Settling in

After spending two weeks away from the Big Apple for the big wedding and honeymoon,  and then a week later flying out again for a kamikaze trip to  a friend’s wedding in Niceville, Fla., then out to Los Angeles a few weeks later for a surprise birthday party, I’m finally back and settled here in NYC.

That’s not to say I’ll be blogging any more than usual, but as of right now, laying on the couch with an achy back, and with my beautiful bride playing the role of happy housewife for the time being, there certainly will not be any long distance traveling in our near future.

Luckily, we have friends and family throughout the northeast and mid-Atlantic area who can visit throughout the summer, or, any of you can always visit us here! We do live in NYC, the greatest city on Earth!

So, I hope to have lots of more stories of my travails throughout the five boroughs in the coming weeks. Stacey’s mom will be visiting next weekend and we’ll be heading to the Bronx to see the Phillies play the Yankees, so I’ll report on the new Yankee Stadium then.

I’ve already been to Citi TARP Field, and it is beautiful. If only the home team were the Marlins, not the Mets. I hope to be going back when the defending American League Champion Tampa Bay Devil Rays visit next month. I’ll try to post my report on that experience then.

Until then, you can always follow me on Twitter.

 

This blog, it’s a changing

Nothing too earthbreaking here. Look up, read the banner headline. See something different? Yeah, am now married as opposed to being almost married or engaged.

Need proof? How about a slideshow?

Oh, and the weather, just might, be finally breaking. Not like it matters to me this weekend, I’ll be in Niceville.

5-Day Forecast for Forest Hills, NY

Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday
58° F | 45° F	68° F | 50° F	74° F | 50° F	56° F | 40° F	49° F | 45° F
Clear	Clear	Clear	Chance of Rain 20% chance of precipitation	Chance of Rain 50% chance of precipitation

5-Day Forecast for Niceville, Fla.

Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday
74° F | 54° F	74° F | 56° F	74° F | 58° F	76° F | 59° F	76° F | 52° F
Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Chance of T-storms 40% chance of precipitation	Chance of T-storms 20% chance of precipitation

 

I’m a traveling man

I could use the fact that I only expect to spend one weekend in the month of March actually home in the Big Apple as a reason for my paltry blogging prowess, but well, that’d just be an excuse.

The fact is that I figured this would happen at some point. There’d be long gaps in my blogging followed by days of constant blogging followed by long gaps, etc., etc., etc.

I’m a manic blogger I guess. Ya’ll just have to deal. Please, please, please, deal. I don’t want to lose either of the two of you who might be reading this.

So, thankfully for me and my sensitive ears, I missed the blizzard of all blizzards that hit the northeast last weekend because, well, I was in Las Vegas!

What a great place to be while the east coast is blanketed in the fluffy white stuff. It was dry, 70 degrees, sun shining the whole time. I even spent one whole day of the three pretty much full days I was there outside at a park. Definitely not something I normally do while in Vegas, but a ton of fun. Nice to be out in the sun finally. Am so, so tired of having to bundle, layer and be uncomfortable the whole time.

The only thing that would’ve made that day better is if I had thought to pack some flip flops. I didn’t think we’d made it outside or it’d be warm enough, so I suffered wearing tennis shoes. I know, I know, woe is me.

I won’t be making that same mistake this weekend, however, as Mike’s magical North American tour hits Nashville, Tenn., aka NashVegas, baby! I can’t wait to see good friends again, and especially, the not-s0-lil Latino Tornado, my godson, Joaquin.

Then, after that, it’s just a matter of a couple weeks before I head down south and get transformed from being an almost-married man to being full of wedded bliss.

Immediately after that, the lovely lady and I come back to our home back in NY for a night before taking this trip international. We’ll be heading to Punta Cana, DR, for most of a week for a nice, relaxing honeymoon that’ll last right up into my favorite time of year, Opening Day.

Of course, at this point, all my vacation time will be used up, so everybody come to NY this spring and summer. We got a pull-out couch you can crash on. Or, seriously, hotel rooms are cheap right now. Our neighborhood rocks and we’re only a quick subway right into Manhattan. So visit often!

So, checking out the weather for NY and NV(NashVegas) this weekend, I’m pretty excited. It’s supposed to get warm here in NY this weekend, even possibly flip-flop weather. I’ll miss it, just like I missed the blizzard, but it’s supposed to be even nicer in Tennessee, so I’m not complaining.

Yes, the flip flops are already packed. I can’t wait.

