Lazy Day / Bill Pay Day

Thursday, July 31st.

Another lazy summer day. I was up about 11a.m. Online for a couple of hours. I received an email from an online teacher's supply store, and of course, I spent money like there was no tomorrow. I purchased:

* a class set of weekly reader's
* a class set of Math practice workbooks
* a class set of Phonic practice workbooks

The bill came to $269.31.

Today was also bill paying day. After a relaxing soak in the bath, I took the MN train into NYC to pay my bills. Lately, I've gotten too lazy to write a check, so I just go to the Bronx to pay the bills in person. I'm not comfortable with the idea of giving companies easy access to withdraw funds from my bank account, so it is either pay by check or pay in person. Actually, having a reason to leave my apartment is another reason. Until today, I haven't left my apartment since Sunday.

Anyway, back to bill pay day. I walked to the bank in downtown Yonkers. I withdrew almost my entire salary to have enough to pay my bills. I took the MN train to NYC. I paid electric and telephone, then credit card, and finally Target store. I took the MN train back to Yonkers. I stopped at the imitation 5 & 10 store to buy a couple of springloaded curtain rods for the kitchen. I finally got around to cleaning my kitchen (including the window sill so I can now put up the kitchen curtains I never put up since I've move here about two years ago. I put up venetian blinds, but I never got around to the kitchen curtains. After the 5 & 10, I went to clear out my locker at the local YMCAl; my membership expires in a few days.

Instead of renewing a yearly-membership I only used about 4 times, I will try another gym. My plan is to join a boxing gym. Boxing has become my new "get healthy" obsession. Last year it was the Y, and the year before it was rowing. Now, my new "thing" is boxing. I'm going to see if I can get out of bed tomorrow, and go down to the gym and look around. If everything looks okay, I want to start on Monday. My plan. I'm going to use my tax refund to sign up for private boxing lessons for the month of August. If I survive August, then I will also sign up for private lessons for September. After September, I will join (again assuming I survive) up for a 3 month group membership which (according to the web site) has a discount. After two months of private lessons, I won't be able to afford the private lessons anymore. It is only because of the tax refund that I will be signing up for private lessons. As you probably figured out, I am someone who has to be pushed to do anything. Without a schedule (or a reason), I tend to drift or lose focus. Look at my summer entries.

After clearing out my Y locker, I went shopping for a few food items. Since I was walking back(and didn't have my granny cart or shopping cart), I stuck with the basics and the bare minimum. I did not feeling like carrying a lot of heavy stuff. On my way back home, I stopped off at the local Chinese takeout restaurant. I ordered a pint of beef fried rice to go.

I watched "Ugly Betty" on TV. Blogged. And I am now done for the day. Hopefully, tomorrow will be new gym look around day. I might also take in a movie.

Post Date - Saturday, August 23, 2008 12:20AM
Completion Date - Thursday, July 31, 2008 10:42PM

Cleaning Day 2

Tuesday, July 29th


Today started of as a lazy day, but I was able to eventually get some cleaning done. I spent most of the day on the computer. I watched the final episode of Star Trek Voyager "Endgame". I also watched parts of Star Wars fight scenes.

Finally, later in the evening, I started cleaning. I cleaned the bathroom and the kitchen. Three rooms down, one to go. The last room to clean will be the living room.


While I was in my lazy mode, I wanted spaghetti. But since I had not bathe or showered since Sunday morning(before the several hour walk), I was in no shape to be outside. Since I managed to clean my bathroom and my kitchen, I was in a good mood. I made spaghetti with ground turkey meat for the meat sauce. After I ate dinner, I washed the dishes, and cleaned the stove. I took a bath in my clean bathroom.

Today turned out to be a productive day.


Post Date - Thursday, August 21, 2008 11:05AM
Completion Date - Wednesday, July 30, 2008 2:18AM

A Rainy Sunday Walk

I'll start this entry with the email I read about 10:30am. My epal (Macy's Walker) sent me an email that he was cancelling at the last minute joining me and Vpal (my vegetarian epal) for a walk along Manhattan's greenway (Henry Hudson Parkway or Westside Highway). I was a bit annoyed at the last minute cancellation considering I had asked Vpal to change his schedule to accommodated MW. However later, I thought it was nice that he took the time to send both a email and a text message.

I called Vpal to let him know about the cancellation and see if he wanted to go back to the original meeting time. He said that since he was already up, we should continue with the earlier meeting time. We agreed with a 1:15p.m. meeting time.

I arrived about 10 minutes early, but Vpal was about 15 minutes late. The meeting place was Dyckman and Broadway -- that's way uptown for you non-New York readers. The plan was to start from Dyckman Street and walk as far south as our legs would take us. I will try to attach a map of the Manhattan Greenway. The Greenway is a plan that would surround Manhattan Island with tha pathway for walkers and bikers around the perimeter of Manhattan Island.

We started from Dyckman Street and the walk was going okay, until we arrived at 145th street(about 3.5 miles according to Google Maps). Then, the sky started to darken. Once it started raining, I was in no mood to walk in the rain. I suggested that we take the train downtown and go see a movie. Vpal agreed (suggesting 14th street). We went to 14th street and union square. I asked to stop in Filene's Basement. I wanted to buy a cheap pair of long pants. I knew the movie theater would be cold, and I wanted to be prepared. I thought Filene's was a discount store like a five and dime imitation store, but I was incorrect. There were a lot of expensive clothes (expensive to me) that I really didn't like or were too expensive. However, I settled on a pair of navy blue sweatpants ($29.99).

After we left the store, the rain had stopped, but we went to the movie theater to see what was playing. Basically, mostly sci-fi movies were shown. Right up my alley. However, Vpal did not seem to be interested. He would have settled for the Dark Knight, but it was sold out. Vpal suggested that we try another theater that was only a couple of city blocks away. Again, mostly sci-fi. V-pal suggested we try another theater on 23rd street. I agreed providing it didn't rain. We arrived at the theater on 23rd street and again ...mostly sci-fi with a couple of dramas. There was no way I wanted to see "Brideshead Revisited". However, Dark Knight was available. Unfortunately at that moment, I then remembered that a couple of people had already asked me if I was interested in seeing Dark Knight. I told them I wanted to wait for the crowds to decrease, and I wanted to see it in IMAX. All of a sudden I wasn't interested in seeing it at all. Vpal suggested another movie theater "down the block"; that theater was closed. Now, I was
wet (soaked to my underwear with sweat),
cold, (I was wearing shorts sweating from walking about 90 minutes),
and hungry (I had only eaten a bowl of cold cereal around 10a.m.).
Feeling a bit bad about being willing to see Dark Knight, then at the last minute refusing to see it, I suggested we walk to 34th street to see a movie from a theater there. I really wasn't in the mood for more walking for the reasons stated above, but I suggested the 34th street continuation. And at 34th street, again, mostly sci-fi movies. The marque on the outside did say that "Meet Dave" was shown. Vpal seems to really want to see that movie. The commercials look dumb, but I did not say anything. I would have been willing to see the "Dave" movie. However, no Dave was showing. Someone did not update the marque. I was ready to end this walk then and there, but Vpal suggested that we walk to 42nd Street. We walked.

Along the way, Vpal said he "saw me looking at the Subway restaurant store, so I must have been hungry". He was correct about the hungry part, but I didn't even know we had walked passed a Subway restaurant. I think that was Vpal's way of saying that he was hungry. And since they served veggie patties, he could eat there. Problem. I really wasn't in the mood for a Subway sandwich. Subways is a nice snack restaurant, but not usually when I'm very hungry. I didn't have a taste for a sandwich, chips and a soda. However, I believed Vpal wanted to eat, and being a vegetarian, his options were limited. We went in. I sat while Vpal waited on line. I thought he was waiting to order, but he only wanted to ask if they had any veggie patties. Nope they didn't. Now, I really annoyed. We must have passed a half-dozen BBQ restaurants, MacDs, and Burger Kings; we finally go into a restaurant I really didn't want to go in, and we turn around and walk out. We continue on to 42nd Street.

And on 42nd Street, more sci-fi movies, but no "Dave". I had had enough. I had one final suggestion: "we would walk (rain or shine) to 14th street and call it a day". Vpal agreed. We walked to 14th street, stopping along the way at Penn Station for a bathroom break.

