Spontaneous Musings

This is the Manhattan Financial District - in front of my workplace, the Bowling Green subway station and park.

Snow was cleared from most of the streets, just not the lesser used side streets, and sidewalks in front of houses. Apartment complexes, yes. Small businesses and houses not so much. Also all the parked cars were snowed in.

( images of a snow bound Brooklyn and Manhattan Financial District beneath the cut )

Super called while I was talking to my mother (on the phone - mother lives over 13 hours away). Apparently there was a lot of snow on the roof and some leaks - the tenant on the fifth floor filed a potential leak complaint. ( Read more... )

And I found out what was causing the insane vibrating humming sound over the weekend, which was so bad on Sunday - I used noise cancelling headphones to block it out? ( Read more... )

Everyone is having issues with the snow. Also public transportation is a mess. The NY Ferries aren't running or with severe delays, because the Hudson and East River have frozen, and there are ice junks - making it difficult for them to navigate. Also I think the bay leading out to the Atlantic - which is around Liberty Island and Staten Island has frozen in places.

The Long Island Rail Road was having switch problems and issues with snow on the tracks. The buses are having issues navigating snow drifts as are their passengers. NJ Transit and Path trains were running with delays, due to snow removal. The subways had delays. The airports were struggling to re-open. And there were road closures due to stalled vehicles and accidents.

The Federal Government offered to send help, and the Governor of New York and Mayor of New York City said nope, we're fine. Go away. Shoo. New Jersey more or less said the same thing - we're fine, thanks, go away.

***

The internet is giving me writer's block? ( Read more... )

1. Sleep

I might actually get more than 6 hours sleep tonight. ( general state of my health such as it is )

2. The Weather outside is frightful...actually it's just really windy and as a result, really cold. ( it's cold and everyone is cancelling activities this weekend except for insane Prospect Park hikers )

3. The Unasked for, but you will get it anyway...Daily Buffy Rewatch Post - for those who are remotely interested.

On the Buffy Re-Watch - about to enter one of my favorite stretches in the Spike redemption arc - Conversations with Dead People through Never Leave Me. These episodes, along with Lies My Parents Told Me - explain the Spike/Buffy relationship rather well or what drew the characters together.
And what they needed to learn from each other. ( Where I feel the need to explain my thoughts on it for the millioneth time )

(This is probably the only television show that I've felt the need to endlessly write about. I've written about others just not to this degree. I don't what it is about Buffy that makes me feel the need to do this...)

4. Social media has found a way to convince me to check out Star Fleet Academy (which I was previously ambivalent about) and breaking my boycott of Paramount +. How? ( Read more... )

5. Not that any one cares any longer...(time was I'd see a lot of posts on this, now, John Scalzi didn't even post on it) - the Oscar nominations came out.
( Read more... )
Actually most of the nominees this year were kind of amazing. 20 Cool, Shocking, and Downright Wild Facts about the 2026 Oscars( Read more... )

*********

January Question a Day Memage

19. What colour scheme is your bedroom?

I don't know - shades of blue, with some red in there? (The bed spread, throw pillows - blue, coverlet, white, rug - it's a turkish red and blue rug, photo on wall of niece and big fluffy white (streaked with red) cats.

20. Have you read any of the Winnie the Pooh books?

Yes. To say I was an avid reader as a child would be a gross understatement. I couldn't read until the second-third grade, but once I figured out how? I read whatever I could find. I also had them read to me at one stage. I've read most of the children's classics. Plus the Winnie the Pooh books had pictures and illustrations.

21. Do you like wearing colourful socks? What do the brightest socks you own look like?

I tend to only wear them at home - and they usually are fluffy stay at home socks. The brightest ones had a raccoon on them - but I lost them, now they are the purple fluffy ones. I also have a pair of fluffy socks with penguins on them. My difficulty with socks is I lose them doing laundry.

