Sunday...
Today was the centerpiece of the trip. When we decided to come to New York it was to see Yankee Stadium before it is demolished. And today was the Yankees game. We bought the tickets before the season started for thirty bucks on Stubhub. Sunday morning I checked Stubhub and tickets to today's game, in our section, were going for $120. So it sounds like everyone wants to see the Stadium one last time. Or first time in our case.
Jose flew in this morning. He was kind enough to send me a text message and let me know he was getting on his flight at 5:30. I had been sleeping about an hour and a half. And I went back to bed. Then he called from the airport at ninish and woke us all up again. And I went back to bed. I ended up getting up a little before ten when Jose got in and we all started getting ready for the game. Kind of grumpily because we were all up so late the last two nights and were all so sleepy. But we got out the door a little after eleven and started walking to the train. That's when Isaac started bitching about being hungry but we didn't stop and eat because we wanted to get to the game.
We had no significant subway problems and we arrived at Yankee Stadium at about 12:15, approximately 45 minutes before game time. We stopped at a pizza joint across the street and Isaac was happy. The area outside Yankee Stadium is quite unique. I didn't even realize that the building I was looking at was the stadium. It just sort of looks like a big metallic wall. There are some bars across the street but nothing like Wrigleyville. And of course lots of people selling stuff.
The first minor annoyance of the day was that Isaac was not permitted to bring his backpack into the park. Something about...you got it...9/11. Furthermore, for whatever reason the park has no bag check. So some of the local bars saw a market and began offering bag check. So we crossed the street and Isaac checked his bag for five bucks. This was actually a pretty interesting bar because it was also a bowling alley, not exactly what I had expected. We went into the stadium (and found that we had to all show our phones at the gate...something about 9/11.)
Our seats were all the way the hell at the top of the ballpark. They were right behind home plate though and I kind of liked this. It was nice to have a broad view of the whole place. And the projects too, for that matter.
So my impressions. Once I sat down I started to feel the ghosts in the building. Just taking a moment to reflect on all the baseball history that has taken place in this building was overwhelming. That said, I can understand why they are replacing this park. Anybody who has ever complained about the hallways at Wrigley Field should take a trip to Yankee Stadium and compare notes. I think the hallways in my house may be wider. The seats are ridiculously far away from the field. Most aspects about the park are dingy and old, but unlike Wrigley (and presumably Fenway) there just do not seem to be enough redeeming elements to justify staying. But it is still a fantastic park that has housed a lot of historic moments and I am sure many Yankee fans will shed a tear on its last day.
The Yankees ended up winning this game, 4-1. Andy Pettitte pitched very well. But the highlight was definitely seeing Ken Griffey hit a solo home run. I was very impressed with the Yankee fans reaction to this. Most of the stadium gave him a standing ovation. In this, and in other circumstances, Yankee fans proved themselves to be one of the classiest crowds I have witnessed. They are very loud...when they are supposed to be, not when the scoreboard tells them to be. They are knowledgeable of the game and the players. So kudos to you, New York.
We also had a rain delay during the game. In fact, we had a very impressive thunderstorm. There was all kind of crazy lighting and it was raining cats and dogs (I can't remember the last time I used that phrase.) Luckily, our cheap seats worked in our favor and we did not get wet. Also, the Yanks have one of the most ghetto tarps I have ever seen. Makes sense I guess. It was just like a sheet of white plastic that didn't even have a logo on it. They held it down with a bunch of wooden planks.
Isaac had to leave after the eighth inning to catch his bus. So Jeff and Jose and myself left after the game and caught the subway into Manhattan. We had our typical troubles with the system but finally found Times Square and the Heartland Brew Pub. Unfortunately there was not a whole lot for me to eat there as a vegetarian. I got some chips and dip and a couple drinks and I was happy. Then Jose bit into a staple or something in his food and they gave us the meal for free. So good things keep happening!
After dinner we took a taxi down a few blocks to Chelsea and the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre for a show called Asssscat. This is a sketch comedy/improv show started by Horatio Sanz and Amy Poehler. The show was at 9:30. It was free. We got in line at about 8:00 behind a load of other people. At about 8:45 the word drifted back that this was the standby line and there was very little chance we were getting in. At this point the friend we made, an aging hipster who claimed he saw us at Coney Island and dropped one of the greatest one liners I've ever heard about breasts on us, decided to leave. But our stretch of good luck continued and we somehow made it in.
And it was awesome. Amy Poehler was not there but Horatio Sanz was, along with four people I had never heard of. A couple of them were not very funny but the rest of them carried the show. Basically the concept is that one of the audience members shouts out a word (in our case it was "fire house dog") and the comedians go into sketch comedies involving this word. Then they sort of shoot off from this into other topics. It's pretty great and the best part is that it is all off the cuff so you know you will get a new show every night.
So we were among the last people in the theatre and we were kind of sitting off to the side, on the floor, next to a curtain. Not an ideal spot by any means. Now I was wearing my Cubs hat and Jeff his Sox hat, since the teams were playing each other tonight. All of a sudden, about halfway through the show, Horatio Sanz burst through the curtain right next to us and goes, "Hey guys", and I thought he was going to tell us that we weren't allowed to sit there. But instead he said, "The Cubs are up 6-1." So that was great. Not only were the Cubs winning but Horatio Sanz became the most famous person ever to seek me out to let me know that. Thanks Horatio!
We got out of the show a little after eleven. Since we saw a free show and ate a free dinner we decided to reward ourselves on all this saved money by taking a taxi back to the hotel. It didn't cost too much and it was so nice to get back at a reasonable hour. We watched a little tv, I wrote Saturday's blog (still a day behind), and headed to sleep.