When we arrived at 14th street, Vpal says that he is going to continue walking to 4th street. I agree to walk him to his station. We arrived at his station. At first I was annoyed; I felt I was walking further out of the way from the diner I wanted to go to. I mentioned the diner in previous blog entries. However, it turned out the diner I wanted to go to was right across the street. I had not mentioned the diner because one of the things that Vpal likes to suggest is that we can go to a place that does not have anything he can eat, he will "just sit and watch me eat", which would make me feel a bit uncomfortable. I walked Vpal to the turnstile expecting to say goodbye there. I had forgotten that I could have also taken the same train (going in the opposite direction). Problem. Once Vpal swiped his Metro Card, he was expecting me to follow, but I already had my hand out saying Good Bye, Nice walk...etc. I think he was a little hurt, but he didn't say anything, he just shook my hand and said that he would see me next weekend.

I went to the diner. I ordered my usual -- I've ordered the same thing the three other times I had been there(two with epals and once on my own). I ordered a large orange juice, a hamburger deluxe, and "onion rings on the side". I should have said, "instead of french fries, please give me onion rings". The result, I got both, french fries and onion rings. Since it was my mistake, I didn't say anything. I ate a few fries, but most I left. For desert, I ordered cherry pie a la mode. I left the diner feeling full and happy.


I decided to walk back to 14th street and see if any of the sci-fi movies were playing at that time. "Hellboy 2" was playing. I had about 30 minutes to kill, so I sat on the floor outside the theater 3 and read my DS9 book. So how was the movie?

The movie was okay. I was entertained, but I wasn't too impressed. I thought the movie was a bit sloppy and uneven, with a few weak plot points. I wasn't thrilled with Hellboy and the fish guy doing a drunken sing-a-long. The part where Hellboy fights the giant plant thing when he has a baby in his hand (scene from the trailers) was not the ending, so that should tell you something about the uneven plot. I thought Ron Perlman was good, as well as the fight scenes. Although, the fight scene where Hellboy was seconds ago on the floor barely able to sit upright, and then appears perfectly sobbor was stupid. I also thought the Prince's (unintentional disappearing and reappearing (when the plot needed) didn't help the movie. Example? The movie suggests that Prince Nuada kills a bunch of security guards to get into the top secret underground compound, yet the alarm doesn't go off until he is well within the top secret compound. His sister pushes the panic button on the wall. Short summary, the movie was not great, but it was entertaining.

I was out of the movie about 10:30p.m. I headed for home and arrived about 12midnight.


Post Date - Wednesday, August 20, 2008 10:58AM
Completion Date - Monday, July 28, 2008 2:51PM

One Room Down

Today started off the same as most of the others this summer so far, but about 3pm, I finally started to be a little productive. I went to the laundromat and washed all of my dirty clothes as well as my winter blankets, and winter jacket. When I finished doing my laundry, I finally cleaned my room, including: washing the curtains, folding (and putting away) my clothes, washing venetian blinds and the furniture surfaces, sweeping and mopping the floor. I made my bed and showered before I turned on my computer. I also put on the new bedspread. I put on the bedspread to act as a kind of dust cover, but once I put it on, I didn't like it too much, but I'll keep it for now. I felt very productive.


Post Date - Tuesday, August 19, 2008 12:32AM
Completion Date - Saturday, July 26, 2008 1:16PM

Animator vs Animation

The following link was recommended from another blog. Thanks Max! I did a quick search and was led to the web site of the artist Alan Becker(an 18 year old kid). Cool


Animator vs. Animation by *alanbecker on deviantART


Post Date - Tuesday, August 19, 2008 12:08AM

My Fall Reading List

Friday, July 25th

Below is a response to a question I answered about reading. When I finished, I realized this would be a good entry for my blog.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


I really wasn't a reader until I started reading the Harry Potter series. Now, I am a bit of a commuter reader. I like reading science fiction books. I'm currently reading Star Trek's Deep Space Nine (DS9) - "Twist of Faith". When I finished that I will jump into the adult bound edition of the Golden Compass. I like buying the adult bound editions because all parts of the series (or the trilogy) are combined into one volume. I like stories to have a beginning, a middle and an end. I don't like stories that are series. Last year, I read the adult edition of the Chronicles of Narnia. This fall, there are a couple of books that will be coming out that interest me:

1. Brisingr Book 3 of the Eragon series.
2. Inkdeath Book 3 of the Inkspell series.
3. Dragon Strike Book 4 of the Age of Fire series.
4. Deathly Hallows Book 7 of the Harry Potter series.*
* I bought this book months ago, but since it is the last in the series, I was so excited that I read the synopsis online before I got the book, so knowing the main parts of the book, has pushed it down lower on my reading list.


Post Date - Sunday, August 17, 2008 11:28PM
Completion Date - Friday, July 25, 2008

Boxing Plans

Another lazy day. Not much to write about. However, I did receive a phone call from the gym in uptown Manhattan(the one I visited July 8th after day 2 of jury duty). It was the owner who had made the call. She wanted to know if I had found another gym. She also mentioned a few other things:

* She mentioned how there is no real competition, but wanted me to know that if I wasn't happy with my new choice, I could always come to her.
* She mentioned how her place isn't about prices (still won't tell me how much it would cost to take lessons).
* She mentioned about how her gym focuses on the needs of individual clients.
* She mentioned her boxing experiences, and physical fitness interests.
* She mentioned the senior program for adults over the age 55.

It was about a 10 minute call. Even though I did not get the information I wanted, I have to be honest, I did like her sales pitch.

I went to visit my foster father. And being a bit depressed that I had not done any thing productive these last few days, I ordered a take out dinner from the local soul food restaurant owned by Koreans (including a large piece of carrot cake with frosting).

When I got home, I was feeling a bit guilty for buying the greasy heart attack on a plate, so I decided to call another gym with a boxing program that I had Googled at the same time I found the uptown gym. At first, I wanted a gym that was close to home -- telling myself that I would be more likely to go if the gym was closer to home. But lately, I've been thinking that another reason is my "homebody" mentality. I mostly stay home, and I am a bit of a waiter. I have a bit of a habit of waiting for opportunities to (almost literally) knock on my door. If opportunity doesn't knock, then I will usually just stay home. I guess you probably figured that out from this blog. What have I been doing since my vacation started? Eating and sleeping it away. Sorry, I'm getting sidetracked.

I decided to take a different approach. I thought about going to a gym that was not "on my way". I managed to find a gym that has boxing lessons downtown. The cost -- they actually posted their prices. The cost (per month) would be $230 for private lessons and $135 for group lessons. At first, I was thinking that there was no way I would be paying for private lessons, but now I'm not sure. Considering I wasted almost half of my summer doing nothing in the way of exercising. Now I'm thinking about using some of my tax refund to splurge on myself by signing up for a one month of private lessons to get me started, and then continue with group lessons after that. My tax refund (and fed stimulus check) are both still laying on my radio. A part of me knows that as soon as I deposit them, somehow or someway, they will evaporate. Sorry, sidetracked again.

Well, that is the plan now. As you regular blog readers know by now, I am Mr. Planner. I'm a good planner, but a poor follow througher. Hopefully, this time will be different. In a couple of months, I will be reaching the big 4-0. I would like a new me -- I'll even settle for an almost new me.

Well, it is late. I'll "keep you posted". Pun intended.

Post Date - Sunday, August 17, 2008 11:12AM
Completion Date - Friday, July 25, 2008 12:06PM

Lazy Day 2

Today was a partially lazy day. I got up late, and I even went online knowing that I would probably remain in front of this computer like I have for the last few days. Yesterday, from about 6p.m. until about 5:50p.m., I sat in front of my computer. I watched YouTube for most of that time. So what did I watch for most of that time? I watched clips from Red Dwarf and Star Trek DS9.

Red Dwarf was a sci-fi British comedy.





Star Trek - Deep Space Nine (DS9) was a spinoff from the Star Trek franchise.

I'm sure most of you readers know about Star Trek, so I won't bore you with details. Although DS9 was not my favorite Star Trek show, I watched it. I think it got better towards the end with the whole "Dominion War" story arch. Anyway, whole condensed episodes were up loaded to YouTube. I was able to watch the last 3 or 4 years of the show in the space of a few hours. Sorry, I got sidetrack.

