BBQ and Personals Update. Yesterday, I went to a BBQ. I was told the night before about the BBQ in the park. I was asked to make macaroni salad. Although, I thought it was last minute (and I really did not want to go), I went.

Originally, my plan was to make the macaroni salad here in the shoebox, then go to the park. My foster father wanted me to make the macaroni salad at his place, suggesting that I get there very early. Rather than argue, I just said that I would try to get there early. However, that morning when I finally got out of bed (about 10am), I was not in the mood to make macaroni salad, so I decided to stop off at the supermarket on the way to the park to buy some store-bought macaroni salad. In the store, I ended up getting carried away. I ended up buying: two pounds off macaroni salad, a sweat potato pie, a pack of Oreo cookies, a quart of beer, and a bag of Doritos. I ended up spending about $20 dollars ($18.94) for a party I didn’t really want to go to. The BBQ was okay. No one ate anything I bought. However, the beer was gone fairly quickly. After shopping for the above mentioned items, I arrived in the park about 3pm. Everyone else arrived at the park about 4 or 5am. Yes, that is in the morning. After walking the perimeter of the park (and not finding anyone), I used my cell phone to call for the location. I was planning to stay to about 6pm, but I ended up staying a little bit later. Once another group brought out a pair of 5ft. tall speakers and started blasting the music, I got up, thank everyone for inviting me, and I left. On my way walking to the train station, I got a call on my cell phone from someone who had place a personal ad in the friendship section.

I’d mentioned (in a previous blog entry) that I had placed an ad and received 4 replies. I also replied to about 10 or 12 ads (looking for a walking friend). In total, of about 14 ads, I only found one person who was interested in meeting me to walk around the city. We are going to meet on Tuesday at 2pm at the City Hall information booth; there we will decide where we will walk to.

Today (Sunday), I was planning to walk around my neighborhood, but I ended up staying in uploading my previous blog entries. I usually type my blog entries into a Word file so that I can upload it at another time.

Minor events today:

* The property owner called to ask if I wanted to pay the rent today. Since I was planning to go out, I told him that I would stop by an ATM to take out the money to pay him. Since the ATM at the store was not working, I ended up going to my bank (about a 12 minute walk up hill).

* I went shopping for a few items.

* Mr. 40+ told me this morning that he had some kind of foot fungus which was why he did not go to work for the last couple of days (not including the couple of days from hitting his head on the warning sign). He had a cane, his foot was bandaged up, and he had a limp when he walked, so I assume it was serious, although, he wasn’t here for most of the day. He returned this evening, only to put something in the oven, and leave again. When the timer went off after about 15 minutes of beeping, I knocked on Mr. 40+’s door, but there was no reply. The oven timer would continue to beep for more than an hour, before Mr. 40+ returned to turn it off.

* Screamer decided that it was her turn to blast the stereo earthshakingly loud.

Well, that is it for now. Tomorrow, I think I will go to the Bronx Zoo, I was trying to save it for a walking trip with someone, but I might as well go alone. I’ll try to take a few photos. Yes, yes, I know. I still have the Botanical Garden and the Wall Street photos to upload to my other web site. I also have the photos from Japan (Osaka, Kyoto, and Nara) to upload.

Post Date - Monday, July 31, 2006 12:27pm

Boundaries. Where are the boundaries?

On Thursday I went to pick up my mail from my foster father’s place. I received a letter from a woman in Brazil. I have a (snail mail) pen pal in Brazil. According to her letter, my pen pal in Brazil gave her my address because she could learn English from a New Yorker. So, what was written in the paragraph she sent to me? Basically, her age, appearance, status (single), and how she is “very friendly to any race of the world”. She said that she saw my photo and really liked me a lot.” She then asked if I would mail to her “a american-perfume very known for women…some brand [Calvin Klein] the best for her”.

Yesterday (as usual), I spent most of the day watching TV. Around 3:30 the TV news flashed a storm warning for the tri-state area. Since I did not have milk (or ice cream pops), I decided to risk going to the store. I also wanted to buy another pair of sweatbands (for the wrists), however, I wanted the sweatbands for my ankles. I got tired of having my sneakers soaking in sweat each night because of the vinyl sweat suit. I still really like my sweat suit, but all that sweat is a bit of a pain. I am not ready to give up my suit just yet. On days like yesterday when I am not really in the mood to exercise, all of the sweating motivates me to continue; it seems like I am really making progress (even if I really am not). Anyway, back to boundaries.

