So my career nearly took a wild turn this week... I got a call from Liz in Fordham's Career Planning office. We worked together on the mentoring program and she was calling to tell me that she was leaving to go work for Seton Hall.

Now I had said before that I would love to do Liz's job... she's the Assistant Director of Special Programs or something like that, she she has a lot of relative flexibility in terms of new things she can come up with and run. Admittedly, what I'd really love to do is to run a career group, but if I were to jump early and make a switch, hers is the kind of job I would switch into, rather than to an employer relations position or something where I don't get as much student interaction.

When she called, I got very anxious. I wasn't really prepared for such an opportunity to arrive this early--although I knew she would probably leave Fordham within a short period of time. I just didn't expect it to be a year after she started. Without hesitation, though, I asked her to transfer me to Angela, who runs the office. I made up some excuse like I need to get back to her about something. I didn't know whether or not it would be rude to get right up in there and start circling around her job like a vulture, and when Liz is concerned, I can never figure out when I'm being obnoxious or not, so I figured I'd play it safe. As soon as Angela got on the phone, it just poured out of me:

"I just spoke to Liz. She told me she was leaving. I'd like to be considered for that position."Angela seemed pretty surprised, and her first response was, "Do you know how much it pays?" Now, I'm well aware that I'm not going to make private equity money working for a university. I've already mentally waged that battle and talked myself down to a certain level. Pace had a similar position open earlier in the summer, and their guidence on the website was 44-56k. That's a big stepdown, but its doable. Having no reason to believe that schools would be different on their payscale, I said that I had some idea of where it was. Well, turns out there is a difference--a pretty significant one. This job was going to pay 32k.

"Hmm... wow... 32. Jeez.. I wasn't really expecting that."

So 32k pretty much takes the job off the radar screen. I would have taken in the low 40's, but for someone with three years experience in finance and a whole bunch of student experience, that's just not a reasonable salary. Now, Deirg, who will probably wind up applying for this job, would argue its reasonabilty compared to the scale that she gets paid now, but her salary's not reasonable either. Just because that's what people are getting paid doesn't make their salaries reasonable. No one with a college degree two years out of college in NYC should be making less than 40... ideal maybe, but that just seems fair.

Anyway, this leads into my longer discussion of the day--the fact that Fordham shortchanges for the same position relative to Pace. This has been one of my biggest pet peeves with this school as an alumni for years. Like the Mets, Fordham is willing, time after time, to shortchange themselves to satisfy the short term, without thinking about the long term. Take the Yankees, for example, who went out and got Jon Lieber, even though he was going to be on the shelf for year, so they could have him for the year after. Geniuses.

Fordham, on the other hand, constantly shoots itself in the foot worrying about the short term. Take this job, for example. Career planning, whether a liberal arts school likes it or not, is probably the most important department within the university. No matter what kind of education you are given, moral values you are endoctrinated with, social lessons you are taught, if you can't develop a platform on which you can take those lesses to the outside world--be it with via a career, a calling, graduate studies, etc.--that's all going to go to waste. What someone is able to turn their education into more directly impacts a student's impression of what they got from school more than anything else. Show me a student in a really crappy job that they hate who really feels like their school really prepared them well for life.

Not only that, someone's career success, especially in the near term, strongly dictates whether or not they are going to give back to their school. If you are living paycheck to paycheck and just scraping by, or you don't really like where you've wound up, how likely are you going to want to contribute back to the unviversity, versus someone who feels like they hit the ground running in an area that they like.

That being said, that fifteen grand a year that Fordham will save each year definately doesn't help them in the long term. They couldn't afford to keep Liz on, and that's just going to happen again and again. Regardless of whether you can get someone quality in that role for that pay, you have to admit that the turnover it creates is disruptive to the group. I mean, GM went through this thought process with the private equity group. We're not being spun off just so we can make more money--its about retaining the best people and a group that works well together. In the end, being cheap on salary hear affects student impressions of the group as a whole. Since no one ever polls the alumni base, they don't realize it, but I would love to see what the numbers look like on the Career Planning group... and its not just Fordham. University's on the whole are much more apt to put money into their basketball coach than they are into the departments that touch the everyday lives of students.