Today was a partially lazy day. I got out of bed about 10a.m. I went online for about an hour. And amazingly enough, I was able to pull myself away. While I was online, I ate my oatmeal and drink plain hot green tea (no sugar). I relaxed in the bath for a while which was long overdue. After the bath I walked to the store to buy a few items: milk, orange juice, bread, fruit, etc... I also bought a whole pineapple($3.99). I lately, I've been buying precut fresh pineapples for my fruit smoothies. Today, I looked at the prices of the precut pineapples for $5.00. With the 3lbs. whole pineapple, I can get about 3 or 4 servings out of it. After shopping, I walked back home. So, I got about an hour of exercising from walkint to and from the store. For dinner, I had leftover ground turkey meat with pasta sauce. Yesterday, I was hungry, but too lazy to make spaghetti properly. I basically threw the ingredients into a pot went back to watching YouTube, and returned about 15 or 20 minutes later. The rice was already cooked 2minute reheat in the microwave, and I was eating dinner.

This evening I watched the next installment of the PBS show, "Pioneers of TV - Variety Shows". This is a good series. I almost missed it, but I'm glad I didn't. Next week will be the last part of the series focusing on Game Shows.


Post Date - Saturday, August 16, 2008 10:50PM
Completion Date - Wednesday, July 23, 2008 11:58PM

A Lazy Day

Monday, July 21th
Lazy Day. Very simply, it was a very, very lazy day. I finally got out of bed about 1:30p.m. For breakfast, I had a glass of orange juice, a glass of water, and I had a Nature Valley Yogurt granola bar. Diet? No, just too lazy to prepare anything. I would have had a bowl (or two) of cold cereal, but I ran out of milk. After breakfast, I've been online since then. Now I will see if I can find something quick to zap for dinner. I'll probably also make a fruit smoothie with the leftover fruit (either a peach or mango smoothie.



Post Date - Friday, August 15, 2008 10:39PM
Completion Date - Monday, July 21, 2008 8:53PM

FDR Drive Walk

Below is a slideshow of the photos I took along the walk from 125th street down to the tip of Manhattan Island along the greenway park along the FDR Drive(about 8.5 miles). The path was along the east coast of Manhattan Island.





Post Date - Thursday, August 14, 2008 5:11PM

FDR Drive Walk

Sunday, July 20th



I had a 3pm meeting at 125th street with Vpal. Our plan was to walk along the FDR Drive greenway. For those of you who are not in (or from NYC) The FDR drive is located along the eastern coast of Manhattan island. Before leaving:



I did a couple of loads of laundry
I had a quick bath
I was out about 1:30pm

I arrived at the meeting spot at about 2:00pm
Tried to find an entrance to the promenade park
Went to MacD for a Big Mac only while I waited
We started our walk at about 3pm. I stopped along the way to take photos of the path for a website that asks volunteers to upload photos of various kinds of paths
We walk down to Staten Island Ferry Terminal, then we decided to walk back up to catch A trains (epal going southbound and me going Northbound)
We finished our walk about 8:30pm
I arrived in enough time to catch the MN train, but due to construction, the trains were replaced by buses for about 10 subway station. Needless to say, the bus was a poor substitute.
I arrived in the Bronx about 10pm with about 45 minutes until the next MN train, I went to MacD and undid the benefits of the walk in one sit down meal. I had a fried chicken sandwich with fries and a medium strawberry milkshake.
I cleaned out the tub (dirty) from this mornings bath.
While my bathtub was filling up, I wrote this blog entry.
Now I need to relax in the bath so that my leg muscles don't stiffen up. Other than the rub burns from flabby thighs rubbing together, I feel okay. Once again, I will try to start an exercise routine on Monday. I also want to sign up for Boxing lessons either on Monday or Tuesday. I want the lessons signed up so that I can start in August.

Sorry for the sloppy layout of this blog entry. I didn't feel like rewriting it.


Post Date - Wednesday, August 13, 2008 12:44AM
Completion Date - Monday, July 21, 2008 12:22AM

Supper Club

Saturday, July 19th
Today I went to see one of my colleagues sing at a supper club. Dr. D (our school's data analyzer -- hired to coallate the data that now is coming due to almost monthly assessments in Reading, Math, and Science. Anyway, she put up flyers in a couple of places around the school. The others I ignored because the shows were during the school year. Since I knew I would have no other plans, I agreed to go. I paid my $10 for an advance ticket.

I told myself that I would try to do something productive today since I didn't have to be at the show until 8p.m. Unfortunately, by now you know me, I wasted time, until it was time for me to go. About 4:30p.m., I took a bath and got ready for the show. Since the show was in a supper club, I wore my only suit -- remember the suit I bought for my trip to Maryland. It was too hot for the jacket, so I just carried it. On my way to the show, there was a schedule change due to track construction or maintainance. The subway train went one stop, then the passengers had to get off and take a shuttle bus to rest of the way.

I arrived about 7:45p.m., There seemed to be a bit of confusion with what to do with me. One of the wait staff told be to go in, to see Dr. D, but she (Dr. D) didn't know where I was supposed to sit. I was standing at the doorway for about 6 or 7 minutes.

I got the impression the "show" wasn't so much her show as the restaurant only wanting to hire live musicians. There was the Asian pianist, European-American Bassist, and an African-American drummist. The instrument players started about 10 or 15 minutes late. Dr. Data didn't start singing until 8:30p.m. The live music finished at 9p.m. The next show was at 10p.m. Her singing was nice, and the food was also nice. The supper club was located uptown. Although the club tried to really be high class, every so often, I would get a little bit of street with my service. Although overall, the waitstaff did try to be professional, a couple of times my food was dropped with a "here's your food" attitude. I was by myself, and Dr. D was too busy being hostess to the people she knew. Of the 30 people in the room, about half were family members or friends she knew.

I left about 9:30p.m. I was back home about 11:00p.m.

Oh, Dr. D. announced that she retired from the Board of Education. She said that she gave 30 years and enough was enough -- then she sang "I Will Survive". If she were to return to school, she would have been the new literacy coach in charge of the new literacy program. Yep, the program most of us hate. The literacy coach hated the program(so I was told), and resigned from being a literacy coach. Next (school) year, the former lit. coach will be returning to the classroom; she will be a Pre-K teacher.

Post Date - Tuesday, August 12, 2008 11:39PM
Completion Date - Sunday, July 20, 2008 12:48AM

More Procrastination

Thursday, July 17th
Another day of chronic procrastination. I woke up a bit earlier than usual, cold cereal and dressed by about 11p.m. I went to get a daily newspaper. Yep, I forgot to use the ATM machine again. I wanted to sit in the park again and read the newspaper before I got to work cleaning my apartment. This time the experience was okay. There were park workers using loud machines like the leaf blower. After I read the newspaper, I was going to walk up the hill to the bodega to get some money out of the ATM to put some money on my laundry card. However, since the weather was so nice, I decided to take the train to Yonkers to go to the bank and save a transaction fee. Once in Yonkers, I first went shopping for some more plain yogurt, fruit, organic 2% milk, about 5 boxes of cold cereal, and microwavable rice. I took the train back. But since I had not gone to the bank(I forgot again), I was going to take the train back, but I decided to walk. Then I decided that I would go back to that nearby gym just to see if I could find it, and maybe join. What happened to not being delusional? While walking to the park with my newspaper and an container of orange juice, at 4 or 5 different points, someone with washboard abs walked past me as I tried (with no success) to keep my stomach from jiggling while I walked past. I walked to the gym again. This time I found out why I could not find it the last time...it went out of business. It would have helped if someone took down the very large awning sign. After that disappointment, I took the bus to another local gym, only to discover that that gym stopped giving boxing lessons. The guy behind the counter offered a free karate lesson, but I really was not interested in karate. However, the guy was a bit persistent. I gave him my name and phone number even as I told him that I was not interested, and that I wouldn't be going. I walked back to central downtown Yonkers. Since there was a police car blocking the traffic, and I saw the local Channel 7 van with the reporter N.J. Burkett. I later found out that there was an accident. An elderly person accidentally stepped on the gas instead of the break hitting two people.

I walked to the bank. I also stopped off at the imitation 5 & 10 store. I bought one of those folding camping chairs. I stopped at a local pizza place and ordered a spaghetti dinner to go.

Evening was TV and blogging. Since I haven't taken a bath this evening, I won't be going outside tomorrow morning, so maybe I will be able to do some cleaning tomorrow.


