Homeward Bound

We had our last English breakfast (just toast and a crumpet for me... okay, and a banana and two small not-worth-it pancakes) and by 9:15 AM or so we were off to Heathrow by cab (no more trains for awhile!). The check-in station was confusing, but once we got our bags checked by an actual human instead of their machines and spoke to another actual human who allowed Robin to steer me around in a wheelchair, off we went to our gate in plenty of time. Because I used a wheelchair I was able to pre-board, and once again we lucked out by being in a row of three seats with no additional passenger so we could stretch out. This time I watched a few movies (Mandalorian and Grogu, eh; Hoppers which was sweet but frenetic and definitely skewed on the young side; and Encanto which I could rewatch forever) and we ate well, and were back on the ground mid-afternoon in time for our driver to navigate rush-hour traffic and deposit us home a bit after 6 PM. No more dumpster, so the first thing I did was move my car back into its usual spot for the squirrels' acorn target practice. I dumped all my laundry and got out of my suitcases, and did a bit more trundling about to get everything ready for working tomorrow, by which time maybe this head cold will dissipate somewhat?

A Banging Time

Are we home yet? The roofers have just about stopped their banging. This has dragged on for a full week, thanks to them not being around last Tuesday through Thursday, and I've never been so happy to be away. A decent night's sleep at the hotel, followed by a lovely brunch this morning that lasted way shorter than we thought it might, so we Uber'ed it to 30th Street Station and waited a couple hours for our train, running into our cousins (the groom's parents) who were taking an earlier train, for the traditional Jewish goodbye that lasts a bit longer than the Irish one. Yesterday we'd had trouble finding seats on the southbound Amtrak, and figured if we stuck with the redcap we'd have better luck with the northbound train. Alas, although we got seats they were hardly together. Lesson learned, it pays to be fleeced a bit if you want to sit together. I just hope we can get adjoining seats on Tuesday's flight to London! By the time we got back to New York, I wasn't thinking straight enough to remember the subways weren't running to our neighborhood, so we walked through Macy's and waited for the express bus home, which detoured a bit due to street fairs, and we finally got home about an hour ago to, as mentioned above, the sound of banging. It should all be over by the time we return from across the pond, and I'm looking forward to the relative quiet!

Drenched

The day started out a bit difficult for me. My back's been bothering me all week, and I had to schlep an Amazon return in to Whole Foods this morning as I wouldn't get the chance at lunch. Turns out the pain I was feeling was more the weight of my laptop than the returned item. I continue to be in great shape at work, just waiting on both partners and client EAs to get back to me on scheduling things, and I'm taking so much self-study that I'm actually starting to remember a lot of the AI terminology, which scares me. Lunch was terrific, my colleague signed off on my and Robin's kurta outfits for the wedding reception, and the Indian food we had was nice but the restaurant not so much (very cramped and unprofessional, much more a takeout place). I'd packed my rain jacket for the afternoon deluge, left work a bit early before it started (only wind on 9th Ave and a little rain on 8th), and by the time I got to my neighborhood it was coming down in sheets. And it still is. Just a bit drenched to the bone! But warm and dry now, watching the Yankees win again, and getting ready for shuteye...

OMG Shoes

Now that my tech issues at work are temporarily behind me, I can again concentrate on my personal health and such. To that end, I wore my new sneakers to work. I still have problems with the fourth toe on each foot, particularly the left one, but I'm guessing that's just a breaking-in thing. I love these sneakers, they only cost $50 and they have very wide toe boxes so things should settle by the time we're in England. I just hope the trains are running OK by the time we arrive, the tracks near where we'll be just buckled and three train cars overturned (fortunately no deaths) so it'll be awhile in repairs. I don't mind buses though!

Insomniac

Let's just blame the air-fryer chicken wings. A few of them smelt a bit "off," and while I don't think I got food poisoning I was certainly up in the night sweating and such. In fact, almost all night. I got maybe an hour of sleep before my 5:15 AM alarm, and the commute into the office was a whole lot of fun, but I made it there in one piece. Unfortunately I started falling asleep at my desk, and when wide awake I couldn't concentrate on work as the fellow in the next workstation was not exactly using his inside voice, so I made an executive decision to stow everything but my laptop and commute home at 2 PM so I could still do work once I was back. So worth it! And I plan on falling asleep tonight as soon as my head hits the pillow or a NY baseball team starts losing...

