Apr 30, 2003
I was going to write about the auto show and about someone I know who looks like they are going to jail but, crash, crash, crash. Everytime the phone clicks in while I'm online I get knocked off (even though the call waiting is supposed to get turned off). The jail thing is interesting, consider this a teaser.
Apr 26, 2003
The odds on SARs? 5.9% fatality rate if you get it. Here’s another link to the CDC so you can get source information on this SARs instead of the rumor and innuendo that normally surrounds these kind of things.
Also, am I the only person that thinks you can have a “sick plane” the way you can have a “sick building?” The air conditioning system in a building in Philadelphia was largely responsible for Legionnaires Disease (if you can remember back that far). That’s part of the problem working in some of these buildings where you can’t open a window, they’re recycling the same crappy air for the decades since the thing was built. Also, how many companies or landlords make the kind of investment to clean out the ventilation systems of their buildings on a regular basis? Is there any reason to think the airlines (which are in trouble as it is) would do any better?
Also, am I the only person that thinks you can have a “sick plane” the way you can have a “sick building?” The air conditioning system in a building in Philadelphia was largely responsible for Legionnaires Disease (if you can remember back that far). That’s part of the problem working in some of these buildings where you can’t open a window, they’re recycling the same crappy air for the decades since the thing was built. Also, how many companies or landlords make the kind of investment to clean out the ventilation systems of their buildings on a regular basis? Is there any reason to think the airlines (which are in trouble as it is) would do any better?
Apr 25, 2003
The last few days I’ve been counting change. I got into the habit of throwing my loose change into a wine bottle after working with my friend Tom (who used a larger container, a water cooler bottle).
Every year or so when we worked together, Tom would regale me with stories of wheeling his water jug down to the local bank and cashing in on his hoard of change - it sounded like such a ridiculously simple way to force oneself to save.
I’ve gotten through the quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies (still have the dollars to do) and was up to around $750. Last time I cashed out was about two years back over the holidays and it wound up going a long way towards making a nice Christmas present. This time around it will pay for a few trips.
Lately, I’ve had the time to wrap up a few loose ends - all too often there seem to be an abundance of loose ends (things undone) around here so, it’s very satisfying to see some of the long unfinished projects moving towards completion and getting crossed off my list.
As I had noted, last weekend I got around to turning in old plane tickets for credit. The poor ticket agent at the counter was so nice sorting through the horror of processing these old tickets I had - this must have been something like a ticket agents nightmare since one of the tickets I was cashing in was from ’94 and the other from ’96.
You can only do those kinds of things at specified times (since you have to go to the airport now and I imagine they don’t want you to clog up the processing of departing passengers). When I got there, the airport was fairly quiet. the airport in Westchester is small (one terminal/four gates) so, I was able to walk right up without waiting.
The woman (ticket agent) was so patient, it took her almost an hour to process the transaction. After I had been there about fifteen minutes another customer came up and was waiting to get something done. She had a little boy with her and he wasn’t terribly happy with having to spend such a nice sunny day accompanying mommy to the airport and standing around the check in area - of course he made sure everyone knew it too (there’s some amazingly disquieting noises a child can make when they’re bored or unhappy). I grew uncomfortable having to make someone else wait, and let the agent know if she wanted to I would be okay waiting while she processed the woman’s transaction but, the agent wouldn’t have any of that.
The woman waiting grew increasingly impatient, even more so than her little boy. She whipped out her cell phone and her daytimer and made a big show about what a busy person she was (there were a couple of stage whisper comments in her cell phone conversation and those big dramatic huffs). I don’t think it impressed the ticket agent and I found it a little rude. When the ticket agent did finally try to process her it appeared she had an even more complicated transaction to conduct than I did which involved calling travel agents, first class tickets and turning in other tickets. Real precious attitude she had going there. The airport is over near the Greenwich border and while I don’t think it’s right to make generalizations about anyone, she did have the reek of new money - probably a Lincoln Navigator waiting for her in the parking lot. If it were the eighties she could be a character from a Thom Wolfe novel.
Watching her just made me think about the times I have been impatient or boorish. I don’t think I would have stuck it out as long as she did, I probably would have just come back another time when I could get things done quicker. It reminded me I have to write an email to the people at the airline about how nice the agent was.
Every year or so when we worked together, Tom would regale me with stories of wheeling his water jug down to the local bank and cashing in on his hoard of change - it sounded like such a ridiculously simple way to force oneself to save.
I’ve gotten through the quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies (still have the dollars to do) and was up to around $750. Last time I cashed out was about two years back over the holidays and it wound up going a long way towards making a nice Christmas present. This time around it will pay for a few trips.
