Fresh Direct has arrived

One of the things on Peggy's "to-do" list was to order groceries from Fresh Direct. This is an online grocery services that delivers (even on Sunday!).

Today was the big day! After spending an hour and a half online entering your grocery list and seeing if they have your brand of salad dressing, you request a 2-hour delivery window.

If you are interested in our grocery list for the week, we'll post a copy below. For New York, the prices were not that bad. (Peggy said about 10% more than the grocery store)

As you can see, normal groceries arrive packed up in boxes. If they ever figure out how to push groceries through broadband, we won't ever have to leave home!

Fire Island

Last weekend we went out to Fire Island, right next to Long Island, where Moms cousin Beth and her husband Chris have a house. It was like Oak Island except they had lifeguards, so if the water was really bad you couldn't go in. On the first day we woke up around 7:00, way to early for a vacation, and went down to the beach and they wouldn't let anyone in the water.In the bay they had ropes set up like a pool but in the bay, they had a diving board and everything!

Another cool thing is that cars aren't allowed on the island so we had to take a ferry over, and it wasn't a ferry that went 2mph it went more like 25!Chris and Beth let us use there bikes to get around so we used those a lot.One time me, Joey and Beth woke up earlier than Mom and Dad so we went on a ride to see Chris playing tennis or "tennis balls" as their 1 1/2 year old daughter Nora called it.

The first time we went into the water it was FREEZING but we got used to it.The waves were also pretty big because of hurricane Bob or Bill or what ever.While we were dow at the beach we played a badminton, volleyball, tennis and ping pong mix, to clear things up me and Joey made up a name, pingball tegminton. It was actually pretty fun considering i lost 4/5 games.


P.S. Vote on the poll!

Central park

Today, we wen to central park. On tuesday, we had a bad storm. Up near us it was mostly an electric storm, but in central park they had 80+ MPH winds! It was pretty cool to see all the trees and branches down. The New York Times did a story on it, so it had to be big! I will try to puta slideshow up!

Summer in the City

Okay, it's been a while since we posted :) Like everyone else, summer kind of happened. It's been a good summer in the city weatherwise. Typically New York is very hot and muggy with hot sun radiating off the concrete sending temperatures soaring. This summer has seen only one day at 90 or above (yesterday). There has been higher than normal rainfall. Climate change??

Anyway, in a lot of ways it has been a busy summer. June was filled with visitors from the great state of OH IO! Troop 33 trekked to New York/New Jersey for a few days. We enjoyed long walks sightseeing, ferry rides, and museum visits. We also had our good friends, the Amans, visit. We officially converted a country girl to a city girl :) Again, lots of sightseeing, walks through Central Park, museum visits and even a Broadway show! The bonus was a trip to Chinatown. We're lucky everyone made it out without posing bail! It was great to see so many friends from Ohio! We also saw our friends, the Scanlons, return to Australia. It was great having another family to share things with while they were here! We did not say goodbye, just, see you again!

In July, the boys enjoyed a week at Boy Scout camp while Peggy spent some time with her parents in PA. All three ended up getting sick and it is suspected that they fought H1N1 and won! All had plenty of symptoms. We also made a trip to Columbus and were able to catch up with lots of friends and family.

We ended up with some extra passengers in the van on the way back to New York. John & Nick Martin ventured back with us. We set a new record! 13 hour trip thanks to a stop at a llama farm and Cabela's

While they were here we saw some new things. We visited Grant National Memorial, which is a fascinating place especially if you've ever wondered who's buried in Grant's Tomb. We also visited the Empire State Building for an incredible view of the city!


August has come very quickly! The boys are enjoying a week at camp with Troop 71 from Albany, the troop Tim grew up in.

Our everyday life is pretty much the same as everyone who reads this. We grocery shop, walk the dog, play at the playground with friends, oh, yeah, and work :)

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer! As our time in New York winds down, we are glad we took advantage of the opportunity to spend time living here. There is so much that we have learned and experienced that has helped us continue to grow! We feel lucky to have opportunities like this and the chance to take advantage of them!

Lake Tiorati

Our first weekend in New York, we went with Troop 728 on a camping trip. We set up our tents in the dark and weren't sure what type of site we were at. In the morning, we got out of our tents to this awesome view of a secluded part of Lake Tiorati.

I wanted to go back and try some fishing there, so we went up last weekend and fished for a few hours. It was great to be out in the woods again!

