Tag: jason

Oh what a night

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It must have been some night last night because as of 9:15 this morning, Jen and Jason are still sleeping. I have been up since about 7:30, doing a little reading and relaxing. I’m now dressed and ready to get some breakfast so that we can go to the gym a little later. At this rate, however, we won’t get to the gym until 11 AM. Clearly, my meal schedule will be slightly off today.

That’s okay, though, because we had a good time last night. We had dinner at a french restaurant just up the block from Jen and Jason’s. The food was excellent. I had hanger steak with winter vegetables in an excellent sauce and I cleaned my plate. Jen had the steak frites and Jason had the duck.

After, we went to Mustang and got some prime seats. We were there for a couple of hours, drinking, talking and even having a little dessert. The results were predictable. Perhaps that explains why Jen and Jason are still in bed, even though we went to sleep more than eight hours ago!

Drunk off our asses

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I think the subject is self-descriptive. Jen, Jason and I are just back from Mustang, where Jason and I had a few shots of Patron Silver, as well as several Margaritas. Jen had her fair share as well. I think we are all feeling good. Jen and Jason are currently in the “den” dancing to their wedding song, “A Kiss To Build a Dream On” (Shouldn’t that be “A Kiss On Which To Build A Dream”?)

Clearly, you can tell we are out of sorts, and if I hadn’t used the spell-checking it would have been even more obvious. (I was just doing an imitation of Louis Armstrong singing, “Hello Dolly” which had Jen and Jason in stitches.)

Free day

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Today is my free day–no workouts and I can eat whatever I want. I slept in until 9 AM, which is late for me and then I had a quick breakfast and headed out to the grocery store to do some shopping. Since then, I have been working on the book collection and reading database applications and have made good progress in converting the old formats to the new data model. I should be able to start writing actual code soon.

I’ve been listening to Pink Floyd all day. So far I’ve listened to Piper at the Gates of Dawn, A Saucerful of Secrets, Meddle, Obscured by Clouds, and Dark Side of the Moon. I’m now in the middle of listening to a live version of the Dark Side of the Moon album.

I talked to Doug earlier today. Their power has been restored and they should be able to go home today. (They live in Seattle and were affected by some of the storms there.) I also talked to jen_ashlock briefly. She and jkashlock are in San Diego this weekend and take the red-eye home tonight.

I’m off to treat myself to something good to eat.

Thanksgiving dinner

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We had a great Thanksgiving dinner yesterday, courtesy of Doug and Rachel. Rachel’s sister Theresa and her son Alex were over to have dinner with us as well. We had a turkey, some delicious mashed potatoes, gravy, salad, macaroni and cheese, stuffing, new potatoes and onions. It was all delicious. After dinner, we had a birthday celebration for Ruby, who will turn 3 years old on December 1. We had pumpkin pie and birthday cake, and Ruby got to open some presents.

We also had an iChat video chat with jen_ashlock and jkashlock since they were in New York and couldn’t be here for Thanksgiving.

I am both stuffed and exhausted. I was ready to go to bed at 7 PM (after having gotten up at 1 AM PST this morning)! But it looks like I’ll be off to bed in the next hour or so.

Autumn in New York

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In over four years since moving back to the east coast, I have never had weather as perfect as the weather today in New York City. The sky was a deep blue all day long and the temperature rose into the 70s. It was cool in the morning and the evening and incredibly, not a cloud in the sky all day long.

Our morning started out with a walk into and across the Park on our way to meet Jon and a very pregnant Hollie for brunch. Their place on 81st and Columbus was being renovated, so we met them at Hollie’s parent’s place on 78th and Columbus. Hollie is due any day now and is looking very pregnant. We all chipped in the “cooking” of brunch. For my part, I dipped the challah in the egg mixture in preparing the French Toast; I also cut up the fruit. We ate brunch in the sunroom in the back of the brownstone, listening to an old jazz station. It was a very When Harry Met Sally kind of atmosphere.

After brunch, we headed out into the beautiful day. First, we stopped by a local open-air market so that Jon could pick up some vegetables. Then we headed to their place on 81st so we could see the rennovations. We also went up to the rooftop deck tht they have which has spectacular views of the Museum of Natural History and mid-town. If I lived there, I’d take a stack of books up on the roof and never come down. Finally, we made our way to the Park.

Jon, Jason and I tossed a ball around for a while, and then spend the rest of our time people-watching. And there were plenty of people to watch! We took a break for some ice cream, and finally made our way back to Jon and Hollie’s. By then it was almost 6 PM.

Jen, Jason and I headed back across the park and went directly to Mustang for dinner. I was craving a burger and both Jason and I had the burgers, loaded with guacamole. We also had margaritas and I had one of the better ones I’ve ever had: the 3 silver snake margarita, which has three types of tequilla and lime juice. Afterward, Jason and I waited in line at Coldstone for the second night in a row in order get some shakes.