Today, around 7pm, I went to answer the knocking on the main door on my floor. The lady at the door was looking for Mr. 40+. I told her that I thought he was at work, but she insisted on knocking on his door, so I left her to knock (I told her that all she had to do was pull the main door close when she left. I returned to my shoebox/cell, only to have her knocking on my door a couple of minutes later. She is nervously asking where Mr. 40+ is and that she needed her “stuff”. All of her stuff was in his room and she had no place to go. She then asked if she could stay with me until Mr. 40+ returns. Long story short, I told her I didn’t think that was a good idea (Mr. 40+ works the evening shift parking cars and would not return until 11 or 12 midnight). She then asks for $2.00 for some food. She promised that she would pay me back next week when she got her check. Unfortunately, Mr. Softee returned and gave her the $2…No, I didn’t believe for a minute that I would ever receive the money back. I’ve heard that song and dance before, but usually from the homeless people on the trains and streets. I gave the woman two Susan B. Anthony silver dollars from my Laundromat quarter container. I really did not want to show that woman where my wallet was at that time (or situation). Her response, “is that all?” She thought I had given her two quarters.

Is that it? Are you a new reader to this blog?

After asking for what she could, including asking me to not tell Mr. 40+ that she “borrowed” money from me, she then asked to borrow a scarf for her head because it was raining out. I told her that I did not have a scarf (I am very slow), she said yes you do, see it’s right there (pointing to a bandanna). Unfortunately again, Mr. Softee was in the house, I said okay. Once she left, I was very angry, mainly with myself. Despite telling myself that I’ve toughen up these last couple of years, but I have not really done very much.

After a few minutes, I realize I could call Mr. 40+ to tell (complain to him) about his Crackhead girlfriend. Sorry, I have no way of knowing if the lady was on any type of drugs. Unfortunately, that was the first impression she left me with.

Me: Hello, Mr. 40+?
Mr. 40+: Hi, wassup.
Me :Your ladyfriend stopped by. She said all her stuff…
Mr. 40+: which one?
Me :M. I. * * * * *
Mr. 40+: Oh really!!! She stopped by!!!
Me :She thought you were home, I told her you were probably at work.
Mr. 40+: No, I am at the hospital.

Last week, the two days I thought Mr. 40+ was not at work, it turns out he hit his head on a warning sign at work. I think he is thinking of suing the company. He asked me if I thought he had a case, but I told him probably not. Sorry, I am getting sidetracked.

From the joy in his voice, I really did not see any point in being nothing more than a messenger. People often complain about relationships and how the other person was this that and the other, and had no idea of the other person’s flaws. Do people really lower their standards so low, and then complain about the poor qualities of the opposite. Yes, they do. I mean no disrespect to the woman, I don’t know her well enough to form an opinion on anything other than the first impression she left. I suspect having this blog fall into my neighbors hands has altered my commentary a little.

After the phone call with Mr. 40+, I received (by phone) an invitation from my foster father’s lady friend’s daughter to go to a BBQ in the park for tomorrow. I was asked to make my macaroni salad. A little late and a little last minute. To be honest, I am not really a party person. Other people have better develop social skills than I do. For me, these social get-togethers are work. For others, conversations just come natural, but not for me.

Post Date - Sunday, July 30, 2006 2:57pm

Lots of sweat. You are probably wondering why I have not posted an entry in awhile. A few days ago (last Thursday I think), I allowed my neighbor (I gave her the nickname “Screamer” on this blog) asked to use my computer. Not only did I allow her to use my computer, I also set it up so that the screen was facing away from me -- I have a bad habit of thinking about other people’s feelings more than my own. I thought she would be more comfortable with the screen facing away from me. Result, I could not see where she was surfing on the internet. After she finished (about 40 minutes later), I discovered that my blog page was in my favorites file. She also deleted the temporary file and the history file, which means I really have no idea where she visited on line. Since I’ve (on a few occasions) written comments about my neighbors, I’ve been a little worried how they would react to being written about. Well, it has been a few days, and she has asked to use my computer (for its internet connection) since the last time. There does not seem to be any change in her behavior…so is it safe to assume that she did not look into my favorites file? That was very nice of her. I complain (often) about my living conditions, but I have to remember that it (my living conditions) could be much, much worse.
Changing topics.

