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By Neil, 21 August 2009

Me on a Bolt Bus

If any of you blog reading fuddy-duddys still think having your own car beats riding mass transportation, then let me be the first to tell you, you are wrong. Public and mass transportation and better then having you own car because, for starters, you don’t have to drive.

Second of all, this very second, I am writing this blog entry on Kate’s computer that is plugged into a wall outlet on a Bolt Bus that is on its way to Washington, District of Columbia…you can feed the old internet addition…eh, eh, eh. You can’t do that in your own car, unless you have 3G service and a cigarette power adapter. For thirds, you can drink 3 cans/mini-kegs of Heineken beer without affecting driving safety. Much like the previous occupant of my seat did…and then left all three cans on the seat for me to remove.

Bolt Bus has electricity

And finally, you have opportunity for conversation with fellow travelers. Just like the conversation I just had with the girl sitting across the isle from me. After she stared at me an inappropriate amount of time, she smiled and said, “I like your computer case, I have one that same color for my GPS (it is purple).” I responded, “It’s my wife’s case.” She said, “oh.” I said…nothing. She turned away. I looked out the window.

So you see mass transportation is by far a superior choice while traveling near or far. And if you are traveling between New York and Washington, District of Columbia, it’s cheaper.

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By Neil, 4 July 2009

Kate is going on a road trip this weekend and I’m stuck in New York City, working. To justify my abandonment, Kate took Wednesday off and we went to Fire Island, a 36 miles long island on the southern coast of Long Island. Our two housemates Jay and May accompanied us on what turned out to be a fun little adventure.

It was overcast and cold when we arrived at “giant parking lot number 5″. We decided we better see the Fire Island Light House in case the weather turned for worse and started the boardwalk trek to the old building. On the way an old man grumpily told us, “you’re gona get soaked.” The rain started just as we entered the building. Thunder and lightning soon followed and climbing to the top of the lighthouse was forbidden. It rained about as hard as I’ve ever seen with lightning striking on the beach a thousand or so feet away. Almost as soon as the storm came it was gone. We decided to head into Kismel, a small town of about 20 homes, two restaurants and a ferry landing. We ate so-so food and trekked back to the car (with full intentions of going for an ocean swim).

On the way back we identified the most common plant on the island, Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)! Not only that, as we stopped to chat with a park ranger we spot not one, not two but three tics on the boardwalk right between our feet…and one of them was on Kate’s shoe! Tics don’t jump, according to some crappy heath website, but the tic on Kate’s shoe sure jumped, half a foot in the air. Kate says it’s unfair and I think she’s right. Anyway, the park ranger just said that she finds them on her all the time and that she’s had Lyme disease (borreliosis…a much cooler name) 4 times! Yikes! I spent the rest of the day combing Kate’s hair for tics, and luckily none could be found.

It was too cold to swim so we drove home and rechecked ourselves for tics. While the weather was a bust, getting out of the city and into tic filled nature was just the therapy I needed. Now Kate can go have her fun, exciting, ADVENTURE WEEKEND WITHOUT ME!!!!!!!…and I won’t mind.

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By Neil, 27 June 2009

I was so excited for my day off this Friday. I have been working non-stop since we arrived in New York City and I badly needed a break. Also, I got a great deal on a new camera lens and I wanted to use my Friday off to test it. Knowing the best light for outdoor photography is right around sunrise, I decided to leave the house at 6:30 am for the famous Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. The old crypts, dusty mausoleums ($250,000-300,000 plus fees, according to www.green-wood.com) and weathered grave stones were going to be so magnificent in the soft orange morning lights. This was my intention when Kate and I climbed into bed at midnight.

