Thursday

In our house we have Time Warner provided cable/Internet/telephone service. The service is far from good but acceptable. Also since we have TV sets in every room our monthly bill is not small by any means.

Living in an apartment house in New York we really do not have too many choices as far carriers go. But in our neighborhood Verizon came up on the horizon and today we found out that our building is wired and ready for service.

So the other day we sat front of the computer and tried to find out what would service cost using Verizon.

Surprisingly the final cost was less than what we currently pay but not by much. What really upset me was that I spent an enormous time trying to find a telephone number to contact their costumer service but with no result.

I can't fathom that an organization like them have no costumer service. Time Warner has good service and they respond to all phone calls.

Also, their service include a new telephone number (landline). Now, I have this number for over fifty years. I'll be damned if I will let them change it to a new one. That was what I wanted to ask from their non-existent costumer service.

It is very easy to advertise,it is another thing to back up the claims about excellent service.

Old Friends

The other day my wife introduced me to the intricacies of Facebook. Not to all of them just a superficial intro. But I still found it totally interesting and amazing. I'm sure I will never ever user it but it is still good to know that there is no way one can hide in this world.

I decided with her help to search out old friends and acquaintances. I was lucky because I was able to find a few old schoolmates I haven't seen in decades and I do mean many decades.

To tell you honestly it was difficult at first to recognize some of them from their pictures because they look totally different than I remembered. But looking for some familiarity I think I succeeded recognizing most of them.

I wrote to them and introduced myself like I was an a blind date. Hoping they remember me. So far there are no answers but I hope I will get some response and that might permit me to reestablish contact with "long lost" friends.

I mean, they say this is a small world. So, if it is that small let it be easy to find each other again

Tuesday

Last night was the night America watched on and only one program. The first presidential debate.

It was promised to be interesting and it promised to be entertaining. It didn't disappoint me at all. At times it was funny and most of the times it was entertaining.

I'm not sure these two are requirements for a presidential debate but never the less they were. What they were not was informative and serious.

An hour before the debate was Dancing With the Stars and I am not sure if DWTS was as entertaining as the debate.

Both candidates are very knowledgeable I'm sure but they spent most of their times bashing the other person. Neither came out and explained their plans, their intentions in a clear and understandable way.

Hard line Democrats and Republicans will vote the party line regardless what their parties' candidates say. This circus was aimed at the undecided but according to the smart ass commentators neither said anything that would sway the undecided.

And, regardless that these candidate are convinced that him or her is the best selection for President it is not up to them but up to the voters.

It is us who will decide on November 8 who the next President of the United States will be.

Sunday/Monday

Hungarians are a curious type of people. Wherever they go into the, we intermarry  world, wherever they wind up they try to assimilate.

Maybe it is not easy in Africa or Asian countries but in other places it is not impossible. We learn the language, we learn the costumes, we intermarry and thus assimilate.

Assimilacio is good but we shouldn't lose our national identity. But that is what exactly happens here in America. At least in New York.

The other day I had the opportunity to read a Hungarian newspaper that is published in Toronto. I was very surprised to see how much Hungarian activities are going on.

Toronto has Hungarian restaurants, Hungarian stores and Hungarian churches. New York has almost none.

There are some social clubs (one that I know of that claims to be Hungarian but their main occupation is the twice weekly card games). Being Hungarian is not important to most of them besides the fact that some of them still don't speak English.

There are some suburban areas around New York where there are some Hungarian clubs but their existence is very limited and it appears to me that their programs are kind of forced efforts.

In the building where I live there must be another Hungarian because there is a Hungarian decal on his car but I don't know who the person is.

There is a New York paper in Hungarian but it is a piss poor effort since it does not publish anything of interest rather it plagiarizes articles from other publications.

This is a  sad thing. It would be nice to see other countrymen once in a while.

It was a very interesting phenomenon that in 2006 on the 50th anniversary of the 1956 October events there was a special night at Carnegie Hall in New York. The place was really filled. People came in buses from all the surrounding areas near and far.

I was really surprised to see that many Hungarians in one place, in New York.

But after the evening was over they all went back to their own places never to be heard again. This is what is sad.