What is the photo attached to this blog entry? It may sound a bit gross, but I thought it was interesting. I’ve written several times about the amount of sweat I’ve produced after a workout; this time, I took a picture. It sounds strange, but I like the plastic exercise suit. I feel like I’ve done a very hard workout while watching TV. Without the suit, I would workout the same, barely breaking a sweat.

Now, I use the rowing machine for an hour each day. As soon as I stand up, all of the sweat that has been pooling in the arms and the legs comes pouring out. Yesterday, instead of putting the towel down, I put the plastic bag over a tray to collect the sweat. I believe there is about a pint and a half. If you were grossed out by the change in topic, I am sorry about that.

Not much more to write about. I went to the Laundromat, and I’ll probably go walking around the neighborhood after I check my e-mail. I think I am going to resist the urge to post this (and the previous) entries for a couple of more days.

Post Date - Sunday, July 30, 2005 2:38pm

Eager to move with each passing day. Not much to write about, this was a weekend of eating, sleeping, and watching TV.

Mr. 40+ has a lady friend staying with him. No, he still has not introduced me to her. Even though she spent a good couple of hours cleaning out his cabinet in the kitchen and washing down the kitchen counter. When I asked him if he did the cleaning, his response was a quick “it had to be done”, and then quickly changed the subject. Now, it is about half past midnight, and he has his stereo on a little loud. I could go on about my neighbors, but I won’t.

Not much to write about me. I didn’t do much today. I went walking around my neighborhood, and shopping. A good thing to. Something told me to buy dinner outside instead on cooking dinner (cabinets were being cleaned out). Lately, I’ve managed to use my rowing machine everyday for the last couple of weeks, I try to eat dinner by 6:00, and exercise on my rowing machine by 8:00. I like my rowing machine because I can watch TV while I am exercising (which makes the time go by much faster). After exercising, I took a shower. This time, I washed the bathtub before I took my shower. Normally, I would clean the tub after. I always hated the idea of leaving a dirty bathtub for the next person, even when no one else seemed to care about a dirty tub.

I’m tired. That’s enough for today.

Post Date - Sunday, July 30, 2006 2:28pm

Yesterday, I went on a free walking tour around the Wall Street area. The tour started at 12 noon and finished about 1:30. There were about 60 people in the group; I was not expecting so many people. The group was divided into two groups, and each group was led by a graduate student. I enjoyed the tour. How was the tour guide? She was okay. She walked like a New Yorker (fast), and she talked like a New Yorker (fast), but I still enjoyed the tour. I was the only one who was able to consistantly keep up with the tour guide. No matter which direction she went, no matter where in the group I was standing, I always managed to keep up. Walking seems to be my thing.

Since I was already downtown, I decided to do another solo walk to midtown. This time, I chose another path. I walked down Broadway until I got to Canal Street, then (along Canal) I moved to 6th avenue. Once I reached Washington Square Park, I continued down 5th avenue until I reached Herald Square (I then returned to 6th avenue). While on 6th avenue, I went to MacDonald (so much for eating healthy). I continued walking to 59th street, there I took the train to return to my shoebox.

In my room no more than 30 seconds, Screamer knocks on my door. She wants to use my computer (for the internet). “Boyfriend” -- for some strange reason she never calls her boyfriend by his name; it is either “my boyfriend” or “he”. Anyway, her boyfriend bought her a cat (she calls the cat “baby”), and she wanted to find information on the care and feeding of the cat (baby). After she finished on my computer, I did an hour on my rowing machine.

Today, I didn’t do much. Mr. 40+ had a ladyfriend spend the night. The one or two times I was out of my room (I thought) it should have been a good time to introduce me to the “friend”. Call me old fashion, but I had this strange idea in my head that if we are sharing the kitchen and the bathroom, it would have been nice to have some idea of who was being invited into our living quarters. For the sake of time, I am going to skip the minor details like poorly wiped blood left on the toilet seat, and the mess left on the bathroom sink. Oh, I guess I didn’t skip it…never mind.

The attached photo is of Washington Square Park. I had to stand in the middle of the street to take this photo.

