Riding video at Belleayre

We went up the Bellearye Mountain again. This time we brought a small camera a made a mini-move. The movie is of me going down a green trail and Evan followed me down with the camera in hand. I'm glad that Evan didn't wipe out.



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Bye-bye Puppy Place

Route 9 in Dutchess County is dotted with strip malls and destination malls. These malls have every type of stores to satisfy any consumers' needs, from the big name s like Macy's, Dick's, Wal-Mart to the mom and pop shops such as Futon King and Wits Construction.

Recently, I found out the Puppy Place has gone out of business and all its contents were removed from the store. The Puppy Place's business was exactly as the name implied. It sold puppies. Puppies were places in children's playpens on hard linoleum floor. Each playpen has a bowl of water, a bowl of food, a blanket, and some chew toys. Everytime we went in there to pet the puppies, parents and childrens ooh'd and ahh'd around each pen.

The place was clean and neat, but I still felt that something wasn't right. The puppies looked well-kept, well-feed, and cared for. But it's wrong to charge $1000 for a puppy when there are many puppies in the local ASPCA shelter about 4 miles away.

Now that the Puppy Place is out of business less than a year after it opened, maybe it's a sign that even in a community where every household has at least one dog, people are not going the shell out the big $$ for a life that was solely created to generate cash. I will miss going into the Puppy Place to pet the puppies every couple of weeks, at least I know now there will be one less place to keep the supply of puppy-mill puppies in my consumer-centric neighborhood.

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First ride of the season

Evan and I took a day off from work and headed to our local mountain, Belleayre Mountain in the Catskills. Evan bought new board, jacket, and pants, the whole package. I even bought a new jacket. We were totall psyched for the first ride. Belleayre was great last year when we went after the Valentine's Day snow fall.

The mountain was just as nice as I remembered. Since it was the Friday before the peaked season started, there were no more than 30 cars in the parking lot. The mountain belonged to us. Even with only 14 of the 47 trails open, the condition was great. Machine-made snow powdered the opened trails. Without the normal weekend crowds, the trails were powdery the entire day. I even had the opportunity to sneak behind the "closed trail" sign to get a run at the pure powder trail. Reminds me of Utah. Evan wasn't so fond of that run. He ran over couple of rocks and scratched up his new board. Oh well.

Belleayre is by far the better ski resort than Hunter Mountain which is about 20 minutes closer. I feel like everyone in NYC who ever ski'ed or thought of skiing go to Hunter. Everytime I went to Hunter Mountain, I can barely ride for more than 2 seconds before performing a giant slalom move to avoid a hapless skier.

Belleayre has more varied trails, friendlier staff, less crowd, and better terrain. It is definitely worth the extra 20 minutes drive.

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One week of $50

We survived, kind of. I didn't spend my $50 during the weekdays. I didn't even spend it on Saturday. However, Sunday, we went to BJ's to get some grocery and stuff. But, I saw something that I really really had to have, an Oregan Scientific digital thermometer that shows indoor and outdoor temperature on one screen. The information is sent wirelessly. Definitely cool and I've been wanting one for a while.

I gave in and bought one with the extra money I saved fro the $50. Granted, I overspent the $50. As I walked out of BJ's, I felt defeated. I lost, I spent money that I should not have.

New week is starting, another $50. Hope I can do better.

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NASCAR in NYC

On our hurried 10 minutes walk from Grand Central to work, we had to stop and gawk. 42nd Street was blocked off. Cars, trucks, and cabs were stopped from crossing one of the busiest street on the island. Evan, the forever rubber-necker insist that we stop and see what's going on. I, never want to be mistaken as a tourist, insisted we keep walking and get to work. My curiosity compromised. We walked along 42nd Street slowly. I figured, if nothing happens by the time we reach Broadway, whatever going to happen is not worth it.

When we reached the public library, across the street from the Grace Building, we heard it. Loud rumbling. Very loud rumbling. Evan wondered aloud what that sound can be. I thought, it's probably some construction truck on the corner of 7th and 42nd. Instead, we saw a race car, followed by a double-decker bus. Then, even louder rumbling. Now, I can tell that it's not a construction truck. It's engine reving up. Big engines.