22. In January 1496, Leonardo da Vinci unsuccessfully tested a flying machine. Do you like flying?

Not really? I mean it's okay. I don't mind being in the plane. But I'm six foot, and planes are built for midgets. Also, I hate the logistics of flying? Which has only gotten worse over the years? Too many odds and bits to worry about. Personally, I prefer trains - easier to get on and off, not as many things to worry about, more comfortable seats, bigger windows, better views, and more leg room.

23. The pirate William Kidd was born this month in 1645. Have you read Treasure Island?

No. Seen it performed a lot on screen, but never felt the need to read it.

1. Woo-hoo! Democrats won across the board. (In NYC - they won everything but Staten Island Borough President, because you know...Staten Island? And Texas. But it is Staten Island and Texas...)

New York City hits 2 million votes for first time since 1969. Biggest turnout for a Mayoral election ever.

( Read more... )

Miki Sherrel won the Governor's Race in New Jersey - becoming the first female Democrat Governor of the State.

Oh, and NBC has an interactive map showing how each neighborhood in NYC voted for the Mayoral race. It's kind of fun, and shows that elections are complicated.

2. Work wore me out. That and lack of sleep - I couldn't get comfortable, and I kept waking up. Didn't fall asleep until Midnight, and woke up at 3 am and 5:26 am. Something beeped outside and woke me up at 3. Took a while to get back to sleep. Then something woke me at 5:26, and I never got back to sleep.

Very busy. Kind of inundated? They decided to get together and unload all their work on myself and Breaking Bad at the same time. Don't procrastinate folks? It just makes more work for everybody. But my good deed was installing two printers on my computer and Breaking Bad's. Just in time for the new folks to move in - in two weeks. Maybe they'll bring a printer that is in closer proximity. Albeit not too close proximity.

Commute wasn't easy either - but went smoother than expected. I miss hopping on the G taking it to 4/9th Streets, and running down the steps.
Now? Going down steps hurts, so I take the F, run up, then down steps, and wait on a tiny platform with a ton of folks for the R. Oh well, it's 35 minutes either way.

But overall? Happy to be back at work. I enjoy what I do for the most part - it's a lot of analysis, editing, problem solving, and figuring things out.

3. Cooler - in the 40s-low 60s. Typical Autumn weather in NY. A-typical is 60s-80s, typical is 40s,50s, and low 60s.

Time change is still messing with me though - by the time my body gets accustomed to it - they'll change it again, right around my birthday.
Whose bright idea was it to do the Time Warp?

4. Buffy/Angel re-watch.

I'm enjoying Angel more now than I did the first go-around. Buffy, I always enjoy. It occurred to me today that the writers fell in love with a specific plot twist - which they employed in S2. Which is the good guy turns bad or switches sides. They also did the bad guy switches sides to help the heroine - but they enjoy the good guy turns bad a lot more.
( Read more... )

[I'm mainly just writing about this at this point to please myself at this point. Hopefully it entertains others too. But alas, as in most things, there's really no way of knowing for sure. I'm thinking I probably wrote it to please myself back in the day as well. Although a bit better, and more targeted.]

My bookshelf arrived around 10 am, while I was at work. And even though I requested that they deliver it at the front door of my apartment, they delivered it to the package area in the lobby. But it was still there when I got home, and not that difficulty to get upstairs. I pushed it into the elevator, then dragged it out onto the third floor and into my apartment.
It was pre-assembled, all I had to do was screw on a few buttons for the feet. Then I inserted the books, and voila.

It wasn't too expensive - I got for about 10-20% off, with free shipping from Wayfair.



I'm very happy with it, and it is metal - so hardy.

**

Crazy Org decided to revise all the construction contract templates and schedules again. This is the fifth time in three years. Every section.
And instead of waiting until the next fiscal year - they did it now.

It's a mess. Everyone is confused.

I've decided quite a few folks in management are incredibly bored and need to invent new ways to keep busy - so they look productive. This is what happens when you have too many managers, they come up with an endless supply of busy work.

***

Sigh. I don't know what it is about me - that feels the need to explain and or discuss characters and stories and things with idiotic strangers on the internet. ( whinging about the internet fandom and using the Buffy fandom as an example )
Fandom can be annoyingly dense. I blame our educational system - too much memorization and multiple choice tests.

