Tag: #Parking

  • ODDS and ENDS: William Holden Essay, Ted Lasso Season 2, and House in the Country

    “ODDS and ENDS” is my continuing series of random thoughts and follow ups…

    This morning when I was sitting in the car waiting for the street sweeper (No, this is not about parking in NYC) I read this really good essay in today’s NYTimes. It is called, “The Many Deaths of William Taught Me How To Be Anxious,” by Alexander Aciman. It made me laugh out loud, and I could identify with trying to raise a kid, and make her aware of the dangers around her, without trying to scare her. What it also reminded me of was, towards the end of summer, a particular awful thunderstorm rolled through the City. Hell, it might have been the one that caused all the flooding. Anyway, in the morning, I was walking the kid to the local park, and as we passed a row of trees, I heard this great crunching and crashing sound. I grabbed the kid’s hand, and we took off running, and what collapsed behind us was a huge tree branch, that I am sure if it landed on us would have caused serious injuries. I tried to explain the danger to the kid, but she just thought it was fun. So, I understand creating an avatar of many deaths.

    I have started watching Ted Lasso, Season 2. It started out uneven, but seems to have righted itself. I mean, nothing can be as magical as that first season, but I am enjoying the characters and what conflict and growth can be brought to them. I was supposed to wait for my wife, but I know full well I will watch it all over again. It’s like watching a Marvel Movie; each episode is packed full of little details that are fun to discover.

    I have set a few goals for myself. Some I have achieved, others I’m still a million miles from. Yesterday, I said one out loud, and I think I mean it. I want to buy an old farm house, in upstate New York. And I mean, like a real old farm house; three bedrooms, one bath, and a root cellar – that kind of thing. It’s the first time in three years that I said that I want to leave New York City. I mean, it has to be good for the kid, as there is no point in moving to the middle of the woods if the schools suck and she has no friends. But, I have no idea how to achieve this, but I don’t see why that’s a barrier.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Free Parking, Online Footprint, and DUNE

    “ODDS and ENDS” is my continuing series of random thoughts and follow ups…

    I had a thought this morning; that I have become that old guy who keeps talking about parking all the time… And then I thought, I do pay for parking in this City. If I average out monthly what I have paid in parking tickets, it works out to $35 a month. It’s not free parking, I pay for my spot. Now, get off my lawn! And turn down your music while you’re at it!

    I’m think about changing up my online footprint. That sounds cool and I’m not sure what I mean, but I think the blog does need a redesign. I have said this before, and I really need to make the time for it, but really, the bigger question, which I still haven’t answered, is what do I want to get out of it? Bigger following? Earn money? Use as a marketing tool for other projects? On some days, updating my online footprint just feels like something to do, like reorganizing the pantry.

    DUNE is just an albatross of a story to put on film. And I’m saying this while enjoying the new DUNE, and having enjoyed all the other DUNE films. It’s just clunky as hell on film, and such a slow burn. Watching the new one, I can see how they tried to address these issues compared with the older versions, but there isn’t much you can do with the narrative. Again, I’m enjoying it, and this one does look amazing, but still in the back of my mind, I keep thinking this is a story that is just too difficult to make a movie out of.

  • ODDs and ENDS: Other Guy’s Parking Problems, Tom Brady, and Tired

    “ODDS and ENDS” is my continuing series of random thoughts and follow ups…

    I know I bitch about parking in the City often, and maybe I complain too much, but today I watched another guy flip out over parking. I mean, yelling and screaming. He lost his original spot because he refused to get out of the way of the sweeper, and when he did get out of the way, someone took his spot. Now, the guy who lost his spot was able to get a new one, because people, myself included, packed our cars pretty tight making a space for him. I thought this was one of those Magical New Yok moments where people from all walks of life work together to help someone out. But no… The guy, in his new spot, still bitched and moaned and yelled at all of us… Go, New York!

    I expected more from Tom Brady. I only got 21.98 points off him last night. Thanks a lot, GOAT.

    And I’m tired. I think I have been saying this I was 16, and when I think about it, 16-year-old me really wasn’t tired, I just enjoyed naps. I don’t remember when the last time was when I didn’t feel tired. And I started thinking that it has gone on for so long that there is no way to catch up and not feel tired. Like, there is no amount of sleep, or meditation, or relaxation that will exorcize this feeling from me. And I thought I was tired before I had a kid.

  • Again, Parking in New York City

    I have a love/hate relationship with parking the car in the City, and also a strange affinity for waiting in the car for the street sweeper to go by.

    I have issues when it comes to parallel parking, so I have to find a very specific type of spot for me to put our car in. Mainly, it has to be a spot I can just pull into, and not have to parallel park. As you can imagine, it is difficult to find these pull in spots, thus I am resigned to spending 10+ minutes badly parallel parking, blocking traffic, going up on the curb, and doing this “front and back” rocking of the car until I can settle into the spot. It’s an awful spectacle to behold.

    As for waiting for the sweeper to go by, that’s more like a coordinated dance of cars. If things go right, I said “if”, then everybody pulls out and then pulls back in, following a nice orderly fashion. Some people are even willing to help guide your car back into your spot. If we work together, we all win.

    And then there are days like today, when I sit in the car, waiting for the traffic cop and sweeper to go by… but they never show up. I got to our car early, and sat, and waited. Normally, you can see the traffic cop coming down the street checking to see if people are on their cars, if not, the car gets a ticket. Then, usually five to fifteen minutes later, the sweeper truck comes by. This fanfare usually happens within the first thirty minutes.

    Not today.

    A whole hour went by, and nothing. That left the final thirty minutes, which only made me edgier. Was this their plan, to catch people off guard? I checked 311 on parking rules, and they were in effect. What was happening? What would cause both the cops and the sweeper to be delayed?

    When we reached the end of time, 10am, I and everyone else on the block emerged from their cars, with a look of confusion. What is going on? Is this a trick? Do we have the day wrong?

    I mean, good things don’t happen when it comes to parking in New York.

  • ODDS and ENDS – A-Holes, WWE or MMA, Make the Call, and Parking

    “Odds and Ends” is my continuing series of random thoughts and follow ups…

    I know that I am not the first person to say this, or even the best at articulating this sentiment, but we all agree that people who recline their seat on an airplane are assholes. No one likes the people who do it, and if you are a person who reclines your seat, we all hate you; You should know that. (Really? Does the two inches of reclining make that much of a difference?) But I started wondering why the airlines leave that function on the seat? Is there a torture quotient that they need to fill for Coach? Sorry, Economy. Was there a meeting where airline Executives brainstormed ideas that would lead to more fights on flights?

    “Fights on Flights” sounds a WWE event. Or MMA. You make the call on that.

     “You Make the Call” commercials had the best music. Manly, sports music.

    So, I tried to explain parking in New York to someone who does live in here. What I discovered is that I sound crazy, like I have accepted Thunderdome as a way of life, and that’s normal way to live.

    And finally, we are going hiking again this weekend. We haven’t decided where, but the Summer of hiking continues.