We wound down the evening watching episodes of Scrubs. What a great day, though. It’s one of those rare autumn in New York days that you wish would last all week long, but in which you suspect won’t return until next fall.

A walk in the park

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After the disappointing Oktoberfest, Jason headed off to a photoshoot and Jen and I headed over to Central Park. We entered the park at 84th and Park Avenue and made our way around in almost random fashion until we reached the North Meadow. On the north end of the north meadow, we climbed a rock and sat down to watch little kids and their adult counterparts play soccor and a variety of other activities. It was very pleasant.

From there, we made our way out of the park, ending up on 100th and Park, just a block shy of the Museum of the City of New York, where we visited earlier this year. It was at this point that I realized that we were not far away from where Grandpa had been born and I suggested we make our way over there. At first I thought it was 102nd and 2nd Avenue, but it turned out to be 105th and 2nd Avenue.

The Pinske hardware store that used to occupy the bottom floor of the building had been bought out about a year ago, we discovered, by Garcia & Garcia hardware. The letter and color of the sign had changed, but the hardware store that has been in the building for at least the last 86 years has remained.

I couldn’t remember on which floor Grandpa was born but I took a picture of the front of the building so that I could post it here. Every now and then your mind plays tricks on your. As I said to Jen as we were walking to the location, I had the irresistable urge, upon arriving, to call Grandpa and tell him where we were. Of course, nowadays, dialing 914-352-1149 will not get you Grandpa. It’s strange to think that Grandpa has come and gone but that the building he was born in still stands, aloof as ever, to his passing.

Friday night on Saturday morning

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If it wasn’t clear from my perfectly coherent post last night, we did not end up going to the Whitney museum. I left work around 2 PM and was first in line to board the sold-out 3 PM Acela to New York City. I sat in the Quiet Car, as usual. This time, I have no idea if it was really quiet or not. From the moment I sat down, until the train ducked under the Hudson River, I watched the first 7 episodes of Scrubs Season 3 on DVD. It made the 2 hours and 50 minutes fly by.

Jen, Jason and I met outside crowded Penn Station.

And just as an aside here, Penn Station was really crowded. Perhaps it was because for some people it’s a 3-day weekend. But whatever the reason, during the middle of the weekend rush hour commute, in the midst of a massive pedestrian intersection in the bowels of Penn Station is not the appropriate place for that young woman to be standing perfectly still, talking on her cell phone. That’s just wrong!

It was decided to skip the Whitney and to find a bar at which we could watch the Yankee game. We took the subway partway and then a cab the rest of the way to Jen and Jason’s place. We stopped there for 5 minutes and then headed down to Molly’s, a bar on the corner. We managed to get a good table, and proceeded to spend the next several hours there, eating, drinking, laughing, and watching the Yankee game. (Jen and I were also trying to figure out if this bar was, perhaps, the Bar that barmaidblog works at.) We left the bar in the 8th inning and watched the rest of the game from Jen and Jason’s apartment.

I watching a couple of episodes of Scrubs before I went to sleep (around midnight). I was up this morning before 8 AM and spent the time reading more of Andy Rooney’s Out of My Mind.

Aside from the Yankee game at 4 PM this afternoon, I am told we are going to some candy shop that Jen wants to visit. We also have dinner reservations at what is supposed to be a great BBQ place in Harlem. And tomorrow morning we are having brunch with Jon and Hollie.

That’s all for now. I need to shower. Jason is making breakfast and I am hungry!

Yankees down 2-1

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The Yankees just lost to Detroit and they are not down 2-1. I feel as thought I should care more, but after 2 Jaeger shots and a tequila shot (not to mention a couple of beers), I really don’t care at the moment. We watched most of the game at Molly’s, a bar nearby where Jen and Jason live.

jen_ashlock has had less to drink than both Jason and I (and Doug, who is drinking with us remotely) but she seems to be three sheets to the wind. In fact, she has disappeared, and I assume she has gone to bed.

It’s about time that I did the same.

The heat is on

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I got into the office this morning and the place is like an oven. Yesterday the inside temperature was perfect. Today, it’s boiling. I’m not sure why.

It rained most of the night and was still raining when I got up this morning. I took a taxi to the Metro station because you can’t leave your car there overnight and I have a 3 PM train to New York City, where I’ll be spending the long weekend (I have Columbus Day off). I’m lugging my good umbrella with me today, which is something I rarely do, but I’m supposed to meet jen_ashlock and Jason at the Whitney when I arrive in NYC and that may involve a little walking in the rain. There are some Picasso’s on display at the Whitney and Friday nights is “pay what you can” night.

