March pics (the transition)

March 14th

My last week in the city the cherry trees around the neighborhood were coming into bloom.  This one is on 30th Avenue, and I'd pass it every day on the way to work.  Behind it is Dillinger's, which was our favorite local spot to go grab a beer and great meal for cheap.  I had no idea during my last week off in Astoria that I would never return for any length of time because I would be so busy with the new job.

But we know we will always have Astoria, Queens, only a couple hours away. 

March 16

This is Puck, aka the fat man, and the wonderfully dated kitchen floor in our apartment. It was a great home, and our landlady Pauline was the best.  The kids had gotten pretty comfy there too. 

March 17

Last Saturday at the apartment.  Mandatory afternoon NASCAR and suds following final packing session.

...and Melvin, aka the fuzz, reminding me it's time for food.

March 19

7:07am

First day at the new job in the country I wake up to trees and fog, no concrete or skyline in sight for the first time in 9 years.  It's so quiet, almost surreal.

6:17pm

Krissy took me to work that morning and took a few hours before eventually hitting the road and heading back to Queens.  She left me notes all over the house where I was staying for the six weeks we had to be apart.  They made my day, and would for weeks as I kept finding them.  Following my first day at the new gig and new life back out east this was the first one I found.  What can I say, she is loving and very smart woman, and knows me all too well.

March 20

There's an ocean out there somewhere.  Indian Wells before work.

March 22

2:00pm

Headed to Shelter Island to be introduced to a wonderful couple and their most magnificent property. 

A lot different looking than the north end of Central Park.

8:00pm

In the chicken shack rocking and rolling.  Officially back in Bonac.  Definitely a long way from Queens.

March 24

A couple pics from the new office

March 25

For the next weeks Krissy came out on the weekends with another load of stuff from the apartment.  This was a Sunday afternoon trying to relax before I had to see her go back to the city for another week.  We knew the transition was going to be tough, but we just focused on the end goal.

March 29

The end goal: being able to have any kind of day, good or bad, and always being able to go to the water's edge and breath and put it all in perspective.  Invaluable.

Well, that, and checking out the surf. 

the oldest, most famous... in the universe!

Really there is nothing else to say. The Bohemian Hall Beer Garden is truly one of a kind, and forever a favorite of ours. Not to mention this evening we got to reconnect with fantastic old friends and catch up over delicious pitchers of IPA and plates of food sure to fill up even the hungriest man. A win-win.

"liquid bread"

One thing about working outside every day of the year, in winter you learn to really appreciate hot showers and serious stout.

Captain Rude's Blackwater Stout is a product of the Swashbuckler Brewing Company in Manheim, PA. For Christmas my father-in-law hooked us up with a case of their different beers, and all of them have been delicious. Definitely worth keeping your eye out for it wherever your favorite microbrews are sold.

my kind of Friday

...windows open for the first time, great breeze through the new place, home with tons of sun still in the sky, and realizing this is the start of nine days off, yup, my kind of Friday...
cheers,

Casanova

I heard the voice of Errol Morris on the TV recently and was reminded of his killer High Life commercials from some years ago. You can go to errolmorris.com and click on commercials for all kinds of hyterical little clips. This one always cracks me up. The "would-be casanova".