5-Day Forecast for Forest Hills, NY

Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday
50° F | 40° F	54° F | 43° F	65° F | 43° F	54° F | 38° F	52° F | 34° F
Fog	Chance of Rain 30% chance of precipitation	Chance of Rain 40% chance of precipitation	Chance of Rain 20% chance of precipitation	Chance of Rain 40% chance of precipitation

5-Day Forecast for Nashville

Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday
70° F | 54° F	74° F | 54° F	72° F | 52° F	67° F | 49° F	67° F | 49° F
Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Chance of T-storms 40% chance of precipitation	Chance of Rain 30% chance of precipitation	Chance of T-storms 50% chance of precipitation
Hourly	Hourly	Hourly	Hourly	Hourly

And, of course, nothing beats Tampa

Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday
76° F | 56° F	79° F | 58° F	79° F | 61° F	79° F | 63° F	79° F | 63° F
Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy

 

Not surprising

Took one of those lame online quizzes on Blogthings recently. This one was called “What Kind of Shoe are you?”

Of course, the respone: I am Flip Flops.

Shocking, no?

Now, before you judge from all your glass houses, I know all of you do things like this also. Whether it’s 25 things on Facebook or other quizzes, you really shouldn’t be talking

But, go ahead, tell me how lame I am. At least I just posted the results of this, not for instance, what kind of cookie I am.

For the record, I’m a chocolate chip cookie. Again, not much of a surprise there either.

See, isn’t this so much fun.

And now, your Valentine’s Day weather forecast!

5-Day Forecast for TAmpa, FL

Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday
79° F | 58° F	74° F | 54° F	70° F | 41° F	70° F | 49° F	76° F | 58° F
Partly Cloudy	Chance of Rain 50% chance of precipitation	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy

5-Day Forecast for Forest Hills, NY

Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday
43° F | 29° F	40° F | 25° F	36° F | 25° F	40° F | 29° F	38° F | 36° F
Mostly Cloudy	Clear	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Chance of Snow 50% chance of precipitation

 

Another one bites the dust

Every time I think I’m getting used to the cold and the weather — despite my constant bitching about being freezing, driving in the ice and snow and constant wearing of layers — Mother Nature decides she wants to mess with me some more.

This time, she, also known as karma, helped me break my second ice scraper. This one was even called an “ice breaker.” Yes, I broke an ice breaker.

My first ice scraper incident occurred the weekend before Christmas when about four or five inches of snow fell. We planned to go visit my uncle in Port Washington on Sunday, so on Saturday, while Stacey went upstairs to wrap Christmas presents we just bought, I decided to get a head start on scraping the snow off.

That time I broke the scraper end of the combo scraper/brush given to Stacey by her dad way back when while trying to pry huge clumps of snow off of the rear window of my car. I heard a crack and then the scraper broke off. I was then forced to finish prying snow off with the scraper in one hand and the brush in the other, wax on, wax off-style.

This time, it was ice, not snow that did in my trusty “ice breaker.”

The incident happened at about 9 p.m. Sunday night in the parking lot of Laguardia Airport after returning to the icy mess here from a wonderful warm weekend in Tampa. I thought I was in good shape after getting the ice off the rear window, but had some trouble with the windshield. I turned on the defroster inside while scraping and banging the scraper against the glass. Then, all of a sudden, half the scraper goes flying across the car while I’m left holding the handle.

Incredulous I was. Obviously, I finished up the scraping, paid my $75 in parking and then set out today after work to get myself a new scraper, because the temperatures here aren’t scheduled to get above freezing this week, if they ever do make it to the 20s after Tuesday.

Here’s what I bought this time. Wish me luck that I don’t break either of these.

And here’s what’s facing us here in the frigid northeast for the next few days. Brrr. Yikes.

-Day Forecast for ZIP Code 11375

Forest Hills

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
31° F | 25° F	40° F | 20° F	25° F | 18° F	31° F | 9° F	16° F | 7° F
Partly Cloudy	Mostly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Chance of Snow 30% chance of precipitation	Partly Cloudy

5-Day Forecast for ZIP Code 33606

Tampa

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
67° F | 58° F	67° F | 45° F	59° F | 40° F	61° F | 38° F	58° F | 38° F
Chance of Rain 20% chance of precipitation	Rain Showers 60% chance of precipitation	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy

 

Flannel flip flops? Yes, indeed

Although this is New Year’s Eve, don’t be expecting a long, poetry filled post reflecting on the past year; the ups, the downs, the unexpected, the wonderful happenings of the past year in my life.

