave it at that.  And that means I'll get to wander around Penn Station trying to find my metro line.  If things work out for me like they do in other cities I'll find the line, but end up on the wrong platform.  I'm too small to jump across the tracks.

I'll be using the metro a few times too.  I have plans to bounce up and down Manhattan, including a stop at Radio City Music Hall.  That'll be a grin.

On the other paw the temps are going for a bit of a dive, possibly down into the teens with windchill (and that's the Fahrenheit teens, not those wimpy Celsius teens).  So, I broke down and bought myself a coat.  My first new coat in...er...a long while.  So if you see somebody ripping their parka off and screaming that it's too hot out, that's probably me.

The one thing I haven't done is figured out where to go for meals.  But I'm hooking up with a friend, so I'm going to lean on them to help.  So, if you see somebody eating a rat, that part of the plan hasn't worked out...

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<randomrant>

Dedicated to all those nights we sat around doing things similar to until somebody got pissed off enough to take action...

"I'm getting a headache.  Somebody decide."
"How about Mexican?"
"We had that last night.  Remember the fuss at the border?"
"Oh yeah."
"I vote for Chinese."
"I'm trying to cut down on the MSG."
"You have a salt problem?"
"Salt?  I thought it stood for Many Struggling Goodies."
"So what do you want?"
"I don't want to pick."
"This isn't getting us anywhere.  How about Indian."
"I don't like food from the deli."
"From the...look, stop with the puns."
"Hunger makes me that way."
"That hell it does.  How about pizza?"
"Pizza is good."
"That get's my vote."
"Count me in."
"Good.  Mozzarella, mushrooms, and extra tiny people."
"Not mushrooms."
"What?"
"Can we get pineapple on it?"
"Fuck you."
"Wait!  Stop.  Can we all agree on cheese?"
"Sure."
"Okay."
"That gets my vote."
"And tiny people on it?"
"Of course."
"Make it double."
"Fine."
"Good.  What kind?  How about Mexican?"
"We had them last night."
"We can't do that again."
"Yeah, be reasonable."
"Dammit!"

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