I've Had It for the Week

Two Manhattan days in a row, two pretty miserable subway commutes home, and that's it for me. My left foot is in a lot of pain, very likely referred pain from calf muscles refusing to relax, so I'm limiting motion for at least the next couple of days as I work from home.

Silly Site o' the Day

My feet are still hurting, nobody really needed me in the office, so since I've done my two mandated days today and tomorrow I get to keep working from home, which usually means I'm more productive than usual anyway. Of course, I do miss watching the water towers:

Via Laughing Squid.
 

Can't Trust That Day

Still somewhat exhausted from yesterday's sojourn, I nonetheless schlepped into the city with my backpack to help greet a bunch of peer reviewers and make sure all was in readiness for this very busy week of both peer reviewing and PCAOB inspections. I'll be so thrilled when the week is over! July has been a heck of a month, and I need a vacation more than ever, but at this point I'll settle for a quiet August. I tried to keep my movements to a minimum, and it was really nice doing the homeward commute unburdened as all my stuff was left at the office in a temporary locker. Still, methinks I'm getting too old for this, Riggs.

Let the Stormy Clouds Chase

Robin was kind enough to pack my corporate-labeled rain jacket into my backpack this morning but, as it turned out, despite the sky darkening and thunder rumbling mid-afternoon, I didn't need it at all for my commute in either direction. I must have danced between the raindrops, as every above-ground surface showed signs of it Having Rained Heavily, but even though I cut out a tad early to avoid any tornadic activity (hey, there were warnings) I encountered exactly zero problems. Well, except for two different straphangers banging into my knee on their way out the subway doors. I can deal with subways, but just barely. Work was a lot easier to deal with, even did a bit of self-study when my normal workload was wrapped up. With so many partners involved in inspections (met with four of them today) or out of town, I can hurry up and wait all I want but requests don't necessarily appear. Not a complaint, this is what summer should be about. Still, I'm about pooped now, the Mets certainly aren't keeping me awake, and the week isn't half over yet...

Choking Hazard

I can't remember being this masked up out of doors since 2023, when Mom was still living in Bayville and we wore masks in the car driving down to New Jersey to see her. Today it was all public transit and walking, but even crossing Ninth Avenue to the Moynihan train station was difficult. The office was nicely hermetically sealed, however, and I'm fairly well caught up with job work. Maybe things will get better tomorrow, when I don't have to leave the house anyway.

Gearing Up

A very hot, windy day where I work, but no issues walking, so the hallux is holding up okay. I schlepped an Amazon return into Whole Foods, where I usually get my lunch, and because of the weather I decided to splurge for a 2-liter bottle of iced tea to pour from during the afternoon. Well, enough of it was left over by the time for my homeward commute that I took it home along with my laptop and, while I was glad to have it during the few minutes in direct sunshine waiting for the local bus, I really can't carry that much stuff any more over great distances. But I'm home now, the All-Star game is underway, I cannot believe France is out of the World Cup on Bastille Day!, and I'm ready for bed again. More heat tomorrow but I'm working from home again.

Learning to Walk

Today was the acid test for whether the newly-upholstered orthotics have really made the difference in my no longer having foot pain, as it involved a bit of walking during my commute. So far so good, the bump on my left hallux may take a little time to fully heal (as is the case for diabetics) but it doesn't appear anything is pushing it into the shoe any more. And I can walk a lot faster without pain and without limping, provided I reteach myself how to do that. I keep expecting, pardon the pun, the other shoe to drop, and it hasn't happened yet, so I just have to retrain my body how to walk normally without a limp and hope the rest of me gets properly aligned again. It's been bad for at least a year and a half, so the sudden absence of pain is delightful.

The Last Manhattan Day for Awhile

As none of my medical practitioners have called me back regarding some low-level stuff (a rash here, a cyst there, pretty soon you're talking real money) I have no actual plans for next week beyond taking in my orthotics to be refurbished, which means I'll have a couple days when I really don't want to walk around, so I'm spending the week relaxing and catching up on estate stuff and other financial matters. But mostly relaxing! Today was my last in-office day until July 7, so I made the most of it and got lots of stuff out of the way in preparation for a shortened day tomorrow. Even the commute was easy... well, except for the very crowded subway on the way home, wherein I was squeezed in my seat from both sides until we were well into the Bronx. But all's well now, I have a lovely time ahead of me watching the World Cup and playing my online games and planning some house straightening (that microwave definitely needs a good scrub)...