Another great day...
Monday, June 23, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Day 28
I realize I am running late. But I've been going like crazy. This is Saturday's entry. I will try and get caught up by tomorrow night.
OK. So I put the Amtrak stuff completely out of my mind and set out to have a great Saturday in New York City. We were up until after three on Friday and so we slept a little longer than we anticipated. But we were up by nine and dining at the hotel’s free breakfast. It was pretty lousy. But free. And free.
Out the door by10:15. And on our first trip to the subway we had our first problem with the subway. The train we needed to take into Manhattan was not running. So we had to take the train east instead, and then transfer to another line, which added confusion to our lives. But we finally made it to Manhattan and our first stop of the day.
And that stop was….Ground Zero! And it was one of the most awkward tourist experiences of my life. Hundreds of tourists with camera all hyped up with absolutely nothing to see. Which should not surprise anyone…after all, the whole point of this site is what is missing. But mostly the masses were just kind of standing around not sure exactly what they should be doing. So they took pictures of the hole in the ground. And so did I, but only because they were. I can’t picture myself ever looking back through my pictures and thinking, “Oh yeah! We saw this hole in the ground and not the World Trade Center!” Also, the whole time I was standing with this crowd of people watching construction workers dig in this hole in the ground (seriously, if anyone has any idea what exactly they are doing down there I would be really interested) I kept picturing Peyton Manning in the crowd yelling encouragement.
And of course there were the vendors, hawking their wares for the crowd. 9/11 necklaces. 9/11 snow globes (how fucking sick is that?) 9/11 postcards. Yes…they have postcards that are just pictures of the buildings crumbling. What do you do with these postcards? Do you send them to your friends saying, “Greetings from New York!”? Do you frame them? Who buys this shit? Apparently someone cause these guys are all over the place.
9/11.
Anyway, we got out of there and walked southwards. We snapped a few pictures of the bull at Wall Street. He has huge testicles. Then we stopped and got some great pizza. There was a party of 9-year-old kids watching the Yankees game in the restaurant and just going nuts about it. They kept making comments like, “Jorge Posada is only hitting .294 but he is hitting .321 with runners in scoring position and less than two out on Saturday afternoons.” Damn, I loved those kids. And then some kid saw my Cubs hat and announced to me that he used to live in Oak Park. So that was cool. And there was also a kid in a Sonic Youth shirt. Damn, New York breeds their hipsters at a young age. We finished our food and moved on, despite the birthday boy’s father’s insistence that we stay for the forthcoming birthday cake.
So we headed for the Staten Island Ferry. This is a ferry that takes you to Staten Island for free. There is nothing all that exciting about Staten Island but the ferry is known for having some of the best views of the city. And it did! The south skyline, the Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island were the highlights. And the Brooklyn Bridge. Great photo opportunities of sites that we didn’t feel like paying for.
And then we were in Staten Island. We sat for a while because we were tired of all the standing and such that we had been doing. And it was so beautiful out. Then we devised a plan of how we could get to Coney Island quickly and painlessly. It was about a twelve step plan. The first step was taking the Staten Island Railroad (no, New York does not respect Staten Island enough to run the subway down there) a few stops down. And so we saw a bit of Staten Island. What did I take away from this experience? Shaolin sucks ass. That Wu-Tang Clan is full of shit. I saw nothing interesting the whole time I was there. I certainly did not see any cool Wu-Tang sword style shit. In fact, the best thing about Staten Island is that it has some good spots to view the other boroughs.
So the train took us to a bus that took us to Brooklyn, New York City (where they paint murals of Biggie.) We got off the bus and onto a train to Coney Island. Except we went the wrong way. So we turned around and went the right way. It was an ordeal. But we eventually got to Coney Island right around the time the annual Mermaid Parade was ending. So the Mermaid Parade is basically just an excuse for people to dress up in ridiculous costumes and act bizarre. And it was perfect.
Coney Island was perfect too. It was filthy and hot and beautiful and kitschy. It was as big a slice of Americana as I could have imagined it would be. Though some traditionalist is sure to disagree with me here. Our goal was to ride the Cyclone but we didn’t care to stand in line so we didn’t. Instead we just walked the boardwalk, had a drink, and watched people. And people are so fucking weird! Coney Island had close to the perfect mix of hipster brats and blue collar folks who must have been absolutely baffled by some of these hipsters and freaks. But everyone seemed to be having a great time with it! Isaac and me struck up a great conversation with a really friendly guy with a live boa constrictor around his neck and two teardrops tattoos. But he was so nice and he was enjoying Coney Island with his family!
Anyway, we eventually left Coney Island and headed up to Brooklyn Heights. After the noise and chaos of Coney Island, Brooklyn Heights was an excellent break. It was incredibly quiet and peaceful. We ate at this restaurant with all-natural and organic everything. It got to the point where we prefaced everything with all-natural. Can you pass the all-natural mustard please? You get the picture. They even had organic beer. Which tasted a lot like regular beer. This leads me to believe that somebody got the brilliant idea of slapping the word organic on their beer and marketing it to hippies. Hooray capitalism!
After dinner we went up to the bluff at Brooklyn Heights and watched the sun set over Manhattan. It was gorgeous. The lights came on all over the city. New York is a truly incredible town. It is just so enormous. There is so much to see and so much going on. So we headed back out and tried to see more of it.