Post Date - Sunday, July 30, 2006 1:46pm

“Oh, my daughter made a mistake. Sorry.” One of the first templates for this blog included one that required a title for each entry. I thought the above statement would have made a nice title.

On Tuesday morning (around 8), I was lying in bed when I heard a knock on my door. I said come in…No reply. A couple of minutes later, I heard the knocking again, so again I said come in. With no reply, I opened my door. It turned out to be the daughter of the property owner. She must have been about 2 (or 3) years old. The property owner told me that it was his daughter and apologized for her. I suspect that the owner wanted someone awake (and choose me). About 15 or 20 minutes later, the meter reader came to check the meter located on the first floor of his building. It could have just been my imagination. However, there was just something too slick about that situation.

Mr. 40+ had his 13year old daughter visit him again during his two-days off. She seemed much quieter than the last time she was here (check the previous entry about her visit). I was glad that she was not as talkative this time around. The only thing(s) that annoyed me this time around was her walking around in her panties, washing her clothes and leaving the dripping wet clothes to dry on the towel rack. And finally…

While I was watching TV, there was a knock on my door; it was Mr. 40+. He came in to apologize about the oatmeal!?! The oatmeal I asked?!? He told me that his daughter “accidentally” ate a pack of my instant oatmeal. Actually, it had to have been more than one pack because there was an empty box in the trash. Usually, when I am down to only one pack in a box, I will usually rip up the box and put the single packet on the shelf (my space is limited). I also thought that it was a little strange that there were no oatmeal wrappings in the trash (since I dumped the trash the night before, it was easy to see the bottom of the trash). The microwave, the dishes, the hot water, and the counter space are all in the kitchen, but the oatmeal packet(s) were not in the trash.

On Monday, I wrote an ad for the personals column. I’ve spent years reading those things, and I never had the guts to actually write my own ad. Well, on Monday, that changed. I wrote an ad looking for a walking friend. Those readers of my blog know that I enjoy walking around.

Most of the time (actual here in New York, I should say all of the time), I walk alone. I received 4 ads by Monday evening. I was looking (hoping for someone around my age), I had two that were not in that group, one respondent seemed enthusiastic (but vague), and one seemed to be way, way out of my league. She seemed to be one of those super-fit, highly productive, with a lot of interests (anyone who reads this blog, know I am anything but those things mentioned. I replied to 3 of the respondents (I was not sure what to write for the vague respondent, so I have not replied to his (or her) e-mail. I have not checked my e-mail since my responses. That was about two days ago. As soon as I finish typing this blog entry, I will check my e-mail.

Finally, on Tuesday I planned to join the free walking tour of downtown Manhattan, but when I arrived at the meeting spot, I was told that the tour was cancelled. The tour was supposed to start at the information box by City Hall Park, and it was supposed to last for 90 minutes. There was an older lady from Germany there as well. She seemed to be quite a chatterbox. Since I did not know what to do I just waited. I was also waiting for the German lady to figure out what she wanted to do. To be honest, although the woman was a nice person, I really did not want to go anywhere she was going. Luckily for me, she decided to go to the Brooklyn bridge. I’ve been on that bridge several times. Once the lady left for the bridge, I decided to go to the Empire State building. I walked from City Hall down Broadway to 34th street. Once I arrived at the Empire State Building, I took one look at the price list that was being passed out, and I decided to pass on the ride up to the observation deck. The price was $16 dollars. For someone who is not working for the next two months, I should not spend $16 dollars like that. Also, I would have been a little bit bored up there by myself. I took a few photos on the outside of the building, after that, I returned to my shoebox. I was amazed to realize later that after walking for about 3 or 4 hours, I had the strength to do an hour later that evening on my rowing machine.

I was tired from that walk, so I did not do anything today, but eat, sleep, and watch TV. I did another hour on my rowing machine wearing my plastic exercising suit.I changed my twice-a-day exercise plan to one hour (once a day) routine. With that plastic suit, I end up sweating about a pint per workout. Yes, I did say pint. I have to stuff paper towels around my wrists and ankles to stop the sweat from pouring out. The result is that the sweat pools up in my sleeves and pant legs; when I stand up, the sweat comes pouring out. When I finish rowing, I lay down a plastic bag on the carpeted floor, and a bath towel on that plastic bag. The plastic bag protects the carpet, and the bath towel soaks up the sweat. It would be easier to just strip in the bathtub, but like I’d mentioned before, the minute I stand up the sweat starts to pour out of the plastic suit; I would be leaving a sweaty trail every evening to the bathroom. Although, it takes me about 20 minutes to clean up the sweat, I still like my plastic exercising suit.