I'm not insinuating that we shouldn't live our own lives but it would be nice once in a while to get together and may be enjoy a Hungarian show or a Hungarian movie or eat some Hungarian food (in a restaurant because at home I am thankfully satisfied).

Saturday

When we moved into our new apartment and had a ceiling fan installed in the bedroom. There was a problem finding the connection box and it resulted in chopping out a fairly large hole in the ceiling.

That hole was gaping at us for almost an entire year. We finally decided it was time to fix it and called the guy who did a lot of work for us at the time we moved in.

This was a kind of "warranty" work. Today he came over and very nicely plastered up the hole. In about two weeks we will paint it over indwell have a nice ceiling to look at when we wake up.

The guy was our former building super where we used to live so for an hour or so we exchanged gossip about the happenings in the old building.

We found out that our old apartment was renovated and sold to a Chinese couple who already live there.

Life goes on.

Friday

Yesterday on Thursday at 10:21 am Fall started. The day was a nice sunny very un Fall like day. I was expecting that after 10:21 am the leaves would change color and by the afternoon they would start falling.

I mean that is what fall supposed to be, isn't it?

I was very disappointed when none of these happened except it got even warmer for today. Where is Fall?

Something else.

Today w had a nice easy day. We didn't do much. Taking Abigail to school for 9:45 isn't really that bad. It lets me sleep until about 7:45 and that is good.

So, I took her to school then we were home doing this and that. There is always something to do in our house.

We bought two new printers and yesterday we set them both up and now we have these new printers that make our computer work a lot easier and more pleasant.

If we live in this age of technology at least make use of it.

Thursday

I missed two days because we had pretty busy times and just had no chance to sit down and "create".

My wife's daughter was visiting us from Florida between Tuesday and Thursday. It was a good deal on JetBlue and we decided to invite her up to the Big Apple.

Fortunately the weather cooperated and we had a pretty good time being together.

She arrived Tuesday afternoon and we spent some god times together. Had dinner in an Asian buffet. Later in the evening she went to see her brother and they went off to see a movie. Abigail didn't go because she had homework and kids don't go to the movies on school days.

Wednesday we went into Manhattan for  a short visit but escaped very quickly because the UN General Assembly was creating all kinds of traffic problems. Back to the nice and quiet Queens.

Afternoon we did a little shopping then went to a nice American pastry shop. Yes, there are American pastry shops!

In the evening dinner at home, watching TV family style then turn in early because she had an eight o'clock flight this morning.

That meant I had to get up at 4:45, make the coffee and put myself in a presentable condition. At six we left the house to the airport, we saw her through the checking in process then came home.

Abigail is off to school and we are just lingering around the house trying to get our balance back. This is not jet lag it is just fatigue.

Monday

There should be an Emmy for the  pest performance at receiving the award. These performers who win come up to stage and put on this act of surprise and being stunned by their success. They studded, they choke and all put on an award winning performance.

They were so surprised that they only wrote a one page acceptance speech.

Interestingly, all winners had a prepared speech ready. What about the people who didn't win? Did they all have speeches ready just in case?

These little acts make the Emmy pretty entertaining.

The other thing that I have a few favorite show that I like to watch. Curiously none of them was ever even mentioned or much less nominated. Does that mean that I have bad taste and I don't know good shows?

I really don't care. I watch the shows I like and they can nominate whatever they like.

Sunday

It is Monday morning 8:30 when I got to write the Sunday portion. But I have a legitimate excuse. At least I accept it!

We were watching the Emmys last night and by the time it was over I was too tired to write. Now, it is 830 as I mentioned and in a half abhor I will take Abigail to school.

This is a real luxury for me. Last yer I was almost back home by this time. Anyway, this will last for two years then it will go to the other extremes. Classes will start at 7:30 in the morning. Now, that is brutal.

Yesterday it was a very busy day for us. We slept until about noon, then after slowly getting up we decided that we would do absolutely nothing. And, we were true to our words.

This and that and pretty soon it was evening so, we started to watch TV.

Even though we didn't do much which felt very good, time went by pretty fast.