Our next stop was Times Square. I think we had a few more subway troubles at this point. But then we got there and stepped out into the bright lights of the square. It is a sensory explosion to be sure. People everywhere. As bright as daytime. So many things to watch. And I don’t know what could be more American than this. Millions of people come here every year to look at advertisements. This is a complete tourist site built around the act of tourists being told what to buy. And it’s not that people are too stupid to realize this. I think they realize it completely. It is that they don’t care. It is fun and why should we have to think about it? The lights are pretty.
So while walking Times Square a fellow approached us with some passes to Jerry Seinfeld’s comedy club. They were ten dollars apiece. It reeked of a scam but he told us that Charlie Murphy was performing and so was one of the girls from The Office so we took him up on it. We took the subway up a few stops and found the club. And the line. And the announcement that we probably wouldn’t be able to get in, regardless of the fact that we paid for tickets. We also found out that Charlie Murphy was not schedule to perform, nor was the chick from The Office, nor was there any evidence that they were ever planning to. Then it looked like we would get in after all. Then a bunch of attractive ladies showed up and it looked like we wouldn’t. Then the manager pulled some strings, rearranged some chairs, and told us to enjoy the show.
And the show was great. Despite the fact that there was no Charlie Murphy, we got put through a runaround outside, and the two drink minimum drinks were eleven dollars, we were all very happy that we chose to attend this. One of the comedians, Jay something, was being taped for Comedy Central and he was just hilarious. I literally cried a couple times. And my sides hurt. Maybe I will talk about it later. Most of the other comedians were pretty funny as well, but the last guy was just horrible. All in all, despite the ridiculously overpriced drinks and the scam, this was an excellent way to end a very eventful day.
Except the day wasn’t over. We still had to have one of the worst train experiences of all time. All kinds of different routes were closed. I can’t give precise details because I still don’t really get it, but the bottom line is that it took us well over two hours to get back to the hotel. We were all fairly grumpy by the time we got back, at about 3:15.
Of course, I snapped out of it pretty easily once I got my shoes off, took a shower, and sat down at the computer for a few minutes. I mean…it was just an awesome day. Why let some train difficulties ruin it? Tomorrow is another one. And then more.
There is so much left to be done!
OK. So I put the Amtrak stuff completely out of my mind and set out to have a great Saturday in New York City. We were up until after three on Friday and so we slept a little longer than we anticipated. But we were up by nine and dining at the hotel’s free breakfast. It was pretty lousy. But free. And free.
Out the door by10:15. And on our first trip to the subway we had our first problem with the subway. The train we needed to take into Manhattan was not running. So we had to take the train east instead, and then transfer to another line, which added confusion to our lives. But we finally made it to Manhattan and our first stop of the day.
And that stop was….Ground Zero! And it was one of the most awkward tourist experiences of my life. Hundreds of tourists with camera all hyped up with absolutely nothing to see. Which should not surprise anyone…after all, the whole point of this site is what is missing. But mostly the masses were just kind of standing around not sure exactly what they should be doing. So they took pictures of the hole in the ground. And so did I, but only because they were. I can’t picture myself ever looking back through my pictures and thinking, “Oh yeah! We saw this hole in the ground and not the World Trade Center!” Also, the whole time I was standing with this crowd of people watching construction workers dig in this hole in the ground (seriously, if anyone has any idea what exactly they are doing down there I would be really interested) I kept picturing Peyton Manning in the crowd yelling encouragement.
And of course there were the vendors, hawking their wares for the crowd. 9/11 necklaces. 9/11 snow globes (how fucking sick is that?) 9/11 postcards. Yes…they have postcards that are just pictures of the buildings crumbling. What do you do with these postcards? Do you send them to your friends saying, “Greetings from New York!”? Do you frame them? Who buys this shit? Apparently someone cause these guys are all over the place.
9/11.
Anyway, we got out of there and walked southwards. We snapped a few pictures of the bull at Wall Street. He has huge testicles. Then we stopped and got some great pizza. There was a party of 9-year-old kids watching the Yankees game in the restaurant and just going nuts about it. They kept making comments like, “Jorge Posada is only hitting .294 but he is hitting .321 with runners in scoring position and less than two out on Saturday afternoons.” Damn, I loved those kids. And then some kid saw my Cubs hat and announced to me that he used to live in Oak Park. So that was cool. And there was also a kid in a Sonic Youth shirt. Damn, New York breeds their hipsters at a young age. We finished our food and moved on, despite the birthday boy’s father’s insistence that we stay for the forthcoming birthday cake.
So we headed for the Staten Island Ferry. This is a ferry that takes you to Staten Island for free. There is nothing all that exciting about Staten Island but the ferry is known for having some of the best views of the city. And it did! The south skyline, the Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island were the highlights. And the Brooklyn Bridge. Great photo opportunities of sites that we didn’t feel like paying for.
And then we were in Staten Island. We sat for a while because we were tired of all the standing and such that we had been doing. And it was so beautiful out. Then we devised a plan of how we could get to Coney Island quickly and painlessly. It was about a twelve step plan. The first step was taking the Staten Island Railroad (no, New York does not respect Staten Island enough to run the subway down there) a few stops down. And so we saw a bit of Staten Island. What did I take away from this experience? Shaolin sucks ass. That Wu-Tang Clan is full of shit. I saw nothing interesting the whole time I was there. I certainly did not see any cool Wu-Tang sword style shit. In fact, the best thing about Staten Island is that it has some good spots to view the other boroughs.