My frustration stems from the fact that I love analyzing and discussing stories and characters, and debating them. I get off on it. I did it in college. I'm a frustrated English Lit/Cultural Anthropology Major.

**

Alarmingly hot day with a thunderstorm at the tail end of it. Except oddly not as bad as yesterday. Neighbor informed me that feels like temperature was 110 F (50C) today, it was actually 96 F (36C). Yesterday was worse - the humidity made it feel like a sauna. Today, it felt like walking through a very warm hair dryer - hot with a breeze. But hey, I could breath - so better air quality. Either that or the Allegra was doing wonders.

It's probably best to be happy about small pleasures? I am happy and grateful for my new book case, which I've been pondering obtaining for about five years now. It looks lovely next to the tv. I might get another one. I just don't know where to put it.

Well the NYC area (and all it's surrounding boroughs including portions of Long Island, West Chester, and Hoboken, New Jersey, with the possible exception of Staten Island, which we don't really consider part of NYC anyhow) is having a really bad day.

Southern Brooklyn received over seven inches of rain today. I think it got most of it this morning, although quite a bit came down around 1-3pm. Not to mention last night.



Everything is disrupted. Subways are suspended in both directions. The streets are flooded, with traffic suspended in both directions. The subways are flooded. The buses are flooded.

"Heavy rainfall in New York City today has made it a tough day for travel, Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said. “About half of the subway system is either fully suspended or partially suspended," Lieber said at a news briefing today. "But we are starting the process of trying to get some of those lines back." Metro North has also been shut down due to water in south Bronx, but the Long Island Rail Road is in service, Lieber said. The MTA is working on developing a limited service plan this afternoon to get residents home from school and work. Lieber said those who must travel today should take the bus, adding that 3,500 buses are in operation in the city."

Apparently he doesn't realize that the buses are also flooded?

So even though it stopped raining between 4pm and 6pm - I'd have had issues getting home, and so is everyone else. (It stopped raining for two hours, only to start up again at 6pm. It's been doing that off and on all day. Stops for a bit, then pours, then a deluge, then rains, then stops. I texted my brother to see if he got any rain - he got an inch upstate. And told him what was happening in the City. He was aghast.

Bro: was this forecast?
Me: Yeah, it was. But we didn't expect a deluge for four hours straight, after rain all night long, then a break and another deluge. Then a break and more rain. That - they didn't really expect. They just thought, oh frequent down-pours, no problem.

Mother nature's definition of frequent downpours and our definition of frequent downpours are apparently not the same, and we need to redefine how we think of frequent downpours in the future. Also maybe retiring upstate is not such a bad idea? In the mountains?)

Apartment building lobbies and basement apartments are flooded. People are stranded on concrete islands in the middle of flooded roadways. Cars have been flooded. The tracks are flooded. Also they had to shut down Terminal A at Laguardia airport, because it is flooded.

See pic via Xitter:

And go here: NBC News - Flooding Shuts Down Laguardia Airports Terminal - Travelers Walk in Inches of Water

[BTW - the journalists are all still camped out on Xitter grabbing footage from people posting their experiences on Xitter. I see someone post, and the journalists pop up asking if they can use the footage and where it was taken.]

Prospect Park was flooded and suffered severe damage including downed trees. (Curious about Green Wood Cemetery - which has slightly higher elevation.)

The FDR is closed in both directions:



Meanwhile in Central Park, they are telling tourists and visitors to please stay away from the newly formed lakes surrounding fountains and other areas in the park. And well, a Sea Lion Escaped it's enclosure at the Central Park Zoo. It didn't get very far - just wandered about the flooded zoo, which was closed. But I'm guessing it at least had a good day?