Lately, I’ve had the time to wrap up a few loose ends - all too often there seem to be an abundance of loose ends (things undone) around here so, it’s very satisfying to see some of the long unfinished projects moving towards completion and getting crossed off my list.
As I had noted, last weekend I got around to turning in old plane tickets for credit. The poor ticket agent at the counter was so nice sorting through the horror of processing these old tickets I had - this must have been something like a ticket agents nightmare since one of the tickets I was cashing in was from ’94 and the other from ’96.
You can only do those kinds of things at specified times (since you have to go to the airport now and I imagine they don’t want you to clog up the processing of departing passengers). When I got there, the airport was fairly quiet. the airport in Westchester is small (one terminal/four gates) so, I was able to walk right up without waiting.
The woman (ticket agent) was so patient, it took her almost an hour to process the transaction. After I had been there about fifteen minutes another customer came up and was waiting to get something done. She had a little boy with her and he wasn’t terribly happy with having to spend such a nice sunny day accompanying mommy to the airport and standing around the check in area - of course he made sure everyone knew it too (there’s some amazingly disquieting noises a child can make when they’re bored or unhappy). I grew uncomfortable having to make someone else wait, and let the agent know if she wanted to I would be okay waiting while she processed the woman’s transaction but, the agent wouldn’t have any of that.
The woman waiting grew increasingly impatient, even more so than her little boy. She whipped out her cell phone and her daytimer and made a big show about what a busy person she was (there were a couple of stage whisper comments in her cell phone conversation and those big dramatic huffs). I don’t think it impressed the ticket agent and I found it a little rude. When the ticket agent did finally try to process her it appeared she had an even more complicated transaction to conduct than I did which involved calling travel agents, first class tickets and turning in other tickets. Real precious attitude she had going there. The airport is over near the Greenwich border and while I don’t think it’s right to make generalizations about anyone, she did have the reek of new money - probably a Lincoln Navigator waiting for her in the parking lot. If it were the eighties she could be a character from a Thom Wolfe novel.
Watching her just made me think about the times I have been impatient or boorish. I don’t think I would have stuck it out as long as she did, I probably would have just come back another time when I could get things done quicker. It reminded me I have to write an email to the people at the airline about how nice the agent was.
Apr 24, 2003
My blog sensei suffered a great loss today, Margaret sent me an email informing me her pretty companion of 17 years Miss Betty passed.
My pet cat Elric died when I was 19, we had raised her from a kitten and she lived an incredibly short life for a cat but that didn’t stop her from taking a large place in my heart. When she passed I was inconsolable and until The Big S brought Anna into my life more than 15 years later, I hadn’t had another pet.
Even though Anna introduced herself to me by biting me on the heel and our relationship got off to an adversarial start I couldn’t imagine my life without her today. My great joy is to have her climb atop my ever increasing belly and make herself at home when I lay down to sleep. She is a noisy little heater, purring contentedly away as she lulls me into dreamland.
So, my heart goes out to you Margaret, I know you’ll miss your furry friend.
My pet cat Elric died when I was 19, we had raised her from a kitten and she lived an incredibly short life for a cat but that didn’t stop her from taking a large place in my heart. When she passed I was inconsolable and until The Big S brought Anna into my life more than 15 years later, I hadn’t had another pet.
Even though Anna introduced herself to me by biting me on the heel and our relationship got off to an adversarial start I couldn’t imagine my life without her today. My great joy is to have her climb atop my ever increasing belly and make herself at home when I lay down to sleep. She is a noisy little heater, purring contentedly away as she lulls me into dreamland.
So, my heart goes out to you Margaret, I know you’ll miss your furry friend.
So the Mets have won a couple of games. I even watched Armando do the unthinkable and actually save a game last night. The thing that’s of note though is the people who are playing when they’re winning, Shinjo or Timo Perez in the outfield, this kid Gonzalez they just called up, Vance Wilson behind the plate, Tony Clark at first, Wigginton getting the key hit, Jay Seo starting, Jaime Cerda relieving. All those big signings Steve Phillips made, Cedeno, Vaughn, Cone, Sanchez not really working out the way he probably thought they would. Of course, you couldn’t help but notice over the last week or so, there have been a bunch of stories on the papers, on TV and on the web about Phillips being on the hot seat and in danger of losing his job. Yogi Berra said once “It gets late, early” and the 2003 Mets season is no exception. There’s a lot of dead weight on this team and I for one would feel tremendously better as a fan if the Mets would shed a few of those big contracts (see Vaughn, Alomar, Burnitz and Cedeno) to bring back some younger players. You can be in last place with much less of a payroll (nevermind the second highest payroll in all of baseball after the Yankees). If I owned the team I think I’d be pretty concerned about how Steve Phillips throws money around with abandon. Then again, he seems like a lot of management types I’ve run across in my lifetime in that he plays fast and loose with other people’s money and not his own.