So the train took us to a bus that took us to Brooklyn, New York City (where they paint murals of Biggie.) We got off the bus and onto a train to Coney Island. Except we went the wrong way. So we turned around and went the right way. It was an ordeal. But we eventually got to Coney Island right around the time the annual Mermaid Parade was ending. So the Mermaid Parade is basically just an excuse for people to dress up in ridiculous costumes and act bizarre. And it was perfect.
Coney Island was perfect too. It was filthy and hot and beautiful and kitschy. It was as big a slice of Americana as I could have imagined it would be. Though some traditionalist is sure to disagree with me here. Our goal was to ride the Cyclone but we didn’t care to stand in line so we didn’t. Instead we just walked the boardwalk, had a drink, and watched people. And people are so fucking weird! Coney Island had close to the perfect mix of hipster brats and blue collar folks who must have been absolutely baffled by some of these hipsters and freaks. But everyone seemed to be having a great time with it! Isaac and me struck up a great conversation with a really friendly guy with a live boa constrictor around his neck and two teardrops tattoos. But he was so nice and he was enjoying Coney Island with his family!
Anyway, we eventually left Coney Island and headed up to Brooklyn Heights. After the noise and chaos of Coney Island, Brooklyn Heights was an excellent break. It was incredibly quiet and peaceful. We ate at this restaurant with all-natural and organic everything. It got to the point where we prefaced everything with all-natural. Can you pass the all-natural mustard please? You get the picture. They even had organic beer. Which tasted a lot like regular beer. This leads me to believe that somebody got the brilliant idea of slapping the word organic on their beer and marketing it to hippies. Hooray capitalism!
After dinner we went up to the bluff at Brooklyn Heights and watched the sun set over Manhattan. It was gorgeous. The lights came on all over the city. New York is a truly incredible town. It is just so enormous. There is so much to see and so much going on. So we headed back out and tried to see more of it.
Our next stop was Times Square. I think we had a few more subway troubles at this point. But then we got there and stepped out into the bright lights of the square. It is a sensory explosion to be sure. People everywhere. As bright as daytime. So many things to watch. And I don’t know what could be more American than this. Millions of people come here every year to look at advertisements. This is a complete tourist site built around the act of tourists being told what to buy. And it’s not that people are too stupid to realize this. I think they realize it completely. It is that they don’t care. It is fun and why should we have to think about it? The lights are pretty.
So while walking Times Square a fellow approached us with some passes to Jerry Seinfeld’s comedy club. They were ten dollars apiece. It reeked of a scam but he told us that Charlie Murphy was performing and so was one of the girls from The Office so we took him up on it. We took the subway up a few stops and found the club. And the line. And the announcement that we probably wouldn’t be able to get in, regardless of the fact that we paid for tickets. We also found out that Charlie Murphy was not schedule to perform, nor was the chick from The Office, nor was there any evidence that they were ever planning to. Then it looked like we would get in after all. Then a bunch of attractive ladies showed up and it looked like we wouldn’t. Then the manager pulled some strings, rearranged some chairs, and told us to enjoy the show.
And the show was great. Despite the fact that there was no Charlie Murphy, we got put through a runaround outside, and the two drink minimum drinks were eleven dollars, we were all very happy that we chose to attend this. One of the comedians, Jay something, was being taped for Comedy Central and he was just hilarious. I literally cried a couple times. And my sides hurt. Maybe I will talk about it later. Most of the other comedians were pretty funny as well, but the last guy was just horrible. All in all, despite the ridiculously overpriced drinks and the scam, this was an excellent way to end a very eventful day.
Except the day wasn’t over. We still had to have one of the worst train experiences of all time. All kinds of different routes were closed. I can’t give precise details because I still don’t really get it, but the bottom line is that it took us well over two hours to get back to the hotel. We were all fairly grumpy by the time we got back, at about 3:15.
Of course, I snapped out of it pretty easily once I got my shoes off, took a shower, and sat down at the computer for a few minutes. I mean…it was just an awesome day. Why let some train difficulties ruin it? Tomorrow is another one. And then more.
There is so much left to be done!
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Day 27
This one picks up with the end of Day 26.
So after I blogged last night I headed to the Metra station in Hinsdale. I bought one of those big cans of Foster’s at the wine store across the street and got on the train. It was just a beautiful ride into the city. The sun was going down and I listened to Feed the Animals for the second time. This album is amazing. Greg Glllis mixed the best rapper alive with the best rock band alive; “Roc Boys” over “Paranoid Android”. It is just amazing. The Metra ride felt too short. But then I was at Union Station.
Oh yeah…the other thing that happened in Hinsdale…before getting on the train I got a message from Amtrak. It seems my train from New York to Boston, and my train from Boston to New York, have been cancelled. So that’s a pain in the ass. Now I have to call them sometime tomorrow and reschedule. So when I went to get my ticket to New York the lady seemed really confused by all this. I told her that I’m going to try and get on another train and she still seemed confused. But she gave me my ticket and that was that.
And then I went to the bar. I checked the Cubs score when I was on the train and they were up 3-1 in the seventh inning. This seemed good. I figured Marmol in the eighth, Kerry in the ninth, go home. But when I got to the bar it was 8-3 Devil Rays in the eighth. What the fuck? That was the final too. So that was no good. The Cubs continue to be not so good on the road.