This happens in other departments in universities around the country, as well at Fordham... with the financial folks that students seem to have issues with every year regarding their financial aid, bills, etc. to the residential life group--whose farewell to the students comes in a room damage bill. Think about it. When you leave the school, the last thing you get from them, after four years of paying 35k a year, is a bill for 50 bucks for some piece of damage you have no way to defend yourself against, and no way to see if it ever got fixed. You just feel taken by it... in a way that definately irks you enough not to make you want to give back to the school. If I were in charge of a school, for any damage bill $50 or less for seniors, I would send a note to the student saying, "There was a small amount of damage repaired in your room (note here that we should only be billing students for repaired damage not assessed damage). It has been our privilage to be a part of your education, and so we are waving this charge so that we can maintain a positive connection to you going forward as a member of the alumni community. However, we are still incurring this cost to do repairs and, would instead, appreciate your continued support of the University by means of a donation as an alumni for this amount."

First off, I think people would be blown away by that move... in a positive way and I think a lot of people would respond with a donation. Secondly, what you lose in fines, you gain by not losing future donations because people are pissed off about small amounts of room damage that just never get fixed. In addition, in the case of someone who does donate, wouldn't you rather have that money coming into the University as an alumni donation than a room fine? Room fines dont' count for anything, whereas getting that number up of how many alumni give back is critical to the ratings of the university.

One move Fordham has made along these lines is not charging for transcripts anymore, which follows the same logic. There's no need to keep nickel and diming people over their lifetime, which only goes to hurting the steam of potential donations.

Finally, and I've been harping about this for years... the biggest misstep I can see currently is the alumni directory. A few weeks ago, I got an online notice saying that they are publishing a physical directory and they wanted me to update my contact information. ???? What year is this??? An actual book. Who the hell is going to use this? Oh, it comes in a CD, too? This is utterly ridiculous. My HIGH SCHOOL has a searchable online directory that allows me to find people in my industry, people that went to the same college as me, etc. Its such an incredibly useful tool to stay connected to the university and for career connections. So many schools are moving in this direction and it blows my mind that we're still printing out a book that will be obsolete fast. They can say its a cost factor, but if you just made an online directory where you can look up all the same information, and only gave those Fordham alumni that financially support the school access to it, I think a lot more people would give back.

But you know what...  I still love Fordham, and that's why I complain.  You don't complain about things unless you have high expectations.  I still got a wonderful education, met great people there, and had access to lots of fantastic resources.  If I didn't love the school and think it was a great place to go, I wouldn't be complaining about it.  I mean, where else can you get a real campus in New York City?  Perhaps Columbia...  but I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to throw baseballs around their stuffy greenery.

Alright. That's all I have for now. I think they should do an alumni forum--the same way they have a student speakout, or at least, had one. People could come and ask questions about the direction of the school, give feedback, etc. I think a lot of people whould show, and if nothing else, it makes people feel like they care about the direction of the university.

Oh, and by the way.. its starting to get kinda cold out. I've been waking up to like 60 degree temps... and my apartment keeps pretty cool, so I think its even less than that. We're starting to talk about when the last day at the boathouse is... 10/15. brr.... That's got to be cold when you get out of the water.

I have been so overwhelmed at work, its ridiculous. When you work in an environment where things just need to get done, yet there isn't generally a lot of strict assignment as to who is supposed to get them done, you tend to get the short end of the stick if you are the type of person who won't let balls drop. Some people are fine to walk out before questions are answered, things are taken care of, etc. I'm not one of those people.

I'll tell you one thing, I'm glad to have Jeff the Intern around, that's for sure. Its like having a tree chipper in my office. Stuff comes in that I don't have time for and I just shove it to his side and listen to that immediate "neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrr" sound as he works. Good stuff.

Lately, I've been quite the flake when it comes to these sorts of things. Pursuing stuff, then pulling back. Being indecisive. Rethinking stuff from the past, and contradicting myself as well. One person I'll knock for being too aggressive and someone else I'll knock for their own passiveness. What's going on here? What am I even looking for?

