This is a cut and paste job covering some of the past three days. I'll be starting my Journey to Washington DC on friday evening and am not sure if I'll drag the laptop along to make reports; That shall be a last moment decision. So on with the last three days.
Monday Evening, 20 October, 2008.
Today according to my training regimen was supposed to be a rest and or cross training day. So I did not run today. However I've made a few decisions and took some actions which shall affect me over the coming months.
One decision is that it is past time to vacate my current apartment. So come the end of October I shall be moved out. This will not be a hardship, but it will be an adjustment. Second item is I will be going to Mississippi after Armistace/Veterans Day on November 11th. Two reasons for that shift of locations; I generally spend Thanksgiving with my Parents and since I'm not sure what the long term prognosis will be for my Father's current spate with Skin Cancer and my parents are both in their 70's its time to start looking out for them.
The one thing that will make this easier for me is that I'm not anchored to New York State by a wife or child, nor lover. True, I've my three brothers within a 60 mile radius of where I'm currently residing. And I'll miss getting together with them as often as I've been able to. But due to chance, choices and the vagaries of life I have not found a person whom I shall share my life with.
So October 31st, Halloween will be the last day I'm expecting to be with this current roof over my head.
As for today, I took the morning in a reasonably easy fashion and then started disassebling some aspects of my apartment. Tomorrow I'll do my 3.3 mile run as has become customary, follow that with Bagpipe practice in Peekskill and depending upon the whims of weather I shall either go back up to my one brother's abode to clear some of the undergrowth from his road frontage or I shall be packing and consolidating some of the items' i've acquired over time. But for now, I'm reducing dramatically what I've got here in the apartment. Now I've to move some scuba gear to the barn fold and stow my kitchen table, I choose items which could be folded, and or broken down easily to take up less space for furniture as I did lead a semi-nomadic life for years and would from time to time need to secure my possesions in a limited amount of space. And once again I find my self in a similar position.
Well in the words of Mad Magazine's Alfred E. Newman "What, me worry?".
So now I shall call it a night head to bed and see what the morning brings. I may be surpised by the capricousness of what ever happens next.
Tuesday Evening, 21 October, 2008
Today was a little different from my normal but not too different.
I ran my 3.3 mile route although my training regimen said only 3 and I was out from 06:00 to 06:30 running in the dark on the shoulder of the roads. Yes, I carry a light, wear reflective apparel and a reflective belt with a little white LED hanging off the back, but it is no longer surprising how many poor drivers have no concept of how much wider the travel lane is in comparrison to their cars and prefer to place their right tires on the wrong side of the white lane stripping.
Well after the run, morning cleasning rituals (aka the 3 S's) and breakfast, I grabbed up my Bagpipes and headed on down to Peekskill for practice at 08:30, I only got to Joe's place 5 to 10 minutes later than usual. There is no rhyme or reason for some of the traffic flow problems aside from attribution to really bad drivers who place them selves and need to be in the lead over anybody else. Anyone who uses US9 south of the Annsville Circle knows there is work in progress on 9 and the road shifts to 1 lane from two. But still they won't leave early and will cut, weave, swerve, and crowd traffic to get no where fast rather than leaving early to allow for delays. But as Joe and I are retired the slight delay isn't a critical issue. Still to the Asshole from New Jersey who blew through the Yeild Sign at the Bear Mountain Bridge Traffic Circle; Please, please, if your going to have yourself a motor vehicle incident, with your lack of driving courtesy it won't be an accident, please do so far away from quick response of emergency providers so you may have time to contemplate your actions and think upon the pain you are causing your self. Because if I had struck your vehicle with mine you would of learned a new meaning of anguish.
Well Bagpipe practice was uneventful and I'll be checking at a few Fire Stations/Halls this week to see if a few of us can spend some time in one on Sunday afternoons to practice together for a small gig on Armistace/Veterans Day come November 11th. For those who don't know Joe is Joe Brady Sr. and a he had been a Piping Judge for the Eastern United States Pipe Band Association.