Anyway…I went and got on the train and it departed at ten o’clock sharp. As soon as we got moving I headed over to the lounge car. It was only open forty minutes so I had to take advantage while I could. I had a couple Coronas and got to talking with a few guys about this and that. Then they closed the bar and everyone started bitching untl this one dude said he had some vodka. So he went over to the bar, asked for four cups of ice, and then went back to his seat and came back with the bottle. We all filled our cups, he made a toast to Nancy Reagan (sarcasm) or some shit like that, and we ended up hanging out there for probably another hour and a half. Turns out the dude works on an oil rig in Louisiana. So he talked about that and he made mention of something called the 3 F’s: Fur, Flesh, and Fluid. I can’t remember what the hell he was talking about but it had something to do with drug tests (hence the Nancy Reagan toast.) One of the other guys there is in the military and going to Syracuse to visit his buddy from Afghanistan. He kept talking about how the Afghanistanis (Afghans? Afghanis?) are “just like us.” Never quite figured out what that meant. But it was a nice time.
So finally I said goodbye to them and retreated to my seat. I popped in a Six Feet Under and ate some of the food my mom gave me for the trip. She packed a bunch of stuff for me because she did not want me to spend any money. Which is good but I am going to spend money anyway. And the bag broke so now the food is annoying me.
And then I typed this. Tomorrow evening I will type more and it will all be part of one big blog entry. You’ll see.
So sleeping on the train was not as pleasant as I had hoped it would be. I think it would have been better with the window seat. That way I would have had something to lean against. But as it was it was very fitful. I woke up many a time. Before I knew it the sun was coming up, which is never a great thing. I think we were somewhere around Cleveland when there was a full-blown sunrise. I just remember being stopped right next to the Cleveland Browns’ stadium for what seemed like an hour and not being able to sleep. But then after we took off I was actually able to get some of my most productive sleep of the night. I probably could have continued sleeping if some Homeland Security douche hadn’t woken me up to ask me if I were a US citizen. I still have no idea what the fuck that was all about but he methodically woke every single person on the train up to ask them the same question. We were in Erie, Pennsylvania I think. So I was kind of hungry so I decided I may as well get up and get some breakfast.
I went to the dining car at around 8:30. I ran into the military kid from last night and sat down with him. He was wearing an Afghani Freedom shirt just to make sure everyone knew that he did, indeed, fight in Afghanistan. I thought he should have written something on the back of it about them being just like us. I kid. He was actually a really nice guy. He bought me breakfast. I ate scrambled eggs and hash browns. And there were vineyards and Lake Erie everywhere we looked. It was very scenic.
After sitting in the dining car for awhile I decided to try and get a little sleep. When we got to Buffalo my seatmate got off the train, which allowed me to spread out and lean up against the window. I was able to sleep for a couple hours. It was very restful and nice. I woke up in Rochester.
The rest of the day was more of the same. Some nice scenery. I did not really do as much reading as I had planned. I was a little too enamored with the scenery. The train cruised alongside the Erie Canal for quite a while and ducked through some forests. I made a trip to the lounge when I needed to plug in my computer. Then we got to Albany.
In Albany I found out about something called “slack time.” This is when the train has been making such good time that you actually have to wait for an extended amount of time at a stop. In this case we waited for an hour and a half in Albany. This was good and bad. It definitely beats running behind. It was kind of annoying for me because I had just plugged in my computer and my phone and they shut off the power in the train. On the other hand, it was a nice opportunity to get out of the train for a little while and walk around the station. Not much to see there but I bought a much needed Dr. Pepper and stretched my legs. I also used a real bathroom which was nice.
I am writing this en route from Albany to New York. So far I can say that this has easily been the nicest stretch of the trip. The train track winds alongside the Hudson River and there are mountains to our west. I sat at my seat for a little while watching Six Feet Under but then my computer ran out of power again so I came back to the lounge where I am now. And I decided I may as well get caught up on my blogging. Also, I followed the Cubs/Sox game on my phone. Aramis Ramirez hit a walk-off homer for a 4-3 Cubs win. Rock.
So I arrived at Penn Station right on time. And I was a little confused about what to do and where to go. But I went outside and found the taxi stand. My driver wasn’t sure exactly where the Holiday Inn Express was so I had to call the place up and get directions. I was so sure that she was going to run up my fee. But she didn’t. We got there and it was only eighteen bucks so I gave her a big tip.
So here is where I experienced the worst part of my day. I mentioned the whole rescheduling my train to Boston thing earlier. Well once I got to the hotel I called Amtrak. After sitting and waiting for half an hour I finally got an agent. It turns out every train to Boston is completely booked. So I tried to reroute and go to Washington instead. I can get a train to D.C but I can’t get one from D.C. to Chicago. So that option is out. So basically there is nothing Amtrak can do for me. It’s just, “Hey. We messed up. Sorry, now your vacation is ruined.” I don’t know how they get by on this kind of customer service. So now I have no idea what I’m going to do from Tuesday on. But I’m not going to let it spoil my week.
So I took a shower. It was a great shower. But I broke the soap holding thing. I put my foot up on there to wash my leg and the whole fucking thing fell down. And then the toilet was all clogged up but that wasn’t really my fault. It was that way when I got here.
Isaac and Jeff arrived within two minutes of each other. Isaac was supposed to get here at the same time as me but his bus was oversold. Jeff’s flight was delayed. So they both got here after eleven. And we went out. What else were we gonna do?
Long Island City had no idea what was about to hit it. The first spot we hit was some blue collar bar that reminded me about the bar Isaac and me went to in Dodge City. But people were friendly. We were actually just looking for some food and they didn’t have any so we kept walking.
After walking several blocks we found a little hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant where nobody spoke English. I bought some rice and beans for three dollars. And a Corona for a dollar seventy-five. There was a three dollar disco ball for some reason and a song that went, “QUACK! QUACK! QUACK!” And the waitresses laughed at Isaac and me when we were bobbing our head to the QUACK music. FUN!