Oh, I forgot. We bought two printers and were waiting for the Amazon delivery which didn't happen until about 4:30 in the afternoon.

Did you know that the US Postal Service delivers Amazon on the weekends? Pretty neat.

Saturday

My wife and I love antiques. Not the serious antiques people make living from but today's antiques that in my time were used every day. For example, gadgets my Mother used in her kitchen are today considered antique.

A typewriter that was used 35 years ago is now considered antique. We have one at home in perfect working conditioand in a prominent place so people can see it. We also have a real old European radio that my wife brought out from Hungary. Since it works on 220 Volt I don't know if it works or not. But it looks good.

A few weeks ago when we went Amish country we bought a real old coffee grinder. I remember my Mom had one and I used to grind coffee for her.

This is a beautiful piece and when we saw it we said we just had to have it. And we did. Now it is sharing a shelf with other old kitchen stuff.












Today we were out and about and in our walk we came a cross a garage sale. Garage sales can be very rewarding or nothing but junk. Well, I saw this thing on a table and called my wife's attention to it. I wasn't sure she knew what it was but the smart girls she is it was instantly recognized.

Naturally, we bought it and now if we ever have a power failure we can still make good fluffy eggs.

Friday

It is Friday and as such the end of the week. Abigail finished her first full week of high school. As the school calendar looks full weeks will not be in abundance in this school year.

I went to school in a communist country where they celebrated every political event and I don't think we had as much no-school days as these kids do. These kids have about 18-20 days off not counting possible snow days.

In New York City they celebrate Chinese, Indian, Jewish and Muslim holidays as well as American legal holidays. In addition there are teacher conferences when the schools are closed.

These teachers are off the entire  summer, why do they have to have conferences during school time?

Something else.

Early this morning I woke up for the noise of a (possibly) traffic helicopter hovering over or close to our building and making enormous noise.

We are living very close to a pretty persistent traffic problem area and it seems to be a favorite traffic helicopter reporting site.

Since all the drivers on the road are coming from other areas and are passing through on their way to work the way I see it  these reportings are not performing any public service for our area but create inconveniences with their loud noise.

Why do I have to wake up at the crack of dawn just so some drivers from other areas would be informed why they are stuck in traffic?

Facebook

There are people who think that everybody in this world want to see what they are doing every minute of the day.

I know someone who thinks that her dog is the most adorable thing in this world (almost true) and photos of the dog at every possible moment of the day. Don't get me wrong. I like that hairy thing but I am absolutely not interested in his every move all day long.

I know somebody else who travels around the world. Takes thousands of photos (nice ones) and informs the population about their whereabouts an a semi-daily basis.

Again, don't get me wrong, I am not saying that these people are not normal but they are not complete either.

Who the hell cares about a hairy dog's every slurpy move or somebody else's every step on a foreign soil?

I'm sure Facebook has good sides. For instance it lets people stay in touch or long lost friends or loves find one another (nobody found me, yet). And that is what it should be used. But not for many publicity hungry people are using it for.

My wife and I have a Facebook account. I rarely use it since I don't understand it's intricacies and don't even know how to operate it.

But I'm sure if suddenly a long lost girlfriend would show up she would inform me like a good wife should (I can always dream, can't I).

Wednesday

Today is Wednesday and after a few days of comfortably cool weather ht returned. Allay was sunny and hot and when we got home in the afternoon we had to turn on the air airconditioners.

When we took Abigail to school this morning the entire area around her school was cordoned off. Last night we went to a PTA meeting as good parents should and were told that there would be a "surprise" fire drill the next day. That was what was happening.

All the kids were led out to the street by their teachers to wait for the word when the "emergency" was over. This was all and good but it created such a traffic confusion that it was unbelievable.

When I worked in the City we had these drills several times but when 9/11 happened we were all left to our own. So, I wonder what would happen when a real emergency arises.

Here is a kind of funny story.

I worked for an engineering company in Manhattan for a zillion years. Our first about fifteen years was in an older office building where we had several fire drill throughout the years. These retired fire people came every year and told us what to do in case of an emergency.