Hooey to that I say. Hooey. Gosh, I hope I spelt that write. I only wrote it twice.

Instead, what you fine people get is perhaps the most perfect blend of couture to exemplify me and this blog: flannel flip flops. Yes, sirs and madams, my esteemed future mother in law somehow, someway, somewhere found these hot pieces of shoeware.

I know, they ain’t Jimmy Choos, but I wouldn’t get caught dead in a pair of those. These, however, have my name written all over them, albeit not literally.

Check them out.

For the record, although it’s currently snowing and expected to 16 degrees tonight with a wind chill of 0, I’m still not going to wear these ninja-style, like another fellow New Yorker we all know.

 

These are so not flip flops

The “wintry mix” that fell today, a deadly combination of rain, snow and sleet, forced me to pull the Mack Truck boots out of my closet today. I should’ve worn them to work, but thought that’d be overkill. Before I left Tampa I bought a pair of brown “Alpine” shoes on sale at Sports Authority. I figured those would be fine.

And for most of the day they were. Of course, I spent most of the day playing Wii bowling and not out in elements.

So, after I got home, I fished out the Mack Trucks, a big pair of brown boots I bought as part of my hurricane gear while in Tampa. We brought all of our hurricane stuff up here from Florida, joking that it’d be just as useful in a blizzard. So far, some of it has. I wore a pair of lined wind pants that go with my big red rain jacket to keep warm during a walk the other day and now I made use out of the boots.

And did I mention these were Mack Truck boots. I’m not talking little wimpy things. These are steel toe Goliaths.

Take a further look.

 

I fully expect to be wearing these beasts for a while as it’s only going to get colder, snow more and then even get windy. There definitely will be no flip flops in my future anytime soon. Oh how I am so not in Florida anymore.

5-Day Forecast for ZIP Code 11375

Forest Hills, NY

Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday
29° F | 27° F	36° F | 20° F	31° F | 18° F	36° F | 29° F	45° F | 34° F
Chance of Snow 40% chance of precipitation	Snow 90% chance of precipitation	Partly Cloudy	Clear	Rain 60% chance of precipitation

5-Day Forecast for ZIP Code 33606

Tampa, FL

Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday
79° F | 61° F	76° F | 52° F	63° F | 47° F	70° F | 59° F	74° F | 58° F
Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy
Hourly	Hourly	Hourly	Hourly	Hourly

I know I’ve been here almost a year now, but the winter is still getting to me. I’m used to warmth and sunshine and am realizing how ill-prepared I still am. The boots were just the beginning. I’m still figuring out how I’m going to dig my car out on Sunday. I have a snow scraper and a snow brush to deal with the ice and white fluffy stuff that accumulates on my car but no snow shovel to clear a path to get the car out after potentially being plowed in. Who knew I was supposed to have a snow shovel? No one ever told me. Well, now I know. Anyone know where I can get a snow shovel?

 

A wintry mix

In the span of about three days here this week, we had rain, then sun and warmth, then more rain, snow and more rain. Now, it’s clear, but that’s not going to last. It’s going to rain again, I’m sure. Not sure about more snow, but I wouldn’t rule it out. I’m guessing this is what they mean when the say wintry mix, but I’m not totally sure. Never really experienced it before, so how would I know?

Hey, I sound like Jerve. Maybe I could be a fulltime meteorologist. Good to know if this whole newspaper thing doesn’t work out.

Anyways, here’s some pictoral evidence, mainly of the cell phone variety, of the changes in the weather. Enjoy.

Nothing quite says Christmas in New York City like snow on trashbags.

A snowball I formed from the accumulation on my car.

My coworkers made a mini snowman on the picnic table outside the office.

All that was Tuesday.

Here’s what it looked like on Monday, when Stacey and I spent a day in Manhattan doing the touristy, Christmas in New York thing.

The bright sun was shining. Temperatures were in the 60s. It was wonderful.

Look at the pretty blue sky. Oh yeah, and the big building too.

And here’s yours and my local forecasts. That is if you live in Tampa or New York. If not, look it up yourself.