And then we headed next door to the Irish pub. It was a very nice little pub. They had something called Brooklyn Lager. Or something. We each had one. And talked about good times and prepared for more to come.
We got back to the hotel a little while ago. It is 3:05. We are watching American Beauty and having all kinds of difficulties plunging the toilet. SUMMER!
More tomorrow…
So after I blogged last night I headed to the Metra station in Hinsdale. I bought one of those big cans of Foster’s at the wine store across the street and got on the train. It was just a beautiful ride into the city. The sun was going down and I listened to Feed the Animals for the second time. This album is amazing. Greg Glllis mixed the best rapper alive with the best rock band alive; “Roc Boys” over “Paranoid Android”. It is just amazing. The Metra ride felt too short. But then I was at Union Station.
Oh yeah…the other thing that happened in Hinsdale…before getting on the train I got a message from Amtrak. It seems my train from New York to Boston, and my train from Boston to New York, have been cancelled. So that’s a pain in the ass. Now I have to call them sometime tomorrow and reschedule. So when I went to get my ticket to New York the lady seemed really confused by all this. I told her that I’m going to try and get on another train and she still seemed confused. But she gave me my ticket and that was that.
And then I went to the bar. I checked the Cubs score when I was on the train and they were up 3-1 in the seventh inning. This seemed good. I figured Marmol in the eighth, Kerry in the ninth, go home. But when I got to the bar it was 8-3 Devil Rays in the eighth. What the fuck? That was the final too. So that was no good. The Cubs continue to be not so good on the road.
Anyway…I went and got on the train and it departed at ten o’clock sharp. As soon as we got moving I headed over to the lounge car. It was only open forty minutes so I had to take advantage while I could. I had a couple Coronas and got to talking with a few guys about this and that. Then they closed the bar and everyone started bitching untl this one dude said he had some vodka. So he went over to the bar, asked for four cups of ice, and then went back to his seat and came back with the bottle. We all filled our cups, he made a toast to Nancy Reagan (sarcasm) or some shit like that, and we ended up hanging out there for probably another hour and a half. Turns out the dude works on an oil rig in Louisiana. So he talked about that and he made mention of something called the 3 F’s: Fur, Flesh, and Fluid. I can’t remember what the hell he was talking about but it had something to do with drug tests (hence the Nancy Reagan toast.) One of the other guys there is in the military and going to Syracuse to visit his buddy from Afghanistan. He kept talking about how the Afghanistanis (Afghans? Afghanis?) are “just like us.” Never quite figured out what that meant. But it was a nice time.
So finally I said goodbye to them and retreated to my seat. I popped in a Six Feet Under and ate some of the food my mom gave me for the trip. She packed a bunch of stuff for me because she did not want me to spend any money. Which is good but I am going to spend money anyway. And the bag broke so now the food is annoying me.
And then I typed this. Tomorrow evening I will type more and it will all be part of one big blog entry. You’ll see.
So sleeping on the train was not as pleasant as I had hoped it would be. I think it would have been better with the window seat. That way I would have had something to lean against. But as it was it was very fitful. I woke up many a time. Before I knew it the sun was coming up, which is never a great thing. I think we were somewhere around Cleveland when there was a full-blown sunrise. I just remember being stopped right next to the Cleveland Browns’ stadium for what seemed like an hour and not being able to sleep. But then after we took off I was actually able to get some of my most productive sleep of the night. I probably could have continued sleeping if some Homeland Security douche hadn’t woken me up to ask me if I were a US citizen. I still have no idea what the fuck that was all about but he methodically woke every single person on the train up to ask them the same question. We were in Erie, Pennsylvania I think. So I was kind of hungry so I decided I may as well get up and get some breakfast.
I went to the dining car at around 8:30. I ran into the military kid from last night and sat down with him. He was wearing an Afghani Freedom shirt just to make sure everyone knew that he did, indeed, fight in Afghanistan. I thought he should have written something on the back of it about them being just like us. I kid. He was actually a really nice guy. He bought me breakfast. I ate scrambled eggs and hash browns. And there were vineyards and Lake Erie everywhere we looked. It was very scenic.
After sitting in the dining car for awhile I decided to try and get a little sleep. When we got to Buffalo my seatmate got off the train, which allowed me to spread out and lean up against the window. I was able to sleep for a couple hours. It was very restful and nice. I woke up in Rochester.
The rest of the day was more of the same. Some nice scenery. I did not really do as much reading as I had planned. I was a little too enamored with the scenery. The train cruised alongside the Erie Canal for quite a while and ducked through some forests. I made a trip to the lounge when I needed to plug in my computer. Then we got to Albany.
In Albany I found out about something called “slack time.” This is when the train has been making such good time that you actually have to wait for an extended amount of time at a stop. In this case we waited for an hour and a half in Albany. This was good and bad. It definitely beats running behind. It was kind of annoying for me because I had just plugged in my computer and my phone and they shut off the power in the train. On the other hand, it was a nice opportunity to get out of the train for a little while and walk around the station. Not much to see there but I bought a much needed Dr. Pepper and stretched my legs. I also used a real bathroom which was nice.
I am writing this en route from Albany to New York. So far I can say that this has easily been the nicest stretch of the trip. The train track winds alongside the Hudson River and there are mountains to our west. I sat at my seat for a little while watching Six Feet Under but then my computer ran out of power again so I came back to the lounge where I am now. And I decided I may as well get caught up on my blogging. Also, I followed the Cubs/Sox game on my phone. Aramis Ramirez hit a walk-off homer for a 4-3 Cubs win. Rock.