Went to the Auto Show Tuesday night - more on that later. I saw this car and immediately wanted it. I guess it says loads about me that I want a station wagon (plus two of the 6 cars I’ve owned over the course of my lifetime have been station wagons). I just thought it looked really cool and was functional as well (I’m a big Home Depot kind of guy).
Apr 20, 2003
When I am home and I’m at my desk on the computer (whether it be surfing, working or writing), the mere fact I am at my desk means my lap has miraculously transformed into what our cat perceives as the best place in the entire house to come and make herself at home. This means I have a warm, purring creature making herself comfortable, head butting my arm as I try to type, licking my forearm if she’s really happy and ultimately curling up putting her head down in a position of extreme feline relaxation.
Somehow, no matter how nice the office I’ve been in, no matter how nice the people I’ve been around the atmosphere never has come remotely close to competing with what I find working here with the cat on my lap.
Today is Easter. I tried writing something about Easter 5 or 6 times just to have my browser crash (so much for dialup connections and old browser software).
My people are Cat’lick. Like lots of other families, we’ll make the trek in the car to be together on the holiday in observance.
The holiday is one of those signposts marking the passing of the year. We (my family) come together on a regular basis for Christmas, Easter, Fourth of July, a bunch of birthdays around Columbus day (my birthday is around the same time but, it‘s never been included) and Thanksgiving.
Our trek will take us across the river, over the Tappan Zee to what I still think of as my Uncle‘s house.
They’ll be a lot of good natured teasing, catching up with one and other (since the last holiday), a big meal and maybe the often occurring card game among the male relatives.
The meal will be a sumptuous repast with antipasto (cold cuts, pickled veggies and bread), a pasta course, a main course (ham probably since it’s Easter), lots of side dishes and finishing, a pretty sizable selection of desserts accompanied by coffee. I’m always a little apprehensive in advance of these gatherings but, each passing year I find myself coming away increasingly glad I went. I like my family - it helps that they’re nice people.
I should probably note that family as I refer to it is (was) my father’s older brother, his wife, their children, their children”s spouses, their grandchildren, their grandchildren”s spouses and now even their great-grandchildren (new baby in the family). My own grandparents (father’s parents) used to have these kinds of functions when they were alive and my Uncle and Aunt took up the banner after the grandparents passed. One of the things striking about these gatherings is it doesn’t seem long ago I was at “the small table,” the table reserved for the kids. My immediate family was very disjointed - my father married a few times, my mom’s family missing in action so, my Uncle Gerry and Aunt Ena provided something which figured very large in my life in that they gave me a place to be on the holidays - they gave me a place where I belonged.
The last few get togethers we’ve had haven’t been at Ena and Gerry’s. Gerry (my uncle) passed a few years ago. The change of venue has been strange - not being in the house of all those shared memories made things very different. Something was missing. As I thought about Easter, I thought about being back at the house again and I kept coming back to what would be missing... and what was missing would be Gerry.
So, on Easter morning I sit and write about the holiday, I think about my Uncle Gerry (who has been gone almost three years now) and how much I still miss him. Gerry was a very special man who had the unique quality of making the people around him feel special too. He was funny, he was loud and every time I would enter his house he would greet me with his booming voice, “Hello! Don Philippo!” There was never a doubt about that special quality he had when you were in his presence. I regret I never got to quite know Gerry as a man, as a person and consequently he looms larger than life in my memories. Gerry was the glue for our family and he touched all of our lives.
The last few years of his life, Gerry suffered from emphysema (a result of the twin evils of a smoking addiction and perc - a chemical he was exposed to regularly as a dry cleaner). He struggled on a daily basis to get a breath. Gerry hid the extent of his illness from some of us by staying ensconced upstairs during get togethers and then, appearing freshly scrubbed and looking quite well. It wasn’t until shortly before he passed, on a cold November day I went to help out and rake leaves for Ena and Gerry. It was then, I saw how ill Gerry had become. He was in his room with an oxygen tank and mask, wrapped up to keep warm, recovering from a cataract surgery Gerry had recently had - as frail as he may have been, Gerry never looked bigger in my eyes.
I visited Gerry in the hospital (in what would turn out to be his final days) and can’t forget how Gerry gave Ena a hard time about something in front of me. As Ena turned her back, Gerry gave me a conspiratorial wink letting me know he was just running Ena through her paces in the way people who have been together a long time do with one and other - Gerry wasn’t upset at all just playing the role she wanted him to play.
Anyway, since it’s Easter, I think about the legacy of my Uncle Gerry. Each of us in the family carries him in our hearts and we are still a family together even after Gerry is gone, a testament to him and how Gerry made each of us feel special. We all still miss him (I know I do, terribly so) and he will be in my thoughts today. Fortunately, we all still have each other and maybe that’s what holidays are supposed to be about anyway.
