Irene Comes and Goes

Mind-boggling destruction all around us but we sit high and dry. Its old news now but Hurricane Irene has come and gone leaving flooding, beach destruction and major power outages from North Carolina to Canada. Here in Manhattan we were concerned and prepared for the worst. One block from the mandatory evacuation zone we didn’t know how safe we would be. We prepared ourselves. Water, food, taped the windows, got batteries for flashlights and a new radio. Not much happened to us though. Oh yeah, the wind blew, it rained 7 or 8 inches but none of our preparations proved to be necessary. We experienced no loss of power, no windows blown out, and only minor flooding.

This, of course was not true all around us. Power outages for thousands persist; flooding continues to be a dangerous problem and more than a thousand homes were destroyed. Farmlands, shopping malls and roads are under water. We were lucky we were where we were when Irene arrived. We were lucky Irene had weakened before she arrived. Since living in Manhattan we have experienced and survived a historical snow storm, Nor-Easters, an earthquake and now a tropical storm/hurricane. Let’s hope that’s the end of these sorts of mind-boggling phenomenon.

Irene did bring Jim Cantore of the Weather Channel to our neighborhood for periodic TV updates nationally. We enjoyed seeing him in locations we know well and then in person. I walked miles the day after Irene looking for damage but found nothing except a few small branches blown down in Battery Park. The sun was out and so were the tourists and shoppers. New York gets back to “normal” very quickly.

Stan the Man  

Mind-Boggling Irony

Yes, mind-boggling irony. We have an apartment in Miami Beach. A week or so ago I was lying in bed worrying about what might happen to that lovely place as Hurricane Irene was approaching that area. I called our caretaker in Miami to make sure everything was ready. He said he would take care of it. Sweet relief from that worry.

Then Irene turned a corner to the north and started up the East Coast coming into North Carolina, Virginia and has taken dead aim at New York City where we are living. We are one block from the mandatory evacuation area along the waterfront. We debated whether to stay or go but decided to stand pat and rough it out in our second floor apartment. The predicted 8 foot storm surge and 12 inches of torrential rain shouldn’t come this high. Biggest worry is our very large 15x5 foot windows without coverings that could potentially blow out. We will see what happens. We’ve got plenty of food, water and other essentials. I have no pictures to add to this post but perhaps I will after the storm on Monday.

The ultimate irony is that the owner of our place we were so worried about on Miami Beach a week ago is named Irene.

Wish us safety and luck.

Stan the Man

Mind-Boggling Yankees and Yankee Stadium...

The New York Yankees are mind-boggling. No question about that. They have won the World Series 27 times and won the American League pennant 40 times. No other major league baseball team comes close to that record. Back when I was in high school in the 1960s most every September/October was spent listening to the Yankees on the radio in the World Series. Classes were suspended at times for us to listen. And we lived in a small town in Washington State (no one had thought of the Mariners yet). Again, the Yankees are leading the American League East standings this year.

Now I am living in New York City. This is probably my last summer here before we move on. To be perfectly honest about it, I’m not much of a baseball fan anymore but come on, I’m in New York. For old time’s sake my wife and I decided we at least needed to go to Yankee Stadium once. After all we did go to Madison Square Garden for one Knicks game. So last weekend we attended a game between the Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays. We went by subway, the number 4 train, which took us from our doorstep to just across the street from Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. The trip took about 30 minutes.

Now this Yankee Stadium is the new Yankee Stadium. The original was built in 1923 and then replaced by a much improved replica right across the street from the old stadium. Every effort was apparently made to insure the exterior of the stadium looked like the original. Of course a lot of New Yorkers liked the old stadium better than the new but that’s the way New Yorkers are it seems. The new stadium opened on April 2, 2009. It cost $2.3 billion with $1.2 billion in taxpayer subsidies. The capacity of the new Yankee Stadium is 52,325 along with 56 luxury suites and 4300 club seats. The Yankee clubhouse features 30,000 square feet of space. That’s 2.5 times what the old stadium housed. There are many concessions along with a sports bar, a Hard Rock Café and a steak house.

The Yankee shortstop, Derek Jeter was honored prior to the game for getting his 3000^th hit as a Yankee. The actual game provided a few moments of interest but baseball sure does seem to move slowly. There’s an awful lot of standing around on the field waiting for something to happen and a lot of drinking and eating being accomplished by the fans. We lasted until the 5^th inning when the Yankees got a grand slam home run and took a 7-0 lead. I saw the last out on TV after we arrived home. The Yankees won 9-2. An interesting experience but my interest in baseball was not enhanced.

Stan the Man   

Nobody but you....

Well, there’s so much going on in the world it’s hard to know what to write about. It’s a mind-boggling time isn’t it? Perhaps I should write of the stock market rollercoaster, 30 Navy Seals killed in Afghanistan, out-of-control crowds in London, the finger pointing, criticisms of President Obama or the muddle of potential Republican presidential candidates. No, I think I will ignore those happenings. I’ve had enough. Instead I will share a poem by one of my favorite poets, Charles Bukowski who passed away in 1994:

nobody can save you but yourself

and you’re worth saving

it’s a war not easily won

but if anything is worth winning this is it

think about it

think about saving yourself

your spiritual self

your gut self

your singing magical self

don’t join the dead in spirit

maintain yourself

with humor and grace

and finally if necessary

wager your life as you struggle

damn the odds, damn the price

The poem entitled, Nobody But You, carries a good message of what’s important for us all in these times including those in our government who purport to represent our best interests.

Also I need to give credit for the Peace design in the photo to the right. I simply took a photo of a bottle of wine from the Peace Family Vineyards in Southeast Australia. The wine was great and we love the label.

Stan the Man  

Mind-Boggling Imagination

I read somewhere recently that we are living in the “imagination age.” If one can imagine something it can probably be done through the internet, a website, a start-up company or some other high-tech approach.

But what if we could imagine into existence a world without anger and hatred? Yes, a world where shootings, killings and crime didn’t have a place. Could we imagine a world in which the 6PM news didn’t consist of sensationalized reports of these events by insensitive talking heads. Perhaps we could imagine a world without lies, without fraud, without self-serving financiers whose behaviors border on criminal activity and often cross that boundary.

Try to imagine the United States of America with a government of the people and for the people. Imagine a government that puts the welfare of the people before their own selfish zealot ways. Could we conjure up through our imaginations a country where the unemployed, ethnic minorities and those living in poverty are seen as equals who deserve support, acceptance and opportunities? Are you able to imagine a country where rigid, dogmatic politicians are not driven by their own biases and hate one another to the point they can’t work effectively for the people and the country? Imagine a world without bias and prejudice! Try it.

While we are at it, lets try our best to imagine that we live in a country which values peace more than war? Could we imagine a country that communicates, negotiates, and strives to understand before it wages war in other countries? Yes, I mean a country that doesn’t always think it is right and everyone else is the evil bad guy. Imagine that!

I imagine a world in which Google, Netflix, Amazon and many more don’t read my mind and put me in a little box based on my habits or past behavior. They wouldn’t be attempting to finish my thought before I even know what I want or need.

Can you imagine such a mind-boggling world?

Stan the Man