For myself and my own little neck of the world? I was going to do laundry today but am leery of venturing into the basement. When I asked the Super's Wife for their set of keys to get back into my apartment (because I accidentally locked myself out), the Super came up the elevator - soaking wet and screaming in Polish, in a blind panic. She threw my keys at me and rushed into the elevator with him. I decided that I did not want to know. She'd told me there were leaks all over the building due to the deluge. But if I had to guess, the basement is flooded and it possibly has something to do with the boiler - since there wasn't much hot water at lunch time - and they'd been having issues with it all week. I fear for the Bangladash family - who lives in the basement apartment - there's a family of about six people down there. An old man, old woman, a baby, several small children, two young adults and a father and mother. I don't know how they all fit in there - unless it is a far bigger apartment than I think it is.

Also all the books, CDs, DVDs, and things folks have in storage. Plus electrical and gas meters.

Like I said? I don't want to know. I do know the basement has several drains. It should be fine. But I'm staying out of it until next week, when it is dry and this is over.

1. Yes, I know everyone is bored of the Whedon thing. But, this is kind of interesting. I found it finally on Twitter - it's about what lay behind the whole CC reveal, and those who followed. Hint - it wasn't about Buffy or the Marvel movies or for that matter, The Nevers. No, it is about Whedon's long running attempt to get into the DC film verse after leaving the Marvel film verse.
( Read more... )
What happened? Snyder's daughter died by suicide and he got tired of fighting the WB, and put his family first. The rest of the story is...appalling to say the least. And complicated.

You can find it HERE. It does not show various film critics, comic artists, comic fans, Whedon fans, Whedon, WB or comic writers in the best light. They basically took advantage of someone else's tragic loss for their own personal gain. It is appalling. They also lied about it.

It's an interesting read - because it shows how difficult the film industry can be and why so many go off and do their own things.

At any rate - there's apparently a Snyder Cut of Justice League premiering on HBO MAX tonight - ETA, misread, it's dropping 3/18/2021 - March. It's four hours long. And none of it includes Whedon's footage. Also, only five minutes of it were shot during the pandemic and after 2017. And Whedon's version only contained five 30 minutes of the original Zack Snyder cut - which is possibly why - the re-shoot was hell on wheels - because they basically re-shot the entire movie in less than four months. Cutting everything they did previously. After already shooting and working their asses off on the previous version. AND - various actors ended up with their scenes cut completely. It was - if you can imagine - shooting an entire movie over two years, only to have the director you've bonded with - get fired after his daughter died from suicide - and have a new director that you don't know jump in and throw his weight around. Force you to work hard and long hours, and say lines that you don't feel were in character, and do it in breakneck time, and act as if everything you did the past two years was pointless.

I'd have wanted to skewer Whedon and the WB for that alone. I don't blame the cast for hating them. Add to that - Whedon's version bombed, and the actors struggled afterwards. Plus the anticipated sequel was cancelled.

Now, finally, they get to see the version they worked hard on and were proud of - air. (They spent years trying to get to this point. The previous film aired in 2017.)

I can't see it tonight, but I'll try to see it over the weekend. I'm curious. Although - I'm not really a huge fan of Snyder's films - they give me a headache - all the fight scenes are like paintings, but also feel like watching a video game. So we'll see if I make it through it.

The twitter feeds mentioned Chris Helmsworth has been indicating issues with Whedon for years. So I looked.

Recalls Joss Whedons fury when Avengers Cast Kept Screwing up a Take

I think writers make bad directors for the most part.

2. Winter Storm and Texas Power Outage Map

Texas wanted its own power Grid to avoid the Federal Government - Now What?

Ted Cruz is not having a good year. Nor for that matter is Texas.

But I feel for my poor family members. I have three cousins, their kids, and youngest Aunt in Texas. I'd prefer that they be okay. So far they are.

3. Footloose or Dancing in the Movies



Off to bed. Assuming they quiet down upstairs. It is quiet. It just sounds like someone is moving furniture above me every once and a while.

It's not doing anything now, however. We appear to have a lull. Unclear if it has stopped.

One of the bonuses of working for a major transportation agency, is I get about twenty emails on the winter storm.

Email #1 : Winter Storm Warning - State of Emergency. All non-essential business and work halted and should stay home. Police, Fire and transportation workers are included in that and should come into work unless otherwise notified.

