Cold August in NY

According to the weather channel, our normally hot August got a dose of autumn yesterday when the temperatures fell to 55°F . That explains my odd urge to pile on the clothing and don a wool hat. Today is a bit better but still a bit too drafty for me at 65°F. This is reminiscent of my years spent in London. Now where did I store all of our tea and cookies?

Auntie Jessie back from Georgia

Sorry about being MIA for so long. My sister had baby number 2 recently and I was fulfilling my auntie duties down in good 'ole ATL. What are the duties of an auntie, you ask? Well, there are many things that an aunt can do, even when the rest of the family is there to help.

For child number 1, it consisted of doing whatever my sister or brother-in-law asked of me (within reason). As a non-driver, that meant that I couldn't pop out to the store from her suburban home. However, we filled the hours with playtime, walks, feeding, reading, and my first attempts at changing diapers. Needless to say, the diaper part was not my favorite. Kids just don't stay still. Now changing her stuffed rabbit, hop-hop, that was a breeze.

As for the newborn child number 2, lot of it went like this "hold him, give him back, hold him, give him back" or "get me that pillow/bottle/bra/water/meds/blanket." At least I had a little breast-feeding advise to dispense from my countless hours of Internet perusing and message-board eavesdropping on helpful mothers. I hope that I remember the same advice if my time ever comes. Eek! My time?

This was the first time I saw my sister so soon after giving birth and boy did she impress me. Uncomfortable and in some pain, she still had a smile on her face and a lot of patience for the new arrival. He had some scary moments adjusting to life outside of the womb, like when he turned blue because his little heart needed a few more hours in order to close up a hole. Even my sister had to readjust to such a dependent and vulnerable child once again. At least, that was what she told me. Does everyone marvel at the size of tiny newborn? Even my undersized hands were able to safely hold him. I suppose some mothers would be happier if they came out even smaller but biology has its reasons...

A Typical Conversation with My Mom

This is an incredibly funny video from the series "Tales Of Mere Existence" copyright by Lev Yilmaz. Check out his website for more wry animated humor. http://www.ingredientx.com/

We didn't move here for the weather

We had some interesting weather this morning. I woke up to the sound of crashing thunder and thought "Aaah. The sounds of summer." This isn't very unusual. In fact, thunderstorms are to be expected during the height of summer. More unusual for our part of the world were the tornadoes that touched down in Long Island and Brooklyn according to some eye witnesses. USA Today wrote about the tornado in Islip Terrace, Long Island in the article "Tornado, storm slam New York."

It also paralyzed the Metropolitan Transit Authority, but what else is new? Still, it is shocking that the storms and subsequent floods put sixteen subway lines out of service. The only contingency plan offered by the MTA? They advised people to stay home. Truly, very helpful.
Read the NY1 News report here.

Not everyone outside of a major metropolitan city will understand my horror at this complete failure of infrastructure. Maybe you are more used to the pain of driving for an hour in horrible traffic, with the glare of the sun, and hot coffee spilling onto your seat. But imagine this other type of hell: rushing to the subway in the clammy heat of summer, you glance at your watch and feel reassured by the extra 30 minutes you gave yourself to get to work. But at the mouth of the subway station, at the top of the stairs, a line is already forming. You look to the street and taxis are few and far between. But that doesn't matter since you don't have enough cash to get to work because you are on a budget. The crowd of commuters is hot so you open a few buttons on your shirt. Sweat is dripping everywhere. Other people's sweat wipes onto your back, your purse, your cheek (that is the worst). The crowd moves but only enough so that you walk down one step for every two minutes you stand there. Do you give up or stick to plan A? You already wasted precious minutes. Eventually, people begin to move again and you are so excited that you don't notice a large puddle until your right foot crashes directly into it. The crowd stops again and you are trapped, standing in brown water which is slowly seeping through your sensible rain shoes. You gain inches as your nice work trousers sop up the stagnant water. Drops of condensation fall onto your head and into your eye from the ceiling. Finally you see that the crowd is only moving so that they can use the exit on the other side of the station. They are leaving the station because the subway isn't running anyway. You might wonder why you even got out of bed that morning because it would just be one of those days.

