Squid Underground

With gas prices now topping $4 / gallon and parking in Manhattan being difficult in the best of times, we have started reassessing our use of the car for intra-borough trips. For all four of us, it might still make sense since back and forth transportation on the subway runs close to $16 but, for one or two of us, taking the subway is a financial wash or even a gain.

That said, Squidette and I hoped on the subway on Sunday and, arriving at our stop well before we needed to, paused to take some pictures.

All of these were taken at the 81st Street stop on the C train -- also know as the Museum of Natural History stop.

Uptown Platform

Top and Bottom -- Floor Tiles

On the walls

Look on the floor as well!

And, for your enjoyment, and because we were waiting quite a while for the downtown train, I present the Downtown Platform

SQUID!

Dining Al Fresco

Since Little Squid missed out on 12 family miles last week, we made it up with a Mommy-Monster breakfast ride. While Mike took Squidette to band practice, Little Squid and I pedaled uptown, purchased muffins at Fairway and then rode a mile more to some picnic tables along the Hudson River.

We had a lovely time and even made up our own theme song to the tune of the Addams Family. I had figured the song as blog fodder but Mike and Squidette vetoed it.

For lunch we all walked up to the Ninth Avenue International Food Festival. This particular street fair is unique in that many of the vendors are actually local food establishments. There are the usual assortment of generic street fair peddlers of sausage and peppers and crepes but then there are the churches and neighborhood associations and local restaurants plying their fare.

See all those people -- look toward the back of the photo -- people stretching all the way up to 57th street (photo taken at 42nd street).

I love the different spellings of the same words ... shiskebab / chishkacab.

Pork sandwiches, any one?

I chose a Caribbean vendor and feasted on jerk chicken, rice and peas and sweet plantains. The Squidlings dined on arepas -- "standard" street fair food but purchased from a less commercial stall.

Dessert was apple tart, bread pudding and zeppole. Yum!

Yes, yes they are wearing different hats in the two pictures. Like them? I got a new hat, too!

Doing Good and Riding Through the Week

I had an opportunity to do a nice thing for another school today and was able to parlay it into a longer, nicer bike ride.

The nice thing made their lives a little easier but was not a huge thing. I just delivered something that they would have had to pick up in the morning. Since I was on my bike, the errand put me into Central Park a mere 20 blocks south of where I would have entered coming from work. This added a good mile or two to my ride. This was a Good thing! Instead of doing the half loop of the park that I had figured on, I got to do a 3/4 loop. Woo Hoo! The only not so nice thing about it was that I hit a head wind going up the Great Hill. That's not quite fair. I should not have to fight the wind and gravity at the same time!

I've been thinking a lot about "good deeds" recently. As a general rule, I try to be a good person. I hold doors for people, give up my seat on the subway and do other, simple things like that. I'm not looking for recognition but do these things because in my world, they are the right things to do. When others in my world do good, I recognize it and comment on it when appropriate. Whether it is a letter to a colleague or a "that was very nice" to one of the kids. But in my world, good deeds do not have to be acknowledged. You do them "because" and that should be enough.

That said, I am a bit irked by people who need recognition for their deeds. As in constantly. And who whine about not getting it. My (not voiced) response: if you more then the satisfaction of doing good then you are not doing it for the right reasons.

So there!

Wandering and Wondering

Yesterday was spent in my very favorite outdoor activity. (Get your minds out of the gutter, this is a family friendly blog!) Biking!

We all rode up to the Upper East Side, dropped off Little Squid at Hebrew School and then, minus one squid, did a quick loop of Central Park, including the Great Hill.

Notice the pylons and orange tape? The NY Road Runners were holding a race (or, according to a friend, multiple races) in Central Park. They blocked of 2/3 of the park loop for the runners. Got to tell you, we saw a constant stream of runners, but not enough to merit them roping off 2/3 of the loop. There were far more recreational runners, skaters and bikers in the single remaining lane then there were racers. At least based on what we saw, arriving (we think) before the race began and doing our loop after it began.

Halfway through our loop -- where I passed Squidette (aka the pre-teen speed demon) on the Great Hill -- we drifted over to Levain Bakery and picked up some yummies for breakfast. Finishing the loop, we rode over to Carl Shurz Park and soaked up some sun while dining al fresco.

Meh!

Resuming our saddles, we peddled back to the synagogue, only to run into some good friends waiting to be picked up for Mother's day. Since we schmoozed long enough, we also got an unexpected visit with their daughter and family -- who are also our very good friends. It gets complicated ...

Retrieving Little Squid, we picked up some bread and cheese and rode up to the Harlem Meer for a picnic lunch (yeah, it was really close to breakfast but Little Squid also wanted to dine al fresco). Then a second climb of the Great Hill, where Little Squid passed me but Squidette did not, and a completion of the loop and home. 25 miles for 3 of us 13 for the 4th but we're counting all 25. Little Squid and I have a date to do 12 miles and a picnic breakfast next Saturday while Squidette is at band practice. That will catch him up nicely.

Some pictures of the views from our breakfast and lunch spots.

Neat rooftop structures just south of Carl Schurz Park.

Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center on Fifth Avenue

Mount Sinai Medical Center (also on Fifth Avenue)

More interesting roof top structures.

Can you really believe you are in Manhattan?

Quote of the day: "Why don't they leave when they're done?" uttered by Little Squid regarding Squidette's friends hanging around the apartment for a while after finishing their school project. This resulted in Mike and I bursting into simultaneous bursts of giggles.

Folding Bikes Rock!

We took a little ride yesterday and managed to freak out quite a few people along the way. The sight of roughly 50 people, all on folding bikes, is a bit odd. You think?

We took our Fridays, Bromptons, Dahons, Swift Folders and such down the Hudson River Greenway and over to the East River where we tried out other bikes and generally admired how many different ways there are to fold a bike.

Stridas

The Brompton "Inn"

Just a few Fridays

Little Squid kept whining about his lack of Friday and, after letting him ride Squidette's bike for a bit, we came close to giving in. Then David from B Fold bikes took a look and seriously advised us to wait. He also suggested that since Squidette is growing so fast, that we not replace her "fit stem" yet and just keep it until she levels out a bit. We may, however, try to upgrade the gearing on Little Squid's bike so that he can handle the hills a bit better. His goal is to build up his legs -- and he worked on that yesterday by refusing to shift on the bridges.

Today, we are all heading uptown as we escort Little Squid to Hebrew School. The older Squid will then do a loop or two of Central Park and breakfast al fresco.

***

The ride was sponsored by Times-Up.

It Started as a Joke ...

(summary of a real conversation between Mike and a fellow AP Computer Science teacher (APCST for our purposes))

APCST: "Hey, you know what? We should hold a formal party after the AP exam."

Mike: "Great idea! Let's do it!"

Two weeks later ... after the idea had fully matured and shopping lists constructed ...

APCST: "You know, I was joking!"

Mike: "Well it's a great idea anyway. Let's do it."

And so they did. These gurus of code, transformed a classroom with tablecloths and fancy plastic wear, bought bottles of Martelli's sparkling cider, crackers, cheese and salami and told the kids to dress nice.

And they did.

There was a bouncer at a velvet rope checking programs to make sure those admitted were properly attired and had Computer Science as an actual class.

The girls were all in nice dresses and the boys, for the most part, in jackets and ties.

Mike and APCST wore tuxedos.

And the party went on all day. Kids came during their regularly scheduled computer science class and then left for the rest of their classes. All behaved themselves as befitted the occasion.

Thank You

I have been a rotten communicator lately and have not been responding to people the way I should. This morning I received an e-card from Ann that summed up my year:


Life is certainly filled with challenges. Just when we think that things are moving along at a steady pace a speed bump jumps up and gets our attention. Perhaps that's a sign to slow down, reflect on life a bit and to appreciate the people in our lives that add joy and laughter to our days.

Two weeks ago I got a letter -- HAND WRITTEN! -- from Susan, also lending support.

To all of my readers out there -- THANK YOU! I am taking pleasure and joy in my family and friends and you all are a HUGE part of that.

My lack of posts has been from a desired to keep the tone of this blog light and so what you see are brags about my family. Since most of my post are in the early morning or early evening, my feelings at that time of day influence my writing. Hence my lack of writing.

Now that the weather is nice and I have biking to write about again, I'll try to get back to a more regular posting schedule. Now, however, I have to jump on my trusty steed and get to work. Have a wonderful day!

Watch This Space

Time. Do we really have to keep track of it? And how do we do it?

I tend to track the day either by using my Timex or the various clocks around school. My students, however, seem to have a more casual relationship with timepieces -- at least of the wearable variety.

While proctoring an Advanced Placement exam today (54 kids taking advanced calculus) I noticed that maybe 1/3 of the kids were wearing wrist watches. I say maybe because several were wearing sleeves long enough to cover one up if they had one on. Most arms were bare without even a strap mark to indicate that they ever wore one.

No, I did not ask them about it. They think I'm weird enough.

Is it a generational thing? Is it a cultural thing? (I suspect not on the latter as the lack of watches spanned the ethnicities in the room.) I'm going for generational as almost all of them had cellphones and other devices. This I know because I collected them all.

They seem to use their cellphones as timekeeping devices. Hmm ...

Squidette does that, too. Little Squid, on the other hand ... well you know that story. He is down to an average of 3 watches per day, rotating through them. On the weekends he tends to only wear the one with the alarm.

Knitting Right Along

The blanket is growing ...

The flower is finished and I am now working on the endless expanse of yellow before the orange border.

Look closely ...
See that green line? That is where I am going to have to cut.

Gauge is a harsh mistress and I blew the row gauge. That or it stretched. Hey. With something this long, that is definetly a possibility. Regardless, I have to eliminate 4 repeats, or roughly a ball of yarn, from the top.

The plan:

1. knit the bottom section to the newly calculated number of lace repeats.

2. carefully put all stitches from the top orange section on a very long needle.

3. carefully detach the orange from the top yellow and join it to the bottom with a 3-needle bind off.

4. carefully unravel the top section of yellow after snipping it a row or two above the safety line (which I do not trust on the lace sections).