It definitely reinforces the notion that the search for others is really a search for self, because the times in my life where I've been most clear about what I've wanted, are also the times in which I experienced the most personal clarity. In the last six months, personal clarity has been muddied by potential moves, a floundering book, new work responsibility, monitoring programs, family stuff, etc... and thus I've been rather flakey to people personally. Its not an excuse. I'm just pointing out the causal relationship, or what seems to be the cause.

At most issue is what level of commitment, and just really participation I want from someone else. First off, I'm generally not someone who has a lot of free time in general, so its easy to say I just want someone informal, casual, etc. But, to be honest, now I think that sometimes casual stuff takes more time than serious stuff, because casual stuff always seems to imply more than one person. Its a mirage that casual is easier, I think, because that never seems to be the case. Plus, you need to spend that much more time convincing someone you're not just using them, because they are not backstopped by some formal relationship.

Also at issue is how I want the other person reacting to me. On one hand, I think it would be hard for me to deal with the pressure of someone pursuing me hard, asking for all sorts of time. On the other hand, I do feel like I deserve someone who at least asks. Aren't I good enough to create a need in someone else to see me all the time? Who wants someone that acts as if they can take you or leave you? Sure, that's convenient from a life management perspective, because you know you can cancel on them, move them around, etc... but is love the kind of thing you want to be so convenient? I think its a lot like getting median venture capital GPs. If you're going to be in it, you want top quartile, otherwise its not worth it.

Part of it has to do with the idea of chemistry vs. criteria. I'd be interested if people had comments here. Think of it the spectrum as, on one end, you meet someone and before you know it, you're smooching away and lots of things are happening. You're laughing and being cute, and as far as you can tell, you've really hit it off with someone, without really knowing a lot of the details of someone's life. On the other hand, you meet someone and really invest the time to get to know them before anything happens. You learn to appreciate what kind of a person they are, if you share the same values, etc, before you discern whether or not you have a match. Which one is more true? Does chemistry exist, or is it just lust based on perception that may not actually be truth? Or, is getting the details of someone's life a cold, logical way to arrive at something that should be based on gut feeling and emotion? Do you fall for someone with your heart or with your head?

Oh, and I just learned there is a Blog spellcheck. Nice... now you'll all think I'm smaart.

Lastly... here's the last GM Softball news:

Miracle Motors Down, but Not Out, After Skid Reaches Three

After eight games, General Motors was sitting pretty at 6-2, only a game out of first place. After a 2-10 season, the team started looking at the standings, and counting down to the playoffs.
Three heartbreaking losses later, capped off by a 6-4 loss last night to Metro 53, GM should be completely out of the hunt. However, the Northern Division has completely collapsed over the past four weeks, and GM finds itself with a glimmer of hope. Four teams have clinched the six playoff spots, and another six teams are vying for the last two. For GM to get in, the Law Sox need to lose at least two of their last four games, which will be mostly rainout makeups. In addition, two of White Case, Oz Capital, and the Clinchers have to lose their final games.
Of course, for all this to work out GM needs to actually win its final game and stop the second half slump. After scoring a total of seven runs in its last two games, one thing that will have to happen is for the bats to wake up. Mike D'Annunzio scored the team's first run again early on, but the offense would slow to a crawl until late. Ted Feury kept GM in the game, holding Metro to four in five, and John Cross notched a scoreless sixth. Strong defense by third baseman Mark Attanasio and Gold Glove first baseman John Stevens also helped. GM got a step closer when Charlie O'Donnell scored in the fifth on an Alexis Kramer sac fly, making it 4-3. In the sixth, Sam Pollotta launched a huge RBI triple to tie the game up, but that would be the end of the GM scoring. Metro 53 pushed two runs across the board, one on a monster blast to left center, which was that Metro hitter's second time going yard.
In their last at bat, GM failed to replicate its early season last inning heroics, and failed to score. They will attempt to finish the season strong on 8/19, and all they can do in the meantime is hope for the misfortune of others.

