Tag: #NYC

  • Thinking About Summer Vacation

    Today was a nice, solid winter day in NYC. It’s only 36 right now, and there was about an hour of snow flurries that fell, though nothing stuck. We have the radiator on in the apartment, and I am bout to make afternoon coffee. It feels like winter, and if you squint, it almost feels normal.

    And if this a normal winter day, then I would start thinking about summer vacation. Like a real summer vacation. (Just humor me, here.) If this was a normal school year here in the City, than we know that the kid would be in classes all the way through the end of June. Most likely, we’d take part in a Summer camp for the kid over the month of July, and I have a good idea that we would get clued in by some of the other parents from school of which camps to take part in.

    That would leave the month of August, and I want the whole month of August 2021. See, I have it in my head that we could take the whole month off, and if so then we are headed up to New England, and I think I would like to try out Maine again.

    Two years ago, we did five days in a small vacation town on the coast in May, and I thought it was great. The day was only 75, and warm enough to go to the beach, and then at night it got into the 50’s so I could put on a sweater while having a drink on the front porch.

    I know the wife wouldn’t be super excited about it, but she could work remotely for two weeks, and then we all could take two uninterrupted to just relax. Maybe boil some lobsters, do a clam bake, or just order take out. And reading books, sketching landscapes, just thinking the day away.

  • Construction Out the Back Window

    When I look out the back window of my apartment, I see a huge condo tower being built. Eventually, it will block my view of the City, and all I will see will be this condo tower, unless I lean out the window and look to the right, then I will be able to see other parts of New York.

    I knew this building was coming. I had watched as the lots that are occupied by this growing tower were bought, and chain linked fences were put up. Then a coming soon board went up, followed by the work permits displayed on a plywood wall. After that, a temporary worksite office was put on the sidewalk. At the start of the year, a backhoe arrived and started digging out the lot. There was a break at the end of February, after the foundation was poured. I thought that work had been stopped because of Covid, but then in August, workers came back and they haven’t stopped building.

    This is progress, right? Manhattan real estate is too valuable, right? The world is always changing, right?

    I find it odd that with so many people leaving the City, that they are moving forward with building more luxury condos, but maybe these guys know something that I don’t. Maybe they are playing the long game? Hold out long enough, and things will change in your favor. Maybe.

    But looking out my back window, it doesn’t feel like progress. It feels like an intrusion. Like an outpost is being built, and we are about to be colonized.

  • Covid-ness is Everywhere

    The world is getting sicker, but a vaccine is on the way. There is a light at the end of this tunnel, but this tunnel has a long way to go. The infection rate is slowing going up in the City, but the bars/restaurants will remain open, and the schools will be back starting on December 7th. If we can make it through the winter and the spring, then we just might have a summer to look forward to.

    And this is the conversation that is happening in my home. Things are awful, BUT they will get better. We have been saying that for nine months. Yesterday, I ended with how we are getting tired of living in a lockdown. Not that I am going to break it, or stop wearing a mask… I’m just tired.

    The kid just this morning said that she was ok with remote learning if it needs to happen. I know she was giving a mature answer, which was she understood that this was the sacrifice she needs to make to keep other people safe, but it did feel just a little like she had given up.

    My wife’s boss told her that she should plan on working remote for at least the first two quarters of 2021, and most likely the 3rd as well. This news felt like a punch in the gut.

    Even if the kid goes back to class “like normal” in September 2021, I don’t know if there will be any work in the arts.

    Covid has stained so much in our lives, and looks like it will for almost another year.

    Trying to stay upbeat here.

  • After Thanksgiving

    So… I over did it. Yup, we made too much food, and I have been eating leftovers for four days now. I don’t want to step on a scale, as I know it will only tell me a story that I don’t want to hear. I know, I know. I’ll get back to working out in… January.

    This year, as everything has gone to hell, and we had to rethink everything, and we had a bubble Thanksgiving. We got Covid tests, and quarantined for a week so we could spend time with friends and their kid. We all had a great time together, and it was nice to spend time around people again.

    Now, we did what we thought was the right thing, and tried to be as responsible and cautious as possible. But, there still was a little nagging thought in the back of my mind that we shouldn’t be doing this. That the “right” thing to do was to not see anybody. New York’s positivity rate is closing in on 4%, which compared to other parts of the country is nothing. Then again, I remember April and May in this City, when people were moving out and ambulances were running day and night.

    I am very confidant that we all behaved correctly with our given situation. And sadly, I can admit that, we are all getting tired of living in a lock down. The right thing to do is never easy.

  • The Doom Anxiety is Back

    Who else is still feeling the same level of anxiety you had before the election?

    That would be me.

    And most of my friends as well.

    Just about two hours ago, the Chancellor of the NYC Public schools announced that in-person classes will be cancelled due to the test infection rate is now above 3% in the city. Well… crap.

    There has been 100,000+ daily Covid infections for over the past week, as well as over 1,000 deaths.

    And we shouldn’t gather for The Holidays, but people are clearly going to gather for The Holidays

     We are clearly in a Second Wave, and for some of you, it might be a Third.

    And Trump won’t concede the election, which has the very high probability of make things worse as his administration is refusing to working with the incoming administration.

    2020 ain’t over yet, so I know it can still get worse.

    Like I said, I’m not feeling better.

    I haven’t really written anything other than these blogs, and that is due to my nonstop Doomscrolling. I keep checking to see if it is getting worse. This is clearly now a habit I have created for myself that I am not able to break, as my phone is connected to me constantly.

    Deep breath…

    Deep breath…

    We can get through this.