After leaving Joe's, I headed for Danbury CT, This is probably one of the last time's I'll have lunch at Helga's/The Old Heidleberg Restaurant. Not because the restaurant is closing it isn't but I'll let on in a later posting why. Still my first stop was at the 411th Civil Affairs Battalion Drill Hall in Danbury, there I met with one of my former NCOICs Tim Winkler, from there he and I went on up to lunch. I can heartily recommend both the Jeagerschnitzel and Saurebraten. After lunch back to the reserve Center and I spoke with Another person there whom I've known for years and wished him well with his new assignment up in Mattydale, NY.
Well after my social visit it was time to head back towards home. Stopped in Cold Springs to say hi to Ed, but he was out of the office for the day and I just meandered on home after spending a little time window shopping on Main St. in Cold Spring.
That pretty much sums up the general events, now just cleaning and preparing what i'll bring along to the Marine Corps Marathon when I depart on Friday afternoon. I'll overnight at my youngest brother's home and he'll drop me at the train station on Saturday morning.
As for tomorrow/Wednesday, that'll start with a easy 5 mile run. So thats all for now.
Wednesday, 22 October, 1650hrs.
Ah simple plans should be easy to follow, no plans even easier. Well the simple plan was to run five miles this morning. Well yeah I ran the five and almost a full mile more. 5.95 miles. So much for following a training program to the exact letter.
Following breakfast after the run i drove up to Round Pond Recreation Area for a couple of hours of work & recreation. OK I wasn't working so much as the laundry facility was doing the work; Washing and drying my clothes. My recreation was practicing with my bagpipes and practice chanters, trying to learn what should be by now simple tunes. Still my hands respond poorly in cooler temperatures and even wearing fingerless gloves doesn't keep the fingers warm enough to work the way I would like them to. Cold weather injuries, frost nip, surface frost bite, does damage as does working with gasoline and diesel fuel in temperatures below freezing which I've done a great deal of as a younger man while in the Army.
While I'm very light skinned, my fingers and hands turn blanched white.
About noontime my laundry is done and everthing is folded, bagged and the clothes and pipes are secured for my next stop.
Fueling the van, it should be a simple propsition but I was ready to place my fist through the display screen of the fuel pump when it stopped working midway through fueling my van. Well if the damned bit of electronic crap is gonna screw up, my option is to ensure no other person gets screwed by it. and place a highway cone infront of it before I depart. Let the management try to figure out why that pump isn't being utilized by the other customers.
After I depart the Fuel Station I drop my clothes at home and head into Peekskill, There are two reasons to swing by the city, 1) my younger brother is working as a volunteer at a blood drive andit gives me an opprotunity to say hi to him. 2) Check on a couple of locations where Joe, a few other students and I can get together and practice for a small show on Armistace/Veterans' Day. Theres a chance we'll get some time and space at a Fire Hall on rts 202&35 in Peekskill proper.
As for donating blood, I am no longer an eligible donor. I used too donate, but after living in Europe during the outbreaks of Bovine Spongeform Encephalitis aka Mad Cow Disease, I have been added to the not suitable for donation lists. There is no viable test for the markers/prions which accompany the disease so untill one develops it there is no way of knowning if one has it. The disease itself is a neurological disorder and takes years to develop before obvious signs and symptoms are displayed.
After checking at a few possible locations for the Pipers to gather and practice I take the indirect route home. Stopping at a bar on Albany Post Road formerly called the Rusty Rudder and having a nautical theme; Now called Station 7 and having a Firefighters theme. Two beers and a sandwich & fries later I'm headed home. The chicken sandwich there is decent and the portions large, a very filling meal at 14:30 in the afternoon hours.
So I get home and take a nap, leading me to 10 till 5 in the evening when I started again recording impressions for the blog.
As I type this out onto word pad for later cutting and pastng to the blog I'm listening to the radio; 90.7 FM, WFUV from Fordham University in the Bronx. They are having a fund raising drive and even with the requests for support they are still playing a great eclectic mix of music. And thus goes my plug for radio.
So with not further much ado, and while Simon & Garfunkel play on the radio I'll get on line check my e-mails and update my blog & other web accounts.
Cheers & prosit,
Q
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