Pope Idol '81

The Pope just drove past my front door. I wanted to invite him in for a nice cup of tea, but he got away too quickly.

He is staying 4 blocks from me and while out walking the boys this morning I came across his vehicles all 'parked' in 76th St. I say parked, but the fact remains that the buses didn't really fit and the long cars were a bit awkward too. He has one helluva big entourage which it seemed was not much appreciated by the local traffic... Especially one other very large car on the road - part of another cavalcade it seems - who tried to run the boys over in his haste to turn the corner while I was on a pedestrian crossing with a 'go' sign!

After a moments vigorous waving of my hand he slunk sheepishly and much more sedately off down the road - no doubt regretting his stupidity after seeing the expression of his passenger in the back!

Anyway, back to the Pope... he picked a great day, the sun at full burst and the warmest day of the year so far. A very lovely 81F/27C. It went from spring to summer in only a few days and I feel sorely cheated.

Oops back to the Pope... There were at least 25-30 motorcycles and many large vehicles carrying armed folk. One SUV had his back door open revealing a couple of guys armed with large scary machine gun-type things. An ambulance, many many uniform police cars, plain clothes cars with serious people on board - no chance a joke or two. A tow truck??? Heck knows why... More bikes, 2 black sinister looking buses, two official cars - one carrying the Pope of course.

And no sign whatsoever of Gordon Brown who I hear is also on a visit to the US of A.

Gordon who...?

Slacker then a wet towel...

I have had the worst couple of days in my job since the last worst couple of days that I had a while ago...

And in the midst of it I was talking (ranting) to mum this morning and at the end hung up without saying

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

So here it is for mum today



And - if you were wondering - my day has had a miniscule improvement since this morning...

It's late and I am tired...

...but I'm receiving complaints loud and clear from around the world about my lack of chatter on here lately.

As seen on my previous post I am tired and grumpy and ready to move on to the next adventure. It's been a long 10.5 weeks so far and the last 1.5 weeks look to be no different. Although, with luck, I will be busy so the time will pass easier.

The sun came out again on Thursday and I was able to walk to the park a couple of times (narrowly missing at least 3 dog-rats). But the sun went away again yesterday... Maybe tomorrow, but I will never know if I don't go to bed now as I will not be able to get up in time to see daylight at this rate.

Goodnight...

zz

Wish I could say life was a thrill a second here...

I'm now so sick and tired of NY and NY'ers I'm ready to leave and enjoy some courtesy and pleasantries in other parts of the world.

I hate that I am always having doors shut in my face as I try to manoeuvre a double pram in and out of the smallest shops on earth.

I hate standing at a checkout waiting to pay for something while the operator has a chat with his/her co-worker or taps away on a computer with great exuberance while blatantly ignoring me for several minutes before finally relieving me of my cash - albeit at snail pace with more attitude then seen at an annual Dykes on Bikes rally!

I hate that people walk their dogs on leads long enough to stretch around the earth 3 times and then curse me when I push the pram within a foot of their precious creature while it craps on the footpath and the walker is standing on the other side of the footpath talking to another dog walker whose charge has also stretched it's lead back to the other side of the footpath to form an X with the other dogs lead.

I hate the fact that most dogs in NY don't really even rate as dogs in the real world - slightly oversized, disobedient rats in other parts...

I think I've had enough of NY and will look forward to the 25th when I will breathe a different city's energy... From experience that energy will be calmer, warmer and more gentle on the soul.

Spring sproinged forth

Today was the first sunny day we have had since arriving home from Sun Valley... ironic really. Sun Valley vs New York... Hmph!

But it was so nice to wake this morning and fling up the blinds to see sun reflecting in the windows out the boys window. An hour or so later it finally reflects at the right angle comes into their bedroom. Lucky wee things they get morning and afternoon sun!

Back in boring old...

Now that I am back in boring old New York, I have nothing more thrilling then my tooth brush to write about.

I have found the toothbrush that makes my teeth glow with cleanliness, my gums postively ripple with health and, heck!, my tongue has never felt so fresh and vibrant ever before! Watch it - it's even sharper then it ever was!

All because Oral B put their heads together and came up with this...

And we're off...

We are leaving Sun Valley tomorrow and as usual it seems sad to leave when I am just starting to enjoy it.

It is such a beautiful place (think I've said that before...) and I could really go quite mad on the photos, but I have been a bit restricted on a couple of levels. Firstly of course is the work factor, and secondly the weather this week has been very changeable so getting out at a good time has been challenging to say the least.

That's not to say I haven't taken a few photos of course - I have all but filled a 4.7GB DVD so there is certainly no lack of visual record. But some photos I would have liked to go back to in better conditions - either more or less sunshine mostly.

We fly to Salt Lake City then on to New York from there and ought to arrive home about midnight. The boys will love to be in their own beds again I'm sure. I'm looking forward to being in the same town as Jane again for the next 5 weeks or so.

I'm also looking forward to more moisture in the air so my hands can start growing skin again and I can stop ladling the thick and greasy cream (amusingly known as 'goose fat') on the boys faces every time we go outside.