Rockland Reunion

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Once again, the day was supposed to start out with Jason and I running in the Park and once again, we failed miserably. Instead, we went to a corner diner and had breakfast. (I saw someone there reading a copy of the Jeppeson Private Pilot Manual–the same edition I went through back in 1999/2000.)

I had rented a car today because we were going to head up to Nanuet in Rockland County and see Norm and Vicky (vickyandnorm) who had just returned from a 2 week vacation in Italy. Eric and Ryane were going to meet us there later in the day. Jason and I walked over to Hertz and picked up the car, a nice Pontiac of some kind with leather seats and a sun roof, and headed up to Rockland. I had told Norm and Vicky that we’d be there at about noon. We pulled into their place as the clock struck noon, although according to Vicky, it was 3 minutes after by the time we actually walked into their place.

We got to hear all about their trip to Italy, which was fascinating, especially the part about the cat colony. We also go to hear about their baggage woes. It made me decide that I definitely want to arrive in Venice 24 hours before I actually have to be there for the cruise next year. Vicky insists she hates U.S. Airways and I figured I’d include that here as a caution to anyone else considering flying them to Italy.

We also got to hear more about the upcoming wedding.

Jason, Norm, Vicky and I headed to the Palisades Mall for lunch at a place where you design your own stir fry. It was pretty good. Norm, as it his wont, drove around the parking lot for a year or so looking for a close up spot, before deciding to give up and park at the North Pole.

Eric and Ryane arrived a little later in the afternoon and we sat around chatting, and seeing pictures of the spectacular house that Norm and Vicky are having built up in Stony Point. We also got a call from Andy, who had attended the Playboy Mansion party last night. (He was the grand prize winner on a local L.A. ESPN radio contest.) He was deceptively vague in the details he gave over the phone, but I see he’s sent us some pictures today, which I have yet to look at.

Around 4:30, Jason and I headed back into the city, returned the rental car, and then, at my request, stopped at a bookstore. We probably spent an hour browsing around. I had gone there with the intention of getting some light reading, perhaps a Heinlein book that I haven’t yet read. I came away with Norman Mailer’s Pulitzer Prize winning The Executioner’s Song. At 442,900 words, it’s one of the longer books I’ve ever attempted. I started reading it late in the evening and it’s the kind of book you just can’t put down.

We ordered pizza for dinner, watched Vanilla Sky (which Jason had never seen before) and I was finally ready to go to sleep around 11:30 PM/

Blues, Booze, & BBQ (not quite in that order)

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The day was supposed to start out with Jason and I going for a run in Central Park, but that didn’t happen. We were up a little late, and I had to meet strausmouse and rmstraus and their friends at 11:30 AM. So instead, we ran out for some bagels and cream cheese. While walking to the bagel place, I showed Jason how to use the handheld GPS which he and Jen and my Mom will be using next week when they drive from Boston to New Hampshire.

I met Eric and Ryane, and their friends Lena and Anthony outside their place on 95th. We then hopped on the 4 train to Yankee stadium. We had bleacher seats; I’d never sat in the bleachers at Yankee stadium before and I was surprised that the view was still good. I made the mistake of wearing a black shirt, however, and it was hot out there! We were in left-center and had a good view of the game. The bleachers are alcohol-free at Yankee stadium, but that didn’t prevent the people who sat around us from passing around bottles of this and that to pour into their drinks. (They had all come down to the stadium on a bus and at least one of their members was very drunk and in a pissy mood.) On the otherhand, they were all Yankees fans. And as it turned out, the Yankees won the game 5-2. All 5 of their runs were scored off 2 home runs in the second inning. We headed back after the game and decided to meet up later for dinner.

In the meantime, Jason and I headed to Central Park to get some exercise. We tossed around a baseball for a while, and were asked to play in a pickup game of softball that was forming, but we didn’t have enough time to commit to the game. We did manage to get in a good workout, however.

We all met for dinner at Brother Jimmy’s on 92nd and 3rd at around 7 PM. For the second night in a row, we ate at a place where everyone was ordering big hunks of beef (I had the ribs!). When it came Jason’s turn to order, I believe he got the catfish. But he held his ground and survived the peer-pressure of those (myself included) encouraging him to eat meat.

After dinner, we walked over to Mustang and somehow, Anthony managed to get us into the back room, where we had comfortable chairs and couches mostly to ourselves. We Eric and Anthony each ordered a flight of tequila for themselves. Jason and I shared a flight. They were sipping theirs but I couldn’t seem to get the hang of sipping. It all just seemed to go down, no matter how small a sip I tried to take. Once again, however, I limited myself to 2 shots. We spent a relaxing evening in that back room and finally headed back home sometime around midnight.