songbird's crazy world

Well, Drew had his first experience with an Urgent Care Center yesterday, Awhile back, I bought one of these: It's used to apply lotion to hard-to-reach places, like your back. The handle slides into a slot on the head.  When I broke the handle, a piece got jammed in the slot. On Friday I got a replacement handle.  On Saturday I asked Drew to get the broken piece out of the slot so that I could insert the new handle. He did. With his pocketknife. And he sliced into his left thumb. Six stitches later ...

So, since I can't do yoga (the stitches are starting to itch!), I have to get my exercise by walking. Good thing I like walking. So it was 82*, and the beach was calling my name. Jones Beach is so different in warmer weather, so many people out and about. It felt almost like summer. So now it's time to address the annual dilemma. Do I buy a parking pass? There's no parking fee at state parks during the winter, but it's $10 a day during the summer months. The fee is collected until 4 PM. Usually, in summer, I wait until after 4 if I want to walk at the beach. But if I buy an annual pass ... It's $65 for the annual pass. The break-even point is seven park visits. Is it worth the expense? Hmmmm.....

Did you get to try the Starbucks unicorn?  I waited to long, I didn't get to Starbucks until the last day of the promotion.  The barista told me she had run out of the blue powder, the sour concoction that they were sprinkling on the whipped cream.  She still had a ton of the pink stuff, though, so she made me a vanilla frappucino and colored it pink.   Yummy, but a huge calorie bomb.  I won't be doing that again any time soon. Pet peeve of the moment.  I work in a "green" building, which means that the owner has reserved two parking places  right near the main entrance for "hybrid vehicles".  I drive a Prius, so I can park in the reserved spot, presuming no other hybrid owner gets there before me.  The building management is doing extensive renovations right now, and they've placed a dumpster right near the door.  Yeah, right in the spots usually reserved for hybrid cars.  No fair! Work has been very stressful.  New f...

I'd forgotten just how close Philadelphia is to New York.  It took exactly two hours to drive down there, a little longer to drive home because of the traffic. Can I say how much I love EZ Pass?  Saves time and money! I loved our hotel.  The Wyndham is right in the historic district.  We had a great room, with amenities including a coffeemaker, microwave and refrigerator, very convenient for a longer stay.  I enjoyed using the fitness center.  the on site parking was nice, the on site restaurant was merely adequate. Happiness is a disposable shower cap that comes with a terry cloth ponytail holder. We really packed a lot into our tourist weekend.  We never got a chance to do anything touristy during the week, the hospital stuff kept us very busy.  But just staying in the historic district, driving past the Liberty Bell every day, was an exciting change of pace.  I took photos with my point and shoot, Drew took photos with his phone, h...

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. Powerful words, the culmination of efforts that began in 1776.  The ideals of the Enlightenment, that the authority to govern comes, not from divine Providence, but from the consent of the governed.  The National Constitution Center  is a museum devoted to the United States Constitution, how it was drafted and adopted, how it was interpreted and amended, how it delegates authority to all three branches of government. The main gallery shows the hsitory of the constitution, starting with the Constitutional convention, and walks you through all eras of American history to show how the Constitution affected our government, and how social and politi...

If you do nothing else in the historic district  of Philadelphia, you must see Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, symbols of our country.  Independence Hall was the site of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, and the site of the Constitutional Convention in 1789. You need timed tickets to enter Independence Hall.  The tickets are free, but we paid a small service charge to order ours in advance.  The timed tour takes you into the two main rooms of Independence Hall -- the room where Congress met, and the court room across the hall.  Also on site is Congress Hall, where Congress met when Philadelphia was the capital of the United States, and a small museum with rotating exhibits -- we saw an exhibit on the Peales, artists who painted many portraits in colonial times and ultimately opened an art museum in Philadelphia. Independence Hall: George Washington: Congress Hall The court room And the room ...

  We were looking for a casual place to grab a quick bite.  This place was around the corner from our hotel.  Clearly a "mom and pop" type of place, very no-frills, just a handful of tables. The menu includes burgers, Greek specialties and hoagies and grinders (Can someone please explain to this New Yorker the difference between a "hoagie" and a "grinder"?  Back home we call them all "heros" or "subs".) I ordered the "spaghetti with veal parmigiana", a generous portion of spaghetti topped with a modest portion of veal, not bad for $9, and very tasty.  Garlic bread was tasty but not greasy. He had a burger -- the burgers are cooked fresh, but not to order -- they won't serve it medium rare.  The burger was topped with bacon and mozzarella cheese.  the fires were hot and crisp.  Cole slaw was merely OK. Another night we did take-out.  Loved my meatball grinder -- a huge sandwich -- but the mozzarella fries were ...

This is what we found right next door to our hotel: Congregation Mikveh Israel dates back to 1740.  Drew was especially proud, the congregation was founded by Sephardic Jews and he is of Sephardic heritage. The congregation honors Commodore Levy: Also honored is Haym Salomom, a Revolutionary War patriot. And there is also a monument to a hero of the raid on Entebbe, Jonathan Netanyahu. Yeah, that Netanyahu, brother of the current Prime Minister. And then we found another interesting statue a block away, in front of the Jewish museum.