Ruder. Brasher. Speaks his mind. A real New Yorker. At least that's what I'm striving for.
Especially when I notice a sign at The Fairway grocery store (essentially a cheaper Whole Foods in Harlem looking out right on the Hudson River) display with several kinds of extra-virgin olive oil and some small bread slices for sampling. It read, "Please be considerate: dip your bread only once."
"Why would they even need to post a sign like that?" I thought, lifting a piece of bread dripping with green, ripe oil to my mouth. As I took a bite of that full-bodied richness, I noticed the woman next to me with a piece of bread with a bite taken out of it. It all happened in slow motion: her moving the bread toward a bowel of olive oil. My thinking, "This can't be happening." Her dipping the bread, bite side first, into the smooth, thick liquid.
I was appalled. Horrified, more by her manners than by her generosity with her own cooties. As she walked away and I closed my gaping mouth, I realized that I missed a perfect chance for confrontation. She deserved public rebuke. It was my duty to perform the civil equivalent of a citizen's arrest. "EXCUSE ME, ma'am!" (Ma'am can come off as a bit condescending in the Northeast) "I can't believe what you just did! You are rude!" Her chastening would be completed by the sudden sensation wet liquid fat in her face--flung there by me--which would then drip down and stain her dress in great moist globs.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Niece & nephew
I talked to Roman (5) and Isabella (3) a few minutes each this evening. I've found it works best to ask Bella yes/no questions. "Did you go to the park today?" "Did you swim today?" "Did you reshingle the roof today?" At some point, the conversation became awkward when she stopped talking. I heard Shelley in the background trying to get the phone then, but then Bella didn't want to relinquish it. Maybe she wanted to hear me practice some monologues.
Roman was excited to tell me that they were going to read more of Narnia before going to sleep. He told me about Peter and Lucy, and the White Witch. I asked him if it was Always Winter And Sometimes Christmas in Narnia. He said no. I may have provoked an existential crisis by asking if he would ever consider visiting Narnia. "I would have to talk to Mommy first."
"But Roman, if the White Witch offered you Turkish Delight, would you take it?" I don't think I got a straight answer from him.
Roman was excited to tell me that they were going to read more of Narnia before going to sleep. He told me about Peter and Lucy, and the White Witch. I asked him if it was Always Winter And Sometimes Christmas in Narnia. He said no. I may have provoked an existential crisis by asking if he would ever consider visiting Narnia. "I would have to talk to Mommy first."
"But Roman, if the White Witch offered you Turkish Delight, would you take it?" I don't think I got a straight answer from him.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Nicolle's nonwedding
3-23-2007
1630 Finish work for the day
1645 Arrive at home. Change, finish packing.
1700 Subway (A train) toward 59th Street
1720 Subway (D train) toward 50th Street/7th Avenue
1723 Subway (E train) toward Jamaica Center, Queens
1810 Air Train toward JFK. Going counter-clockwise within airport. 1st stop Terminal 1
1824 Intraairport Air Train going counter clockwise.
1830 Arrive at Terminal 9.
2030 Fly to California
2335 (0130 Eastern Time) Arrive at LAX
2355 Arrive at rental car agency. Wait in line. Painful.
2359 Wonder if Enterprise and Avis have such long lines and slow staff. Maybe it's just Budget.
3-24-2007
0020 Sink into despair as person in front of me in line waits for fax from mother to give permission to use mother's credit card. Next person in line returns shortly after being assigned a car: "There's no key." He waits several minutes before being helped. Next person in line returns after being assigned a car: "There's damage on the car that's not on the rental paperwork." Painful. Painful. Painful.
0030 Front of line.
0032 Melissa arrives at rental car agency.
0045 On the road to Arroyo Grande
0430 (0730 ET) Arrive in Arroyo Grande
I arose to the sound of talking and laughing from the kitchen of Nicolle's parents' little house that looks out over a beautiful green valley in central California. We all sat around the island on barstools and sipped coffee and talked. Nicolle's mom made the equivalent of biscuits and gravy. Very warm and hospitable family; not an ounce of pretension.
After a leisurely morning, Nicolle, Melissa, and I set out. First stop: Trader Joe's. There we picked up supplies for our picnic on Nicolle's nonwedding day.
We stopped first at the rather touristy Pismo Beach with a big pier, seagulls, and a cold wind blowing off the water. Even spotted a sea otter! (After a kid nearby on the pier yelled, "Mom, look, a sea otter!" I probably would have seen it anyway.) Then we moved on to the more secluded and less touristy Avila Beach. Being sheltered a bit more, it was warmer. There, we enjoyed our organic, whole-grain lunch of hummus, soy & flax seed chips, pico, grapes, trail mix, and sushi
Back to Nicolle's house, where I met some of her family in town for the nonwedding. Aware I was with the womenfolk, I ventured out to where Nicolle's dad and brother were working on designing a pump made out of simple PVC for Nicolle to take back to Mozambique. I felt like I gained some credibility after making a couple suggestions; one of which was to fashion a ball-and-cage valve. I got the idea from studying artificial heart valves.