My people are Cat’lick. Like lots of other families, we’ll make the trek in the car to be together on the holiday in observance.
The holiday is one of those signposts marking the passing of the year. We (my family) come together on a regular basis for Christmas, Easter, Fourth of July, a bunch of birthdays around Columbus day (my birthday is around the same time but, it‘s never been included) and Thanksgiving.
Our trek will take us across the river, over the Tappan Zee to what I still think of as my Uncle‘s house.
They’ll be a lot of good natured teasing, catching up with one and other (since the last holiday), a big meal and maybe the often occurring card game among the male relatives.
The meal will be a sumptuous repast with antipasto (cold cuts, pickled veggies and bread), a pasta course, a main course (ham probably since it’s Easter), lots of side dishes and finishing, a pretty sizable selection of desserts accompanied by coffee. I’m always a little apprehensive in advance of these gatherings but, each passing year I find myself coming away increasingly glad I went. I like my family - it helps that they’re nice people.
I should probably note that family as I refer to it is (was) my father’s older brother, his wife, their children, their children”s spouses, their grandchildren, their grandchildren”s spouses and now even their great-grandchildren (new baby in the family). My own grandparents (father’s parents) used to have these kinds of functions when they were alive and my Uncle and Aunt took up the banner after the grandparents passed. One of the things striking about these gatherings is it doesn’t seem long ago I was at “the small table,” the table reserved for the kids. My immediate family was very disjointed - my father married a few times, my mom’s family missing in action so, my Uncle Gerry and Aunt Ena provided something which figured very large in my life in that they gave me a place to be on the holidays - they gave me a place where I belonged.
The last few get togethers we’ve had haven’t been at Ena and Gerry’s. Gerry (my uncle) passed a few years ago. The change of venue has been strange - not being in the house of all those shared memories made things very different. Something was missing. As I thought about Easter, I thought about being back at the house again and I kept coming back to what would be missing... and what was missing would be Gerry.
So, on Easter morning I sit and write about the holiday, I think about my Uncle Gerry (who has been gone almost three years now) and how much I still miss him. Gerry was a very special man who had the unique quality of making the people around him feel special too. He was funny, he was loud and every time I would enter his house he would greet me with his booming voice, “Hello! Don Philippo!” There was never a doubt about that special quality he had when you were in his presence. I regret I never got to quite know Gerry as a man, as a person and consequently he looms larger than life in my memories. Gerry was the glue for our family and he touched all of our lives.
The last few years of his life, Gerry suffered from emphysema (a result of the twin evils of a smoking addiction and perc - a chemical he was exposed to regularly as a dry cleaner). He struggled on a daily basis to get a breath. Gerry hid the extent of his illness from some of us by staying ensconced upstairs during get togethers and then, appearing freshly scrubbed and looking quite well. It wasn’t until shortly before he passed, on a cold November day I went to help out and rake leaves for Ena and Gerry. It was then, I saw how ill Gerry had become. He was in his room with an oxygen tank and mask, wrapped up to keep warm, recovering from a cataract surgery Gerry had recently had - as frail as he may have been, Gerry never looked bigger in my eyes.
I visited Gerry in the hospital (in what would turn out to be his final days) and can’t forget how Gerry gave Ena a hard time about something in front of me. As Ena turned her back, Gerry gave me a conspiratorial wink letting me know he was just running Ena through her paces in the way people who have been together a long time do with one and other - Gerry wasn’t upset at all just playing the role she wanted him to play.
Anyway, since it’s Easter, I think about the legacy of my Uncle Gerry. Each of us in the family carries him in our hearts and we are still a family together even after Gerry is gone, a testament to him and how Gerry made each of us feel special. We all still miss him (I know I do, terribly so) and he will be in my thoughts today. Fortunately, we all still have each other and maybe that’s what holidays are supposed to be about anyway.
Apr 19, 2003
Later today I have to go to the airport to get tickets for a trip. I have a bunch of old tickets I never used and finally decided I should get off my ass and figure out a place to go.
I used to travel quite a bit in my early thirties and somehow over the last few years I haven’t done it (travel) really. I guess it underscores all the other stuff that has been going on.
I planned a trip for us (The Big S and myself) to go to Boston. I’m pretty good at stuff like that (planning trips). We go up on a Saturday (I rented a car and a good thing too since mine acted up a bit this week leaving me just nervous enough to worry about getting stuck somewhere - which doesn’t have the same fear as it used to with Triple A and a cell phone).
The itenerary is:
Saturday afternoon, Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon.
