NYC by Mouth

Did you ever spend an extended time with your grandparents as a kid? Like you were dropped off for a week or more during summer vacation? Well, I did. One of the things that struck me about "old poeple" at the time was how much they thought about food - planning, eating, discussing. Of course now-a-days, food is a huge topic in our lives, on TV, and in our cities. I also find myself thinking about trips and visits to places in terms of - "Which restaurant is the best for ____?" or "What should we do for dinner on the last night in town?"

It is with that in mind that I offer a list of foodstuffs that I had on a recent, two-night trip to NYC.
- 1 $17 dirty martini - I know, the price, but it's NYC... and it was good
- 1 hot-from-the-pan traditional English popover - this was pretty dang good and fun to try in "real-life" after seeing it on TV
- 1 wonderful, almost spring-like, Bib lettuce salad with a mustard vinagrette
- 1 hunk of NY strip steak - too crusty for my taste, but great sauces along with it
- 2 glasses of a very nice Malbec HERE
- 1/2 of a very simple and tasty Apple Tart with cinnamon ice cream
- 1 bite of a peanut-butter chocolate cake concoction that the table next to us insisted we try - no joke
- ~5 vodka-sodas (tonic has sugar you know)
- 1 egg, ham, potato & bagel breakfast delivered to the apartment - not a bad way to start the day
- 1 free, 2oz. Illy espresso HERE - who said NYC is expensive?
- 1 Gray's Papaya hot dog - well worth it and not too filling before actual dinner
- 1 not-so-good Moscow Mule - made with lemon. Bad juj-ju... visit Omaha for the real deal
- 3 nice tapas dishes - fresh, spicy sausage; smoked almonds; traditional Spanish tomato bread
- 1/2 of a Cornish game hen HERE - quite tasty, could have had crispier skin
- Mashed yaro root - alot like the most buttery mashed potatoes you ever had, but slightly stickier
- Oyster bread stuffing - not a fan of this fishy-ish flavored stuffing... and I like stuffing
- Really tasty fingerling potatoes at two different spots, and some french fries at one place too
- 2 glasses of a decent red wine
- 1 blueberry, pineapple juice, orange juice smoothie
- 2 glasses of fresh squeezed OJ, a great way to get your C
- 2 shots of unknown name, though we did see some flavored vodkas being poured in
- British breakfast HERE that included steamed eggs with herbs (very good!) and a scone with Devon ceam, also quite tasty
- 1 Vitamin Water at JFK - waaaay overpriced, but I needed the minerals & electrolytes

One thing surprises me - I had no beer during the whole trip. There are still some things I've not been able to sample in true NYC fashion, that I would love to try - pastrami or corned beef at a traditional deli (Carnigie or Katz'), the hearty grub at Vaselka's, Montreal BBQ from one place in NYC that serves it, and I'm sure the list could go on...

FrostBike 2011

I swear I parked it right here!

"No, Sir. The gutters are in great condition, ship-shape!"

I'm melting...

... here is the phone call I imagine from a little old lady, stuck in her apartment in the winter, to the cable/power/utility company. I can only guess these kinds of calls happens when the ice is this bad. (This isn't the only example either, I'll post some more from around here, "up north")

Caller: "Yes, hello. I am hoping you can help me with my service."
Company: "What seems to be the issue, Ma'am?"
Caller: "I'm not getting any cable signal - it's not working - I can't watch my shows."
Company: "I see. What's your account number, social security number, phone number, and address?"
Caller: "I'll get all that..."
[4 minutes later, after finally conceding she has an account]

Company: "Thanks for inquiring with us today about your signal issue. I'll check a few things right now... Everything looks fine on our end, Ma'am."
Caller: "No one else has called about problems in the building?"
Company: "No, Ma'am. It's ship-shape."
Caller: "You're sure everything in the building, inside and out looks good?"
Company: "Yes, Ma'am. Please check with your TV support center for issues that maybe causing this problem. and have a great day."
Caller: "Oh, alright. I'll ask my son to come over and look at it. Thanks [click]..."

It only took me a bit under 2 years to finish off this quart of farm-fresh maple syrup. This is the one I bought through my office. It was great mapley syrup, for sure.

America Bikes?

From America Bikes:
> Bicycling and walking make up 10% of all trips made in the U.S., but receive less than 2% of federal transportation funding.
> Bicyclists and pedestrians account for 13% of traffic fatalities, but receive less than 1% of federal safety funding.40% of all trips in America are two miles or less, 74% of which are traveled by car.
> Americans spend, on average, 18% of their annual income for transportation. The average annual operating cost of a bicycle is 3.75% ($308) of an average car ($8,220).
> A small reduction in driving causes a large drop in traffic. In 2008, the number of vehicle miles traveled dropped 3%, translating to a nearly 30% reduction in peak hour congestion.
> Transportation sources account for 70% of our nation's oil consumption and for 30% of total U.S. GHC emissions.
> Simply increasing bicycling and walking from 10% of trips to 13% could lead to fuel savings of around 3.8 billion gallons a year. This is equivalent to having 19 million more hybrid cars on the road.
> 89% of Americans believe that transportation investments should support the goals of reducing energy use. > 71% of Americans report that they would like to bicycle more.
> 53% favor increasing federal spending on bicycle lanes and paths.
> For the price of one mile of four-lane urban highway, around $50 million, hundreds of miles of bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure can be built, an investment that could complete an entire network of active transportation facilities for a mid-sized city.
View the source document with citations →
America Bikes →