you've got to be kidding me
So the chinatown limo was indeed a good deal on the way to Charlotte, but on the day of my return to NYC, not a deal to be had.
I had to get a cab to the airport in Charlotte, then I did get the chinatown cab on the way out of LGA (sadly, no dude with a sign) and took it to the Upper East Side to see Bend play. After the show, TS and I grabbed a cab back to the slope, since he was illin' and its rather a pain in the ass to take the subway from 90th and 1st homeward bound.
At the end of the night, I added up how much I had spent on taxis that day . . . over $100
the wonders of Chinatown
Working in C-town* I have discovered something, and I will share this secret with you: If you speak Cantonese, everything is 20% less.
Some specific benefits from working on Mott include free ring sizing, $35 for 1 hour massage** and $1 chocolate mousse at the bakery on the corner. But today I hit the jackpot!
You are probably familiar with the Chinatown bus and its inexpensive trips to exotic places like Boston and Virgina Beach, but did you know there is a Chinatown Limo service? A car is picking me up at work today to wisk me LaGuardia for $25, and picking me up at the airport (with a guy with a sign with my name on it!) and taking me to Brooklyn when I get back for $30 (for non-NYers, this can be a $50+ expense).
Perhaps I am excited about this bit of savings since there isnt much to get excited about my trip - I'm going to Charlotte.***
*no, not the grocery
**at 107 Rear Mott, quite nice
*** no offense CR
one can rent anything by mail
Everyone knows about Netflicks (delivery of rental DVDs and return by mail), and I may have mentioned
books free (delivery of rental books and return by mail) to some of you before. But have you heard about
From Bags To Riches ? You can rent a designer purse for anywhere from 1 week to 1 mos. Versace, Gucci, Kate Spade, you name it, they have it.
I love NY
magic wand
There are often times when I chide myself for not being very good at being a girl. . . mascara application is one of these times.
I recently acquired a "curling" mascara and I'm not sure how I'm supposed to hold the brush. I think the arch is supposed to be in the direction of my eyebrow arch, but I saw a girl on the train today holding it the other way, and, well, since she looked like the kinda gal that knows about girly stuff, I doubted myself. Maybe I need to stick with eyelash "lengthening" . . . the brushes are straight.
the end of an era
So sad! My friend SJC is leaving the slope . . . I will miss her, and her great taste in shoes and cheese. So long SJ, best wishes in NC and FL!
boardwalk tour
I had recently heard of JK and A's cheeseburger tour of the city and thought what a swell idea! Sadly, dating a vegetarian prevents our own adventure in grilled beef in various villages, but we do seem to be on a tour of Boardwalks, complete with sand, ice cream*, and ferris wheels (did you know that the Ferris wheel is named after a its inventor George Ferris, Jr, who designed the first one at the Chicago Fair in 1893 . . . this is just one of the many fun facts found in the book
Devil in the White City).
Since we've been to CI and AC, we are running low on places with wood on sand to visit. . . If you know of any areas within a day-trip of NYC with boardwalks, please let me know!
*or, if you are leaving your milkshake in the hands of scoop shop newbie, as TS, you get an ice milk slush :(
NYC is great, and so is leaving it!
Its a beautiful day and its my day off, what to do !?! why not hop a Greyhound to atlantic City! I dont know if you are in on the Bally's kickbacks, but the deal is, if you pay $30 roundtrip to Atlantic City* and get off the bus at Bally's you get a voucher for $20 at Bally's! Now I figured this would be some kind of thing where if you pay $100 for a gambling card, you get an additional $20 or something like that . . . but no! We turned in our little slip and the lady slid a fresh, crisp $20 under the grill to each of us. . . our eyes lit up . . . gambling money!
TS has a theory of planning to gamble however many years old you are . . . I liked that because my rule of thumb is to only bet $20.
I ended up winning a bit at quarter slots at the Wild West Casino, but then lost some at Trump**. TS was up at dollar slots but then lost at Roulette (I prefer roulette in tiny off shore casinos, where I can afford the pesos minimum bets).
Overall the day was fabulous and I'd bet it was the best day-trip I've had in awhile
*we had a choice we could either pay $30 roundtrip or $74 roundtrip, hmm, which to chose? sometimes Kiosks seem to be bizarrely wired.
** no, we did not see the old lady win 10million at nickle slots while we were there
If your body is your temple . . .
"If your body is your temple then you will find peace at Sam's Club and Walmart stores."
What the hell?
This was just on a radio ad . . . i'm not sure what it was advertising but it also mentions that what ever it is, it has not been approved by the FDA.
An Easter in NYC
I don't go to Church all that often. I've tried a few places in the slope, but nothing comes close to what I grew up with, St. Johns. Yesturday TS and I went to
St. Malachy's nestled on 49th St. TS had done some music with the Christmas pagent at this church and is close with some people affiliated with the church so we were invited to brunch in the rectory after Mass.
Many years ago, when my family went to St. Louis, from time to time, after church we would all go to the Church's basement for doughnuts and milk. . . this is what I was expecting . . . but it turned out to be a champagne and cavier (and really tasty pastries) kind of brunch . . . in fact, the champagne was sent to the Church from the White House! how bizarre is that?