I haven’t been to Boston in years, the last time was to visit a friend who was going to law school up there and living with a woman in a really scummy part of town. The nice thing was I managed to meet up with my friend Sarah (with the "h") and wander around the city with her.
I’ve met Sarah in different places around the world (Rome, Boston, Key West) and like traveling with her, now that she’s a mommy she’s too busy too travel that way but, I always hope they’ll be a day in the future (when we’re both silver haired) where we’ll be able to do stuff like that again.
Anyway, it should be a nice trip (the Boston one that is).
The tickets I’m picking up are for Key West. I haven’t been to Florida in awhile and there was one New Years where I flew down to Miami on New Year’s eve to spend a week with someone I was seeing who had moved down there. Being from New York, nothing was as great as being on the beach, lying in a deck chair when midnight hit drinking champagne and watching fireworks go off in celebration of the New Years arrival. So, I decided it would be nice to spend next New Years’ in Key West.
I was on the phone with the woman making the reservations and asking her about how to go about turning in the old tickets for credit. I asked if I had to go to the ticket office in Manhattan. She said they didn’t have them anymore and that they had closed them all down.
As she put it “they downsized.”
There used to be a ticket office in White Plains. I noticed it was gone a few years back and I thought they had just opted for a different location. It made me sad they didn’t have the ticket offices in Manhattan anymore. I remember going to one over by what was then the GM building, those ticket offices just added to the whole cosmopolitan aspect of the city, there was something very glamorous about them which I can’t quite put into words.
This could be a good year for travel. I want to get back to Italy again and will probably jaunt down to NC to see the aforementioned Sarah and her brood. Plus, I desparately want to go and check this out. I’m thinking some early September weekend when the Phillies are in town.
I used to travel quite a bit in my early thirties and somehow over the last few years I haven’t done it (travel) really. I guess it underscores all the other stuff that has been going on.
I planned a trip for us (The Big S and myself) to go to Boston. I’m pretty good at stuff like that (planning trips). We go up on a Saturday (I rented a car and a good thing too since mine acted up a bit this week leaving me just nervous enough to worry about getting stuck somewhere - which doesn’t have the same fear as it used to with Triple A and a cell phone).
The itenerary is:
Saturday afternoon, Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon.
I haven’t been to Boston in years, the last time was to visit a friend who was going to law school up there and living with a woman in a really scummy part of town. The nice thing was I managed to meet up with my friend Sarah (with the "h") and wander around the city with her.
I’ve met Sarah in different places around the world (Rome, Boston, Key West) and like traveling with her, now that she’s a mommy she’s too busy too travel that way but, I always hope they’ll be a day in the future (when we’re both silver haired) where we’ll be able to do stuff like that again.
Anyway, it should be a nice trip (the Boston one that is).
The tickets I’m picking up are for Key West. I haven’t been to Florida in awhile and there was one New Years where I flew down to Miami on New Year’s eve to spend a week with someone I was seeing who had moved down there. Being from New York, nothing was as great as being on the beach, lying in a deck chair when midnight hit drinking champagne and watching fireworks go off in celebration of the New Years arrival. So, I decided it would be nice to spend next New Years’ in Key West.
I was on the phone with the woman making the reservations and asking her about how to go about turning in the old tickets for credit. I asked if I had to go to the ticket office in Manhattan. She said they didn’t have them anymore and that they had closed them all down.
As she put it “they downsized.”
There used to be a ticket office in White Plains. I noticed it was gone a few years back and I thought they had just opted for a different location. It made me sad they didn’t have the ticket offices in Manhattan anymore. I remember going to one over by what was then the GM building, those ticket offices just added to the whole cosmopolitan aspect of the city, there was something very glamorous about them which I can’t quite put into words.
This could be a good year for travel. I want to get back to Italy again and will probably jaunt down to NC to see the aforementioned Sarah and her brood. Plus, I desparately want to go and check this out. I’m thinking some early September weekend when the Phillies are in town.
Some random thoughts watching the Mets game last night:
Tick tock... tick tock... the clock is ticking on Steve Phillips career as Mets GM. Another bad year and Mets fans will be free of this buffoon. As bad as the start has been, Art Howe isn't on the line the way Phillips is.
I actually feel sorry for Roger Cedeno. They had close ups of his face as he came to bat in the eighth inning of last nights game. A players face can tell you things and Roger’s expression spoke volumes. He looked so unhappy (never mind he was being booed by the home crowd) and so uncomfortable (overmatched) at the plate. Give this man a trade or send him to the minors!
