i love my town.

1. went to salvation army the other weekend to drop off our old air purifier and senseo coffee maker.  often times, they collect items at the truck outside the building. guy stops me, saying he could take my donation. i've lived in nyc for almost 14 years, so i know better, but felt the need to help the guy out. he said if i needed a receipt that i could give him just the air purifier and take the senseo inside for a receipt. maybe he didn't know what the senseo was (and at this point, it is actually more valuable). obviously it was a scam -- he said he worked w/ the salvation army. so, asked inside and they said he didn't. on my way out, i said to him, "it's not nice to lie." he apologized. but ya know, if he makes $5 of the old thing, good for him. he needs te money more than i do.

2. then i go to the bank to deposit a check. didn't have a pen on me to fill out the deposit envelope at the ATM, so i asked a woman there. she had just finished using her pen and had set it on the table. i asked, "excuse me, do you have a pen i may borrow?" she said, "i don't have one." of course i looked at her pen, then at her, then the pen. nothing. then i see people coming out of the branch door -- had no idea chase was open on saturdays!  so, i go upstairs to deposit at the teller.  i fill out the deposit slip upstairs, where they still have pens available. Same woman is in line and, i think felt bad about how she treated me, so she asks, "do you still need the pen?"

3. while in line at bank, another woman was at the teller. she loudly exlaims, "i'm depositing $1,000, NOT $3,000." Guess she wanted everyone to know that she was not withdrawing any money -- guess it was an alert not to rob her.

4. in a cab -- i usually look at the driver, glance at the name. today i was in my little world and didn't do those things. after a few blocks, i did look up. the man was ancient. got a little concerned -- is he able to drive? so i look at his name - josef madenelavich -- or something like that. i ask, "mr. m....., how long have you been driving a cab?" he responds, "oh, that's a nice way of asking how old i am." i said, "not at all, honestly curious to know -- you could've been driving for 2 yrs or 20 yrs. maybe it's a 2nd career." he said he had been a NYC cab driver for 58 years!!!!!

Had friends in town a few weeks ago, the Bellingrath's -- their son Guy just turned 4 and Marisa is due w/ baby #2 shortly. That was Saturday. On Sunday Alex and I went to the Met after a lovely French Bistro brunch.
  
                   

        

       



      

WOO HOO!!!

Think of this entry of being written right after the super bowl. i meant to.. but had to clean up after 15 guests... after that, i've been sleeping and just now able to update my blog.
      
                  

buddy here is representing the Gmen, while Sabine is 'senting the losing pats!

      

   

Again, wee bit late in my updates. Alison had her Southern-themed bday party the night before the Super Bowl. Since i'm the resident southerner, i was in charge of wings and sweet iced tea. Since we were having a SB party the next day, i decided to make a ton of wings and tea so i could focus on the chili and 'za for sunday.

 
  
 

the tripod was really far away from the group, so that's why i'm in my "i just ran into the photo" pose.

I have got to start updating this thing more frequently. LiveWorld was generous enough to give me an extra night in Cali, so I drove to SF -- out 45 min SW of San Jose to visit Jack and Mike and Renee Peck.  Really cool drive. Had a fun night with Jack, catching up (met in '91 at Appalachian and been friends ever since). Taught me so much about my iPhone's capabilities -- it can do PONG! and Etch-A-Sketch!!

Stayed at the Hyatt @ Fisherman's Wharf -- lovely stay.




Had brunch w/ the Pecks - Mike and I worked together @ tvguide.com -- he was the Televisionary. Then I walked all over the city before retrieving the rental to return to San Jose to get the redeye back to nyc:

   

   

Went out with the LW crew for some Teppanyaki at Kyoto Palace:

Will be in training at LiveWorld all week, but was able to hang out w/ some former NYers, Kim and Brian. They moved out here a few months ago and we've missed them:

Had 2 random acts of kindness today. Went to brunch before going to San Jose. Drove b/c we had a few errands to run all over the city and needed a parking space in front of Good Enough to Eat. Truck was in a double-parked spot, even though there was no car at the meter to block. SO, guy in metered spot above the spot we were trying to get into backed up to let us have his spot. Then, at GETE, guy let us go in front of him to get inside the covered area.

Had a great flight on Jet Blue. I'm only going to fly to locations they fly to. Reasons I like Jet Blue:
1. TV -- got to watch all my fav shows from the second I got on the plane till we exited.
2. Really comfy big seats w/ lots of leg room (since I need that)
3. No meals -- airplane food is nasty, so just give me snacks
4. No beverage cart that bangs into you or prevents you from going to the restroom -- instead they come by and take your order. For premium beverages, you cannot pay by cash (so no scrambling for small bills) -- only accept credit cards which are taken once you close out your account.

Staying at a lovely hotel in San Jose -- Larkspur Landing.

Went back to Dinosaur BBQ (bday 2 yrs ago) for Al's ** Bday (we're 7 months apart to the day, so I don't want to do full disclosure).

Therese, Sean, John, Alison, Alex and I had a lovely time:

   

woo hoo. new year. finally got a job (liveworld.com). buddy finally digested the very fine leather purse strap that he ingested.

life's good. hope all is well with the world.