5-Day Forecast for ZIP Code 11375

Forest Hills, NY

Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday
40° F | 29° F	34° F | 23° F	27° F | 27° F	34° F | 29° F	34° F | 22° F
Partly Cloudy	Ice Pellets 100% chance of precipitation	Chance of Snow 30% chance of precipitation	Snow 70% chance of precipitation	Chance of Snow 20% chance of precipitation

5-Day Forecast for ZIP Code 33606

Tampa, FL

Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday
81° F | 59° F	79° F | 59° F	76° F | 59° F	77° F | 58° F	70° F | 50° F
Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy

Oh how I miss you, Florida!

 

It truly does accumulate by a magnitude

The West Wing was right.

When it snows, it accumulates by a magnitude.

Here’s some visual, cell phone-camera evidence of my walk from the subway station to the apartment building on Saturday night.

Although I’ve seen it snow twice already this fall/winter, this is the first true snow that’s fallen and made a lasting impression, the whole accumulate by a magnitude thing that Donna Moss, played by Janel Maloney, was talking about (written of course by Aaron Sorkin).

The view from outside the Portofino Restaurant on Ascan Ave.

Snow accumulating in the church parking lot down the street.

The church grounds covered in the white stuff.

Snow falling on Austin Street.

That’s the ‘hood. The FoHi.

Here’s my car, fully friosted and unscraped, parked directly in front of our apartment building.

The front.

The rear.

And here’s your friendly neighborhood forecasts:

5-Day Forecast for ZIP Code 11375

Forest Hills, NY

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday
38° F | 22° F 3° C | -6° C	34° F | 27° F 1° C | -3° C	45° F | 40° F 7° C | 4° C	54° F | 32° F 12° C | 0° C	43° F | 31° F 6° C | -1° C

 

5-Day Forecast for ZIP Code 33601

Tampa, FL

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday
65° F | 36° F 18° C | 2° C	72° F | 52° F 22° C | 11° C	79° F | 61° F 26° C | 16° C	77° F | 58° F 25° C | 14° C	67° F | 43° F 19° C | 6° C
Clear	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Chance of T-storms 40% chance of precipitation	Chance of T-storms 40% chance of precipitation

 

Not fit for man or beast

Get used to this. This is how I’m going to be looking for the next five months. Well bundled and layered. This picture was taken in the laundry room basement of my apartment building before I ventured outside into the almost frozen tundra of Forest Hills for a walk around the neighborhood.

Not only was I wearing a fleece jacket and ski cap, but also a cotton hoodie, a long sleeved shirt and an undershirt. That’s in addition to lined wind pants I thought I would be wearing fighting hurricanes not blizzards. No matter, the pants did keep me warm. They were a welcome find in the bottom of a drawer this evening.

Now I know a lot of you in Florida were celebrating or dreading the cold you were experiencing this past week. Rumor has it that the temperatures even made it down to the 30s late at night when everyone is asleep and bundled under multiple blankets.

Well, how about the temperatures never leaving the 30s all day long? That’s the life I’m living right now, and let me tell you, it’s damn cold! I know I moved up here in January and lived through days where the highs were 12 degrees, but I wasn’t prepared for it to get cold yet.

I thought fall would last a little bit longer. And by fall I mean temperatures in the 50s. I don’t remember seeing the 50s this autumn. It went from 60s and 70s straight down to the 40s and 30s. It was like fall lasted all about a week this year. And it rained the whole time. Not fun.

I’ve been told and I’m afraid that unlike Florida, the temps here won’t rise back up again. They’ll only go lower and lower.

Oh, and I’ve already seen snow flurries twice this week. The first time was Tuesday during my walk to the train station at 7:15 a.m. and while waiting for the train in Jamaica. The second time this morning while driving to work.

Here’s a couple pictures I tried to take of the flurries at the station. If you click on them and blow them up, you should be able to see the flurries. They are the white specks of dust-like smudges in the pix.

Welcome to Jamaica.

Yeah, not that Jamaica.

Oh, and because I know you are curious:

The Ronk

Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday
38° F | 23° F 3° C | -5° C	32° F | 22° F 0° C | -6° C	38° F | 29° F 3° C | -2° C	45° F | 32° F 7° C | 0° C	45° F | 29° F 7° C | -2° C
Chance of Snow 30% chance of precipitation	Partly Cloudy	Clear	Chance of Rain 30% chance of precipitation	Chance of Rain 50% chance of precipitation

Tampa

Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday
68° F | 43° F 20° C | 6° C	67° F | 49° F 19° C | 9° C	74° F | 56° F 23° C | 13° C	76° F | 61° F 24° C | 16° C	76° F | 54° F 24° C | 12° C
Clear	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Chance of Rain 20% chance of precipitation