So I arrived at Penn Station right on time. And I was a little confused about what to do and where to go. But I went outside and found the taxi stand. My driver wasn’t sure exactly where the Holiday Inn Express was so I had to call the place up and get directions. I was so sure that she was going to run up my fee. But she didn’t. We got there and it was only eighteen bucks so I gave her a big tip.
So here is where I experienced the worst part of my day. I mentioned the whole rescheduling my train to Boston thing earlier. Well once I got to the hotel I called Amtrak. After sitting and waiting for half an hour I finally got an agent. It turns out every train to Boston is completely booked. So I tried to reroute and go to Washington instead. I can get a train to D.C but I can’t get one from D.C. to Chicago. So that option is out. So basically there is nothing Amtrak can do for me. It’s just, “Hey. We messed up. Sorry, now your vacation is ruined.” I don’t know how they get by on this kind of customer service. So now I have no idea what I’m going to do from Tuesday on. But I’m not going to let it spoil my week.
So I took a shower. It was a great shower. But I broke the soap holding thing. I put my foot up on there to wash my leg and the whole fucking thing fell down. And then the toilet was all clogged up but that wasn’t really my fault. It was that way when I got here.
Isaac and Jeff arrived within two minutes of each other. Isaac was supposed to get here at the same time as me but his bus was oversold. Jeff’s flight was delayed. So they both got here after eleven. And we went out. What else were we gonna do?
Long Island City had no idea what was about to hit it. The first spot we hit was some blue collar bar that reminded me about the bar Isaac and me went to in Dodge City. But people were friendly. We were actually just looking for some food and they didn’t have any so we kept walking.
After walking several blocks we found a little hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant where nobody spoke English. I bought some rice and beans for three dollars. And a Corona for a dollar seventy-five. There was a three dollar disco ball for some reason and a song that went, “QUACK! QUACK! QUACK!” And the waitresses laughed at Isaac and me when we were bobbing our head to the QUACK music. FUN!
And then we headed next door to the Irish pub. It was a very nice little pub. They had something called Brooklyn Lager. Or something. We each had one. And talked about good times and prepared for more to come.
We got back to the hotel a little while ago. It is 3:05. We are watching American Beauty and having all kinds of difficulties plunging the toilet. SUMMER!
More tomorrow…
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Day 26
Here we go...
I spent most of today getting ready for the train. I went to the bank and got some cash. Went to the library and got Idlewild on DVD for the trip. I also got another disc of Six Feet Under. I think I have six hours worth of that show so that will help. I do have 48 hours in trains over the next week. And I went to Best Buy. I was looking for four albums. The Hold Steady (which may not be out yet), Silver Jews, King Khan and the Shrines, and Wolf Parade. They had none of those. So I bought the first K'naan album. I've never listened to him before but he is the first act that I plan on catching at Lollapalooza at 11:30 Friday morning, and seeing as he is one of the few rap acts at the festival I'm going to try and get into him.
And then I just kind of packed and sat around and such. Oh yeah...the new Girl Talk album was released today on his record label's site and it is free. Unless you are a sucker and you pay for it. So I downloaded it and listened while I ran errands. It is awesome. Very similar to the first one (or the first one people actually have.) There is a great Weezy/Sinead mash-up near the beginning.
Anyway, now I am just chilling, listening to Broken Social Scene (who is incidentally playing a Lollapalooza after-show with Yeasayer the Saturday of the festival), and being generally happy. I'm a little anxious about the whole getting on the train ordeal. And a little more anxious about the finding my hotel ordeal. But mostly I'm excited.
Also, my telephone rang about six times before nine o'clock this morning. Apparently somebody who doesn't realize that nobody in my house goes to sleep before 2 AM really wanted to talk. So that was cool. But I finally did fall back asleep and slept till quarter to eleven. Which was good. I got eight or nine hours each of the last two nights to help catch me up from about ten straight days of six or less. And it's probably a good thing cause I'm not sure how well I will sleep on the train. And I don't want to be TOO tired to begin my vacation.
Ah well, either way, I'll shake it off like a rock star!
And that's it. Tomorrow night I will have a full report on my 21-hour train ride. It should be good reading.
I spent most of today getting ready for the train. I went to the bank and got some cash. Went to the library and got Idlewild on DVD for the trip. I also got another disc of Six Feet Under. I think I have six hours worth of that show so that will help. I do have 48 hours in trains over the next week. And I went to Best Buy. I was looking for four albums. The Hold Steady (which may not be out yet), Silver Jews, King Khan and the Shrines, and Wolf Parade. They had none of those. So I bought the first K'naan album. I've never listened to him before but he is the first act that I plan on catching at Lollapalooza at 11:30 Friday morning, and seeing as he is one of the few rap acts at the festival I'm going to try and get into him.
And then I just kind of packed and sat around and such. Oh yeah...the new Girl Talk album was released today on his record label's site and it is free. Unless you are a sucker and you pay for it. So I downloaded it and listened while I ran errands. It is awesome. Very similar to the first one (or the first one people actually have.) There is a great Weezy/Sinead mash-up near the beginning.
Anyway, now I am just chilling, listening to Broken Social Scene (who is incidentally playing a Lollapalooza after-show with Yeasayer the Saturday of the festival), and being generally happy. I'm a little anxious about the whole getting on the train ordeal. And a little more anxious about the finding my hotel ordeal. But mostly I'm excited.