Roger hasn’t really been too happy since he was traded to Houston. Phil Garner benched him for the remainder of the season in Detroit after he and the manager had words. Last year was a wash for him. I can’t blame Cedeno for signing a big contract if Steve Phillips was dumb enough to overpay. His stats have never matched up to his first go round with the Mets. Small wonder, the thing I don’t understand (and how it could have escaped all those people in baseball is beyond me) is how people can’t recognize how much Roger benefited from having Ricky Henderson as a teammate for a season. All year long the season they were teammates you would see shots of them sitting next to each other on the bench as Rickey tutored Roger on the nuances of each pitcher. The tutoring lead to a team record 66 steals which Roger never matched again once he and Rickey were no longer teammates.
How many players won’t be in Mets uniforms by the end of the season? Benitez, Alomar, Burnitz, Cedeno, Vaughn, Weathers? I guess it’s just wishful thinking on my part that Mo Vaughn could wind up with the Red Sox as part of a package with Benitez, of course the question would be what they would bring back. I was talking to the guys in the post office the other day about Vaughn being a walking advertisement for slim fast - he’s looking too much like the Jimmy Dean poster boy and this is after he supposedly lost weight! Here’s a guy who makes Steve Balboni look svelte! The only hope I have for him is that Don Baylor can tutor him in how to get hit by a pitch.
Art Howe does seem like a nice man but, I don’t see him lasting in New York.
Will Phillips managed to get fired before the trade deadline?
I stopped being a Yankee fan because I was a big fan of Don Mattingly, Buck Showalter and Mike Stanley. They all got were shown the door in one off season of Steinbrenner’s tantrums. Tino Martinez and Joe Torre arrived and the Yankees just won and won and won.
I didn’t think it was a testament to the ability of Torre as much as it was the result of work done by Gene Michael (when Steinbrenner was banned from the day to day operations of the team) and Showwalter bringing the team back from the morass it had fallen into under Bucky Dent and Stump Merrill. It probably wasn’t a coincidence either that the Diamondbacks won the year after Showalter left (like the Yankees) and I was surprised Boston didn’t do a better job trying to lure Billy Beane and Showalter there.
The point I was getting to, is that I’m really liking Matsui. The Mets have gotten rid of their Mattingly type players (see Olerud, Ventura and Alfonzo). Even though I am liking Wigginton and still like Timo Perez and Shinjo, the high turnover the team has had over the last few years makes it hard to root for them. It just looks like it will be a very long season.
Tick tock... tick tock... the clock is ticking on Steve Phillips career as Mets GM. Another bad year and Mets fans will be free of this buffoon. As bad as the start has been, Art Howe isn't on the line the way Phillips is.
I actually feel sorry for Roger Cedeno. They had close ups of his face as he came to bat in the eighth inning of last nights game. A players face can tell you things and Roger’s expression spoke volumes. He looked so unhappy (never mind he was being booed by the home crowd) and so uncomfortable (overmatched) at the plate. Give this man a trade or send him to the minors!
Roger hasn’t really been too happy since he was traded to Houston. Phil Garner benched him for the remainder of the season in Detroit after he and the manager had words. Last year was a wash for him. I can’t blame Cedeno for signing a big contract if Steve Phillips was dumb enough to overpay. His stats have never matched up to his first go round with the Mets. Small wonder, the thing I don’t understand (and how it could have escaped all those people in baseball is beyond me) is how people can’t recognize how much Roger benefited from having Ricky Henderson as a teammate for a season. All year long the season they were teammates you would see shots of them sitting next to each other on the bench as Rickey tutored Roger on the nuances of each pitcher. The tutoring lead to a team record 66 steals which Roger never matched again once he and Rickey were no longer teammates.
How many players won’t be in Mets uniforms by the end of the season? Benitez, Alomar, Burnitz, Cedeno, Vaughn, Weathers? I guess it’s just wishful thinking on my part that Mo Vaughn could wind up with the Red Sox as part of a package with Benitez, of course the question would be what they would bring back. I was talking to the guys in the post office the other day about Vaughn being a walking advertisement for slim fast - he’s looking too much like the Jimmy Dean poster boy and this is after he supposedly lost weight! Here’s a guy who makes Steve Balboni look svelte! The only hope I have for him is that Don Baylor can tutor him in how to get hit by a pitch.
Art Howe does seem like a nice man but, I don’t see him lasting in New York.
Will Phillips managed to get fired before the trade deadline?
I stopped being a Yankee fan because I was a big fan of Don Mattingly, Buck Showalter and Mike Stanley. They all got were shown the door in one off season of Steinbrenner’s tantrums. Tino Martinez and Joe Torre arrived and the Yankees just won and won and won.
I didn’t think it was a testament to the ability of Torre as much as it was the result of work done by Gene Michael (when Steinbrenner was banned from the day to day operations of the team) and Showwalter bringing the team back from the morass it had fallen into under Bucky Dent and Stump Merrill. It probably wasn’t a coincidence either that the Diamondbacks won the year after Showalter left (like the Yankees) and I was surprised Boston didn’t do a better job trying to lure Billy Beane and Showalter there.
