The Rock

For the past couple weeks a coworker from Brazil has been here in Shrewsbury, NJ for a training class we were attending for work. Last weekend I accompanied him on a whirlwind trip through New York City. I have to say that we did a good job of seeing the sights by spending the whole day moving through and across Manhattan.

It should be noted that in San Paulo, Brazil right now is the middle of Summer. The weather is in the 80-90 (F) temperature range each day although even in the Winter "cold" is relative and I suspect it is more similar to Florida.

The day started with a drive up the Garden State Parkway ($0.25 toll) from exit 109 to exit 127 changing over to Highway 440. That takes you across a small bridge ($8 toll) onto Staten Island. You drive past the beautiful "Fishkill river", past the swamps of the Sopranos and a landfill mountain, right into the neighborhoods before getting on the Verrazano Bridge into Brooklyn.

The Staten Island ferry is an interesting experience because of the scenery. You have the Manhattan skyline in the distance, Governors Island to the right and Jersey City to the left with the Statute of Liberty in between.

The day was sunny, the temperature was about 32 (or 0 degrees to my Brazillian friend) and the winds were fairly strong. My friend first learned about wind chill on this ferry ride. After snapping a few photo's of the Statute we snuck back into the warmer passenger deck of the ferry.

After disembarking we started to walk to the World Trade Centers but after about 100 yards my friend decided it was too cold, so we ducked into one of the many sidewalk subway openings to get a quick ride. A few pictures were taken there and my friend bought his first pair of gloves from a street vendor for $5 but passed on a $5 hat.

Next we took the train to Columbus Circle, at the Southwest corner of Central Park, which I learned is also at the foot of the Trump Tower. Don't get too imaginative with the tower, it looks just like any other 30 story or so black building except for the silver globe statute that sits out front. Deciding it was too cold to walk through the park we headed south towards Rockefellor Plaza (a.k.a. The Rock).

This involves several blocks of upper Broadway where there are a few hints of Broadway. Most notably, to me, was the Ed Sullivan Theatre where the David Letterman show is taped:

We finally made it to Rockefellor Plaza, the headquarters of NBC and many of its shows such as Conan Obrien, NBC Nightly News, and of course the morning show with Katie & Matt. It is also where the ice skating rink is located. After making about three trips around the interior we found the ticket booth for taking the elevator to the top. Oh yeah, this is not a free elevator ride and is not for those who are scared of hieghts. The ticket costs $17.50 for about a half-hour of time at the top. The main elevator takes you to the 67th story while another smaller elevator takes you to the 70th, the Top of the Rock. I didn't time the elevator ride but it took little more than one minute to get to the top. The floors were going by almost as fast as you could say the number-a great improvement over most hotel elevators that take that much time just to go one floor.

That is the view from the top, looking northward across Central Park. Across the bridge to the left is NJ, while the Bronx and midtown Manhattan are visible surrounding the park. To give you an idea of what downtown looks like, here is a cheesy picture of my friend and I with the Empire State Building behind us:

After hitting the streets again, we walked to Grand Central Station, then through Little Brazil (of course) and headed for Little Italy. A cab driver tried to sell us his music CD for $5 while he took the long way to where we were going, 'to get around' the traffic. Then we walked through Chinatown, past all the sidewalk markets... at one a lady was picking up a frog from a bucket of frogs. She was picking it up with cooking tongs. It was cold enough to keep them calm but you could still make out the breathing movements and could not miss the frogs eye blinking. I wonder what she plans on making with the frog... my friend was surprised to learn that they are edible. The frogs in Brazil may be poisonous but I'm not sure that I would eat one regardless of its country of origin.

We subwayed it back to Times Square just as darkness was creeping in. That is an interesting time of day to be there, as the normal city hustle is mixed with the flashing lights, and sidewalks crowded with tourists. A quick trip through the M&M Store and we headed back to the Ferry.

It was a fun day although being a little chaotic as any day in the city is. Just pick a city, it doesn't really matter which one, and you will be happy to go back to suburbia for the evening.

Thanks for coming along!

Blizzard

It seems like Winter has been going for eight or nine months but in reality it has only been a bit more than half of that. Nearly every trip to Michigan since October has been in the midst of a snowstorm. I always wondered what "lake effect snow" was really like and for some reason imagined that New Jersey suffered from it and from "Nor'Easters".