Post Date - Monday, August 11, 2008 10:53PM
Completion Date - Friday, July 18, 2008 12:37AM/
Saturday, August 9, 2008 4:24PM

Old Routines Die Hard

Wednesday, July 16th
Today was supposed to be Day 2 of my apartment cleaning. I started today with the best of intentions, but I quickly fell into old habits. I started today with the goal of picking up where I left off from yesterday. I had cold cereal and quickly dressed. I made three trips to the trash compound behind the building complex where I live. I had 7 large black trash bags full, plus my old broken granny cart, broken iron, and other miscellaneous trashed items. After I finished the trash runs, I decided that I would walk up to the local bodega to buy the newspaper and make a withdrawal from the ATM machine. I needed to put some money on my laundry debit card. The washers and dryers in the complex only use debit cards that can be reloaded with $5 being the lowest denomination. Well, being Mr. slow and forgetful, I got the newspaper but forgot about going to the ATM. I didn't feel like going up the hill again at that moment. Then, I decided to go to the nearby park to read my newspaper. Yep, instead of cleaning my room. Although, I did tell myself that I would jump into cleaning just as soon as I finished my newspaper. Well, sitting in the park was nice. I thought about doing it more often. I even thought about getting one of those folding chairs so I would not be limited to a limited selection of dirty benches in shading areas. It was nice, the park was quiet for most of the time I was there. At about 12p.m., people started arriving. Luckily, I was finished reading my newspaper.

When I returned home, I decided to eat a Healthy Choice meal. Then,....

I slipped and told myself that I would just go online to quickly check my email while the meal was in the microwave cooking. Needless to say, about 4 hours later, I was still on the computer.

When I finally go off the computer, I watched the evening news and had dinner. I ate some microwaved rice, ready to eat frozen chicken, and frozen spinach. A dinner plate was finished in about 4 minutes. After dinner I watched another installment of the PBS show, "The Pioneers of Televisions - Late Night Talk Shows". Last week, I watch the other installment of the show, "The Pioneers of Televisions - Early Comedians of TV". After, I made another fruit smoothie. This time, I did not use the book, I just threw some leftover fruit and the last bit of yogurt into the blender. I even washed out the blender when I finished. Now, while I'm typing this blog entry, my bathtub was filling up. Having not bathed in several days, I'm long overdue.


Post Date - Friday, August 8, 2008 9:37PM
Completion Date - Wednesday, July 16, 2008 10:15PM

Cleaning and a Smoothie

Tuesday, July 15th



Day 1 of my apartment cleaning. Finally, I have started cleaning my apartment.

I started the day with another blender drink. This time I wanted to use the bananas that were turning brown. I decided to make a basic banana smoothie, and to my surprise, it tasted almost like the store-bought. I added about a teaspoon of honey which wasn't in the recipe, but I got tired of the "funny" taste I kept getting from my blender drinks. I also think the "funny" taste is coming from the low fat yogurt I've been using. Anyway, the taste of the smoothie was okay; I liked it. I liked it so much that I decided to make another one. This time, I made a strawberry and banana smoothie. I drank one glass of the S&B smoothie, and saved the other glass. Today I also had hot oatmeal and hot green tea. Today however, I did not turn on my computer.

Finally, I was able to start cleaning up my apartment. Finally!!!
Today I tackled only the living room. I went through the mounds of papers. I packed, stacked, and bagged the papers, newspapers, and magazines that had taken over my apartment. I think it will take me about another 2 days to finish my whole apartment.
* Today (Cleaning Day 1) - I cleaned up the school related trash and clutter almost covering the living room floor. I have 7 large black trash bags full to throw out. I also cleaned off the surfaces of the coffee table, my file cabinet, and my dining table which doubles as a office table. It is actually a folding card table. I stacked my school materials in the hallway with the boxes from school. When it is time to return to school, I'll rent a small moving van with a driver.
* Tomorrow (Cleaning Day 2) - I will need to go through the papers, mail, and junk mail and organized the papers that I keep. Today, my main goal was to get rid of trash and clutter. Tomorrow, my main goal will be to organized the papers that I will keep, and do real cleaning (meaning using soap and water). After dumping the 7 bags of trash, I will come back to clean my bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen. Later, while I'm watching the evening news, I will go through the papers and organize them.
* Thursday (Cleaning Day 3) - Cleaning the Venetian blinds, taking down the curtains to be washed, and mopping the living room and hallway floors. Hopefully, I will have mopped the bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen floors on Wednesday.


Completion Date - Tuesday, July 15, 2008 11:53PM
Post Date - Friday, August 8, 2008 1:12AM

Smoothie 2

Monday, July 14th



The lazy days of summer are passing fairly quickly. Today was supposed to be the start of my get in shape goals of eating healthy and exercising. Well, I'm not ready yet. So, what did I do? I got up with the idea of not getting online, because when I get online, I usually don't do anything else. Today was no exception.

I started off making breakfast. As the hot water was boiling, I decided to make a fruit juice in the blender. I made the pear/celery juice from the juicing book I bought from B&N. However, a blender is not a juicing machine, so no matter how long I left the blender on, the concoction didn't liquefy. Basically, what I made was the consistency of apple sauce. The smell and taste still had me thinking of chewing (or in this case, slurping) green grass. After finishing the blending, I drank/ate one glass full, then save the other glassful for another time. After I finished washing the blender, I ate my hot oatmeal, and drank my hot green tea. Then, I decided to go online just briefly.

About three or four hours later, I started watching "Kung Fu Hustle on YouTube, but got tired of watching the movie piece by piece, so I logged offline and watched the DVD. I liked that movie, I discovered that they are planning to make a sequel, "Kung Fu Hustle 2" to come out in a couple of years. The delay is due to the guy who made the KFH movie is currently busy production the Dragon Ball Z movie.

After watching the KFH movie, I went to my foster father's place just to say hello. Although both he and his lady friend were fighting colds, he seemed to be in a good mood. After the visit, I went to the Korean Soul food restaurant to order dinner to go.

I will try getting started on the new routines tomorrow.


Post Date - Thursday, August 7, 2008 1:19PM
Completion Date - Tuesday, July 15, 2008 11:19PM

5th Avenue Walk

Sunday, July 13th
Today the plan was to meet my epal for a walk along 5th avenue. The meetup time was 3pm at 110th street and Central Park North. I arrived at 2:30pm, but my epal(Veg.) was late. He told me that one of his client (Veg is a freelance designer) was a no show, and his train was also late due to construction. Considering I was late on the first meeting, I felt a bit obligated to wait. Besides, I know the guy is lonely and wouldn't pass up the opportunity to get out of the house. Since the weather was nice, and I was ready my Star Trek DS9 book "Twisted Faith". Veg. arrived about 3:50pm. We started walking but Vpal had to stop to buy a soda. He was hoping the soda would help him with his medicine. To help prevent his epileptic seizures, my Vpal told me the medicine he takes is very strong and can sometimes make him feel very drowsy; he was hoping the soda would give him a pick up so he could continue the walk. The plan was to walk along 5th avenue from 110th street to Washington Square Park (the beginning of 5th avenue). It was about 6.5 miles according to Google Maps. Since it was still early, we decided to walk to the Brooklyn Bridge, then later decided to walk over it, and then later still, we decided that we would walk a bit further. We ended up walking about 12 miles (according to Google Maps). I told Vpal that I would walk until 8:30p.m., (mistakenly) believing that I would need about an hour to reach my MN train. However, once again due to my miscalculation, I missed my train, so I had another hour in the Bronx to wait. Since I had the time, I went to MacDonald's. I told myself that I would start dieting and exercising tomorrow, so today would be my last day of unhealthy foods...at least for a while. I forgot my camera, so I was not able to take any photos this time. I agreed to do another walk with Vpal next Sunday. Unfortunately, Vpal wants to do more walking activities during the week. Although he is very nice, I would prefer to only do a walk once a week.

I need to end this entry now so that I can soak in the bathtub.


Post Date - Tuesday, August 6, 2008 12:26PM
Completion Date - Monday, July 14, 2008 12:55AM

Smoothie

Saturday, July 12th


This will be an extremely short entry.Today I was determined...a bit to clean my apartment. I told myself this morning that I would not even turn on my computer because I knew I would vegetate for a couple of hours in front of the screen. Well, tomorrow I will be meeting an epal (Veg.) for a walk along 5th avenue. I told myself that I should send the confirmation information via text message to avoid turning on my computer, but I ended up turning on my computer, and I have been sitting here for about 12 hours. Finally, about 11p.m., I was able to drag myself from the computer. I zapped a Smart Choice meal in the microwave.

While my dinner was "cooking", I moved most of the vegetables to the freezer. My strawberries were starting to get moldy, so I decided to make a fruit smoothie from my juicing book. It took me about 25 minutes to make the simple smoothie. So, how was the taste? Strange. Strange in that it tasted (and smelled)almost identical to the couple of vegetable drinks that I tried to make a couple of weeks ago. It was thick and creamy, but it tasted like I was eating lawn grass. I attached a photo of the finished product.