Also, my telephone rang about six times before nine o'clock this morning. Apparently somebody who doesn't realize that nobody in my house goes to sleep before 2 AM really wanted to talk. So that was cool. But I finally did fall back asleep and slept till quarter to eleven. Which was good. I got eight or nine hours each of the last two nights to help catch me up from about ten straight days of six or less. And it's probably a good thing cause I'm not sure how well I will sleep on the train. And I don't want to be TOO tired to begin my vacation.
Ah well, either way, I'll shake it off like a rock star!
And that's it. Tomorrow night I will have a full report on my 21-hour train ride. It should be good reading.
Day 25
Another half-ass blog entry for Day 25.
One quarter of the way through. But now it's going to start getting more interesting. My train leaves tomorrow night at 10 PM. I think I will try and post before then.
Meanwhile, didn't do a whole lot today. I worked and I watched the Cubs game and I ate Chipotle. That's about it.
So sorry...
One quarter of the way through. But now it's going to start getting more interesting. My train leaves tomorrow night at 10 PM. I think I will try and post before then.
Meanwhile, didn't do a whole lot today. I worked and I watched the Cubs game and I ate Chipotle. That's about it.
So sorry...
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Day 24
Once again posting in the morning. Not ideal, not ideal.
I finished two classes yesterday. Now I am done with everything. I did two presentations and the professors seemed to LOVE them. So that was cool. In the morning I did my presentation on the assessments I did. I wasn't sure how I was going to do in this class since I did on of my assessments, well, the day before. But I'm pretty sure I nailed the presentation at least. Then in the afternoon I did an impromptu presentation revolving around Dead Prez' "They Schools" which set off a huge class discussion...so that's always a good thing. My point was that whether we agree with individual bits of the song, or the language they use, the point is that they are representing the views of a sizable population that deserves to be listened to, which made the teacher happy. And she even talked about the importance of rap for awhile after that and pointed out to the class that there is lots of great philosophical writing about rap music (which always amazes me that people are amazed by this.)
Anyway...I think it went well. I finally got my first grade back. It was a "B". My first one. But that's okay because it was the class that I thought I did terribly in.
I came directly home after class and just chilled. Watched the Cubs, read for awhile, not much. Now it is off to work just four hours today, then get ready for the trip!
I finished two classes yesterday. Now I am done with everything. I did two presentations and the professors seemed to LOVE them. So that was cool. In the morning I did my presentation on the assessments I did. I wasn't sure how I was going to do in this class since I did on of my assessments, well, the day before. But I'm pretty sure I nailed the presentation at least. Then in the afternoon I did an impromptu presentation revolving around Dead Prez' "They Schools" which set off a huge class discussion...so that's always a good thing. My point was that whether we agree with individual bits of the song, or the language they use, the point is that they are representing the views of a sizable population that deserves to be listened to, which made the teacher happy. And she even talked about the importance of rap for awhile after that and pointed out to the class that there is lots of great philosophical writing about rap music (which always amazes me that people are amazed by this.)
Anyway...I think it went well. I finally got my first grade back. It was a "B". My first one. But that's okay because it was the class that I thought I did terribly in.
I came directly home after class and just chilled. Watched the Cubs, read for awhile, not much. Now it is off to work just four hours today, then get ready for the trip!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Day 23
You may have noticed that I did not post this yesterday and it is now actually 4:30 on Day 24. I have been busy. But now I am DONE!
So yesterday I worked ten hours on top of all the homework I had to finish. But it turned out to be a pretty good ten hours. It didn't get off to a good start. I left my house late, not because I was sleeping but because I was trying to do too many things. Then it turned out my first student's mom had to take his sister somewhere so I had to HAUL to their house and still got there late. But it got better. I had good sessions with all three kids. And I went to Wendy's with one of them. So...food. And while we were there I gave him an assessment on addition and subtraction for a class. So it was productive and ice cream at the same time!
And then I got a birthday card from one family with fifty bucks and more awesomely a raise! Yay summer!
So then, at the time I am typically going home on Monday I instead had a team meeting for one of my kids. But that is okay because meetings aren't too bad. Basically we just sat around the table and talked for a couple hours. And of course ate Gardetto's.
But the down side was that I didn't get home till after 8 and I still had quite a bit to do. And then when I got home I ended up screwing around on the internets for a while. And then I got to work and finished remarkably quickly. I triple checked to make sure I had actually done everything. And I had. So now I'm done.
I was going to type this up last night. But I watched Six Feet Under. Then went to bed. So here we are. And here we'll be later tonight for Day 24.
So yesterday I worked ten hours on top of all the homework I had to finish. But it turned out to be a pretty good ten hours. It didn't get off to a good start. I left my house late, not because I was sleeping but because I was trying to do too many things. Then it turned out my first student's mom had to take his sister somewhere so I had to HAUL to their house and still got there late. But it got better. I had good sessions with all three kids. And I went to Wendy's with one of them. So...food. And while we were there I gave him an assessment on addition and subtraction for a class. So it was productive and ice cream at the same time!
And then I got a birthday card from one family with fifty bucks and more awesomely a raise! Yay summer!
So then, at the time I am typically going home on Monday I instead had a team meeting for one of my kids. But that is okay because meetings aren't too bad. Basically we just sat around the table and talked for a couple hours. And of course ate Gardetto's.
But the down side was that I didn't get home till after 8 and I still had quite a bit to do. And then when I got home I ended up screwing around on the internets for a while. And then I got to work and finished remarkably quickly. I triple checked to make sure I had actually done everything. And I had. So now I'm done.
I was going to type this up last night. But I watched Six Feet Under. Then went to bed. So here we are. And here we'll be later tonight for Day 24.
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