1810 Leave Nicolle's. Stop by Trader Joe's for a host gift for LA hosts.
1825 Heading south on the 101
2000 Emergency Starbucks stop.
2215 Arrive at John & Kathryn's in Whittier--a suburb of Los Angeles. We visited for a couple hours before retiring.
2-25-2007
Church with John and Kathryn in the morning. Kathryn gives a ride every week to Betty, and elderly woman with one leg. Betty has very precise times to be picked up and dropped off.
We went straight from church to LAX, where I managed to get an earlier flight to JFK rather than Newark as scheduled. The lady at the counter informed me, politely yet firmly, that I was responsible for my own transportation. I stared at her, trying to make sense of her comment, since the airline has yet to deliver me to my door. I think she was assuming I had a connection, or that I was actually trying to get to Newark. (Shudder!)
1330 Leave LAX
2145 Land JFK
1000 Walk through airport. Air Train to Howard Beach Station.
1015 Arrive at Howard Beach Station.
1020 Wait
1030 Wait
1040 Wait
1045 Manhattan bound A Train.
3-26-2007
0008 Arrive at my stop in Washington Heights. My times may be slightly off, but I'm pretty sure it was about an hour and a half on the subway to go from Queens, through Brooklyn, and then up the length of Manhattan.
1630 Finish work for the day
1645 Arrive at home. Change, finish packing.
1700 Subway (A train) toward 59th Street
1720 Subway (D train) toward 50th Street/7th Avenue
1723 Subway (E train) toward Jamaica Center, Queens
1810 Air Train toward JFK. Going counter-clockwise within airport. 1st stop Terminal 1
1824 Intraairport Air Train going counter clockwise.
1830 Arrive at Terminal 9.
2030 Fly to California
2335 (0130 Eastern Time) Arrive at LAX
2355 Arrive at rental car agency. Wait in line. Painful.
2359 Wonder if Enterprise and Avis have such long lines and slow staff. Maybe it's just Budget.
3-24-2007
0020 Sink into despair as person in front of me in line waits for fax from mother to give permission to use mother's credit card. Next person in line returns shortly after being assigned a car: "There's no key." He waits several minutes before being helped. Next person in line returns after being assigned a car: "There's damage on the car that's not on the rental paperwork." Painful. Painful. Painful.
0030 Front of line.
0032 Melissa arrives at rental car agency.
0045 On the road to Arroyo Grande
0430 (0730 ET) Arrive in Arroyo Grande
I arose to the sound of talking and laughing from the kitchen of Nicolle's parents' little house that looks out over a beautiful green valley in central California. We all sat around the island on barstools and sipped coffee and talked. Nicolle's mom made the equivalent of biscuits and gravy. Very warm and hospitable family; not an ounce of pretension.
After a leisurely morning, Nicolle, Melissa, and I set out. First stop: Trader Joe's. There we picked up supplies for our picnic on Nicolle's nonwedding day.
We stopped first at the rather touristy Pismo Beach with a big pier, seagulls, and a cold wind blowing off the water. Even spotted a sea otter! (After a kid nearby on the pier yelled, "Mom, look, a sea otter!" I probably would have seen it anyway.) Then we moved on to the more secluded and less touristy Avila Beach. Being sheltered a bit more, it was warmer. There, we enjoyed our organic, whole-grain lunch of hummus, soy & flax seed chips, pico, grapes, trail mix, and sushi
Back to Nicolle's house, where I met some of her family in town for the nonwedding. Aware I was with the womenfolk, I ventured out to where Nicolle's dad and brother were working on designing a pump made out of simple PVC for Nicolle to take back to Mozambique. I felt like I gained some credibility after making a couple suggestions; one of which was to fashion a ball-and-cage valve. I got the idea from studying artificial heart valves.
1810 Leave Nicolle's. Stop by Trader Joe's for a host gift for LA hosts.
1825 Heading south on the 101
2000 Emergency Starbucks stop.
2215 Arrive at John & Kathryn's in Whittier--a suburb of Los Angeles. We visited for a couple hours before retiring.
2-25-2007
Church with John and Kathryn in the morning. Kathryn gives a ride every week to Betty, and elderly woman with one leg. Betty has very precise times to be picked up and dropped off.
We went straight from church to LAX, where I managed to get an earlier flight to JFK rather than Newark as scheduled. The lady at the counter informed me, politely yet firmly, that I was responsible for my own transportation. I stared at her, trying to make sense of her comment, since the airline has yet to deliver me to my door. I think she was assuming I had a connection, or that I was actually trying to get to Newark. (Shudder!)
1330 Leave LAX
2145 Land JFK
1000 Walk through airport. Air Train to Howard Beach Station.
1015 Arrive at Howard Beach Station.
1020 Wait
1030 Wait
1040 Wait
1045 Manhattan bound A Train.
3-26-2007
0008 Arrive at my stop in Washington Heights. My times may be slightly off, but I'm pretty sure it was about an hour and a half on the subway to go from Queens, through Brooklyn, and then up the length of Manhattan.