OK... so PS, I just went to go post this and it had timed out, and I almost thought I lost the whole thing. I would have been REALLY pissed and probably never blogged again. You guys came really close to losing me.

Lots to post about...   Let's recap...

Well, the Mets have gone to shit, and actually, they've been shit all year.  Its just that the Braves have decided they don't want to be shit anymore and now the Muttsies find themselves an insurmountable 4 games back.  Insurmountable in July?  Have you seen them play lately?   

And.. can I spew on John Franco for a moment?   And no, I'm not going to say he's a nice guy.  Well, he's nicer than Carl Everett, but who cares?  I don't wanna see nice guys play--I want winners, and this guy has been the Number One Loser reliever for the last 20 years.  I can't even figure out why he was a closer for so long.  Its like when you play softball with people you don't know and one guy tells you he plays thirdbase.  Yet, when he goes out there, he can't even make the throw across the diamond.  Just because you say you're something doesn't make you squat.  I think over the years the Mets could have had anyone closing for them and they could have been better...   at least in the regular season anyway.  As for big games, who knows, but this guy blew saves left and right... and not tough saves.  He'd just come in with none on in the ninth and make his own mess.  In fact, at times it seemed the only guy he could get out was Barry Bonds.  And now, he makes over a million a year and he's taking up a spot that maybe could be filled by some up and comer in the minors. 

Frankly, I don't understand how he gets anyone out.  He throws two pitches.  A fastball over the plate, and a changeup in the dirt.  If I was facing him, and I saw an offspeed pitch, I just wouldn't swing at it.  He never throws it for a strike.  Wait on the fastball.. that's all you have to do.

When David Cone realized he couldn't pitch anymore, he quit.  Sure, he came back, but he came back when the Mets really didn't have a lot of other options, so realistically, he wasn't keeping anyone back...   oooh Mike Bascik.  Big deal.  John Franco is done and he's been done since... oooh...  1993.  They never should have traded Randy Myers, and the idea that some washed up third tier closer is their Captain is ridiculous.  I don't care if he wears a sewer worker T-shirt under his jersey and his dad got swollowed by an alligator.  You're a bum!   

Ok... best line of the day from Thursday's lunch with the team. 

Marcy was talking about being really sensitive to smell when she was pregnant...   Charles chimes in and says, "Oh yeah, pregnency hightens all of your senses."

Jeff the Intern quickly follows with, "Speaking from experience, Charles?" 

Without hesitation, Charles responds:

"People like you never read anything and the some total of your knowledge of Biology comes from your own experience in the bathroom."

Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Jeff the Intern.

In other news, I'll be implementing the following changes in my life:

1.  No more random first dates just for the heck of it.  I waste too much time going out with people on dates that go nowhere with people I'm not even that excited about.  I need to focus more on friends, and people who I actually like.

2.  Go to bed earlier.  11:30-midnight will be the new bedtime during the week.  I waste at least a good hour of sleep doing nothing but chatting online, watching TV, or just sitting around.  Its effected my time at the gym and my focus at work.

3.  A few more hours at work.  I have a lot of stuff on my plate and I haven't been executing lately.  More hours and a little more focus wouldn't hurt.

4.  More focused workout routine.  I've been going to the gym, but there hasn't been a theme around my workouts, as opposed to when I was training for baseball.  I need to create a schedule to follow of what I do when. 

5.  More time on the book.   I need to get this book done, and if Mary the Publisher doesn't pan out, I need to hit the ground running on self publishing.   

Alright.. that's all for now...   I have a funny story from going out the other night, but I need to work on #5 for now.

So its 7:30A.M. and I'm at work.  I had to come in and finish a memo so it could be on the CEO and COO's desks when they walked in.  I don't really mind coming in early.  I miss my gym routine, but I'll go after work now.  I would never go in the middle of the day and shower there, because, for some reason, you never really quite stop sweating even after you take a shower at the gym... then you get that weird watery sweat that trickles down your forehead when you think you're done.  Trust me, I know this stuff... I'm half Italian.  As a nationality, we sweat second to none.  Now, I have a few moments, so I'll just chat here for a bit.