ME: I think you meant excluded? Or Are Not included? But okay. Someone didn't edit their email - which they sent out twice.

Email #2 : Everyone who doesn't need to go to construction site - stay home and work remotely. Repeat, stay home and work remotely.

Email #3: If you don't need to be here, and can work from home, do so.

Email #4: There's no vaccines today. Stay home.

Email #5: The subways are closing at 2, the trains will stop around 2:30-3:30, but buses are still operational.

Email #6 : Repeat, anyone who doesn't have to come in - stay home. We know you are essential, but if you can work from home remotely - please do so.

Plus side, less idiots gallivanting about for no good reason.

I got each of those emails in triplicate. And to all three email sites. Plus I got the alerts that schools were closed, testing was closed, vaccines were closed, and transit was shutting down. On the news they stated that some people didn't get the message and I thought - are you on a total news blockage or something? How is that even possible?



I've no idea how much snow I got. Right now, folks are saying anywhere between 9-15 inches fell. We're getting about 2-4 more inches more, plus potentially more snow tomorrow. It's a nor'easter they hang about until they get tired or bored. But the worst is over, so not much more expected. (Apparently the last one was in 2016 - which was when they shut down the city and I couldn't get home, there were bad ones after that - but with varying results.)

I installed my new printer today - for phone and computer. So if I have to, I can print stuff off. I got it because I may need to print off any appointment notices I get for the vaccine. I also may need to forward to my own email account - because my crazy org's administrator won't let me use the home printer in connection to Teams and One Drive.

Its an HP Tango, wireless, easy to transport, and has an inkjet delivery service. Does up to 300 pages, I only need 150. I'm not doing that much printing.

The Governor vs. the News Media

Lately the news media has decided it doesn't like our erstwhile Governor all that much and has gone on the attack. The only one that I'm kind of paying attention to - because it's disconcerting, and also classic Cuomo, is his decision to take over the vaccine effort from the public health system and authorities, and do it himself through the hospitals. That was a major mistake. He doesn't trust his own health officials, apparently.

The reporters are worried.

The other one - I'm kind of skeptical about regarding the reporters - the first is their claim that Cuomo didn't care about the people who died in the nursing homes. He did. And that was complicated. I watched those briefings, and read about it, blaming him - shifts the focus from the people managing and running the nursing homes.

The reporting on the nursing homes has been less than clear.

Cuomo has always been a touch problematic - he has a huge ego, is a touch on the arrogant side, very competitive, and a control freak. Also he thinks he needs to fix things - that don't need fixing. He's created a mess at crazy company - to the point that people in crazy company want to kick him. OTOH - he was very useful in the early days of the pandemic and did manage to push various things forward. If this had been a short term deal - it would have been fine, but it wasn't. And the cracks are beginning to show.

( NY Times Breifing )

I don't know what to think. It's hard to know who to trust any more. Which is problematic in of itself these days.

They are also trying to fight vaccine fraud, from the Governor's newsletter:
( Read more... )

It was snowing again for a bit, but now not so much. Below is an earlier pic of the storm. I tried to take a photo of the cardinals that were flying around the back yard, but, alas, they are photo shy.



Alas, Burma now Myanmar ended up with a military coup, and has been returned to military rule - because they've decided there was voter fraud in the November elections. (Remind you of anything? It should considering the US President and various members of the Republican Party attempted the same thing - the difference is our military doesn't want an authoritarian/dictatorship ruled by the military. They've spent too many years fighting other countries who did that. It would be a tad hypocritical to do it themselves. Good to know our military isn't run by power-mad hypocrites, isn't it?)

( it does however explain the discussions on Burma in the White House Press Briefing )

For the first time in four or five years, I'm watching White House briefings again.

And..sigh, the weather service is calling this a lowly "Nor-Easter" not a blizzard. What's the difference? I don't know. Just that Nor-Easter's tend to circle around and around until they finally get bored or run out of steam and move on.

Other news..

*For this spaceflight, you don’t need a $55 million ticket.