I grabbed this off of the MTA.info site:

Posted on:8/8/2007 9:39:36 AM

Due to severe flooding throughout the subway system, there are extensive delays on all subway lines. Customers are advised when at all possible to use bus service. The detours are as follows:

There is no train service in both directions between the 2nd Avenue Station and the Forest Hills-71st Avenue Station.

There is no train service in both directions between the Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard Station and Whitehall Street Station.

There is no Franklin Avenue Shuttle train service in both directions between the Prospect Park Station and the Franklin Avenue Station.

There is no train service in both directions between the Long Island City-Court Square Station and the Smith-9th Street Station.

The train is running on the line in both directions between the Canal Street Station and the DeKalb Avenue Station.

There is no train service in both directions between the 14th Street Station and the South Ferry Station.

There is no train service in both directions between the Penn Station-34th Street Station and the Brooklyn College-Flatbush Avenue Station.

There is no train service in both directions between the Harlem-148th Street Station and the New Lots Avenue Station.

The and trains are running local in both directions between the Hoyt-Schermerhorn Station and the Broadway Junction Station.

There is no train service in both directions between the 23rd Street-Ely Avenue Station and the Jamaica Center-Parsons-Archer Station.

There is no train service in both directions between the Jamaica-179th Street Station and the Forest Hills-71st Avenue Station.

There is no train service in both directions between the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue Station and the Jay Street-Boro Hall Station.

There is no , or train service in both directions between the 125th Street Station and the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall.

There is no train service in both directions between the Canarsie-Rockaway Parkway Station and the 8th Avenue Station.

There is no 42nd Street Shuttle train service in both directions between the Times Square-42nd Street Station and the Grand Central-42nd Street Station.

Astoria-bound trains are running on the or lines from the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue Station to the 36th Street Station.

trains are running with residual delays.

In addition, due to debris on the track at the Church Avenue Station, the and trains are running on the or line in both directions between the DeKalb Avenue Station and the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue Station.

Please expect delays in service system wide at this time.

Due to street closures in Mid-town Manhattan, the following diversions will be used until further notice:

Staten Island-bound X2 and X5

From 57th Street, south on Lexington Avenue to 42nd Street, west on 42nd Street to 5th Avenue, south on 5th Avenue to 34th Street, east on 34th Street to Lexington Avenue and regular route.

Buses should pick up at X1 bus stops on 5th Avenue, there is no stop at 41st Street and Lexington Avenue.

M98, M101, M102 and M103 South-bound

Regular route to East 42nd Street, east on 42nd Street to 2nd Avenue, south on 2nd Avenue to 34th Street, west on 34th Street to Lexington Avenue, south on Lexington Avenue and regular route.

While the frozen zone is in effect, please expect delays in service on the X2, X5, M98, M101, M102 and M103.

Another Dr. Who Departure

David Tennant is leaving the series? Say it isn't so! Just when you get used to a new Dr. Who, they go and mess with our emotions by killing off the doctor, or rather, he regenerates so they can replace the actor and go on with the show.

A lot of us were very disappointed by the loss of the intense and mysterious Dr. #9 played by Christopher Eccleston. It was a very dramatic season finale in 2005 when Rose nearly sacrifices her life for his and he, in turn, died for her. But minutes later, thanks to regeneration, the doctor is well again, albeit with a new face and body. I stomped around for a while, unable to watch this new actor take over. How could he ever compare?

Eventually I came to appreciate David Tennant's new doc. His stylish slim suits paired with Converse sneakers and disheveled hair defined him as a hipper version of the character. He wasn't as tough as Eccleston but he still had the energy level to pull off the iconic doctor.

I'm not sure that we are about to lose Dr. #10 but knowing this series, I wouldn't be surprised. I caught this new of the latest doctor departure at syfyportal.com . You can read more about the rumors here. Yes, I am such a nerd for rumor-mongering about science fiction shows.