Last night I went to the Philharmonic's Concert on the Great Lawn.  I have to say, there are very few things in this city I enjoy more.  Its really something to be laying down on a blanket in the middle of the lawn, surrounded by thousands of other quiet people, under the stars, listening to classical music.  People bring wine, cheese, cookie pies... all sorts of stuff.  I brought two pizzas and wound up sharing the leftovers with some of the concertgoers around us.  I couldn't believe how excited this old lady was next to us over a slice of pepperoni.  People love free stuff. 

So it was me, Deirg, Jeff the Intern, and basically a group of Jeanne's friends.  (I always go to call her "Jean", but she pronounces it "Jeannie".)  Jeanne did the mentoring program and now she plays on the GM softball team.  I had a lot of fun, and it was really good to have Deirg out with me.  I'm always cautious there, because I don't tend to mix worlds with Deirg.  Its not that I don't want people mixing with her... she's a lovely person.  I love her...  in fact, everyone loves her.  My family loves her more than they love me, I think, which is ironic, because they think she saved my life when I had lyme.  She's my best female friend and she's never even met half of the people I hang out with.  I actually wish she met more of my friends, but she's... well, kinda shy or intimidated around new people.  She's just more content to hang out with her closer friends than make idle chit chat with new people, and to a certain extent, I can appreciate that.  It just makes it hard when I'm more of an idle chit chat guy and all the people I know are randomly dispersed.

So, I said the funniest thing yesterday about Martha Stewart:

"Its only a matter of time before she stabs someone in the shower with a pinecone shiv."

I'm seriously considering putting some material together to do some amateur standup.  I think I have some great material.

A few routines:

--New Yorkers needing to step in front of the furthest person out when they wait at a streetcorner.  By the time the tenth person gets there, they're three quarters of the way across the street already. 

--Confirmation numbers:  No one on the face of the earth has ever actually needed to use a confirmation number for anything.  Why?  Because whatever system they have that uses a confirm number, it also has your NAME!

I don't really have more on Martha, but I think that pinecone shiv thing is good enough to build around.  :)

So the last softball game went much better... In fact, it nearly went perfectly. We won 16-1 in a mercy rule shortened five innings, and the only run they scored was on the last play of the game, where the next runner they tried to send home got cut down at the plate by yours truly. :)

Anyway... Its 3AM on July 5th, and I'm eating an apple w/peanut butter. (Skippy Super Chunk) I've been spending more and more time, as I did tonight, with people I've met kayaking. I think what I like about spending time with these people is that it expands your social horizon--challenging you to mesh with people you would otherwise have no social connection to. I mean, when I go to ILPA conferences or Fordham Young Alumni events, there are certain shared sets of circumstances that give you something to work with--social training wheels so to speak. Here, there's nothing of the sort, and the extent to which I know zero of the lives of the people around me overwhelms me (in a good way, I think).

As I was driving home, there was a car in front of me whose license plate said, "Howyedoin".

I think pretty good.

So here I am again... at DTUT.   Its been a long week at work, and an equally long week in the dating world...   Makes me think of that George Carlin line about the "near miss."  "Near miss" would come to mind, except that Carlin is right--a "near miss" is a hit.  You see a car accident and someone says, "those two cars.. they nearly missed each other.  Good thing the roads were slippery otherwise they might have missed."  I'm tired and I just feel like relaxing on my own.  There's a married couple at the table next to me playing Scrabble.  One of the words they've spelled is "shit."  Potty mouthes!  Anyway, Sue and Fil had their annual Summer Kickoff at 13 yesterday.  I hung around for a little while.... not nearly as many people as their were last year.  Not sure why. 

There were lots of high school kids in here before...  I wish I knew about this place in high school.  I would have lived here after school on a Friday night.  There are a lot of things I know about now that I wish I knew in high school.  Did I mention that this kayaking thing is one of the best things to ever happen to me?  I feel like it makes me a lot more interesting...

"What did you do today?"

"Oh, I was kayaking on the Hudson River." 

