Brooklyn

My mum arrived last week for a Thanksgiving visit, and I’ve been trying to show her different parts to the city. On Saturday we took a Context Travel walking tour of Brooklyn which was was fabulous. Learnt a lot about the history of Brooklyn and its relationship to Manhattan. The weather was so good we were able to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge and Alex took a few nice snaps.  Sunday it was a trip to WholeFoods in Tribeca as I needed to run a few errands, mum enjoys looking at all the fresh produce  (Wholefoods turns produce into an artistic displays that lure you in to spending so much more money) and then a Mad Men marathon. Today is my only day in the office this week (yippee!) but I have managed to schedule 5 hrs of meetings and I have a to-do list as long as my arm. We shall see how much I manage to get done but I can’t wait for the rest of week and sightseeing with mum. Lots of cool things planned like lunch at Balathazars, walking the High Line, Chelsea Markets, Tim Burton exhibit at MoMA, and an off-off Broadway production of Agamemnon (okay that’s more a me thing). Hopefully we’ll have some time for a few films as well.

Things on Tuesday: Absent Spouse Edition

Good

• Nothing beats the excitement of seeing each other again after 5 days of communicating via txt, Twitter & email. As much as I love my iPhone there isn’t an app for hugging
• A four day work week for Alex means that he has Fridays to himself and can play was much Halo as he wants whilst I am at work
• I can sleep in the middle of the bed surrounded by school work
• Lots of time to study and watch my own things
• Alex will be racking up air miles and hotel points so we’ll get a free holiday out of this project
• A happy Alex on a Ruby project

Not-so good

• Goodbyes
• It sucks only being able to make plans for Friday and Saturday nights, and trying to squish everything into three days
• Sundays turn into an odd transition day
• Not being able to watch House till Friday!
• Having to sleep with the light on

two legs good, two wheels bad

My brother used to be a fair weather cyclist, on a sunny day he might dust off his bike and meet his mates for a drink. Back then his bike was just a tool for getting from A to B and it didn’t seem to bother him when it was left rotting in the back garden.

All that changed when he started going out with his cycle enthusiast girlfriend.

He got a new, ultra light model with suspension. The house is littered with mountain bike life style magazines, greasy cogs and chains and piles of neon Lycra or polyester clothing. Now, I am glad he has a hobby other than festering away in his bedroom playing computer games but what bugs me is that his bike is now a permanent fixture in the hallway.

Yes, he does cycle to and fro the station on weekdays and goes off on jaunts at the weekend but the hall way is only 92cm wide and his handle bars occupy 62cm. If I am fed up of limbo dancing around it after only a week – how does my poor mum feel about it?

Today he took delivery of a new frame, apparently a bargain that he could not turn down….but where is it going to live? I am half tempted to buy a couple of D locks and some tarp (as I am not all heartless) and attach it to the railings out side…..