Post Date - Wednesday, August 6, 2008 12:21PM
Completion Date - Sunday, July 13, 2008 2:02AM

Baltimore Photo Set 2

Below is another slideshow with more photos of my trip to Baltimore, Maryland.





Post Date - Tuesday, August 5, 2008 12:50PM

Baltimore, Maryland - Part 3

Below is the 3rd and final part of my adventure in Baltimore, Maryland

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunday, April 20th (a rainy day)


I took a bus ride to the downtown pier area. It started to rain; it would rain off and on throughout the day. I decided to take a local tourist ride around the downtown area. The tour vehicle was called a "Duck". The ride was on a converted amphibious military transport vehicle. The trip was okay, but the driver went overboard with the novelty kwackers(plastic noise makers that made duck sounds). The driver encouraged the riders to use the noise makers often. The duck sounding kwackers was giving me a headache. The driver first drove around downtown Baltimore, then for the last 30 minutes, he took the vehicle into the water and then drove around the harbor area.

Next stop was the Science Museum ($28)
The exhibits I visited:
* Newton hand on science center
* Dinosaur exhibit
* Space center
* I also finally saw the Human Body Works exhibit. The Body Works 2 (or try Wiki) exhibit was educational, but a bit creepy. I was a bit uncomfortable seeing the human body cut up hundred different ways. A few poems and sayings were posted along the walls to add a bit of artistic edge to the exhibit. I wanted to take pictures, but not picture taking was allowed. I found some photos online about the exhibit; I'll post them at another time.

After the Science Museum, I took another walk around the pier. I ate dinner at MacDonald's. Again, the pier area was extremely crowded. Every food place had a line. The experience in MacD's was just another reminder that Baltimore did not give off a "safe feeling". The main eating area (located upstairs) was closed -- this was about 6p.m. There was a kind of "get your food and leave" feeling.
Other "feelings" that Baltimore might not be safe:
* a guy being arrested in front of me as I walked to the hostel on Thursday evening.
* 2 or 3 stories about Baltimore teachers being attacked by their students.
* Police sirens going off almost every hour on the hour. Day and night!
* Away from the waterfront developments were blocks and blocks of gutted and abandoned buildings.
* Neighborhood-watch guards (rent a cop types) on several street corners usually in front of banks and other "big businesses" places that could afford to rent a cop.

Monday, April 21st
I checked out of the hostel about 10:30a.m. I took the bus, and arrived about 10:45AM. I arrived just in time to hear announcements that trains were being delayed for one reason or another. I got nervous. I arrived early so that I would not miss my train, but my train ended up being about 5 minutes late. My train was supposed to have arrived at 12:14PM. When it did arrived, after about 10 minutes into the return home, the train was stuck on the tracks for about 30 minutes because the bridge was raised, and it could not be lowered. We were stuck on the tracks for about 30 minutes.

I finally arrived back in Penn Station NYC about 3:40PM. Carrying my luggage through the transit system was a bit of a headache. I arrived home about 5PM. I was too tired to do any unpacking. I just watched TV and slept.

Tuesday, April 22nd
My plan was to use Tuesday and Wednesday to clean up my apartment and do lesson planning before the weekend, but a phone call from the credit card company gave me the excuse to get out. The guy wanted me to do a phone transaction payment, but I told him that I would go to the bank to make a payment.
After the bank, I ate at MacDonald's. Walked around downtown Yonkers, then I returned home to watch TV.


Post Date - Monday, August 4, 2008 12:47PM
Completion Date - Wednesday, April 23, 2008 2:51AM /
Saturday, July 12, 2008 6:19PM

Baltimore Hostel Pictures

Below is a slideshow of pictures I took of the Baltimore hostel. I stayed for three nights. The cost was about $88 for the three nights.




Post Date - Wednesday, July 30, 2008 12:47PM

Baltimore, Part 2

Below is a continuation of my adventure in Baltimore, Maryland. If you remember…yes, it has been a while ago since I went to Baltimore. Just a quick summary:

Back in April, I was chosen along with a couple of other teachers to accompany our principal to a literacy workshop in Baltimore, Maryland. We left from school Tuesday afternoon. The workshop was two day and a half (beginning Wednesday morning and ending Friday afternoon). In order to make the most of my Spring Break Vacation, I had my return train ticket changed to a later date. Instead of leaving on Friday, I would be leaving on Monday. Below is a continuation of my time in Baltimore; it picks up on Friday the day the other teachers and our principal left Baltimore, but I stayed:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Friday, April 18th.
Friday morning gave us one more workshop to attend. Although our reservations said that 11am was the check out time, we were told that we had until 12pm to check out. I was a bit worried about what to do with my luggage. I didn't feel like bringing my luggage to the hostel, only to have to return to the pier area. I was happy when I was told that I could leave my luggage at the hotel and pick it up later that day. While I was getting my luggage checked into the hotel holding area, The others immediately took a cab to the train station. Our principal wanted to try catching an earlier train. My first stop (baggage free) was at the National Aquarium.

The Baltimore National Aquarium entrance fee was $28. At first I was not impressed; the dolphin show was identical to the dolphin show in NYC. They showed the same moves and the same tricks. I was also not impressed with the beginning of the fish display. But later, I realized that the aquarium was actually nice. The Baltimore Aquarium is much bigger than the little NYC aquarium. The Baltimore aquarium was housed in two buildings with one being about 4 or 5 stories high.

Next stop was the Marina Museum. I toured a submarine. There were 3 other types of ships to see, but it was about 5PM (closing time). However, the ticket I had is good for the life of the museum. As long as I keep my ticket, I can return at another time to see the remaining ships(even years later).
Another trip to Barnes & Nobles in the PowerStation shopping center, a walk around the pier, then it was time for me to head to the hostel.
About 7PM, I picked up my luggage from the hotel. I was planning to walk to the hostel, but I was too tired, so I took a taxi. After getting my room and bedding, I went to a nearby restaurant. The music was blasting, and the air conditioning was directly over my head blowing directly on me. I thought it was such a waste to have the air conditioner on with the floor to ceiling windows in the front of the restaurant wide open.
My first night in the hostel was nice. Basically, the way a hostel works is that you are renting a bed for the night with the understanding that you will leave the next day before 10am and not return until 4pm. Different hostels have their own rules, but they are all basically the same. I was happy that they dropped the “Youth” from their name, now, they are just known as hostels. With the hostels, you can find sleeping arrangements in most of the main cities around the world. The rental fee is about $25~30 dollars per night plus taxes.

Saturday, April 19th
I started the day with a quick tour through the famous Cathedral across the street from the hostel.
I had breakfast at a tiny basement restaurant called "Cozy Corner". The place was empty. The owner/cook was an older Asian lady, who seemed a bit nervous when I first walked through the door, but once I ordered and paid, she became much nicer. For breakfast, I ordered a heart attack on plate (eggs, bacon, and toast with butter).
My plan was to go to the Great Blacks in Wax Museum [or (Wiki)] in the northern part of Baltimore. I walked about an hour through the poor area of Baltimore. It was a bit depressing to see so many gutted and abandon houses and apartments. I thought the museum was very interesting. I felt I got more out of the (much smaller, and less financially supported) wax museum than I did out of the bigger (and obviously better financed) black museum downtown.

Next stop was to ride the light rail back to downtown Baltimore. I then walked west to the B&O railroad museum. I didn't know how far the train museum was from the light rail, but I was in a walking mood, and did not want to wait for the bus. Usually buses here in NYC are extremely irregular in terms of their arrival times -- in Japan the buses were just as punctual as the trains...most of the time. Anyway, the walk which I thought would only be a few city blocks turned into about a 45 minute walk. I finally arrived at the museum, but I arrived with about 10 minutes before the museum was about to close. I didn't think it was worth the admission for 10 minutes, so I didn't go. This time I decided to wait for the bus. I took the bus back to the pier. I went to Baltimore's World Trade Center (27th floor) observation.
I was planning to eat in the mall, but it was too crowded, everyplace had a line of customers waiting to eat.

The attached photo at the beginning of this blog was taken from the Baltimore World Trade Center building (27th floor). The photos shows the (two building connected with a bridge) National Aquarium in the lower right edge of the pier. The Marriott Hotel in the upper edge of the pier was the hotel where I stayed with my colleagues.