Its also a good way to judge people... based on their response.  The kind of people I wanna hang out with think its really awesome, or they can't believe its free.  Other people say, "Isn't the water dirty?"   The water's not dirty at all...   bacteria-y, chemical-y.. maybe... but actual dirt?  I have not seen a lot of dirt floating around the water.

Alright... back to my book.  Its been a couple of weeks since my lunch with Mary...  Obviously, I'm not as optimistic about my chances that she'll be interested in publishing me now.

I had the most fantastic weekend... Friday night was the Fordham alumni boat cruise. Its funny, because everyone always asks whether or its fun or not. I never thought of anything as being fun on its own... unless its like a show or performance--something we're I'm not interacting. For an event, I really think the fun is what you make of it, and I definately made this fun. I had a great conversation with someone the entire cruise about family, careers, values, etc... it was just a very real talk, something I haven't had with someone for that long in a while. Very cool stuff. Brown and Matt came, too, which was bizzare, because they never come to anything. Anyway... the views were fantastic and so was the company. We went past the Boathouse, too, which was cool.
Speaking of the Boathouse, this kayaking thing has seriously been like the best thing to ever happen to me. I absolutely love it... I spend as much time as I can there, and look forward to it the whole week. The people who volunteer are just a great bunch of people. Its a really diverse group... and its weird. Very few people talk about what they do or where they come from, but it doesn't seem to matter. Its just this place where people have come together to have fun and facilitate other people's fun. Jeff Reals keeps saying its a cult... and it kind of is.. but its a happy cult that kayaks. If I had to choose a cult, that's the kind of cult I want to be in.
Anyway... Saturday, I was out from 8AM to 2AM... I started by going down to the boathouse to try and get on the morning trip, which I did. We went up a little past Chelsea piers with Mike and Janice and came back... neat little trip. When I got back, Andie was there. We hung out the whole day, and then added Amar and Jay to our posse and headed out after kayaking. The four of us went down to this outside bar/resteraunt down by Battery Park where they park yachts... right by the Winter Garden. We must have been there for like five hours... totally laughing our asses off the whole time. Amar is a total nutcase, and he and Andy were pretty drunk. We were inviting everyone to come down to Kayak. It was a riot. Then, we took the SI ferry at 11:30 just to see the downtown skyline... and to satisfy Andie's touresty curiousity. It turned out to be a great trip...

Sunday was fun, too, except for the part where this guy took a seizure on one of the kayaks and nearly drowned. It was totally bizzare, and scary to watch. This guy in his 40's and 50's was paddling back to the dock, when he suddenly started convulsing and bounced himself right out of the kayak and into the water face down. I screamed, "That guy is having a seizure!" Everyone had seen it... I was up at the pier eating my lunch. His friends in a double hopped off and pulled his head up, and one of the other volunteers paddled out to get him. They pulled himm out pretty quickly, and eventually he came to. I had called 911 and ran to get the ambulance, which had stopped in the wrong place a few blocks up. Scary stuff... he turned out to be ok, but I don't think I'll ever forget that image and sound of him shaking and falling in the water.

Sunday night, I had dinner with Liz, which was great. Its really nice that we're friends again, almost as if our debacle of a relationship never happened... Anyway.. this is the abridged version. The face to face story is longer, but I'm sleepy and this is long overdue as it is.

So the foreign girl at the counter at DTUT has a boyfriend...   some greasy looking guy... sort of takes something out of our little exchanges when I get my green tea.  Oh well.

So I've had a really great Memorial Day Weekend so far.  Friday night was a long overdue cleaning of my apartment.  I threw out five big garbage bags of...  just random crap.  I seriously have issues about holding on to stuff.  When I moved out of Fordham, my desk alone produced about three for four garbage bags of stuff, which is difficult to comprehend given the mass of the desk and the known and accepted laws of phyisics.