Last week, we got word that three private citizens will each pay that price for an eight-day trip to the International Space Station as soon as next year.
( Jared Isaacbman is raffling off seats on SpaceX flights to billionaires, and kids from St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital )

[Anyone else feel like they are trapped in a Philip K Dick science fiction novel and can't get out?]

*And Tony Bennett, the 94-year-old singer whose popularity saw a resurgence over the past decade, has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. His symptoms first appeared in 2015.

“Life is a gift — even with Alzheimer’s,” Bennett tweeted this morning.

I don't know. They also conducted a study and apparently a writing test can help them determine if people will get get Alzheimers.
I remain skeptical. Why? The brain is unique to everyone. And there are other reasons someone may not respond well to that writing test.

Alzheimers affects everyone differently. And no one has the same life. My father has a form that is physically debilitating that is making his quality of life increasingly difficult. Also he hallucinates. Not everyone with Alzheimers does. My father's is more of a form of dementia.

I've seen three different forms or types of dementia/senility to date.
My grandfather, my grandmother, and now my father. None were the same. Nor did any of them have the same cause or effect the people the same way.

Neurology - I've discovered over time is an inexact science. With lots of variables.

And in regards to Alzheimers? Everyone thinks they are an expert. They aren't. And they want to give us advice, it's often wrong. You can't generalize about it. I'm learning to just listen to my mother, and ask how can I help.

Family

Mother: I've decided to cancel the evening home health care aid.
ME: Oh? Why? Don't you need them?
( apparently the home health care aide feel asleep on the job, it happens )

Good night.

1.) Go read this blog entry by Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer about their failed attempt to get an Art Spieglman cover and comic in their issue of the New Statesman.
It's an amazing read. And inspired me to write a shameless fan comment to Gaiman.

I admire both for refusing to bow to convention and throwing their art out there.

2.) I can't read romance novels any longer. I tried, really tried, to read "A Yorkshire Christmas by Kate Hewlitt" for Smartbitches.com review. And nope. Couldn't make it past the first thirty pages. I was sooo bored. It put me to sleep. It's about a poor little rich 29 year old, who is romantically challenged, who pops off to Yorkshire to stay at her godmother's cottage. She runs into a hunky sheep farmer, who sweeps her out of her pricy Prada boots. While she charms him by making nice with his kid.

3) The cool front zipped in. Loving it. Will be able to sleep much better tonight. And we really needed the rain, it's been very dry lately.

4.) I'm doing more hand-selling of my book at the moment. Co-worker "D" asked if he could just buy it from me directly - he's old fashioned, hates buying anything over the internet or using a credit card. And I'm selling four books to my friend for her book club. I might even be asked to attend - which would be sort of cool. So far the people who have read my book are enjoying it. While, my buddy, Co-worker "NA" told me that his wife was almost finished with the book. I asked if she liked it? He said, she wouldn't almost be finished with it if she wasn't enjoying it. (She's like me - she doesn't enjoy a book or can't get into it, she drops it. I do the same thing now. It's annoying when you spend money on it. But it is what it is.)

My father doesn't dislike it. But as he points out, he's not exactly the right demographic, it wasn't written for a 80 year old man. (Well no.) Which is...okay. I'm not a fan of his books either. As he states - when it comes to fiction, it's subjective aka mileage it varies.

5) Good Reads. Apparently people on Good Reads add and drop books? I'm not that organized. I add books to read and then forget about them. I do the same thing with Netflix, I add movies and tv shows...and then forget about them. So I end up getting surprised -- wait, I don't remember adding that!

Also, people are pricing their books awfully high. My cousin priced her self-published paperback at $14.99 (eh, no) and another writer priced hers at $20.99. Also, Illona Andrews newest Kate Daniels novel is priced at $12.99 for Kindle? No. Too pricy.

I'm of the opinion that Kindle books shouldn't be higher than 5.99, but I will pay up to 10 or 12 depending on my desire for them. But since they always come down in price, it makes no sense to pay more than $5.99. (I do, but I'm an idiot when it comes to books. Seriously, I require parental supervision.)