Well, one year there was small fire in th building and we were asked to evacuate. That meant walk down to street level in an orderly fashion and exit through the fire exit door.

We all did that but to our surprise we were not able to open the exit door because outside there was  scaffolding around the building and one frame was right front of the door blocking it.

That's organization for you.

Abigail's New Room

Last week we decided to get some new furniture for Abigail's room. Now that she is a high schooler she deserves more serious stuff than the ones she had.

So, on Labor day we went to a few places and settled with Raymoor and Flanagan from whom we already purchased stuff for this apartment.

We looked and looked and settled on a beautiful desk, a chair, a lamp and a new dresser for her.

Her mother and I were very apprehensive. We never told her about the purchase. Delivery was scheduled for last Friday while Abigail was in school.

When she came home from her second day at school she was too excited about the school and didn't go into her room for a while. My wife and I just waited.

Now, Abigail is very picky and very critical. Very rarely she agrees with things we buy without her presence so our apprehension was understandable.

Finally she went into her room then came out smiling saying "what is this?" We explained it to her and and to our dismay she announced it that she liked it finishing it with hugs and kisses for both of us. Ever since then she is sitting at her desk at every opportunity she has.

Things didn't make a complete turn for the better.

She still argues when her mother serves peas at dinner saying that she hates peas and preferres green beans (which I don't like).

High School

Going back to Abigail's school. First day was very exciting for all of us.

She was totally scared of what was going to happen and and we we're anxious as to know how things went and how she felt in her new environment.

At the end of the day it turned out that things weren't that bad. On the first day there was no homework. Second day was a little different.

In this school Abigail has several of her friend from the Middle School and some in her classes too. At the end of the second day she told us she made some new friends which was very encouraging. She also got some homework.

Now, the second day is Friday and today, Monday there is some religious holiday with means there is no school. This is a good way to start school. Two days on then there is a long weekend. Good country, America!

After two day she is not a happy camper. We think it is the seriousness of the school that bothers her. This is high school a step away from college and things are a little more serious than in Middle School. It will take some getting used to.

We told her that and her brother told her that. Question is how long will it be before she accepts it.

9/11

Today is September 11 and 15 years after the attack. Today is the day when I voice my opinion about that shindig they conduct Downtown in New York and embarrass all the TV stations to carry it.

For God's sake it was fifteen years ago. Let it finally go and don't continue this show filled with fake tears.

In 1960 World War II was already fifteen years over. Europe was rebuilt and people did not hold annual memorial services reading out six million names. Memorial services are still being held but they are tasteful and quiet.

The loved ones lost are all in our hearts and memories, there is no need to read out and mispronounce their names in public.

To me, mispronouncing the name of a deceased is more of a sacrilege than anything else. And unfortunately it happens every year.

It was noted on television that the 9/11 Memorial site is becoming a tourist attraction. Why not?

The Memorial Museum with a $24 ticket price is nothing but tourist attraction. Why can they not operate the entire thing on donations?

The operators are there to make money on people's grief. That is unfortunately the American way. A memorial like this should be absolutely free for everybody who is interested and want to see it.

It is a shame that it took all these year after 2001 to come to agreements and build the new World Trade Center. They say money is root of all evil.

The entire World Trade Center, the Memorial and today's ceremony is buried under how much money can there be made.

It turns my stomach to see how the organizers come up with schemes to fleece the people. They should be ashamed of themselves.

I have the right to criticize. I was there and I am a survivor.

Abigail's School

My daughter, Abigail is fourteen years old and this week was a turning point in her life.

On Thursday the 8th of September she started high school.

Neither her or us can get over it that she is now in high school. Last school year she was in junior high or middle school in New York and that seemed like a kindergarten compared to this new life.

On Tuesday the 6th her and us had to go to a final orientation and to pick up schedules. The school audio rum was filled with ninth graders just starting. Teachers listed the school rules and regulations and I  said I was glad I was not attending.

I don't remember that when I went to school it was that strict. One thing was that throughout my four years of high school in Budapest we occupied the same classroom and were the same kids every year.

Here the kids go from classroom to classroom for every subject and the kids change at each subject.

