I had to go into the office for a Very Huge Big Deal Global Brand Reveal Event, it was a well-communicated event invite and I truly have to say a great presentation. They did a good job and I think there are good changes ahead.
The presentation was 2 hours long from 11-1 and at the end everyone was starving.
Catered lunch was offered afterwards.
Except they didn't order enough food.
I wasn't even at the back of the line and it was all gone by the time I got to the front.
I heard they said "we didn't expect so many people to show up" but what do you expect when you have a HUGE BIG DEAL presentation and you are actively encouraging people to come to the office?
It's not right to feed some people and not others.
On a very basic level, this is a huge breech of basic hospitality and general human etiquette.
What I think is they just cheaped out with the budget and didn't care about the actual number of attendees.
Especially after what really was a very powerful presentation, it sat wrong with me.
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Fucking Pebbles peed on my bed again last night.
I guess she determined I was gone too much for her liking over the last three days.
Let me tell you, there is nothing like being completely exhausted after a long day, being clean and showered, and sliding into bed only to be met with a nasty cold puddle of cat pee which has wrecked your bed and everything must be stripped, enzyme-cleaned, and washed.
It takes three loads of laundry to wash my bed.
This has always been a problem with Pebbles but it's unpredictable.
These days it only seems to happen when she thinks Daya and I have been gone too much over a few days.
This time it was really good too, the food was seriously much better than July 4th.
I made spinach squares again, and i doubled the recipe.
They ALL disappeared! Very popular!
I cooked in the morning, then headed down and went back on patrol for a while.
I was out on the water for about 4 hours.
Pebbles did not help at all.
Mark and Bowie
It was very hot today, so after the public program ended and before the potluck, a bunch of us jumped in the river. Labor Day would not be complete without a river swim!
Bitz's dog is still getting accustomed to the water, and she towed me and Hector!
I think next summer she will be an official water dog.
Great Sunset
Hector and I have both sustained minor wounds from rescuing people this weekend.
The college friend I just reunited with gave me Spoon Angel in 1995 as a Christmas gift.
I have kept Spoon Angel over the years- or at least thought I did... I went looking for it last night and it wasn't where I thought it should be...
I DID find some other stuff......
Check this out, my Pratt bill from Freshman Fall Semester... it's fun to find this as my daughter is starting her Freshman Fall semester.
Times sure have changed though.....
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I also found these relics...
That 44mb Syquest drive I believe cost about $45, or thereabouts.
Adjusted for inflation today, is about $87.
For 44mb storage.
I still have the card from my 19th birthday.
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I found some pics of me and Scott from our Santa Fe trip, I think I was 19 at the time, I think it was Spring Break of my Sophomore year.
FUN FACT: I brought that tumbleweed home and kept it for years- all through the rest of Pratt and in my first apartment.
I finally tossed it when I moved.
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I still couldn't find Spoon Angel, which made me think maybe I didn't have it anymore, maybe it made me sad and I discarded it.... but I checked one more last box in the bottom of my closet and there it was!!!
6x8 oil, abut 3 hours
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This was a morning painting, then I went to the boathouse. While I was getting ready to leave, Daya texted me...... for reals I thought she was texting me by mistake.
..............!!!!!!!!!!!! wow, this makes me so happy!!!!
************ I was on safety patrol again today, I took Bitz's dog out for a little while.
Ugh my new lease came in the mail today, that always screws me up for a few days.
I am in a big (for NYC) not-fancy-at-all-not-renovated-for-decades 75 year old 1 bedroom rent-stabilized apartment (not to be confused with the old rent control, that's different) and... I hear about others' low rent-stabilized rents and I wonder how the hell people managed to keep that.
(FWIW, for the most part, I REALLY love my apartment.)
Because even after 17 years I'm still pretty close to market value.
A little below, yes, but not as much as you might think.
It's scary and it sucks.
My rent has gone up 47% since I moved into this apartment in 2006.
This is my number one fear and anxiety- the uncontained rising costs of housing.
I know landlords have costs too. The current system isn't beneficial to anyone- neither tenants nor landlords. The city should be offering subsidies and incentives on all rent-stabilized apartments.
But we do not have a government that cares about the general population.
Anyhow, enough on lease renewals and our TERRIBLE HORRIBLE STUPID OMG SELLOUT MAYOR ADAMS! I think the only people who actually like the guy are the corrupt real-estate interests and people making bank on corrupt policies.
A normal average grocery bill- not going out to eat- grocery- is on average $400/month per adult in NYC. The subway is now $2.90, unless you jump the turnstile, then it's free.
Oh well, NYC is such a shitshow but I can't imagine living anywhere else!
I don't know how to live anywhere else!
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So today I had to work until 1pm, then my manager said tae the afternoon off.
Cool! That gave me time to paint before our boathouse volunteer trip to NJ tonight.
I wasn't sure where I should paint so I went down to the boathouse to see if anyone was there.
Bitz was there, and Kedrin showed up a few minutes later.
I decided to just paint on the dock.
I struggled with a little weirdness from --- i don't even know how to say it- looking through and over my reading glasses, it was weird, i'll have to figure out how to adjust for that, it doesn't usually happen... and the light. especially when the building behind the boathouse was reflecting direct sunlight onto me, that wasn't fun, and the dock is wobbly from the water, but here is the painting:
8x10 oil
Pretty much right after I finished it was arrival time for our NJ trip to Surf City in NJ!
What a great trip.
We paddled across the river, ad dinner, and paddled back in the dark. (We put lights on ourselves and the boats.) Great company, great food, and a great paddle!
The city skyline is so beautiful and I never get tired of it.