Working Through It

A somewhat icky damp day but a good one in terms of forward movement at work. I met with all three partners I support who actually have designated offices at our HQ, two of whom I hadn't been able to chat with in way too long. The rash is still extant so I've written to my doc for advice and started on hydrocortisone and finger-crossing. And tomorrow, we book the flights, come hell or high water! 

Party in the NYC

A very unusual day, which began when I got off the local bus and attempted to cross the street to the office. It was just about passable, but all traffic was snarled at that intersection because the New York Knicks were staying at a nearby hotel waiting to be feted downtown. So we had a watch party in the office and I was able to stand/lean for about an hour before giving up (but the orange and blue muffins, donuts, and bagels were a great touch, and I even got a free iced coffee) and doing some actual work (not much today as, once again, none of the folks I support were in). Then it was off to Whole Foods to pick up sushi for International Sushi Day, more TV watching in the lounge which was showing the World Cup games (actually donned my England jersey for that!), then home to try another Asian place because, you know, International Sushi Day. Rob and I will both do the sushi thing tomorrow at Kura, as that's when my coupons expire and if you have a 3-day weekend it's never a bad idea to get things out of the way on the first day. A lovely day of celebration before wrapping up the work week!

One Day After, One Day Before

Crazy day at work, but it could have been far worse; yesterday and tomorrow constitute the NBA playoffs, whereon the area around Madison Square Garden (a block away from our offices) is cordoned off and majorly secured and it's all such a mess. So I kept busy, much more so than I'd expected, just grateful I can work from home tomorrow. If I sleep well I hope to take care of some financial things in the morning, but that's all dependent on my circadian rhythm. Robin and I will be turning the mattress tomorrow while the laundry is being done, so maybe the "hard" side will help with my IT band issues.

Feeling/Not Feeling Hot

Nice to be back to a regular commuter after Tuesday's debacle. My morning express bus driver was pretty amused that I knew about the surprise safety check at the Yonkers depot which completely scuttled the morning bus I take, forcing me to go via local bus/subway/hobbling two days ago, but hey, I pride myself in staying informed. I pretty much stayed put in my workstation for much of the day, as I wasn't feeling that well anyway between the aches and pains and lack of proper sleep and I didn't want to wander in the heating-up weather. I have to remember to take ibuprofen tonight to avoid further pain...

Commutation

What a way to celebrate my half-birthday! Yeah, I know, at my age I shouldn't be commemorating that anyway, but OMG the express bus wasn't running this morning, as the depot decided to do a safety check which apparently took offline all the buses that run to the West Side of Manhattan. Undeterred, I realized I needed to do some extra walking today, so I got the local bus to the subway to Penn where I hobbled a couple avenues and still got to the office about 10 minutes earlier than I usually do, but without the relaxation and space the express bus affords me. And of course with extra wear and tear, which showed up as soon as I hit the bed earlier this evening. Oh man, my left IT band and foot are really killing me. Let's hope I can get some sleep!

Silly Site o' the Day

Back to work, beautiful day, lots of stuff done, yadda yadda. Looking forward to Manhattanhenge on Thursday, although I'll probably be home by the time it happens, but if you're not in Manhattan you can still download Hengefinder (via BoingBoing) and find your nearest one!

Panicking with the Best of Them

While I often tell people I've achieved Peak Competence in my life (which of course might imply that it's all downhill from here), there are times when I still have the lizard-brain panic reation when something at work hits me the wrong way. Today was one of those times. I do the usual things to calm my vagus nerve, like taking deep breaths and such, but the thing that usually brings me out of it is reminding myself that I've been through ever so much worse in my career and have come out of it just fine. And so it was today, the obstacle was overcome in fairly short order and I reconnected with some old work friends in the process, so really a win-win. And I packed up at the end of the day after helping record a session in which I had zero interest (it was shepherded by a partner I support so I kind of had to record) and was pleasantly surprised to be able to leave at my usual time. Commute was pretty sweet too, I think I made it home in under 90 minutes which is usually unheard of because I have to walk two avenues and take two different kinds of mass transit. No notes, no complaints!