While the brunch was tasty and I got to chat with some new friends, I must say this for the Mass itself: the church is beautiful, the music moving and Father Baker is one down to earth priest. I will be back, and not just for bubbly.
The City: 3, Me: 0
On the way off the train this morning, I dropped my subway pass, it tettered on the yellow ledge, then fell into the canyon under the train.
I wore my drop "pearl" earrings today, the ones that look like white grapes, and dont have a back to them . . . one fell off into a fish market puddle on Mott.
I was dragging a bit at work so during a break I hiked up to Prince St to grab a cup of joe (great milk tea in Chinatown, but kinda bitter coffee) they were kind of slow and it took over 10 minutes to get the coffee (coffee, regular, no crazy espresso drink, 10 min for coffee) then on the way out the door, I bumped into someone rushing in, spilling half the coffee on the sidewalk. Well, at least it wasnt down the front of my freshly laudered scarf!
Why I love days off
- sleeping in
- sipping rich coffee on a bench in the park
- spring cleaning
- new books*
- sand inbetween my toes
- swirl cones on the board walk
- my first thunderstorm of the year**
- sidewalk dining in the slope
- not discussing RENU!
*AH, one of them is titled Rockville Pike!
** Sadly, no ferris wheel ride because of the storms :(
CBGB = Canya Buyme Grownup Beer?
In my recent outting to see Augustana (and the kinda sappy/crapy New Amsterdams) at CBGBs, I remarked how old I am. Well, I remarked how young everyone else was. Not only was the band the age of Hansen (when Hansen was big, well, knownish), but most of the crowd did not accessorize with the flashy orange wrist band that we were given at the entrance. Judging by the PBR prices, the kids had the right idea of buying a soda and adding a lil' somethin to it.
But I did finally make it to the landmark home of the Ramones and other bands that I dont really listen to! yes!
seasonal observations of a slightly asymmetrical nose
The first 3 hours I was awake yesturday was a whirl-wind of scents. I woke to a humid breeze and slightly burnt coffee, to me, the epitome of the aroma of waking up at the beach. I then went for a walk through the park and the new daffodils and mud were in tune with spring. Rounding out the walk with a cup of hot cider from the farmer's market obviously reminded me of autumn, and then later, climbing the windy cement steps of EBway the cold handrails gave a metalic, wintery, bite to the air.
This nose seemed to sleep the rest of the day, untill re-awakened with the fresh scent of lime and mint in form of a much needed mojito.
Yuppy Trash
I hate it when you walk in a park and see Dorrito's bags and Coke cans littering benches or paths. We dont have that here in the slope. You see our litter is of dried apple bags and organic lemonade bottles.
LASIK at home
My patients will often ask me about Lasik surgery and who is a good doctor to go to for the procedure. Well now I can tell them they no longer have to bother with expensive doctors and noisy waiting rooms, just do it at home!
check it out at:
lasikathome.com*I am in no way shape or form advocating this behavior
**thank you VL, by way of AH, for this info
Word of the day: malingerer
Malingerer is a fancy word for liar. Specifically a person lying about symptoms, feigning a medical condtion for a reward of somesort (or to get out of jury duty). Yesturday I had 2. One was a textbook 8 year old who wanted glasses and reversed number (ex: it was 47 and she saw 74) but suddenly saw crystal clear when I held up glasses with plain glass in them. I caught that one. But there was also a 40 something woman with a host of symptoms and even though they were some white and quite eyes, I was ready to try some topical ointment for her lids. I had pulled one of the partners in the practice in to take a look, he suggested a different drop, so we did that and when the patient left he pulled me aside and said, you know, nothing was wrong with her, she just wanted some attention and those drops are purely for placebo effects. hmmmm . . . .Yesturday provided some very bizarre cases throughout the day* and at the end of it I was feeling a lot more like a 4th year clinician than a doc. But I guess, at least, I'm learning. Thank God the boss is patient with me and not testing to see if I'm malingering as a doctor.
*well once it stopped snowing . . YES for non NYers it was silver dollar size flakes coming down in brooklyn yesturday
an excerpt
from:
The City of Your Final Destinationby: Peter Cameron
" 'I used to have the loveliest gray sweater. It was my sister's. I wore it when I painted, which was stupid of course, but I felt good in it. It must have been full of turpentine because one day I dropped my cigarette on it and it went up in flames. Luckily I got it off before it burned me. That's when I stopped smoking. Although it's really drinking I should have stopped. I only dropped the cigarette because I was drunk, you see. But there is only so much we can give up."
cheezy purse district
You've heard of the flower district, the diamond district, even the chair district and blender district, but have you heard of the cheap purse district? This is not (oddly enough) Canal street like you may initally think, but 30th St between 6th and 7th ave . . . all there is along the north side of the street is purse stores . . . I wonder if Macy's is worried?
Rats
I have seen 20 foot tall rats throughout Brooklyn, and recently in lower Manhattan as well. I asked around and few people seemed to know what I was talking about . . . one thought perhaps it was NY's version of those painted ceramic cows that found their way to many American cities.
It turns out, however, that they mark construction sites that did not hire union workers. rats!
info on union rats