Stock cars. A line of approximately 10 NASCAR stock cars drove slowly in front of us. The famous cars and drivers passed in front of us, reving their monster engines. It was definitely cool to see something like that on the humdrum commute to work. Of course, we had Evan's iPhone to take some pictures.

After I got to work, I did some quick search on NASCAR and NYC. I found out that today's event was the parade of cars (Victory Lap in New York). But I also found out that this might be the last time NASCAR will drive through NYC. Due to lack of interest and general NYC apathy toward this sport, the event will move to Las Vegas. I was glad that I caught a glimpse of the event. I am sad that it's leaving NYC. But, I can also understand. I was one of those New Yorkers that didn't know or cared if Evan didn't make us gawk.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/tom_bowles/11/27/banquet/

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Day 2 of $50 a Week

Well, we had our first hiccup in our experiment. I've been bringing lunch and breakfast to work for the first 2 days. I spent $0. Evan hasn't been so frugal. He bought coffee and lunch for these two days. He's making a decent sized dent into his $50.

Today, we wanted to buy grocery for dinner. Of course, instead of just getting the necessary provisions for dinner, we both chose snacks, chocolate cookies for me, cheese and pretzels for Evan. Question was, who is going to pay. In the past, one of us will pay since after enough times, we figured things will even out. Now, we have to decide.

I want to save part of my $50 for a decent bottle of wine this weekend, so I don't want to dip into my $50. Of course Evan don't want to spend more of his $50. So, we had to split everything in half. Never done that before. Let's see how tomorrow and the rest of the week pan out.

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$50 a Week

We are going to do it. We will live on $50 a week each, starting tomorrow, 11/26. We went out today to run some errands and came home with stuff. Stuff we don't really need. Since we can afford them and they were there, so we bought them. It's now at a point that we have to pro-actively limit ourselves.

The rules are $50 have to cover food, entertainment, and any extra spending. Mortgage, utilities, insurance, Christmas gifts, and car payments will not count. This will hopefully keep us from going to dinner just because, buying whatever strikes our fancy, and stop the "buy buy buy" mentality.

We will start this experiment for the next 30 days.

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Flushing, Queens, NY

Okay, Flushing, Queens is not quite a travel destination by any means. But, traveling is a method to experience different culture and a way to be outside of one's comfort zone. And, Flushing Queens definitely fit the bill. Even though I grew up in Flushing, I've moved away from that area for nearly 20 years. So, every time I visit Flushing, it's like going to a new place.

Well, today is the first Saturday after Thanksgiving. That's the day my family gather in my grandmother's house for a whirlwind lunch. Everyone show up, set out the food, sit around the table, eat, chit-chat, and we are out. All within 2 hours. None of the niceties like Evan's family. No bother with the hors d'Oeuvres, no liquor, no hours of catching up. It's a different culture.

Exactly what a quick jaunt to a new culture is suppose to be.

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Black Friday

Yes, I participated. I shopped. Didn't want to be part of the big spending horde storming the local mall. My local mall is only 5 minutes away. It was calling me. So, I went.

The bargains were there. 40% off on sweaters in Old Navy, 30% off on dress shirts in Banana Republic, $20 off on all jeans in Express. I have never seen so many people at the Poughkeepsie Galleria. It was kind of fun to be part of the great big American Consumerism tradition.

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Oktoberfest, Munich, Germany, 2007

Oktoberfest was on my mind, but not on the initial itenary. The travel agent mentioned that all hotels were booked and anything we can find would be extremely expensive. So, when we had one extra day after the bike tour, we jumped on the opportunity. About 40Euro, 70 minute train ride, we are in Munich. Another 10 minutes walk, we are in the middle of Oktoberfest, 2007.

The sound and the smell on the fairground reminded me of a traveling fair; hotdogs, pretzels, ferris wheels, puke inducing rides. But, beyond the usual fairground staples, massive tents poked through. Tents, more like giant wooden barns with local brewery names and colors occupied majority of the fairground.