Subway Announcements

Conductors on the subway announce where the train is headed, the stop you are at, and the next stop. Different conductors have different "styles" -- you can have a listen to a few in this movie. (The "ding dong" you hear means the doors are actually closing, not get ready for them to close!)

NYC Visitor

Hey, it's life in the Big Apple, what do you expect?

Luckily, our landlord has an extermintor come in twice a month. He arrives every other Saturday at about 7:50 and shouts "'terminator" down the hall. We always try to be ready when he gets here -- oven and refrigerator pulled away from the wall, cabinets emptied.

He called it a "water bug," which from what we can gather from our reading, is a nice name for the American cockroach (picture from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's web site.)

He used some "Suspend," which looks like pretty nasty stuff if you are a bug of any sort.

A day in the life

After just passing the six-month mark in our adventure, we have settled down in to a routine. I think this is why we have been posting less to the blog -- our life is sort of more "normal." New York is an amazing place to live with tons of stuff happening. I thought I would share some pictures of what life under our feet looks like. This is what we look at most every day.

Where our day begins...the floor in our bathroom:



The floors in our apartment are hardwood, but we have to put rugs over at least 80% to keep the noise down.



The lineolum floor in our building elevator:



This fresco in our buidling lobby is real tile...actually pretty nice:



Painted crosswalk across 212th Street and Broadway:



This is the warning strip -- bumpy rubber where the subway car pulls up to the platform.



The first stop on the "A" train is at 207th Street just a few blocks from our apartment. So, this sign says "it all starts here."



This is the pole on the "A" train.



This is part of the sidewalk along 168th Street at the entrance to Columbia University Medical Center.



It's the Ivy League!



This is a real Ivy League hallway:



These stars are on the floor at the hallway in the entrance to NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital (CHONY).



This is the floor of the room where I had a meeting at CHONY...gotta love meetings!



These types of grates are all over the sidewalks here -- I guess it is for access to the mechanics under the sidewalks and for ventilation for the subways:



Steps going back down in to subway stop at 168th. The yellow paint is so the people from out of town don't trip, or so I'm told:



The stairs going back up to our apartment:

Yankees: 6 Indians: 5

Yesterday was opening day at the new Yankee Stadium. Joey, Brian and Peggy went up to see the festivities and found out that after next week, there are only single seats available. So that we could be sure to go to a game together, we got tickets to go today.

The weather was perfect and the new stadium is very nice. We didn't see anything that was still under construction. The food was very good and you can read a review of the stadium food vendors here.

We got to the stadium a little early, and when we were sitting there, a woman went up to Joey and Brian and asked if they would like to play the Yankee trivia game. It was a matching game of players' faces and then won! The best prize was seeing their names and faces up on the big score board. Now THAT is a New York moment!


We are posting some pictures of our day at the game -- enjoy!

Elephant Walk 2009

The circus is in town! Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey circus begins this week in New York City at Madison Square Garden. An interesting fact is that the train cars that the elephants travel in is too big to fit into Penn Station so the elephants get dropped off in Queens and travel through the Queens-Midtown tunnel into Manhattan. They walk through the tunnel and then across 34th Street to Madison Square Garden. Peggy was able to talk Tim, Joey, and Brian into trekking down to midtown at MIDNIGHT (the city doesn't want to block traffic during the day!) to watch the procession of 10 elephants, several horses, a pony, and their handlers. It actually was amazing to see these huge animals parade across town at 1:00 in the morning. The subway ride home at 2:00 am proved to be a bit much but we are really glad that we took advantage of this "only in New York" moment.

Bike ride

Today (Sunday) We went on a bike ride of 10 miles. Well, 10.124 miles to be exact! Under the GW bridge is a lighthouse called (this is a very creative name, brace yourself for extreme creativeness!) The Little Red Lighthouse(see, told you it was creative). We went down Seaman, To the trail, we went down to 170th on the trail, had lunch by the Little Red Lighthouse. Then we turned around, went to 181th, got of the trail, and went over the GW, and went home the same way we came.

The New York Times Travel Show

A fellow postdoc got some tickets to The New York Times Travel Show and offered them to Peggy and me.

We went and wandered around the booths and talked with people from all over the world who were there promoting their city/state/country. We also picked up a bunch of maps (China, Latvia, Check Republic to name a few) for a shared map collection I've got going in Columbus. Rick Steves was there in person and I saw him. Amazing, I felt like waving at him since I've seen him on tv so much, I feel like I know the guy.

There were also lots of neat give aways. In addition to really nice brochures, there were pens, travel bags, sunscreen, travel toiletry containers, mardi gras beads and more!