Below is the same slide show from my "Baltimore, Part 1 entry, but I'm reposting it for those that have not see it yet.



To be continued...



Completion Date - Saturday, July 12, 2008 6:15PM
Post Date - Post Date - Wednesday, July 30, 2008 11:53AM

Friday Movie and a Walk

Friday, July 11, 2008
It has been a very slow, lazy few days. Yesterday, I was in another lazy, slow moving mood. I didn't get out of bed until about 4p.m. I only had a couple of bowls of cold cereal for breakfast. With a refrigerator full of about $112 dollars worth of fresh fruits and vegetables, I was too lazy to start my vegetable salad meals. I told myself that I would start tomorrow. So with that pronouncement, I decided that I had a taste for spaghetti. The plan was that since I did not do anything physical, I would walk to downtown Yonkers to the pizza shop and walk back. When I arrived downtown, I ended up going to the imitation 5 & Dime store. I bought a cheap double-fan for the kitchen window. But since the kitchen window is so dirty, I will have to wait until I clean the window before I'll put that fan in the window. I won't embarrass myself by mentioning the number of months I haven't cleaned my windows. After eating my spaghetti (take out) dinner, I ate a 1/2 of a half-gallon of sherbet.

Today, I went to the movie to see Hancock. The movie was okay, not great or even good, but it was entertaining. I have to be honest. A few days ago, I read online synopsises of the movie, and I have to say that based on those synopsises, I was not eager to see the movie.

One of my epals(Macy's Walker) wanted to treat me to a movie and dinner to make up for leaving me stranded at the Bronx Zoo. However, he is just getting settled in New York, and just started working, so I wasn't comfortable with having him pay for a movie and dinner. I did agree that I would go to the movie. MW sent me a texted message to my phone asking for me to choose the movie and the meeting time. We agreed to meet at a movie theater on 34th street. We went to see Hancock at the 5:10p.m. showing.

The movie was okay. Not great, not good, but it was entertaining. To be honest, I went into the movie with preconceived ideas about the movie thanks to surfing the internet. I had already read about the "plot twist" and the plot explanations(about Hancock's powers. I thought the movie was going to really be bad (not the slang meaning good). However, the movie was okay. There were enough plot holes to make a good imitation of swiss cheese, but it was still an entertaining movie.

After the movie, my schedule was wide opened, so I was open to anything MW suggested. He wanted to go to a liquor warehouse in Greenwich Village (downtown NYC). Since I had nothing to do, I agreed. I would have enjoyed walking(about a 30 minute walk), but MW wanted to take the train. Since I don't drink alcohol, it was a bit strange being in a liquor warehouse with with little shopping carts available. I never would have imaged a place where liquor could be bought in bulk. MW bought a half a gallon of rum. After, we walked to Barnes & Noble bookstore. MW wanted to see if the last Harry Potter book was out in paperback; it was not available yet. However, MW did settle on buying the book "Italian Wine for Dummies". Seeing MW taking out his weekly paypack to pay for the book made me feel a little sad for him. Seeing the paypack brought back memories of when I first started working decades ago. And, MW being a bit older than me, only added to the bit empathy I was feeling. I knew I made the right decision about not having him paying for a movie and dinner. MW needs time to get back on his feet.

After B&N, we walked to Circuit City. MW wanted to check the prices for external hard drives. We then visited Virgin Records. MW didn't buy anything, but I bought a CD: Diana Ross & The Supremes - Number Ones. It was a CD of 24 number one hits for only $10. To be honest, I was a bit bored, so I wasn't really paying attention to the various CDs on display, it was only when we were about the leave -- MW mentioned that he had to leave to catch the 9:30p.m. Staten Island ferry. I saw the Ross CD on the way out. I didn't realize there was a whole section of number one CDs, but I did not want to keep MW waiting after he mentioned that he had to leave.

MW took the east side train. Since my train was in the west side of Manhattan, I walked instead of taking the shuttle train (or the crosstown bus). On my way, I was trying to decide what I wanted for dinner. Since I was in the area, I could have went to the diner mentioned a few blog entries ago, but I didn't feel like walking in the opposite direction. I'm a walker, but not really after dark. I settled on Popeye's Chicken. I read my DS9 book on the train, and returned home about 11p.m.


Completion Date - Saturday, July 12, 2008 3:18p.m.
Post Date - Tuesday, July 29, 2008 3:07p.m.

Bill Paying Day

Wednesday, July 9th
Bill Paying Day. Today I should have been cleaning my apartment, but instead I went bill paying and shopping.

I showered and was out the door about 12:30p.m. I took the MN train to Yonkers to go to the bank. My plan was to pay some of my monthly bills. Since they only take cash, I had to get the cash out of my bank account. If I had waited until I got to the check cashing place, then I would have had to take cash out of the ATM machine and have to pay an ATM fee. First bills were gas and telephone, then credit card, and finally Target charge card. Since my bill due dates were today and tomorrow, I need to pay in person so that I would not be charged a late fee.

I took the MN train back home. Then decided that I would go shopping for a few items. Since it was nice out, I decided to walk to the supermarket. About a 25 minute walk. I ended up buying fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. Now, my plan is to try eating a vegetable salad at least a couple of times per day. I also bought a salad spray to hopefully make eating the vegetables easier to eat. After I finished shopping, it started to rain. I waited out the rain, then decided to walk back home, instead of taking the MN train.

So, I ended up spending about $112 in healthy foods. So, when will I start my healthy eating diet and exercising.

Tomorrow. Today, I had an order of fried chicken wings and beef fried rice from a local Chinese Take-out.


Post Date - Monday, July 28, 2008 12:45PM
Completion Date - Wednesday, July 9, 2008 11:17PM

Jury Duty - Day 2

Tuesday, July 8th
Day 2 of Jury Duty. Today I did not have to be at the courthouse until 2:15PM, to finish my day 2 of doing jury duty. After some starting and stopping, we were eventually released about 4PM. The trial that was needing a jury pool was an attempted murder case what was predicted to last about two and a half weeks. Wow, talk about dodging a bullet...no pun intended.

After leaving the courthouse, I remembered to visit the African Burial Grounds. The memorial was nice, but not very impressive. A large triangular structure connected to a circular in ground stone....Never mind, I'll just attach some photos. I was lucky to have arrived before a few school groups came in. The memorial was free. And there is a small (a very, very small) museum/visitor's center located in the lobby of the federal building that was built over the African burial ground. What surprised me was the the level of security that was available to get into the building. Having been through the metal detectors at the courthouse for the last couple of days, I was expecting the same. However, the metal detectors at the federal building were much more sensitive. I had to remove all...all metal that included my belt and my glasses. The rent-a-cop seem to take his job a bit too serious. I was standing behind an elderly European-American woman. The security officer had some difficulty getting the lady's bag's through the metal detector, then the conveyor belt jammed. She wasn't even going to the Burial Ground Center in the lobby. What brainiac thought up putting the Burial Ground Visitor's Center inside that federal building. I was a bit put off forced to wait on line to go through a metal detector just to see a few art pieces and a short summary of the building of the memorial. Oh, and picture taking of the artwork (commissioned for the Burial Memorial) are not allowed until a park's department rep was present. Oh, the memorial is managed by the national parks department. It was a bit strange seeing 3 or 4 parks department representatives flittering around a stone structure and a tiny corner of a lobby. But that's just me. I suppose a poorly designed (in my opinion) memorial is better than no memorial.

After the memorial, I was bored, but in a good mood, so I decided to walk a bit. I started walking north to midtown (about 1.4 miles according to Google Maps). On my walk while I was in Greenwich Village, I remembered the diner I had lunch in with a couple of my epals. I decided to eat at the diner since I didn't eat lunch. I ordered the deluxe hamburger with an order of onion rings. I also ordered 2 glasses of (which I assumed was) freshly squeezed orange juice. After the meal, I ordered apple pie a la mode. Since I was full, I thought I should walk more to try to walk some of the food off. Before I started walking again, I stopped off in the Barnes & Nobles Bookstore at the corner. I was just curious if they had any books on boxing. On an impulse, I bought one of the books:

Box Like the Pros by Smokin' Joe Frazier and William Dettloff


From B&N, I continued walking down 6th avenue. I walked to the movie theater on 34th street. I went to see The Incredible Hulk. The movie was entertaining. Not great. Not good, but it was entertaining. I thought the plot was weak. The actress who played Betty Ross, didn't seem believable as a scientist.

