Squid of Wheels -- Tour de Brooklyn 2008

Let me start by saying -- a ride can't be all that bad when it starts here.

Today was the 4th Annual Tour de Brooklyn. Moderately obsessed squid that we are, we had to ride in it.

The ride took us in and out of various Brooklyn neighborhoods including Williamsburg, Crown Heights, Bedford Stuyvesant and Stuyvesant Heights.

We passed cultural institutions such as the Brooklyn Museum of Art (below).


Paused occasionally to let the rest of the group (over 3000) to consolidate.


And ventured into places that do not usually seem like biking destinations.

Evergreen Cemetary

We even got to ride inside the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Unfortunately, shortly after the picture above was taken, another rider collided with Little Squid, causing a four-bike pile up. Little Squid was uninjured but his back brakes locked into place. Two marshalls assisted us and finally we were able to totally release them, this however, required Little Squid to finish the day with only his front brakes. Not to worry. Turns out that he tends to mostly use the front ones anyway. Needless to say, I stopped taking pictures for a while.

We finally rejoined Papa Squid and Squidette at Cadman Plaza and the official end of the ride. Little Squid took a few minutes to melt down and then, composed again, insisted that we go find the telectroscope.
Not the Telectroscope, just a cool sculpture seen as we headed to the telectroscope.
The Telectroscope, parabolic mirrors set up in a long forgotten tunnel that links Brooklyn and London. We were able to people in London. Cool! I'd love to ride through the tunnel some day ...

Tomorrow we might head back and flash the url of this blog to the Londoners.

Having satisfied our curiosity, and stocked up on chocolate, we headed home by way of Sid's.
Brakes repaired, we are already for tomorrow's adventure.

Actual mileage including the ride to and from the Tour: 29.5 -- recorded mileage, 30 miles. We figure the trauma of a bike crash qualifies for another half a mile.

Riding Through Fleet Week

As May loomed on the horizon, so did the part of my job that I kind of love the most. (Actually it is a love-stress relationship.) When I realized that obligations would keep me at work until late on the day before the long weekend, I started thinking of ways to avoid getting caught in traffic. My school is right by two of the bridges off and gridlock makes crossing the first avenue in my commute (First Avenue, strangely enough) a nightmare. (I've been stranded on the east side of it for over 20 minutes at times.) Finally, after rejecting driving and kind of rejecting the subway, I decided on biking. I would, through force of will, make the weather be nice on this one day in May.

That decided, I managed to move the bike into my daily commute by letting the kids choose between being dropped off at school over an hour early (versus the 10 - 40 minutes early that they are usually dropped off) or, taking the subway by themselves. They opted for the subway and I got to ride my bike. Rah!

For the first two weeks of this testing period (Advanced Placement exams), I rode 2 days each week. This week I rode partway home on Monday, took the subway on Tuesday (Mike had the car, I had to be at a performance starring Little Squid and ... it was raining) and I rode Wednesday and Thursday. I am, through sheer force of will, going to make the weather nice enough to ride tomorrow. Right?

I've played with my uptown route and think I have settled on taking 8th avenue (containing a bike lane) to Central Park and doing much of my uptown ride in the park.

The time in the park is heavenly. One long hill and some smaller "slopes" and no traffic lights. At least none that I stop for.

Coming home, I am now making my way to the park -- entering where I left in the morning -- and riding down the west side of the loop to the south end. This gives me 3 or 4 (maybe 5?) significant hills, including the Great Hill. I am now making it up the Great Hill without huffing and puffing. My breathing is faster but I am no longer panting when I reach the top.

My only problem with my ride home is that, this week, the wind has been really nasty. The gusts are coming from all directions and, once, between the wind and the helicopters (on the Hudson River path) I almost got blown over. I was blown to the other side of the path. Eek! Otherwise, the very act of pushing away from the school sends my stress flying off with the wind.

Yesterday, however, I had a different kind of stress as I got caught in the rain and then, got caught in sailors. Yup. I got caught in a sailor traffic jam. *grin*

Coming down the Hudson River path, just as I was breathing a sigh of relief as I entered the shelter of the piers, I had to slow down and then stop as I, and others, waited for a shipload of sailors to cross the path. After about five minutes (maybe it was only 2) of being polite, I finally, gently and politely, started working my way through to the other side.

Pedaling downtown I had to edge around crowds of Sailors and Marines, always calling my route and saying thank you as I passed. None of my usual New York edge to the groups taking up both lanes of the path. Nope, just a quiet feeling of hoping they weren't insulted as I made my way around them and wishing I could thank them all for everything they do for us.

It was a sobering mile.

It's Fleet Week in New York City. If you see one of our service men or women, give them a wave and a smile. We may not all agree on the politics of it all, but I hope we can agree that these Soldiers, Sailors and Marines deserve our respect.

Enjoy your weekend!

One Word

I picked this up from Dee and thought it was cute. Take it if you want it ... I'm not obligating anyone.

Here goes:


ONE WORD ONLY!

Not as easy as you might think. Now copy, forward, or post this and change the answers to yours and pass it on. It’s really hard to only use one word answers. (I changed one question and deleted one question from the l

1. Where is your cell phone? ………….. lap

2. Your significant other?………………….. desk

3. Your hair? …………………………………….. long

4. Your parents? ……………………………….. wonderful

5. Your dream last night?………………….. strange

6. Your favorite drink? ……………………….. tea

7. Your dream/goal?………………………….. quiet

8. The room you’re in?…………………….. living

9. Your ex?……………………………………….. none

10. Your fear?…………………………………….. loss

11. Where do you want to be in 6 years?…….. home

12. Where were you last night?………….. home

13. What you’re not?………………………….. perceptive

14. Muffins?……………………………………….. cranberry

15. One of your wish list items?………….. loom

16. Where you grew up?…………………….. NYC

17. Your favorite thing? ................... husband

18. The last thing you did?………………….. sync'd

19. What are you wearing?………………….. sweatshirt

20. Your TV?……………………………………….. annoying

21. Your pets?…………………………………….. turtles

22. Your computer? …………………………….. laptop

23. Your life?……………………………………….. interesting

24. Your mood?………………………………….. confused

25. Missing someone?……………………….. no

26. Your car?……………………………………….. minivan

27. Something you’re not wearing?…….. hat

28. Favorite Store?……………………………….. yarn

29. Your summer?……………………………….. happy

30. Like(love) someone?…………………………….. yes

31. Your favorite color?……………………….. pink

32. Last time you laughed?……………….. morning

33. Last time you cried?……………………….. evening

34. Who will re-post this?…………………….. noone

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.