Brian receives Arrow of Light!

Brian was awarded his Arrow of Light, the highest award in Cub Scouts, tonight by the Hon. Frank Reyes, Cubmaster, Pack 728. A slideshow of the ceremony is now posted on the blog. After completing all of the Webelos activity pins, he was also awarded the Cub Scout "Super Achiever Award." After the ceremony, we had a small reception for the boys and parents.

He will also cross over to Boy Scouts formally with our friends from Pack 86 in Columbus on Febuary 22.

The Martha Stewart Show

We went to see The Martha Stewart Show being taped today. The show actually runs live in most parts of the country and aired today.




Today's guest was Aishwarya Rai, the world's most beautiful woman. Martha and Aishwarya were doing a Valentine's Day candy craft.

MS: If you just want to pick up this one, we already cut one out for you...and there's a little dotted line.

AW: Now, why have I been struggling?

MS: Just to see if you can cut with scissors...that's all.

AW: Aaah...see? (holds up her cut out craft paper)

MS: Of course you can cut with scissors.

AR: See, actors can do more than just preen.

MS: Well...no...I expect that you can.

AR: (Preens)

The Late Show

We were able to get tickets to go see The Late Show with David Letterman yesterday. Taping is actually from 4:30-5:30, but we had to arrive between 2 and 3. Peggy is a bigger fan than Tim, but when we got to the ticket booth, she told them that her favorite skit was Ruppert.

Apparently, this is what they wanted to hear because we ended up get separated from the rest of the line and our seats were in the second row! We could see everything nearly very well, except for the monologue which was partially blocked by a huge tv camera!

The set is very ornate and the backdrop is actually not a mural, but a model of the NY skyline. The biggest surprise was how good the band was and they played right through breaks. In our half second of fame, we got on camera (in the bottom right corner).

Goldie talks (Not really!)

Hi again! I'm still having a whole lotta fun here! We got some snow and its really fun to play in, except when Joey and Brian put snow on top of me cause then I have to shake it of and it takes SO much effort. Two days ago we went sledding, well I didn't but Joey and Brian did. I think they had fun but my feet got really cold!

The weekend before that when their Mom went somewhere me, Joey, Dad and Brian went out on a long walk in the snow. I think that was the funnest thing I have done all year(Get it?)! I have no idea what was the matter with Joey but he fell down at least 10 times! Brian thought it was really funny when I made a smiley face in the snow, I stepped in the snow in one part and the po- oh wait Brian said not to say that!

Haircut

Today was Peggy's big day! After interviewing to be a hair model at the upscale salon, Bumble & Bumble's training centers, BBU, back in Novemeber and being accepted, today was the day for her big appointment.

Queens hall of Science

Yesterday we went to the Queens hall of Science. They had an exhibit about extratrestrial life. There was a claw that you had to pick up foam rocks with, but I kinda abused the purpose. There were some little kids standing there, so i acted like i was trying to grab them with the claw! They also had an exhibit on sports. I threw a baseball 35 MPH. And at the end of the sports exhibit, they had a big computer monitor, and it said "while you have been looking at this exhibit, we were watching you." They had cameras on the cieling, and they tracked your movements. Then we went and watched a "doo-hickey." It had fireworks, gasoline, and LOTS of fire. It must have been a pyromaniac who made it!

New York Botanical Garden

Today we went to the New York Botanical Garden, they had a holiday train show and Joey and I took 211 pictures with our camera(Dad taught us well!) They also had Thomas the Tank Engine and we begged Mom not to take us to see him. While we were walking around like 3 or 4 people asked us if we knew we he was, do you think that we would really know, or care?

After that we went to The Ginger Bread Adventures. It was BORING, you could decorate a cookie but when we tried to they said you had to do all the little kid stuff first. Joey and I decided to just run through the mazes and mud instead.

The actual train show was really cool because all of the buildings were made out plants or plant material. They also had a model of a museum that is right by our house, the Dyckman House. I think it would have been cool if they had the trains go under water in tunnels but that might have been asking a little much and it was still really cool.I made a slide show with the pictures we took and here it is.

Last Post of the Year!

We arrived back in New York last week and got settled in. It has been unseasonably warm in New York (in the 50's), but turned cold tonight. After going for a "walk" in Times Square this afternoon (more like a "stand still" since the crowds started to get very thick by the time we got there at 3pm!), we did some errands and came back home. The sun was just setting and it was gorgeous!

Goldie still needed to be walked, so Peggy and I took her out for a brief walk and we came home for dinner.