After the movie, I thought about seeing Hancock, but decided against it. I read the movie synopsis including plot points and plot twists, and thought the plot was stupid. I might see the movie, but now I'm not in any rush to see it.

I took the A train which should have gotten me back uptown in time to help me reach the MN train, but the A train stopped at 145th street for a little more than 10 minutes, so by the time I reached the Bronx, I arrived over the bridge into the Bronx just as the MN train was arriving. I missed the MN train, so I had to wait an hour for the next train. I was going to wait in MacDonald's with a Big Mac meal, but the service was too sloppy and slow. So many people behind the counter, but no one seems to be doing anything. I left MacD and went to the a local bodega and bought a pint of Haggen Daaz ice cream. I waited in the MN station with my ice cream and my DS9 book, "Twist of Faith". I finally got home about midnight.


Post Date - Thursday, July 24, 2008 10:15PM
Completion Date - Wednesday, July 9, 2008 11:03PM

Jury Duty - Day 1

Monday, July 7, 2008
Today was day 1 of jury duty. I received my jury duty summons March 11th, but I postponed it until now. Several teachers that also received their summons served during the school year, but I didn't want to do jury duty during the school year. I'm one of those people who hates to take a day off of work.

Arrival time was 8:45a.m., however, I arrived at 8:30a.m. On the back of the summons, it gives the trains and buses that can be used to reach the courthouse, and will tell you which station/stop to get off, but beyond that, I was on my own. I got a bit confused and had to ask for directions, but I did arrived with time to spare. I even had time to take photo of the African Burial Site. I meant to return after jury duty, because it was closed when I walked passed this morning. Unfortunately, I'd forgotten.


Once I arrived in the courthouse, I went through the metal detector, an unfortunate sign of the times. To help pass the time, I brought a fell things. Those who have done jury duty know that it is mostly a lot of waiting. I had to leave my camera with the security guards, but I was allowed to bring my cell phone, mini TV, and radio with me. If my cell phone had a camera on it, I would have been allowed to keep it with me.

The juror's waiting room was on the 15th floor. Orientation was a 20 minute video and a Q&A. After that, it was about a 30 minute wait. Once the clerk received word that a trial was ready for jury selection, he had to send up a pool of potential jurors. The last time I had to do jury duty was over ten years ago, things changed a bit since then:

* We were told that if we did not get put on a jury, then we would be finished tomorrow. Last time, I was stuck in the waiting room for about 3 or 4 days.
* Now, the time between summons is about 4 years.
* The juror's waiting area is now internet ready with wireless connection.
* Judges and lawyers can now serve on jury duty (increasing the jury pool).
* Pay for jury duty is now $40 dollars per day for those not paid by employers. I don't remember what I received last time.
* According to the judge, jurors being sequestered is very rare.

After about 30 minutes of waiting, the clerk received an request to send up a pool of 70 potential jurors. To decide who went, each potential juror had a ballot part of his summons that was placed in a rotating type of barrel. The ballots were then taken out at random. And of course, I was included in the group.

The trial I was directed to was a trial between the People of New York and a young man (late teens or early twenties) accused of selling a small amount of crack cocaine. The judge introduced the participants. He even asked each one to stand and face the 70 jury pool members. The judge seemed just a bit nervous about addressing the crowded. He seemed to know his stuff, but just seemed a bit uneasy about addressing a large crowd. He apologized for the poor microphones several times, he sometimes picked at his fingers while he was addressing the crowd.**

** By the time this entry is posted, this trail will be over, so I think I can write about it.

First part was the selection process of the jury (12 jurors and 6 alternates), was a bit tedious. After the judge explained a bit about the case, and the responsibilities, sets of 12 potential jurors were placed in the juror's box. They same ballot box was used for the random selection. The judge asked a set of questions(the same exact question to each potential juror (the exact same questions), then the prosecutor asked questions, then the defense's attorney asked questions. Then, the process was repeated until the jury box was full. Luckily for me, I was in the first group of potential jurors. I was (tentative) jury number 12. In the room of 70 potential jurors, luckily, most of the participants seemed to be very nice and took their jury duty service very seriously. Only one guy seemed a bit hostile as he was asked questions. Although the selection process was random, the first (tentative) jury was an interesting group:

* The first row was almost entirely made up of actors, writers, or producers.
* The last two jurors were people of color (myself and a woman). And both of us were 3rd grade teachers.

So what happened when my turn came to answer the judge's questions(other than a lunch break)? Since I didn't live in Manhattan, I could not participate on the trial. Even though I work in the city, and almost all of my mail delivered to my foster father's place. And, I am still registered to vote in Manhattan, and my driver's license still has my old address. Even with all of that, I was told that I had to live in Manhattan. To be honest, I wasn't the least bit sad.

Sorry. I know jury duty is an important civic duty, but it is just sooo boring (lots of waiting time with the potential of getting stuck on a trial lasting several days if not weeks). Anyway, I was sent back to the juror's waiting area. I told the clerk in charge, but he told me to just stay and finish up my time rather than canceling the time I had already invested in today to be reassigned at another time. The clerk seemed like a nice easy-going guy.

Just when the jurors not chosen returned, the other third of the jury pool was about to be sent out, however, as soon as they left the waiting area, they were sent back because that trail was already resolved. At 3PM, the clerk said that usually if a jury selection hasn't started by 3PM, then jurors not chosen could leave. Another bit of good news was that we would not be needed for tomorrow's morning shift. Tomorrow, we won't have to be in the courthouse until 2:15PM because a new batch of potential jurors would be arriving tomorrow morning. However, the clerk did mentioned that if a trail was started in the afternoon, then we would be sent as the jury pool.

We were out by 3PM, so I decided to visit one of the gyms I searched online that had a boxing program. I mentioned (in a previous blog entry) about trying to visit one gym that was the closest to me, but the travel time too much(walking over a mountain to go workout). The gym I was visiting today was located near the train that I use travel to and from work. After some confusion with bad directional advice, I found the gym. A complete and utter waste of time.

I went to the gym to get prices for the group lessons or private lessons, but after wasting about a half an hour of my life, I got nothing. In the entrance way, there were no prices or brochures. One of the coaches took me into the office, and he talked my ears off, but gave me no useful information. No matter how much I tried to get a price, cost, or hours, the guy would go off on a tangent about this student or that student. He told me that he didn't discuss prices, the woman in charge of pricing did walk in, but she was busy and said that she would return in a few minutes, but she never did. The coach said he would give me a tour, but he never did. He just talked. He talked about the family atmosphere where kids can come and go. He talked about the open scheduling of the group and private lessons. But mostly, he just talked. A complete waste of time.

I attached a couple of photos I took of different courthouses in the area.


Post Date - Wednesday, July 23, 2008 11:06AM
Completion Date - Tuesday, July 8, 2008 1:04AM

Bridge Walks

Sunday, July 6th
Today I had a meetup with the new E-pal(vegetarian) mentioned last week. The meetup time was 3p.m. Although, I had planned to do some errands like laundry, but I didn't do anything. Before I knew it, it was time to get ready. Haircut, shave, and bath 1:30p.m. left for MN train. I arrived about 10 minutes early. The plan was to start from Brooklyn and walk across the Manhattan Bridge and then walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. While on the bridges, we saw the artificial waterfall that have been in the news recently. I think they "waterfalls" were about $15 million to make. Sorry to say, but I was not impressed with the falls. They just looked giant pipes spewing a lot of water. If art is a reflection of real life in some way, then maybe this "art" represents the waste of wealth.
Vpal could not read the history plaques on the bridge, so I read all of them to him and explained as best as I could. Reading all of the plaques added about 30 minutes.
We finished about 5:30p.m. Along the way, I took photos, including a statue of Lin Zexu.
My epal wanted pizza...again. Vegetarian choices were limited.
Pizza Hut was the first stop in the Fulton shopping mall area, but epal couldn't "see the pizza". Epal said that he "knew a place". We ended up walking another 30 minutes well past the Fulton Shopping area. I mentioned several times that I wanted to finish by 6PM because it would take me about 2 hours to get home. I needed to get ready for jury duty which starts tomorrow.My epal could hear me, but I don't think he was listening. I could understand that he was lonely, and was glad for the company. We finally came to a pizza place that displayed the different kinds of pizza. I ordered a doubled layed pizza with sauagages.
We finished eating our pizza, but we just sat there. Since I knew I wasn't going the reach the 6:40 MN train, I suggested I would teach him about Goggle Maps, that got him excited. What he said would be a 20 minute walk to his home was closer to more than 30 minutes. We arrived at his home about 6:35pm.
I left his place about 6:45pm. I ended up getting home about 9p.m.
I looked for my jury duty summons, but could not find it.
I packed my mini TV, and radio, and my DS9 novel.
I cleaned the bath tub for another bath this evening.