The point I was getting to, is that I’m really liking Matsui. The Mets have gotten rid of their Mattingly type players (see Olerud, Ventura and Alfonzo). Even though I am liking Wigginton and still like Timo Perez and Shinjo, the high turnover the team has had over the last few years makes it hard to root for them. It just looks like it will be a very long season.
McMansions are becoming a big problem in this neck of the woods. Such a big problem, towns are enacting ordinances against them!
I really noticed it the other day. The weather got warmer and I was taking one of those leisurely drives through the backroads on my way home from Tarrytown. One of the nice things about living so far from the city is you can go on a meandering country drive on a warm sunny day through some beautiful countryside.
It's a little bit of an indictment considering my rants about the evils of SUVs and fuel usage but, there are less obvious roads to take when running errands and I don't think it's as great a crime to decide to forego the frenzy of the parkway.
Anyway, one of the roads back from Tarrytown takes you through the Rockefeller estate. The place is gigantic and a lot of people don't realize how much land it covers but thankfully it's largely undeveloped. After you get beyond the border of Sleepy Hollow and enter into the unincorporated parts of Ossining (really Briarcliff) there's a lot of beautiful countryside. It's this hidden valley that's situated between the cut the Hudson makes and the valley for the Pocantico River. There's a couple of golf courses back there and a Pace University campus and then until recently there was a lot of open land.
Over the last five years there's been building with these monster houses going up on really small lots. I don't quite understand the allure of building this monster house just to put it up between other monster houses that are so close to each other you could spit out your window onto your neighbor's window.
All the trees wind up getting chopped down. They look ugly all bunched together like that (there's usually a SUV or two parked in the driveway). It makes me wonder if you had the money to buy one of those things, wouldn't you want a little more privacy? Why not just buy a bigger place in the city?
I really noticed it the other day. The weather got warmer and I was taking one of those leisurely drives through the backroads on my way home from Tarrytown. One of the nice things about living so far from the city is you can go on a meandering country drive on a warm sunny day through some beautiful countryside.
It's a little bit of an indictment considering my rants about the evils of SUVs and fuel usage but, there are less obvious roads to take when running errands and I don't think it's as great a crime to decide to forego the frenzy of the parkway.
Anyway, one of the roads back from Tarrytown takes you through the Rockefeller estate. The place is gigantic and a lot of people don't realize how much land it covers but thankfully it's largely undeveloped. After you get beyond the border of Sleepy Hollow and enter into the unincorporated parts of Ossining (really Briarcliff) there's a lot of beautiful countryside. It's this hidden valley that's situated between the cut the Hudson makes and the valley for the Pocantico River. There's a couple of golf courses back there and a Pace University campus and then until recently there was a lot of open land.
Over the last five years there's been building with these monster houses going up on really small lots. I don't quite understand the allure of building this monster house just to put it up between other monster houses that are so close to each other you could spit out your window onto your neighbor's window.
All the trees wind up getting chopped down. They look ugly all bunched together like that (there's usually a SUV or two parked in the driveway). It makes me wonder if you had the money to buy one of those things, wouldn't you want a little more privacy? Why not just buy a bigger place in the city?
All the wonderfully nasty British slang readily defined which I came across in my search for the origins of the term McMansions, some slang which may find its way into my vocabulary.
Apr 15, 2003
You know every time I commit a rape or a murder, it's really not my fault at all, it's those nasty laws that get in the way... get real people!
Put out your f**kin cigarette or go outside and smoke.
Call it what it is people! Some clowns got too drunk, took exception to being told to go outside to smoke (or put out their cigarette) and used it as an excuse to commit violence on someone who was trying to do his job for which they should be brought to trial and if found guilty of murder put away to contemplate the stupidity of their actions.
What's next? I didn't feel like stopping because the light was red?! Grow the f**k up, accept responsiblity for your actions, life is tough - so you have to wait to smoke your cigarette... like life is a big party for the rest of us.
Please!
Apr 14, 2003
Now that the weather is getting nice, I post these two items for all the concrete bound city dwellers - take a nice boat or train ride and get out into the country:
May 10 - November 2: The Sleepy Hollow Cruise on NY Waterway NY Waterway offers cruises on weekends and holiday Mondays up the Hudson River from Manhattan to Tarrytown, with visits to several historic properties throughout the season, including Kykuit, the Rockefeller Estate, Philipsburg Manor, Washington Irving's Sunnyside, and Lyndhurst. Cruises depart from West 38th Street and 12th Avenue in Manhattan. Choose from a full day trip or get away for the weekend with a Saturday night stay at the Dolce Tarrytown House, a luxury, full-service inn. Call NY Waterway at (800) 533?3779 for reservations. Preview your trip on-line at www.nywaterway.com.