5. pick up all of the stitches on the safety line.

6. knit a new orange top on to the picked up stitches.

7. Do all required duplicate stitch work to give the flower some definition.

8. Hide ends.

All before June 21. Or maybe before my original completion date of June 2? Yeah, right.

I'm not even attempting to calculate a new completion date. I did very little knitting this past week and, despite knocking off 20 rows yesterday, do not figure on getting lots done this week.

Piecework

When I was a kid, my dad would pay us to put together the mailings for his company.

One of my earliest memories is sitting on the floor of the den, in my night gown, sealing envelopes with a sponge-topped water bottle. I think I was five.

Daddy would pay us a penny a motion. So, folding the press releases counted as two motions (one for each fold), sealing the envelope was a motion, stuffing the paper into the envelope was a motion and stamping it was a motion. Five cents a piece if one person did it all. The jobs were always shared with my older sister so neither of us ever got all five cents for a piece. We did get lots of IOUs for tiny amounts of money that we periodically swapped back to Daddy for real money.

Later, as teens, we would work for an actual hourly wage, but the work was essentially the same -- fold, stuff, seal, stamp. Honestly, and I'll check with them, I do not think that my youngest siblings ever got paid for piece work. By the time they came along we older siblings had already transitioned from piece workers to hourly employees so I suspect that they were probably always paid by the hour.

During my junior high school years my dad had an account with a company that put out monthly updates of, I think, metals prices. The first mailing was a binder with lots of card-stock pages. After that, we sent out the monthly updates in specially sized envelopes. This was in the late 70s, early 80s when small notebooks were "the thing" with my school age set but these binders were slightly smaller then those and only fit the special cards printed for them. Each month there would be extra cards and for years we used those cards as scrap paper. I think Daddy still had a stock of them when I graduated college.

As a high school student I transitioned from assembling the mailings to typing the labels for them. I still remember typing labels addressed to the "Container Port of Wilmington Delaware." For the life of me, I cannot tell you why we sent mailings to various Container ports but I'm sure my Dad could.

I was reminiscing about this very topic to my secretary this morning and lo and behold what should need to be done this afternoon? Labeling envelopes. Piecework! I could have let others do the work but after reveling in the memories, I just had to jump right in.

Concert Review

O.k., maybe not. I'll leave that to Liz Smith who will probably give it a rave as she was one of the hosts.

The day started with an excited and nervous Squidette periodically squeaking with excitement. Yeah, squeaking. Never said my kid was normal.

She went off to school loaded with everything she would need for the day, including her concert outfit, carefully folded around plastic bags to keep it wrinkle free. (It pretty much worked.)

About 1:00 I got a call that my notes were not good enough and I had to go sign her out of school. No big deal. Down and back to work in about 40 minutes.

We parted ways at the school door and she made her way to Carnegie Hall for rehearsal. Rehearsal went fine and the kids were loaded with sway. Useless swag but swag all the same. Well I guess the baseball cap could be useful -- except it's a Yankee's cap. And we're Mets fans.

After the rehearsal, Mike met her and took her, first, to Myzel's for some pre-performance chocolate, and then to a diner for dinner.

Fast forward to concert time. We climb to the balcony and find our seats way up high. Hey, at least we could see the entire stage. We were seated with the Kids in the Balcony program.

Perusing our programs we finally find mention of the Salute to Music program and locate Squidette's name, conveniently misspelled at the bottom of the list. Oh well, at least they got her first name right.

The program starts and the Pops launch into New York and Baseball themed pieces. Liz Smith cedes the host position to Dennis Leary who talks about the Salute to Music and Ronald McDonald House programs and then ... reads the names of all of the Salute to Music kids. And correctly pronounces Squidette's name!

The orchestra and the kids play We are the Champions and We will Rock You with the Ronald McDonald House kids drumming on buckets that spell out "GO YANKEES."

We had a decent, if tiny, view of Squidette but for some strange reason, my vision kept blurring. ( Judicious applications of kleenex seemed to solve the problem.) While we could not tell which notes were hers, we could see her fingers moving over her clarinet and she swears that she actually played.

The rest of the first half is kind of a blur but it was definitely enjoyable. Reggie Jackson did something but I could not, now, tell you what he said. A portrait of George Steinbrenner was revealed and the Pops played.

Squidette joined us in the balcony for the second half. Her smile was so big that I thought her face would crack. The Pops and various artists then entertained us with a selection of Broadway hits as they honored the Nederlanders. The kids knew many of the songs and we all enjoyed the remainder of the show. Kathleen Turner hosted.

Yesterday, we had to attach a bowling ball to Squidette's leg to keep her from floating away.

She seems to have come back to earth today and will spend the afternoon on a much more "normal" project -- preparing for the science fair. Her group is going to compare the melting times of chocolate. Yup, it's back to normal for us Squid.

Carnegie Hall Debut

May I proudly present, appearing on stage at Carnegie Hall for the very first time,the lovely and very talented,
Squidette!

(Flowers courtesy of our next door neighbors.)

More tomorrow, when I have had time to come off of my pride induced high.