The alarm snooze went off twice before Kate poked me in the side, “Neil, it’s 6:30.” In uncharacteristic fashion, I jumped out of bed, ran through the shower, grabbed my camera and was out the door. I made my way to the Union Turnpike station to catch the F Train to Roosevelt Ave for the 7 Train to 52nd Street. The light was perfect. I was even inspired to snap a shot of a random tree basking in the light. When I stopped to photograph the random tree, it was about this time I noticed my body was a little achy and my head kind of hurt. “It’s because I woke up so early,” I thought, “it’ll go away after I eat some breakfast.” I hopped on the F Train and opened my copy of, “The Sun Also Rises,” and turned to page 14, were I’d last left off. I love taking the subway. I love having some time each day when there is nothing to do but read. I’m going to read a lot of classics this summer and all thanks will have to go to the New York Subway. So anyway, I was reading my book, made my transfer and arrived at 52nd Street.

I stumbled down the exit stairway to 52nd Street. The 7 Train runs above ground. I’d lost a lot of energy and felt drained to my core. My head ached really bad. While I was on the subway the sky had darkened and the sun had disappeared behind heavy rain clouds. My glorious golden light was now mucky dull gray. And I didn’t have any cash for food. A Rite Aid next to my stop opened in 45 minutes and I planned to return for some cash. I crossed 52nd and worked my way to the grave yard entrance. The Green-Wood Cemetery is really cool. At one point it was attracting more visitors than Niagara Falls. Except today it seemed dull and a hassle. I strolled around a much as I could bare, snapped a few shots and tried to avoid a drizzle. I only lasted 45 minutes before heading back straight to the Rite Aid. I got some cash and bought a bagel with cream cheese and orange juice. My one stroke of luck for the day came as I bought my breakfast and it started to pour. I eat inside the small convenience store and when the rain died down I ran up the stairs to once again catch the 7 Train. This time for Manhattan.

By the time I got to Manhattan I basically felt like death. I had a lunch appointment with Kate and 1 pm, but since it was only 9 I didn’t really know what to do.  In New York City, unless you spend money, there is nowhere to sit when it rains. I decided I would try to catch a movie to burn some time before meeting Kate and trekked to the Regal Union Square Stadium 14 Theater. I didn’t really care what I was going to watch, “Up,” “Transformers 2,” or “Angels and Demons” would have been fine, just as long as it finished before 1 pm. “14 bucks for a matinee! You’ve got to be kidding me!,” I said to the electronic ticketing machine. “Do you have a student price?,” I asked. The ticket machine said nothing. Hollywood movies are crap anyway, so decided to find something else to do.

Something else turned out to be walking to the Grace Church on Broadway, finding an empty pew in the back row and sleeping for an hour. It wasn’t the best sleep I’ve ever had, but I was glad for it.

I had lunch with Kate at an okay vegan diner, met up with my brother Jesse who had just finished his shift at work, and then realizing I had the flu I headed home. By the time I climbed into bed my muscles were so sore and my body so hot that I thought for sure I would never get to sleep. I did. I slept for 4 hours before Kate came home, where she found me in toasty feverish delirium. She gave me some meds and I fell back asleep.

The day ended well enough. Kate and I walked to a little pizza place close to our subway stop and split a slice of salad pizza, spinach pizza and roasted vegetable pizza (none were my favorite). We came back home, watched a movie that had John Travolta as a lawyer (A Civil Action) and went to sleep.

I guess that I am trying to say through this story is don’t let your spouse poke you out of bed…especially on your Friday off.

**Spouse note: DON’T SET YOUR ALARM FOR 6AM & IGNORE THE SNOOZE 2 TIMES!!

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By Kate, 30 May 2009

We’ve arrived in NY! Below is the route we took. (If anyone every tries to convince you that driving across the country is “not that bad”… DO NOT LISTEN!) It was quite the haul.
View Larger Map

We had two friends with us to help with the driving and to add to the good times. Aside from the absolutely no sleep, good times were had by all.

Neil’s favorite state, Wisconsin.

We rented bikes in Minnesota’s Lake Itasca where the headwaters of the Mississippi are.

Neil tried out the 3-wheeler.

Best part of the trip was visiting with Neil’s parents. Having great food & fun times. Neil even went on a shopping spree with his Pops. Nothing like shopping in Fargo!