07-VII-2005.
Overyester, in the morning I informed David I'd be in NY the next day, claiming he knew about this three days in advance, but no, he said he didn't. I made sure Sima knew this in advance as well, so I'd have a laptop when I get there. The main concern is to be code to print some labels, which is always tough, the sizes of the labels being so small, and yet the barcode needs to be readable. Another trouble is that the same sheet prints wider than it prints from Access. So I'll have to try to print at home, then from different printers in the office, then from straight Excel...
On UA: „Yeah, so they said about artificial intelligence - in the future, it will be provided by health system just like artificial teeth.“ Also, tried to schedule a meeting with Sergey B., The Guru of UA (other languages lack a guy like that - he knows literally everything one needs to know about fox), but it didn't happen.
So in the evening I climbed the „Today's bus“, at midnight, as usual. I had luck, didn't have to go there since january. Got at Canal street at 6:30, thinking my knees will give as soon as I got out of the bus. These are the Chineses, so the distance between the seats leaves just 3mm in front of my knees when sitting straight. But it's a night ride, everyone slumps, and I spent the last two or three hours with knees pressed against the next seat, stiff as can be. But no, nothing, as soon as I straightened up, I was ready for a stroll. Again, walked down to Pike street, there's my subway, but as it's still too early, I'd sit in a park there, have a smoke, watch the elderly Chineses do tai chi, then get a weekly subway ticket (for 10$ or perhaps 20$, courtesy of UniJewel), and make my way over two or three rides, emerging two blocks from the hotel.
Check in the room, not ready yet and I don't need it yet either, just to make sure it waits for me after work. Then walk the sixteen or seventeen blocks to the office, have another smoke somewhere along the way. I'd get there around 8 and still managed to find several of them already there. The cerberus at the street entrance already knew my face, so didn't check my ID or anything (like he did the first time), just the face plus blue lean-on card were enough.
On the shot below is Ženeva (Geneva) in her lair of a reception desk. Anyone with a lean-on can get into the tiny lobby, which she observes through that window, and then has to wait for her to press the button to open the next door. Above, those stickers and the laptop I got this time.
Woke up regularly this morning, went down for the breakfast (included in the 100$ for the room, the hotel is cheap enough; in more expensive ones they charge for breakfast). It is not bad at all, except it's always the same - the bagel (in serbian version I explain what it is), cream cheese, butter or jam in those tiny plastic cups, fruit and coffee, nothing with meat, not even pašteta, but gets the belly full and... sometimes for lunch I go down to that place next door, where they have an enormous sandwich with breaded (not pohovano, but close enough) chicken breast for just 6$, or failing that I just make it through the day on 2-3 bars of granola. And while I was breaking my fast, two events. First, my last tooth filling fell out. One of those that Luminiţa made me back in seventies, the classic mercury metal amalgam jobs. They started falling out after we were doused with bromide in the soup in the army the first month or two (and maybe later too), and now the last one went. The crags will lose parts gradually over the next twenty years, one at a time. The other was that I sat facing the teevee, which I generally avoid, but I guess this time I had the table all the way in the back, so facing the wall was an even worse choice. And then on the news a whammy - bombers attack in London. Now look at that, they'll go at it again. And we're travelling soon... just hoping they won't introduce too much new shit in airports, as if the shit so far wasn't enough.
To work, then. Played with the new little label printer, the Dymo. Kept me busy all day, so I didn't talk with David too much - briefly at 11, 13, 15.
After work, to the bus. Muggy, a drizzle, I got there with almost a whole hour to spare. Found shelter in a cakeshop facing the bridge. Had, I think, a coffee and made a bunch of shots through the window. What a swarm, everyone is in a hurry. The bus went on its schedule, got to VBeach at midnight. True, it takes a break about halfway, somewhere on Nu Džojzi trnpajk (New Jersey turnpike), but still I have to have a smoke when I disembark. And when I was done, there was nobody around, even the station/laundry was already closed, nobody to ask to call me a cab. Well... walked to the boulevard, it's about 300m, crossed all six lanes... Which was a risky business. Yes there's lights and there's a crossing, but the pedestrians are few even in daylight, nobody expects any after midnight, so they aren't even looking. And now I know I got some 12km to home, not impossible to walk, but... what can I do, raise a thumb. And a guy stops, in one of them classic american cruisers from the seventies. The guy's black, around my age, but then I have the same problem as with them orientals, we didn't age together, so my estimate may be way off. Asks for a gay bar. Oh man, you got the wrong guy, I wouldn't know, but you're heading in the right direction, just drive as far as this road goes and turn right, you'll be on the Atlantic avenue, that's where all the night life is. He dropped me at Rouzmont (Rosemont st), now I got only 4km left, nice. Except I had two shirts on me, one of which was a bit thicker, so I simply boiled by halfway. Then I remembered to stop, take it off and stuff it in the bag. I was all water by the time I got home, but I got there. and it was all easy then.
Mentions: David Krakovski, fox, pašteta, pohovano, Simon Buchs (Sima), UbiquAgora (UA), UniJewel, in serbian