May 1 - November 2: Kykuit Excursion on Metro North Excursions to Kykuit, the Rockefeller Estate, via Metro North Railroad from Grand Central Terminal and 125th Street begin May 1st. The package includes admission to the estate and roundtrip rail fare. Package price per adult $27.50, seniors $25.50, and children 5-11, $19.00, children under 5, $18. Visitors take a short taxi ride from the station to the Visitors Center (not included).. Tickets available only from Metro North. Call 1 (800) metro-info. In New York City call (212) 532-4900, or purchase tickets online at: www.mnr.org
May 10 - November 2: The Sleepy Hollow Cruise on NY Waterway NY Waterway offers cruises on weekends and holiday Mondays up the Hudson River from Manhattan to Tarrytown, with visits to several historic properties throughout the season, including Kykuit, the Rockefeller Estate, Philipsburg Manor, Washington Irving's Sunnyside, and Lyndhurst. Cruises depart from West 38th Street and 12th Avenue in Manhattan. Choose from a full day trip or get away for the weekend with a Saturday night stay at the Dolce Tarrytown House, a luxury, full-service inn. Call NY Waterway at (800) 533?3779 for reservations. Preview your trip on-line at www.nywaterway.com.
May 1 - November 2: Kykuit Excursion on Metro North Excursions to Kykuit, the Rockefeller Estate, via Metro North Railroad from Grand Central Terminal and 125th Street begin May 1st. The package includes admission to the estate and roundtrip rail fare. Package price per adult $27.50, seniors $25.50, and children 5-11, $19.00, children under 5, $18. Visitors take a short taxi ride from the station to the Visitors Center (not included).. Tickets available only from Metro North. Call 1 (800) metro-info. In New York City call (212) 532-4900, or purchase tickets online at: www.mnr.org
I'm pretty much for supporting our troops once they're on the ground somewhere (if you hadn't noticed - I have a great deal of admiration for anyone who is willing to serve their country) but...
..uuuummmm,
...weren't there supposed to be large caches of chemical weapons?
...wasn't there talk about a nuclear program?
...big quantities of biological weapons?
...are we missing something here?
..uuuummmm,
...weren't there supposed to be large caches of chemical weapons?
...wasn't there talk about a nuclear program?
...big quantities of biological weapons?
...are we missing something here?
Apr 13, 2003
The other day I was working at a client. He's in his early 50s. They were ordering lunch (I passed having brought fruit from home) and he opted for the Number 1 from Wendy's.
This caused me to give him a bit of a double take from the other side of the room - he knew why I was doing it.
"What?!?!"
"Just curious if you upped your Lipitor dosage?"
Which lead us into a conversation about how he had changed medications and for awhile had gotten his cholesterol down below 200, though it ultimately climbed back upward leading him to believe any benefit he had gotten from the new medication was temporary while his body adjusted to it.
This in turn brought the conversation down the path of various medical perils we have encoutered in our passage through life.
Bearing witness to this was the kid that works for him who is all of about 22 and has the energy level to match. Since it was Friday, he was planning different ways he could abuse his body all of which included consuming massive quantities of beer leading to an intensive hangover the following day.
Which caused my client to make an observation on how his employee managed to have great appetites of both food and drink and couldn't foresee a day when he wouldn't be able to indulge in those appetites.
Ah... youth. (:>)
This caused me to give him a bit of a double take from the other side of the room - he knew why I was doing it.
"What?!?!"
"Just curious if you upped your Lipitor dosage?"
Which lead us into a conversation about how he had changed medications and for awhile had gotten his cholesterol down below 200, though it ultimately climbed back upward leading him to believe any benefit he had gotten from the new medication was temporary while his body adjusted to it.
This in turn brought the conversation down the path of various medical perils we have encoutered in our passage through life.
Bearing witness to this was the kid that works for him who is all of about 22 and has the energy level to match. Since it was Friday, he was planning different ways he could abuse his body all of which included consuming massive quantities of beer leading to an intensive hangover the following day.
Which caused my client to make an observation on how his employee managed to have great appetites of both food and drink and couldn't foresee a day when he wouldn't be able to indulge in those appetites.
Ah... youth. (:>)
Apr 12, 2003
On one of the paradoxes of city living, is the following true?
People in large apartments furnish them in a spartan manner.
People in smaller apartments have their belongings virtually coming out the windows.
I think there might be some kind of city dweller Algebra at work here. There has to be an equation where you can represent the size of the apartment and it's relationship to the amount of clutter. The larger an apartment the more sparsely furnished it is the smaller an apartment the increase in the amount of personal possessions occupying every inch of available space. Any math whizzes out there care to take a crack at it? Anyone else notice the same thing?
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