That is six hours a day meaning six subjects, maybe 30 kids in each class that would be 180 kids. In my time we had about 40 kids all through the four years.

Abigail has to get used to this. I know it is difficult at first but I am sure given time she will get used to the atmosphere.

Labor Day Trip

I know that Labor Day weekend is now history but I have to tell what we did. In short the family had a very lovely weekend.

Saturday and Sunday we spent in Pennsylvania with my cousin/friend (or friend/cousin). They were kind enough to invite us to their house and we took them upon it.

During our stay we took a short visit to Kennet Square that is the town they live in. The downtown area is very picturesque with small shops lining the main street.

Later in the day, actually after dark set in we visited Longwood Gardens that is a kind of semi-private botanical garden.

During Summer and Fall and on weekends they have light show that could put Las Vegas to shame. It was unbelievable how they used nature and lights to create such a show.

Sunday we returned to the Garden and had the chance to enjoy all the plants, trees and flowers the place had to offer. Beautiful!

After a late lunch/early dinner we bid our friends goodbye and set off for home. Since this was Sunday and not the end of the long weekend traffic was pretty good and we made good time.

All in all, we had a very nice visit.

Las Vegas Eating

As far as food goes we ate at some really good places.

We naturally had a Las Vegas buffet dinner that was unfortunately not as good as it should have been but hey, live and learn. This was at the Planet Hollywood's Spice Market Buffet where we ate before and never had any problems,

Shall not return!

We also had a very lovely lunch at the Paris Hotel's Eiffel Tower Restaurant and a dinner at the Mon Gabi restaurant. At both of these places I had the pleasure eating escargot.

We ate twice at Gordon Ramsey's BuGR restaurant where they serve fantastic burgers. We ate Mexican, we ate American and  we ate...

The interesting thing is that if one goes to an upscale and hugely expensive restaurant it does not guarantee good food. It guaranties high prices and stuck up servers who look down on you if you chose not to drink the appropriate

We found places where one didn't need to leave his monthly pension just for a dinner and we were also lucky to be able to eat well.

The difference between this and my 2014 Budapest trip was that in Budapest we ate, ate and ate. Here we did other very interesting thing besides eating. Eating was important but it did not rule the day.

Las Vegas Again

As I said yesterday we did see some good shows in Las Vegas.

One of them was a Cirque du Soleil show named Mystere. It was fantastic. Packed house and like any other Cirque du Soleil show these people didn't disappoint us either.

Another great show was called Tournament of Kings. This is a renaissance themed show with knights in armor on horseback who duel each other. Interesting part of the show that at the beginning they serve dinner to us and dinner has to be eaten with bare hands, no utensils. Like in medieval times. It was fun and greasy.

We did go and see a pretty good magic show. Abigail really liked these first three show. But one night my wife and I went alone to see The Rat Pack is Back named show that is about Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.

It was great and very nostalgic.

We also went out of town for andy to see the Red Rock National Park. This place is only about a half abhor away but one feels to be in another world. There is a thirteen mile scenic drive that took us through such beautiful areas that we didn't want to believe our eyes.

Las Vegas is in a valley surrounded by mountains in every direction. This park is at the foot of such a mountain and the rock formations are just unbelievable. We all just loved it.

We also walked a lot and revisited a lot of beautiful hotels. We never get tired of seeing some of these establishments like the Encore, the Wynn, the Venetia and the Paris.

Over all we had a great time.

Las Vegas

I have returned from a more than a week of R and R. Next day after my last entry we left for Las Vegas where we spent eight very pleasant days.

This was our third trip to the Sin City but even though we are not gamblers we still liked it. We saw shows, we spent time in the pool, took a day trip to a nearby National Park. For eight days that was a lot.

We also managed to go to a casino a couple of times where Lady Luck turned her head away from us. But still, we had a good time and plan to return more.

Almost every day it was very hot. The temperature was always over 100 degrees. But not being humid it was always bearable. We also decided to take our own carry ons and this way there was no need to wait for the luggage at the carousels. Plus JetBlue charges for checkin luggage so we said hell with them!

We saw some good shows and ate some good food. What else were we to do?