What about tomorrow? I called up the phone number on the downtown walking tour flyer. It turns out the tour has moved to downtown. The new name is “the Wall Street walking tour".

Post Date - Sunday, July 30, 2005 1:25pm

New Blog entries on Tuesday, August 1st. (I hope) Sorry for the delay.

Post Date - Thursday, July 27, 2006 11:20am.

July 13, 2006
Today I spent about 3 hours walking around in the New York Botanical Garden. Although I am really not a big flower person, I really enjoyed myself. The cost of the garden was $6.00 for a general admission ticket. There was a special exhibition of glass sculptures, but since the cost was $16, I did not go to the exhibition. There were a few sample glass sculptures throughout the garden; those free samples showed me that I did not miss much. Inside the garden area, there were different areas (including flower groups, tree groups, and plants grown around rocks group). There were also a couple of very easy hiking trails (in the natural forest section) that I enjoyed very much. The hiking trails were very easy on my week knees. In total, I walked about 4 hours, and I took about 50 photos. I will try to post some of the photos on my other website in a few days.

I also suprised myself by having the strength (after a brief nap) to do 30 minutes on my rowing machine.

I attached two photos. The first photos is of the the greenhouse/conservatory. Since the main Glass Sculpture exhibition was located inside (with an extra $14 dollar fee), I did not go inside. The second photo was one of several flowered area; I think this one was designed to be a part of a courtyard. I think the place was being reserved for a wedding.

Post Date - Saturday, July 15, 2006 11:48am

July 12, 2006

Vacation still in full-swing. For the last couple of days, I’ve been trying to do more than eat, sleep, and watch TV. For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been hooked on instant messaging; I would spend a couple of hours on IM, then I would be too tired to do anything else. I would spend a couple of hours in the morning, then I would spent another couple of hours in the evening. For the last couple of days, I’ve been limiting my time on IM to only once a day.

Diet. Not much on that front. I have not been managing my eating habits as much as I would like. My plan of substituting a half a gallon of sherbet (which I have been eating almost nightly) with a box of 4 fruit bars failed. I ate the whole box in about 20 minutes. Yesterday, I went back to buying sherbet; it is cheaper, and it is a little bit healthier. I will just have to try not eating more than half in an evening.

In a previous blog entry, I mentioned buying a rice cooker. It turned out to be a waste of money. Once I got it home and opened the box, I realized that it would be too much of a pain (and a hassle) to make rice in that cooker. I thought I would only need to dump rice in the machine then return when it was finished. Nope, I would have to watch the machine while the rice is cooking, I would have to expect some “browning” on the bottom of the inside container. I would have to stir and remove the rice as soon as the rice was cooked. I would have to allow soaking time, and cleaning time. For me, it would be easier to just cook the rice the way I’ve been cooking the rice…in a simple pot. I learned my lesson, from now on; I will choose my gadgets carefully.

Oh by the way, I ordered a hot air popcorn maker on the internet; it arrived yesterday. I bought the hot air popcorn maker because it is more healthier than the store-bought chips (and popcorn) I’ve been buying. I also thought that making the popcorn would be fun. So far, I like my popcorn maker. It is actually faster than the microwave popcorn which takes about 7 to 8 minutes. The hot air popcorn maker only took 3 minutes to make popcorn.

Exercising. Well, I’ve started rowing again. I also bought a vinyl (plastic) workout suit. It’s great! After rowing on my machine for about 30 minutes, I am soaking in sweat. I think the sweating is helping to keep my pores open. Before the suit, I would spend about 30 minutes on the rowing machine, but it would not feel like I did anything. Now, with the suit on, I feel like I had a very intensive workout. The only down side is the 15 to 20 minutes it takes for me to clean up the sweat. Since I am living in a shoebox (with a carpeted floor), where the bathroom is not readily available, I have to lay down a plastic trashbag to act as a tarp. I have to wring out my clothes (about 8 to 10 ounces of sweat), then I have to hang up my clothes. Finally, I have to wipe down the vinyl suit and hang it to dry. The clean up is almost as intensive as the exercising. Once I have my own apartment, the clean up will be much easier. I’ll just have to go the to bathroom, strip, dump everything into tub, hang, shower and boom…finished.