Speaking of dinner, we have been using the heck of a George Foreman grill we got from the Behr's for Christmas. Hot dogs by George Foreman, grilled ham and cheese, pork chops, and that's only been a week!

Happy New Year to all! For one thing, we are thankful we won't be standing in the mobs of shivering people in Times Square!

Boy Scouts of America

Boy Scouts has been a big part of our family's life since Joey first signed up for Wolf den at Pack 86 and Brian joined Tigers five years ago. Since we have moved to New York, being involved in Scouts has been a lifeline for us in a lot of ways.

Within about 3 minutes of being at our first meeting, Joey was whisked away with some other boys to do a flag ceremony. During our second weekend here, we were out camping with the Troop. Thanks to Scouts, we have an instant group of friends and people we are proud to associate with and who share our values.

Although Pack 728 is small (though actively recruiting!), it has a very energetic Cubmaster who runs the Pack just as if there were 50 boys in it. During part of the "Scientist" badge, we wanted to see if the Mentos and Diet Coke experiment actually worked (part of the rocket/propulsion theory), so we tried it out.

I am especially drawn to the idea that Scouting isn't just a bunch of games, but "a game with a purpose." Yes, we want to have fun, but we also want to help boys turn in to fine young men.

Last weekend, we went to Camp Alpine, Greater New York Council's Cub Camp and got some time on the climbing wall as well as on their compass course. (Check it out, Troop 33, we are working on First Class now!) The Scoutmaster of Troop 728 has a lot of Scouting exeperience (though he's not old like the Committee Chair of our Troop in Columbus) and does a great job with a very diverse group of boys.

Many people call Scouting a brotherhood and we have seen that in our move to New York. It didn't matter where we came from or why we were here, just that we were Scouts and looking to join in the action.

I have a bridge to sell you

We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge last weekend. It took about 45 minutes to walk across and there are some great views along the way, including the Lady and a view of midtown skyline. Along the bridge, there are also markers about how long it took to build the bridge (13 years) and a monument to the (27) people who died during its construction.

It was a brisk day -- just the right temperature for a walk. We made plent of stops for pictures and to admire the view.

If you are ever in New York, this should be at the top of your list!

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Along with the Behrs, we braved the crowds for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. There is a slide show posted. The parade was definitely a spectacle...probably better in real life than on tv!

First visitors!!

We had our first visitors last weekend. Two of Peggy's sisters, one brother-in-law, two nephews, and one niece hit the Big Apple. We had a great time! The boys went to the Museum of Natural History and the girls went shopping. We even took the time to have our eyebrows threaded - very cool!! We took Peggy's sister, Martha, to Chinatown and had authentic Chinese food. It was delicious. We also had a chance to go to a birthday party for our cousin's daughter in Brooklyn. It was a very busy and fun weekend and we were all very happy to have some visitors! We definitely hope more people will come visit soon.

Goldie has her say again

Hi it's Goldie again, living in NY is even better now because we go to the dog run! My owners say that I act dumb but I think it's fine that all I do is sniff around. Today we went to the Indain Caves, it was kinda boring for me because I didn't really do anything. I still like NY a lot, and get to go on walks a lot and last week we went to Target, in the Bronx!

NYC Guidebooks

We've developed quite a reference shelf of books on living in and touring New York. We've been putting them to good use. Here are the ones that we have been using:

City Walks with Kids: New York

This is a set of 50 cards each with an afternoon of activities to do and places to visit. Joey and Brian use this one when it is their turn to pick out what to do.

NY Metro Class Trip Directory

This book is supposedly geared toward teachers, Scout leaders, and homeschoolers. It has a lot of ads and gives a typical description for each location.

The Unofficial Guide to New York City

We've used the Unofficial Guides for other trips, and this one is good with fairly decent descriptions. Unlike other books in the Unofficial Guide series, it does not have suggested itenerary. It is also heavily weighted toward touristy information (hotels, basic info).

Frommer's NYC Free & Dirt Cheap

If you're moving here on a postdoc budget, this is an awesome book. It has a great listing of things you can do "for not much money." It will get you thinking about other ways to have fun on the cheap. Plus, before you move here, it gives you something to look forward to -- there are plenty of entries about food. Personally, that is very important to me!

Inside New York 2008

This book has good descriptions of neighborhoods and what the nightlife and cultural activities are like in each area. The maps in the book aren't particularly helpful since nearly every block is covered up with stars. It will tell you what the "don't miss" spots are for each neighborhood.

