Sunday, April 29, 2012

April 29th, 2012: Central Park; more Ziggy times; Let's Go Rangers


It’s been awhile since I last updated anything personal on here and since I’m up early enough and with a clear head, I figured I’d catch up now.  It’s been a busy month so far, both at work and at home, and today promises no let up.  The weather here in New York has cooled down quite a bit from what it had been, but it’s been beautiful nonetheless.  Since it’s Sunday, a day off, I need to get outside sooner rather than later…



Central Park

This Thursday I will be taking my students on a field trip to New York City’s Central Park.  The trip is going to be a cool one, with an awesome scavenger hunt built in.  In the past several weeks I’ve been doing a lot of research on the park, and even though I’ve been there plenty of times before, I learned a lot about the place.  Yesterday I took a test run to scope out the things I’ve read about so I can prepare for the trip.

The weather in NYC was absolutely gorgeous yesterday, making it a great time to go into Central Park.  There are so many things to see there, and I wanted to catch most of them while I was there.  I arrived at the park around noonish, and meandered my way through many of the beautiful pathways that wind their way around the place.  As it was such a beautiful day, the place was teeming with activity and only served to remind me of how much I want to live in the city.

I visited the Central Park Zoo, Bethesda Terrace, the statue of Balto the sled dog, Belvedere Castle, Sheep Pasture, and so many other places I can’t even remember it all.  Here are a few photos I took so you can appreciate the wonderful beauty that exists right in the middle of Manhattan…






Ziggy

Ugh, lately I’ve been having some of those Ziggy moments that I experience from time to time.  I dunno, there’s definitely some sort of bad energy that hits me for spells every once in awhile and all I can really do is try not to let them get me down and wait them out until they go away.    

I guess it all started about two weeks ago when I got my third bill from my gas company in a month.  I pay that bill on a monthly budget and once a year I get a year-end statement with a reconciliation between what I paid and what I used.  The first bill was for $28 and change, which was a nice surprise, but then I got a second year-end statement a few weeks later in which the amount jumped to more than $330.  A week after that, yet another came saying my total was well over $400.  Sheesh!?!?! 

I called the company, which is something I neither good at or like to do, and I got this robotic service representative who simply couldn’t answer my questions.  I mean, I’m not disputing what I used, but aren’t I right in that I am on a budget to avoid things like this?  The whole thing brought me from extra money in my pocket to a negative balance.  Ya just can’t fight “the man,” I guess!

My Zigginess continued on Thursday when I got a speeding ticket.  I told you once before about a ticket I had gotten last fall and fought, and now I got another one on my way to work.  Again, this one was cheesy as I was one of about 6 or 7 cars all moving relatively close to one another at a similar speed.  Yes I do drive fast, but I’m not the type of driver that weaves in and out of traffic flying past every car in my way.  I asked the officer why he picked me over all of the other cars that were going at a similar pace and he could not answer me.  All he said was that it didn’t matter if I was in a group of cars cause he uses laser radar and he could pinpoint my speed.  That doesn’t answer the question, does it? 


I felt that I was targeted because of my car, my sporty little Eclipse, and I still do.  I only should have opened my mouth sooner because I don’t think he would have given me the ticket if I had asked before he wrote it up.  I dunno, just a feeling…

I also got a parking ticket in the city yesterday.  Oh when will this end?  It was my first one ever in the city, and again it was cheesy because there were other cars parked in front of and behind me and the “No Standing” sign was at least a half a block up from the spot.  I simply didn’t even notice, and considering all of the illegal things that people do on the roads of NYC, this wasn’t so bad, was it?  And it was for a hundred bucks, too!  Again, when will this end, lol….

On the Bright Side

Earlier this week we held our 6th annual ESL Family Night at school and once again I was tasked with public speaking.  Though I’ve done it a gazillion times before, I still get butterflies for about 24 hours before, and as always it was for nothing.  I’m not sure if it’s because the other teacher who went on before me is so bad, but she energizes me to get out there when she’s speaking and I always do a good job once I’m up there.  Both my boss and the principal were on hand and if I say so myself, I rocked it!


Let’s Go Rangers

Yesterday afternoon the Rangers began their 2nd Round series with the Washington Capitals in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.  I DVR’ed the game and watched it last night after I got home from the city.  The Rangers won the game, 3-1, and I’m starting to really love rookie Chris Kreider, who scored a beautiful goal and had an assist for the Blueshirts.  Go Rangers!

Da Bunk

I went to the Bunk House last night for the first time since opening night, and I’m only telling this to anyone who’s read my review of the place to catch up on what it’s really like now that it’s up and running.  The crowd is still nice…not as big as on that first night, but nice enough to make it a regular thing.  The music was great and the crowd was, um, very Long Island.  Take that for what it is…

Well that’s all she, or rather, he, wrote folks!  As always, thanks for checking out my lil corner of the Web.  Your visits are always appreciated.  Enjoy your Sunday, and stay tuned for my late “Y” post…

Image Sources:

John Myers


The Wallpapers





Love and Pride

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