It's took some doing to get into one of the tents. We gave up on finding a seat within the second we walked in. The humanity that filled that tent. Men and women, beer and more beer. Of course, we had to join in. Even though the beer cost twice as much. But, gosh darn it, we drank a beer at the real Oktoberfest!

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Vienna, Austria

Vienna is the first stop of our Bavarian trip. We flew from NY JFK to Vienna, with a stopover at Frankfurt Germany. Red-eye flight, my favorite. Getting from the Viennese airport to downtown Vienna was extremely easy. A quick 4Euro trip on the CAT and we were in the center of town. I don't think we had to pay the 4Euro since no one came along to collect our ticket.

We stayed at the Hotel Goldene Spinne (Hotel Golden Spider) near the center of town. The hotel was about 5 minutes walk from the main tourist area, Stephanedom. With its proximity and cleaniness, the 65Euro a night was a good deal in my book. The bathroom in that establishment was awesome. The bathroom was almost worth the money.

First meal in Austria, horse goulash and beer. Yes, horse. I ate horse meat. Tasted a little like lamb and beef. It was good, and it was cheaper than beef goulash. Go figure. One thing I never anticipated or warned by the guide books, pushy Mozarts. Everywhere we went, someone is dressed like Mozart handing out pamplets or coupons for the night's Mozart concert. Mozart and Vienna, sure. But pushy Mozarts in every corner? That's worst than cheesy souvenir shops.

The best food in Vienna was the "hotdog" from the sausage stand. The only similarity between the Viennese "Hotdog" and the dirty water dog in NYC has a sausage in a bun. That's where the similarity ends. The stand is a permanent street structure, like a newpaper stand in NYC. There were at least 10 different type of sausages. I picked the spicy one. The vendor cuts the top of baguette, inserts a heating rod into the baguette. The rod creates the hole for the sausage and toasts the baguette from the inside. He inserts the cooked sausage into the freshly toasted bun, poured some cheese in the hole, and voila!. Hotdog. It was the best thing I have tasted yet. And it was cheap. Perfect as a quick snack or cheap dinner.

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Libby - Guilty!

Scooter Libby is found guilty of leaking the identity of Valerie Plame, the CIA agent who's the wife of a anti-Bush politician. Libby was the chief of staff of VP Dick Cheney. This whole thing just filled with DC intrigue and political conspiracy.

The maximum jail time for Libby is 30 years. However, I don't think he'll do more than 2. He and his lawyers of course started the appeals process. That will take awhile. If the appeals fells, Libby will probably will not see much of the inside of a prison. When Bush leaves office in 2008, Libby's pardon will be the first "to-do" on his list.

American politic is so predictable and unsavory.

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Wife Murderer and Butcher

Stephen Grant confessed to killing and dismembering his wife. The police found the wife's torso in their house garage. According to his confession to police, Grant killed and dismembered his wife, Tara Grant. He tried to hide her body in a nearby park. However, when the cops started looking for evidence in the part, Stephen Grant retrieved the torso of the body and hid it in the garage.

Didn't Stephen Grant ever watched CSI or Forensic Files? Couple of episodes of these shows will give anyone ideas on what the cops will look for. A few more episodes will definitely give a large pool of how where to dispose a body.

 Granted, I doubt I will be able to commit the perfect murder and dispose of the body without the professional crime scene investigation team pinpointing me as the culprit. But, I think hours of CSI and Forensic files have given me many do's and don'ts of how to commit a crime.

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Market's Ups and Downs

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped (crashed) 400 plus points yesterday. The largest drop for the last four years. Well, since the last time the Dow has moved so much, I have been certified to be more of a business person. I have my nifty MBA degree from a fancy university. I can talk the talk of an educated investor. My first thought was, my investments!Okay, not really much of an investment. At least not in the stocks and bonds. I have a nice little 401K through work that is set for long term forecast and return. I'm still pretty far from retirement age. So, I don't have any worries about my 401K going down the crapper.But, I checked anyway. And yes, it went down. But no, in the whole scheme of things, yesterday's market problem will not affect my 401K.My educated brain has already told me that. My emotional gut wouldn't listen.