The Best Things To Do In New York: 1001 Ideas

This is the book that will get your appetitie wet for your visit or move. It lists things to do by topic (The Classics, Eating & Drinking, etc.). The book is a list of activities with a description of each. All 4 of us looked through this book and checked off the things that we wanted to do...we are working our way down the list.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide

This book will give you a thousand reasons why you have to go to the Met and help you know what you are looking at. If you have to ask why do I want to go to Met? or What is the Met?, don't worry about it -- just stay home.

Newcomer's Handbook for Moving to and Living in New York City
Relocating to New York City and Surrounding Areas

If you are moving to New York and not jsut visitng, we found these to be helpful. In particular, Relocating has good data, graphs and tables about neighborhoods in the City. Newcomber's Guide has better coverage of mundane things like groceries, cleaners and such.

Time Out New York

This magazine is a lot of fun to read, plus it looks like it lists every event in the City. They also cover neighborhoods, shopping, etc. From the recent issue: "Are you feeling cultural or kick-ass?"

New York

Frankly, this is a little out of out league price and culture wise, but it is still fun to read what people who can afford to do actually do. They are the ones with the idea for a dinner of cheap dumplings.

NFT: Not For Tourists: New York

Get this book! This has tons of information in it -- everything from where the post offices and bookstores are to neighborhood maps, a subway map, information about colleges in the city. Tim says to get it!! Peggy can not make a recommendation because she hasn't been able to read it since Time brings it to work everyday. Even if you are just interested in learning about New York, get this book!

The Entertainment Book

Peggy got this from Rozanne as a birthday present, and we've been looking at it since she turned 40! It has the discounts and 2 for 1 coupons that most entertainment books have. We are looking forward to using it!


Maps

There are two maps we really like. One is a fold-up subway map that looks like a MetroCard (the subway pass) sponsored by Chase bank and the other is the Popout Map made by Compass Map Group (but we think it is out of print). Real subway maps are free once you get in to the City at most kiosks and they work just as well, but the coolness factor isn't there!

USS Intrepid - Joey is 12!

The Intrepid has returned to her home port and reopened on Saturday.
Sunday was Joey's 12th birthday and that was the first thing on his list! The Intrepid was an aircraft carrier that saw service in the Pacific during WW II.

The deck has many different types of aircraft from the previous 50 years from all branches of the service, so we got to walk on deck and take a look at the planes. We've posted a slide show of our visit to the Intrepid on the blog.
Of course, this was the Navy's day, but the military branches (Army, Marine Corps) and Coast Guard were there to help celebrate the re-opening. Not to be outdone, the U.S. Coast Guard had two patrol boats on duty providing security. They also sent a rescue helicopter to hover over the river, then sent a rescue diver in to do a practice rescue while we were standing there.

I kept trying to point out how the USCG were the toughest of the tough -- they have to do maritme security, law enforcement, and shipping navigation, as well as search and rescue. I know there is something appealing about the bravado of the military, but I can't help but hope that if Joey or Brian decide to go in to service, they will think about the Coast Guard.

On Veteran's Day, I am grateful for the sacrifice of men and women who serve in our military. There are tons of little things that are taken away when one decides to serve in the military, more than we know. I guess one of those things is the challenge to Moms and Dads all over the country who have their children sent away. Maybe we should have a Day for Parents of Veterans! I think its one thing to be 18 or 20 and be gung ho about serving in the military, and another to be 40 and know what risks there are with military service and to think about your child being exposed to them, no matter how old they are.

Peggy turns 40!!

It was a rainy day here in New York. Joey and Tim returned early from their camping trip and then we all drove down to Madison Square Garden area looking for ice skates. We did find some downtown at Paragon Sports at
View Larger Map.

Now that Peggy is forty, she is able to join a motorcycle club as a "Junior Member." See: http://myelectronictimecapsule.blogspot.com/2008/11/remembrance.html#comments

The Today Show

What does every woman turning 40 want to do on their birthday? Go to "The Today Show," of course!

We got Friady morning and the four of us traveled down to the set of The Today Show. Tim had to leave for work, but Peggy, Joey, and Brian were able to get on live tv. For those of who missed it, the video is posted to the blog!

Election 08 Update

Well, after watching the election returns on tv for a few minutes, we decided to head down to Times Square and Rockefeller Center to see the action ourselves. It was a great time and there were tons of people. Times Square was almost wall to wall people. The results were being shown on several large screens and ticker tapes in Times Square and the crowd cheered as the results from each state was updated. There were very few people cheering for McCain, or if they were, they were quite about it!