Post Date - Thursday, July 17, 2008 11:15PM

Looking for a new gym

Quick Summary.
Wednesday, July 2nd., I didn't do much. I am slowly slipping into my comatose hermit lifestyle. Lots of sleep and not much else. After finally, getting a bit of motivation, I took a bath, got dressed and was out the door about 3PM. My goal was to visit a local gym offering boxing lessons. I did a Google search to find a gym that teaches boxing. A part of me would like to learn boxing. I think boxing would help me to build some confidence (both personally and professionally). Those of you regular readers of this blog know by now that I go through phases of self-help ideas (gym membership, rowing machine, walking, and now boxing).

Anyway, with the Google search, I was able to guesstimate the distance of the local gym at about 30 minutes. The map showed a fairly easy path (just walk along one avenue until I come to the main avenue). However, I live in mountain country. To get to the boxing gym, I had to do about a 15 walk up one side of a mountain, then the other 15 minutes down the other side of the mountain (mostly stairs). Yep, the second half of the walk was following a zig-zag route down a mountain side that was mostly stairs. Once I reached the bottom, I knew that I would not be attending this gym. I really could not see myself doing a 30 minute or an hour workout, then having to do a 30 minute hike over a mountain, with the first leg of the journey being about 15 minutes worth of stairs to climb. I'm delusional, but not that delusional.

However, since I did the hike there, I decided the least I could do was take a look at the gym. The gym was located in a large warehouse. The warehouse was about the size of a city block. I'm not sure if I came in the building through the back way or not, but after climbing 3 flights of stairs (no elevator), I could not find the gym. I gave up. I was too tired to climb the mountain stairs back, so I waited for the nearest bus that would take me around the perimeter of the mountain.

It took two buses for me to get home. Since there wasn't a lot of wait time for the buses, I was back home at 4PM. I was planning to try another gym in upper Manhattan, but I was too tired. I also canceled my planned trip to the grocery store. Instead, I just took a nap.


Completion Date - Thursday, July 3, 2008 1:04PM
Post Date - Wednesday, July 16, 2008 3:38PM

Official First Day of My Vacation

Tuesday, July 1st. My official first day of my vacation.

Quick summary of Monday before I go into details about my first day of vacation. Monday, I started to feel the pull of vacation. I was reluctant to get up, and I really wasn't in the mood to go to school to clean. However, I finally managed to get up and out the door. I arrived for more cleaning about 11am. Today I mostly had to relocate the boxes, and stack furniture and objects neatly. Since I wanted to be finished, I did not stop for a lunch break. I finished packing about 4:30pm. I was suppose to drop off my classroom keys, but no one was in the main office. The Principal's door was closed and the lights were out. The main lights in the main office were out as well. I guess everyone was eager to start their vacation. I labeled my classroom keys and left them on one of the secretary's desks. I also found in the mailboxes the official typed (tentative) new class list. I was expecting to have about 20~24 students. However, my new class will have...

Are you ready...

I will have 29 students!!! For those of you readers that are not familiar with classrooms. 29 is a lot of kids. Throw in a couple of hypers or personalities, and it is a powder keg waiting for a match.

Admin decided to make some changes. Ms. Across the Hall will be assigned a 4th grade class leaving myself and Ms. Down the Hall as the only two regular 3rd grade classes. The Talented and Gifted second grade class will be moved up to 3rd as a whole, and a second grade teacher will be assigned to teach that class. I'm assuming that because of budget cuts and a slowing economy, approximately 60 kids will be divided into two classes (giving each teacher about 30 kids) as opposed to dividing the 60 kids into 3 classes (giving each teacher about 20 kids). Very creative. :(

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

School's out, I don't want to think about school for the next month and a half. So, onto my 1st day of vacation time.

I agreed to meet another epal. After hearing his voice, I felt it probably wasn't a good idea, but since I agreed to meet, I went. There was a slight drag in the sound of his voice, and there was a noticeable delay with his replies.

My plan was to take the 2:30p.m. MN train, but after a slow start, I missed my train. I took a bus that arrived about 3:02pm. Since I don't think the 2:46p.m. bus arrived, I either took a late bus or a 3 minute early bus.

When I arrived at the Bronx subway station (242nd station -- last or first stop on that train line), the train in the station had a couple of cars that smelled like they were used for a toilet, but that did not stop the train from leaving the station, even though there were about 5 or 6 transit workers (in cleaning attire)milling around on the platform. So what is the significance of the stinky train? As soon as the train left the station, no one, I mean no one wanted to sit in the back cars. About 3 or 4 stations away, the train is pulled out of service "due to unsanitary conditions". Before going into the tunnel, I'd sent a text message saying that I would be about 10 minutes late. However, with the train out of service that estimation was no longer accurate.

I arrived about 30 minutes late (29 minutes if you want me to be exact). I called as soon as I could get a signal on my cell phone. My epal seemed very understanding. Once I saw him, I got the impression that he was lonely and really was looking for company. He seemed nice. I did notice that there was a bit of delay in his speech pattern. And he seemed to moved a bit slow. Originally, my epal wanted to meet at a bar, but I'm not really a bar person, so I changed it to a walk in Central Park. He suggested Prospect Park, but I really did not want to travel out to Brooklyn to go walking in a park. I thought Central Park was a good compromise. At first, the conversation was fairly strained. I felt as if I really had to work to keep the conversation going. For someone like me who is not a social person, that felt like hard work. We walked through Central Park for a while, by the time we reached a placed called Belverdere Castle, the guy seemed to loosen up a bit. After walking for about 30 or 40 minutes, my epal needed to sit for a minute; we ended up sitting for about an hour. I learned the guy had a fairly interesting story.

After sitting, I told the guy that I wanted to buy him dinner as a way of making up for keeping him waiting for 30 minutes. The guy was a vegetarian, so the options were limited. He finally agreed on going to a pizza place. So he would be able to eat vegetarian pizza(pizza with vegetables on it). Since I was very hungry -- I only had a bowl of raisin brain cereal that morning. However, I did not want to pig out in front of the vegetarian. We ordered pizza. Unfortunately, my epal was having some difficulty with his pizza, I went to get him a knife and fork, and that helped a lot. I felt bad for the guy. The guy told me how (since he is a freelance worker) he doesn't get to get out to socialize. He mentioned how he enjoyed our walk and wanted to know if we could do something similar again. The empathy in me took over, I felt the guy was lonely, so I agreed to meet him again on Sunday. Having spent a couple of hours with the guy, I was able to see past...my "first impressions". The guy was actually a very nice guy. And I did enjoy myself. Besides (those regular readers of this blog know that I have nothing going on except eating and sleeping. The guy was suppose to meet a friend at 8:30pm for a drink at a bar downtown. Although he said that walking would be too far to walk to the bar, we did end up walking about another 40 city blocks to the bar. When we arrived at the bar, I got to see yet another side of my epal. He seemed very social in the bar, about 6 or 7 different people came up to say hello to my epal. I felt a bit out of place. I really didn't know what to do in the bar. It was crowded and extremely loud. I have a bad habit of stepping into a room and immediately looking for a corner to cover or a wall to hold up, but that bar was very crowded. Did I mention loud as well? There were wall huggers on every wall, and every corner was covered. There was nothing for me to do but follow my epal around like a lost dog. So what happened to the friend?

The friend thought my epal wasn't going to come so he had left the bar "to get something to eat", but he came back just to say hello, then left again. The friend seemed nice. My epal told me that his friend used to weigh 300lbs, but the guy looked like he had lost about 1/3 of that.

We left and decided to call it a night. I walked my epal to his train station, then I walked to mine. I stopped off at an ice cream place, I ordered a milkshake.

I made it back to the Bronx with a couple of minutes to spare to catch the 10:40pm train. If I had missed the MN train, the next train would have been an hour's wait.

I had a nice time, and learned the saying, "don't judge a book by its cover" is very true.

Next Sunday, we will be doing another walk. I suggested a walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. And next Saturday, I am suppose to be going to the movie with NJ epal.

Below is a slideshow with a few pictures I took during the walk through Central Park.



Completion Date - Wednesday, July 3, 2008 12:10PM
Post Date - Wednesday, July 16, 2008 12:04PM