Last week I talked to someone in Michigan on Monday and heard it was raining in the morning but nice and sunny in the afternoon. Looking forward to the changing season, I flew in less than 24-hours later. During the flight the pilot reported the weather to be snowing with -8 (F) temperatures and 30mph winds which looked exactly like this:

There were slideoffs and rollovers everywhere. The new snow was 8-10" deep and four more inches was predicted overnight. I didn't bring warm winter clothing - shame on me!

Oh well, so far this Winter it has been warmer/nicer in New Jersey than Michigan. There has been no real snow to speak of with some cold nights but it rains much like Seattle in the dark months of the year. I flew home in the late evening hours, in the dark. Not long after getting home with a totally clear night sky we watched the lunar eclipse. Even in NJ we could see the moon and watched it fade out and then back in. I would share a photo with you but they didn't turn out so well.

I remember as a child waiting with anticipation for a big snowstorm. One that would be deep enough for sledding and was likely to cancel school. Living in Sandpoint, Idaho this happened all the time. It was not uncommon to get 1-3 feet of snow in the mountain community surrounding Lake Pend Oreille. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandpoint,_Idaho or http://www.sandpoint.com/ or http://www.city-data.com/city/Sandpoint-Idaho.html are good places to look at the area.

So when we moved to Boise, I had conjured up images of nice peaceful snowfalls throughout the Winter. It is Idaho after all... but apparently we hit the mildest winter in recent years. A couple of light snowfalls blew through but nothing substantial, you did not need 4x4 to get around town.

Moving to NJ we once again imagined those major snowstorms that are seen on the national news. Two, three, or more feet of snow in a single dump. That is what I had imagined NJ to be like... along with lots of salt on the roadways to cause all cars to become rusty by their fifth birthday. The winter of 2007-2008 has been yet another letdown for anyone who like snow. Mild temperatures and rain have been the norm.

Until... last Friday. The biggest baddest winter storm of the year hit the NYC metro area, including NJ. I woke up in the morning to five inches of snow... and the drive to work being such a long commute, normally takes me about five minutes. This day it took almost ten minutes! This is what my commute looked like:

So for the next few months I will enjoy snowstorms as I travel to Michigan and (hopefully) warmer weather in Tennessee. NJ will probably be somewhere in the middle. In any case like the title of this blog, No road is long with good company, so thank you for coming along!

Frequent Flier

As January ends and February begins an interesting record is about to crash and burn. Continental Airlines requires either 30 flight segments or 25,000 miles to reach the Silver Elite status and I will have 28 segments. That's not bad for one month. By the first of March I could be hitting Gold... and by May will hit Platinum (Platinum status requires 90 segments or 75,000 miles). I could hit double platinum before the year ends, although I don't think they give you anything more for it.

What does it mean to be a frequent flier? When arriving at a larger airport there is a special area to check-in where only the frequent fliers can. There is a shorter line through security and you are allowed to be the first to board the plane. If checking bags they put a special Elite tag on it for faster offloading. For me these are the real perks. Why? It is not because of some special feeling or hidden narcissim, no... let me explain.

Last night I was seated in First Class on the 737-300 from Cleveland to Newark, a short 61 minute flight. As the second person on the plane, there was plenty of room for my suitcase and computer bag in the overhead. After about 40 minutes of people streaming by my seat, just as the door was to be closed, another First Class passenger came on board. She had a suitcase and computer bag as well but was in a bulkhead seat (that means no seats in front of her so no place to put her stuff). By this time the flight attendants had already removed the economy class passengers belongings from the first class overheads... except for one large suitcase that wouldn't fit anywhere else. This suitcase took the space rightfully belonging to the last lady on board but it was too late. Two other people had to (err, volunteered to) accomodate her luggage, taking up their precious leg room.

Getting on the plane first also gives you a chance to get comfortable in the spacious but not too nice seats up front. The really nice first class seats are found on long distance flights and planes (not the 737). The flight attendant takes your coat to hang in a forward closet then offers a drink. Yes, up here the drinks are free and there is time for one before take-off and two more during the hour long flight but I rarely have more than one vodka-cran during these short flights. I need to be able to find the limo driver waiting for me in Newark. Ok that is another perk but it comes from my employer and is available to all of our employees.

The main difference between Silver, Gold, and Platinum are the ability to get free upgrades for companions and increasing priority for the upgrade. Each flight credits you for a certain number of miles no matter your status but with the FF programs you get incrementally more miles for each real mile.

Most of my flights are short flights on the ERJ 135 or 145 planes. These hold about 48 people and every seat is first class... so I'll take it when I can get it.