Today I went walking around my neighborhood. It has been a very long time since I’ve been walking around. I was planning to go to the New York Botanical Garden which is about a 10 minute walk from where I am now living. By the time I arrived at the Garden gate it was about 4 in the afternoon, I did not want to rush through the garden, so I decided to postpone my walk there. Instead, I walked to the Bronx Zoo gate (I just wanted to see how long it would take to walk there). The Bronx Zoo is also located in my neighborhood. In total, I walked about 2 hours.

Post Date - July 15, 2006 11:43am

July 09, 2006
Still not much to write about. My vacation is passing slowly. Originally, I was planning work during this summer, but now, although I am fairly bored, I really don’t want to work. Lately however, I been thinking that I should at least go out and find something to do (cheaply). Even though I don’t have any money, I am living in one of the most famous cities in the world. I should be able to find something to do that won’t cost a lot of money. Yesterday I was planning to go to the New York Botanical Garden (which is located close to where I live here in the Bronx), but once I got off the computer from instant messaging people in other countries, I was tired and just went to sleep. Since I’ve got that instant messaging program, I have not been doing my blogs lately. I really have to cut down on my instant messaging computer time.

So how was my weekend? Nothing much to write about. On Saturday, I went to a mall in Jersey City. There, I saw the matinee showing of Superman Returns, only $6.50. I thought the movie was nice. It had very nice special effects. However, I thought the movie had a little too much of a “soap opera” drama focus. I thought the last 12 or 15 minutes of the movie had too much of a TV movie of the week feel. After the movie, I had dinner at my favorite fast food restaurant in the food court Panda Express.

Today, I did not do much. I went shopping for a few items: soup, milk, ice cream bars. I did not buy sherbet. Lately, I’ve been buy (and eating) a half a gallon of sherbet a night. Since I’ve been gaining weight, I had to stop with the sherbet. A substitute I am going to try is a chocolate covered fruit bar. Hopefully, I can just eat one and avoid eating all four in the box in one night.

Now that I’ve finish this blog entry, I am going to try to post this entry alone with the last 3 or 4 entries. I will try to not get sidetrack with instant messaging.

Post Date - Monday, July 10, 2006 1:07pm

July 8, 2006
Not much to write about. Not much going on. Vacation is going. Still waiting for my teaching license. Neighbors are still noisy (and messy). I stopped exercising, then I started again.

Post Date - Monday, July 10, 2006 12:49pm

July 1, 2006
Start of the month. Start of the day. Morning wake up. 5:20am, Screamer and her boyfriend returned from who knows where. Boyfriend yells, “You don’t know how to lock the f**king door” (Mr. 40+ must not have locked the main [secondary] door to our floor when he returned last night).

10 minutes later, Boyfriend and Screamer are in the kitchen. After a brief conversation exchange, Screamer shouts “f**k you” then walks to her room and slams the door, Boyfriend follows. About 10 minutes later, Screamer is shouting hesterically, “you broke it, you “f**king broke it”, followed by things being either dropped or thrown (most likely thrown). The fight lasts about 10 minutes…then…silence.

Ever since the police visit, it has been relatively quiet. There are still arguments, but neither one (Screamer nor her boyfriend) wants a repeat of the police visit episode, so the fights usually end as quickly as they begin. Lucky for the rest of us. Unfortunately, now I am up; it is now 6 in the morning. Yesterday, I had the whole floor to myself. Mr. 40+ was at work; Screamer and her boyfriend were who knows where.

Today is the first day of July; my plan is to return to exercising. I have not been using my rowing machine for the last couple of weeks. My plan (since I am not working and will probably spend most of my days watching TV) is to use the rowing machine twice a day (once in the morning and another time in the evening). Also, I want to try to set a 8pm cutoff time for eating (and snacking). And finally, I plan to drink hot green tea two times per day. Not the best diet or exercise program. I basically tried to keep things very basic. Each thing (individually) has helped me to lose weight in the past, now I want to try to combine all setting a one month time limit. If I have an easy goal to see, then I might succeed. Also putting this in writing might also help.

Post Date - Monday, July 10, 2006 12:41pm