blog.deanland.com

Talk is cheap, life is precious

On my other blog, DeanLand: The Radio Weblog, there's the beginning of a Discussion Group, or at this moment at least some discussion pointers, regarding Anti-Semitism, The Middle East Conflict, and other such topics. If you are interested or so inclined, feel free to check it out.

In Dave Winer's Scripting News blog on Thursday, he poses an open question.

Dave writes:

First we had Ernie the Attorney. Now there's I Am Not A Lawyer. What comes after that?

So I sent Dave my answer:

Dave,

First we had Ernie the Attorney. Now there's I Am Not A Lawyer. What comes after that?

A few possibilities come to mind:

1. I am not Ernie

2. Bert the Muppet

3. http.butIplay1onTV.weblogs.com

or maybe the answer is just...

4. Joel Hyatt or Jacoby & Myers

--Dean

And, for the second time today, the answer to my e-mail, this time from Dave, is a suggestion that I should post what I wrote in the e-mail on my blog. Wow, maybe I should just compose e-mails, and make those my blog entries!

Opening Day!

Why no blog entries for so long, you might ask? Whatís that? You didnít ask? Oh. Well hereís the reason, just the same.

Not only have I been up to my ears in work, but I also have been enjoying some very special time. Last year over their Spring Break my daughter spent a week with me here. This year my son spent the week. Maybe theyíll both come next year.

We had a fun drive up here, stopping to visit friends in Greensboro (pronounced by indigenous locals (see picture) as grainzbrruh), listening to music on CD or the various local radio stations along the way, and trying to understand what on earth could possibly be making most of Pennsylvania smell like maybe Osama was attacking the US with killer stink bombs.

One stop on the way up was a mission of mercy for a buddy. He likes Bourbon. His preferred drink is an Old Fashioned. His preferred bourbon in an Old Fashioned: some concoction made in Kentucky and found only in liquor stores in The South, Rebel Yell. We found it in a little ABC store in Virginia. The proprietors hear me ask for it and immediately knew I was a Northerner taking it back to where it cannot be found. They were quite hospitable, wrapping the bottles in paperbags and putting them in a box to store it safely in the trunk for our long ride up North. When we got back to New York, I called my buddy. When he answered, I yelled into the phone, "YEE HAH!" He responded, "Oh, you finally got me the Rebel Yell you've been promising on these trips?"

On the first night back in New York we met friends for a birthday dinner at one of the areaís better (best?) Chinese restaurants, and had a jovial meal. The next night we went to another friendsí house and had a wonderful dinner. They always remember that my son loves Cucmber Salad, and there it was for him.

He went with me to work in NYC one day. That evening we ate at Hunan Balcony, where he sampled the Sushi (Susan and I order the Sushi, almost exclusively) and had a great Tangerine Beef dish, spicy and plentiful. We all shared the Spicy Noodles in Sesame Sauce, ooh, a delight!

The big thrill of the visit may have been the night we went to meet with Bob at 21st Century Computer. Bob had agreed to show my son how to build a PC. Since his PC has been dying a slow death, and since his sisterís PC was also in sad shape, we brought both boxes up here for rehab. Bob analyzed the boxes, and between scrap pieces he had in the shop and I had from a slew of dated or out-of-commission computers and supplies in my place, we found enough equipment (and some used and one or two new pieces, like the case and the CD-RW) for Elias to build his PC.

And what a job he did! Under Bobís tutelage, he learned all about the piecing together of the parts, the way to set the jumpers, how to connect what to which, and where. Elias was set on being able to burn CDs from CDs, so we found an old CD-ROM to put in the slot above the CD-RW. A huge hard drive, maximum memory the operating system will handle (without flaws, as I learned the hard way), those music-matching WAV chips, a modem, a sound card, a network interface, motherboard, CPU, power supply, floppy drive, and VOILA!, a [mostly] brand-new, yet scrap, computer!

Bob also replaced, sped up, fixed, and otherwise updated and revamped my daughterís PC. Now they both have up to date, fast, workhorse machines. So when they each get into college, I will always feel a little indebted to Bob, whose handiwork and good effort, in addition to his tutelage with Elias, got both kids equipped with the computers they need for school, chatting, game-playing, and hacking about the net.

One day he slept late, I worked all morning and mid-afternoon,and then we went out to do all sorts of errands. It was fun being together, just having the time and being with each other. Divorce is a horrible thing, but not living with oneís kids is a way more terrible and painful matter. But we got our time in, and went shopping, running errands, just being father and son. It was a blast!

Then came Friday, the day Iíve been waiting for since last October. Yes, it was OPENING DAY at Yankee Stadium. Elias, Susan and I joined our friend Seth at our seats, and took in the action. Susan and I share a partial seasonís ticket with Seth, have done so for a few years now, and it always works out wonderfully. This was Eliasí first Opening Day, and oh, was it grand!

We did the usual ritual: stopping off at Mr. Kold Kuts for cholesterol-increasing deli sandwiches (custom made, to our order, by the super counter crew at Mr. KK), and got drinks at Steve NuWave beverage place a few doors down. I put my newly acquired Yankee Flag on the back left window, and off we drove to the Stadium. We got great parking, right across from the entrance area.

NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg (a Red Sox fan, boo, hiss) threw out the first ball. To hoist the flag as The American League Champions the Yanks had team legends and Hall of Famers Yogi Berra and The Scooter:Phil Rizutto, as well as NYC legend, and legendary Yankee Fan, Rudy Giuiliani to do the honors.

Challenger, the domesticated eagle flew in from the deep Center Field bleachers to the pitcherís mound after Robert Merrill (Yankee No. 1Ω) sang The National Anthem. The West Point Color Guard unfurled a gigantic flag in Center Field during Merrillís rendition. A joint NYPD-NYFD Color Guard marched in for the ceremonies with the standard sized flags.

And then the game began. Despite teeth-chatteringly nippy weather, the home team prevailed, knocking the socks off the lowly Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The season has begun, life is good. Ah, to be at The Stadium.

Over the weekend we prepared to return. Elias decided one more Mr. KK sandwich would be a good idea for the road. And on our way we were. He was coming down with a cold or some such malady, so we drove back to his home slowly, and stayed a night in a motel. Sometimes on the 12 hours marathon drive I just pull into rest stops and catch some shuteye. But with his health a concern, it was better to get a motel and provide him with a decent bed, a shower, and a place to get a small breakfast, rather some excuse-for-food morning chow at one of the many bottom-of-the-barrel roadside eateries along the highway.

Then we arrived at his house. I spent some time with my daughter, we set up my sonís new PC, and then I got back in the car. Headed north, and went the whole way without stopping. Was very tired on my return, but got about three hours of sleep and then woke up, showered, got back to work and life is as it was.

The kids are back up here in about 14 weeks. I will count down the weeks, then the days, then the hours. Soon we will have the Summer visit, and that will be fun, too.

But in the meantime, it is time to attend the usual 20 or so Yankee games we take in each year. Susan and I have plans to go to Fenway in June, and maybe to Camden Yards and to The Vet in Philly before the season is over. What better way to while away the time until the kids come back?

Well, yeah, there is work. But I enjoy my work, and all this helps the time go by.