The Weathers Still Amazes Us
Another Name for the List of the Famous in Our Neighborhood
Walter Cronkite - July 2009
Walter Cronkite's private funeral was across the street from my work. We had a pretty decent view from the third floor. What surprised me most was that there were so few limos; I think I only saw three or four, plus the hearse. In NYC, you just take cabs everywhere, and there were plenty of those.
It was a busy week on our street. The day before, Bank of America, just next to the church, was robbed. Between Cronkite, the bank, and Obama's visit last week, I have seen more police in a week than I probably have in my entire life in KC. We actually feel pretty darn safe in this city. (The FBI recently named NYC the safest big city in the US!)
The Weather
Snacklish Ads
Berry-Walking
Personal Commentary on the Previous Renter of our Apartment
We have been getting a ton of mail for the previous renter. Apparently she did not give a forwarding address. And why, you might ask, should we even care?
The answer: We are fascinated by the mail that she gets. There are magazines arriving here everyday. Today we got 4 or 5 different catalogs and magazines. We've decided that she either had lots of money, or she wanted to have lots of money. For example, one catalog was the Bergdorf Goodman 2008 holiday gifts catalog. I'm going to assume that you have not heard of this company either: This catalog is 34 pages, with some of the best quality paper you have ever felt. There is only one to two products on each page, because they are all very important items. I wish I could show you the whole catalog, but here are a couple of examples:
1. "tardini" Poker game set in brown matte alligator-covered case. Made in Italy. $5,995.
2. "valerie confections" 2 pounds of chocolate (total of 77 pieces) $25 (This was the cheapest item in the catalog)
3. "yossi harari" hand crafted "Sara" mosaic pendants with rose-cut diamonds set in oxidized gilver and suspended from oxidized gilver chains. Made in Turkey. Large pendant 8.5 tcs $50,790 (Of course I couldn't resist the "Sara"!!!! And what is gilver?? Did they mean silver and actually have a typo?)
One perk is that we are getting The New Yorker, The Wine Spectator, and other fine magazines for free! And, we're also getting notices for special sales all sorts of places--when we have jobs again, I (Sara) will be in clothes heaven.
Oh, yeah.....One catalog was for Burberry. This catalog is so special, that every page has only one item advertised on it, and NONE of them have prices listed. Makes you want to shop there, doesn't it?
Parking in NYC
I was standing outside of our apartment, and there was this guy trying to park his jag in a very tight spot. I couldn’t help but watch the scenario. It took him several back and forth movements to get it just right—but what I really noticed was that not once, but several times he bumped in to the car behind him. Then I started to look at the bumpers of the other cars, and all of them have marks on them from probably similar incidences. On Sunday, I saw a Geo Tracker that was parked between two cars with just one or two inches between him and the car in front and behind him. Parking is crazy, and I’m really glad we don’t have either of our cars here. It would be like instant devaluation.
The Grocery Store
For the most part, groceries here cost about the same. The expensive part is that they have so many gourmet options that it is hard not to buy better quality. It's amazing how much they can fit in to a small place--they extend up to high shelves, and down to the ground (such as garlic in a big basket under the lettuce), and there is no way they are handicap accessible. No matter what time of day we go, it is always busy (when you're unemployed you can check out these small details).
Traffic on the News
On the local news, subway traffic gets equal attention to auto traffic. It was the stranges thing the first time they brought up the subway map and had arrows where there were delays--just like showing the 435 loop and where there are accidents and delays to avoid!
Umbrellas
A couple years ago I received an umbrella from Grandma Willa for Christmas. Since that time I have probably only used it three or four times. In the frenzy of our move, I almost donated to charity. Since moving to NYC, I have probably already used it three or four times. You don't really think about it until you don't have a car in the driveway outside your house to run to. Walking just one block to the subway is long enough to get you real wet! Thanks, Grandma Willa!