"Bad hair day"
This is another picture of my parents' new puppy. She's shampooed and dried, but, according to Mom, is having a bad hair day.She's getting pretty good at rounding up the cattle when Dad needs them moved out of a pasture, but she was caught the other day with a chicken in her mouth. (The dog, not Mom.)
Thursday, March 22, 2007
My best day in London
Now that I'm back in the real world, after hitting the ground running I have a break on this post-call day to catch up on a few things. I wanted to finish my series of posts on my London trip.
Friday was probably my favorite day of vacation. I set my alarm clock for 6:20, and not long thereafter I was out in the early morning jogging along the Thames. As I ran, I couldn't help but remember all the miles I logged on the running trail behind my apartment complex in the Texas city I called home for five years, and I couldn't help to compare the plain foilage and buildings of that path to my present surroundings--one of the cleanest rivers of Europe on my left hand side, impressive buildings--both ancient and modern--on my right, and the sunny English morning sky overhead.
For those of you who surmised I started my run on the north bank (according to my last post, I was staying near St Paul's), you now know that I was running from east to west, or upstream. Just as I reached the tower of Big Ben where I'd decided would be my turn-around point, the gigantic bell struck 0700!
After a quick shower and breakfast at the lodge, I set out for the second time that day for the City of Westminster. Being still before 0900, I sat on the riverbank and read for a while before touring the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms. I really liked seeing the British command post for operations in World War II, left virtually untouched since 1945.
I took a stroll then in nearby St James Park and sat on some steps for another hour or so to read. Lunch was excellent and inexpensive--coconut milk soup and pad thai. I made a quick tour of the National Gallery--which just so happened to have a free special exhibit on the Impressionists, and read a few pages in Trafalgar Square before realizing that I needed another nap.
Better rested and refreshed, I went to Westminster for the third time that day, this time entering Westminster Abbey for the daily Evensong service as the chimes struck five o'clock. This was definitely a highlight of the trip--worshipping in a church that's nearly 1,000 years old. The nave is only 35 feet wide, but the ceiling towers nearly 100 feet above the floor! The boys choir was in top form that day (a few second reverberation time in the ancient space surely can't hurt), and I appreciated the simple but beautiful Anglican liturgy.
My last evening was peaceful, spending a few hours in the common room--you guessed it--reading and drinking tea.
Upon a little reflection, I've realized some key elements that make for a successful vacation, Jonathan style:
Friday was probably my favorite day of vacation. I set my alarm clock for 6:20, and not long thereafter I was out in the early morning jogging along the Thames. As I ran, I couldn't help but remember all the miles I logged on the running trail behind my apartment complex in the Texas city I called home for five years, and I couldn't help to compare the plain foilage and buildings of that path to my present surroundings--one of the cleanest rivers of Europe on my left hand side, impressive buildings--both ancient and modern--on my right, and the sunny English morning sky overhead.
For those of you who surmised I started my run on the north bank (according to my last post, I was staying near St Paul's), you now know that I was running from east to west, or upstream. Just as I reached the tower of Big Ben where I'd decided would be my turn-around point, the gigantic bell struck 0700!
After a quick shower and breakfast at the lodge, I set out for the second time that day for the City of Westminster. Being still before 0900, I sat on the riverbank and read for a while before touring the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms. I really liked seeing the British command post for operations in World War II, left virtually untouched since 1945.
I took a stroll then in nearby St James Park and sat on some steps for another hour or so to read. Lunch was excellent and inexpensive--coconut milk soup and pad thai. I made a quick tour of the National Gallery--which just so happened to have a free special exhibit on the Impressionists, and read a few pages in Trafalgar Square before realizing that I needed another nap.
Better rested and refreshed, I went to Westminster for the third time that day, this time entering Westminster Abbey for the daily Evensong service as the chimes struck five o'clock. This was definitely a highlight of the trip--worshipping in a church that's nearly 1,000 years old. The nave is only 35 feet wide, but the ceiling towers nearly 100 feet above the floor! The boys choir was in top form that day (a few second reverberation time in the ancient space surely can't hurt), and I appreciated the simple but beautiful Anglican liturgy.
My last evening was peaceful, spending a few hours in the common room--you guessed it--reading and drinking tea.
Upon a little reflection, I've realized some key elements that make for a successful vacation, Jonathan style:
- Interesting things. (1-2 hours at a museum is interesting, 4-5 is not.)
- Walking interesting places. Parks. City streets. Seeing a city as someone who lives there does.
- Sleep. Should be ample. Option for naps is a plus.
- Plenty of leisure reading.
- Alone time. Maybe a vacation by oneself in another country is a bit on the introverted end of the spectrum, but I think I need a little solitude to feel recharged.
- Nature. I really like seeing different parts of the world for the differences in terrain, rather it's hiking through a meadow in western England or enjoying a forest in Pennsylvania.
- Leaving the house tidy before leaving.
- Most importantly--a day or two buffer upon getting home before returning to work. An otherwise good vacation can be simply ruined by flying in the night before returning to work.
On all counts--except for leaving my room tidy--this was a successful one.
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