I wonder, how many people my age reacted like me. Checked their 401K, mutual funds, etc. basing on one day's activity. Even though the market activity was shocking and devastating to some. Reallocating is probably unnecessary. It was just a market correction. Well, brain, tell gut!

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$0.41 for a Letter

The US Postal Service suggested to increase the first class stamp by 2 cents to $0.41. I think the last time the rate increased was early 2006. I don't remember because I don't use stamp anymore. The last time I bought stamps was before Christmas of 2006 so I can send a few Christmas card through the mail. Majority of my holiday greetings were done via emails or ecards. Only a few people, like my grandmother, still uses snail mail cards.Â

 My normal needs for stamps have all been replaced by online bill paying and emails too. In total, my annual stamp usage is about 20. I wonder if I'm the norm or the leading edge of technophiles.

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Rats, Rats, and more Rats

Rats and cockaroaches were filmed running through a KFC/Taco Bell restaurant in New York City's Greenich area. Local news crew interviewed people on the street making statements that they will not return to the establishment ever again.

 I have been to that specific fast food joint before, during my graduate school days. Since it is located 5 blocks away from NYU and right next to the subway entrance, it was extremely convenient. I always thought the place was a little dirtier than other food places in NYC. But, seeing the rats scurrying around the seats made me gag.

Beyond the disgusting images, my thought moves to the franchisee. The location is a prime spot, on a main avenue, near an international University with tens of thousands students.  That's on top of foot traffic in the area. The franchisee must have paid a handsome amount for the licensing and rent for the location. How can a business person not care about the investment that much to let it be tarnished to the point where recovery will be impossible.

I doubt the KFC/Taco Bell will be there for long, even if the health inspectors give it a clean bill of health. That location will have a hard time attracting another food services entity. It will turn into another tattoo parlor, sex novelty shop, or another Baby Gap.

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Prince Harry off to Iraq

It's official, Prince Harry will be sent to Iraq along with his Blues and Royals squad. British officials have already announced that Prince Harry will not be assigned to any duty that will attract attention and pose additional danger to his fellow squad members. To me, that sounds like Prince Harry will be in the command center somewhere and never really expose himself to any danger and see real action.

 Of course it is great propaganda for the royal family to have the third in line to the throne to demonstrate his allegiance to his men. Historically, war heroes became kings and emperors. Alexander, Julius Caesar, just to name a few. Staying within the British history, Richard the Lion Heart was in battle majority of his reign. Looking even in the more recent history, Harry's uncle, Prince Andrew flew battle helicopters in the Faukland War.Â

 I support Prince Harry going to Iraq. It's his duty to be there. The British people and people around the world will see him as a leader, a warrior, and a man worthy of the royal title.Â

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Apologies from Jet Blue

 I'm so special. Today, I received a personal apology letter from David Neeleman, Founder and CEO of Jet Blue. He apologized for the delay and the inconvenience his company caused me over the Valentine's Day flight delay in the Northeast that cascaded to the rest of the country.Â

Okay, it wasn't really a personal letter. It's a form letter sent out to everyone who belongs to the Jet Blue database. I and about several million people received the letter. Jet Blue's attempt at winning back their customer and rebuilding their brand and reputation has been a big talking point on many cable news and business new channels.Â

 Personally, I appreciate Jet Blue's effort. I wasn't effected by the delay since I was no where near an airport during Valentine's Day and the days after. I did read about the passengers' account of being stuck in the sweltering plane sitting on the tarmac for 10 hours. I can empathize. I was stuck in a plane for extra 3 hours circling the San Francisco airport because there was cloud cover over the landing strip. A cloud! A cloud stopping a 747 from landing, sure. I don't remember what airline I was on, but it didn't apologize or make any effort to ease my dislike of it.Â

 I have always like Jet Blue's service and value. Although heir effort to clean up their tarnished reputation has an eye on the bottom line, I'm appreciative of their effort. Not too many companies take the extra steps to make me (their customer) feel important. And, it worked. I will continue to include Jet Blue in the pool of airlines to use whenever I need to travel.Â

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