On Saturday, I was back at the Boathouse.  The water was choppy and the wind was whipping up pretty good, but a handful of brave souls still came to kayak.  One girl took a nice flop into the water by the dock, and I pulled her out by her lifejacket like I was one of those shipping cargo cranes... up, over, and down.  Mary came down...  I don't think I mentioned Mary and Andy.   Mary is this english woman who came down last weekend for the first time.  We started talking and it turns out she works for a publishing company.  She's going to take a look at my book and everything... how do you like that for dumb luck.  Kayaking:  fun AND productive.  Anyway... she gave me her e-mail address and number.  Then, later on, another woman comes down and tells me her friend just called her and told her how much fun she had, so she had to go.  It turns out that it was Mary, and so this girl Andy and I started chatting it up.  She was incredibly cool, and after she kayaked, she actually hung out to volunteer almost the whole day.  I think she's be a lot of fun to hang out with, but I'll wait until Mary looks at my book before I make any move that might be perceived as sketchy.  You never know and can't be too careful.

Anyway, from kayaking, I went to the Big East Baseball Finals in Bridgewater, NJ.  Brian and Rich met me at the entrance to the Holland Tunnel, and I drove out to Jersey.  They had the game in an Atlantic League ballpark, which is one of those Independent minor league teams.  I'll tell you.. it was such an enjoyable experience--$8 tickets, $2 for parking.  I'd easily go back again.  Brian's brother Jimmy was there with his wife.  I swear, Jimmy makes me laugh more than any other person I've ever met.  Something about the dryness and deadpan delivery I just find endlessly amusing.  His wife asks him where the bathrooms are... and its a dinky little stadium where everything is like two feet away, and he goes, "Its on the Concourse Level."   Hysterical.

Anyway, after the game, I hung out with Anna...   everyone else pretty much left for the weekend, so Anna and I were left to chill Saturday night and Sunday.  Saturday night we... painted.  It was bizzare.   She doesn't have any brushes or canvas, so she just paints on cardboard.  She can be so weird sometimes, but I guess it was cool.  We had nice conversation and it was just good company.  I left and came back the next morning for a random roadtrip.  We just decided we were going to go on a driving adventure, and somehow, that turned out to be a search for my grandmother's old country house in Greenwood Lake.  I drove up 17, and somehow I found it.  It was really strange being up there, because everything seemed so much smaller than I remember it--meaning I was obviously pretty small the last time I was up there.  Two different people had occupied the house since we sold it about ten years ago, but it was kept up very well.  When I got up there, I called my grandmother to tell her were I was and she got a little choked up.  Still, she was really glad to hear that the house had been kept in such good condition.

What was really disappointing, though, was when we walked down to the beach on the lake.  There was this little pier that they built about 20 years ago when I was younger and they put in sand behind it.  It was small but cute.  As we walked down the stairs to get there, it was obvious that they hadn't been kept up, but I wasn't prepared for how bad the beach was.  It was in total disrepair, like it hadn't been touched in that long.  The deck and pier is collapsing into the water, and all the sand is gone, with weeds overgrowing the concrete.  It was really sad to see...   makes me wonder what happened.  The raft we used to swim out to was gone, and it looked like part of it was sunken on the far side of the deck.  Anna took some pictures, but I don't think I'll be showing them to my grandmother.  I'm curious to figure out what happened and when.

Anyway, before we hit the house, we stopped at a marina.  Turns out that a pontoon boat rental is only like $150 for three hours...   The whole time we were there, we were thinking that it would be cool to come up here for a few days with a group of people, and it wouldn't cost that much money. 

After the Lake, we headed out towards Warwick, but on our way, we passed Wawayanda, which is this state park that has a beach.  I went with my grandparents a few times and I have pretty vivid memories of it.  We ate lunch at the beach and then we rented a rowboat.  I don't know if she just timed the current wrong or what, but Anna had quite a struggle with the rowing.  :)   

From Wawayanda, we went to a Farmer's Market in Warwick.  They had good icecream, and we stopped to watch the farm animals they had in their corral.  They had a goat and some sheep, and some baby goats as well.  I think that might have been the highlight of our trip.  Anna's got some good pictures, but I don't know how to post them.  If I figure it out, I'll put them up. 

Anyway, after we headed home at about 3...  but made a stop off at the Cross County Mall.  I went 4 for 4 on things I had to buy...  swim shorts, nice sandles, work shoes, and those wet sock things that you wear in the water. When I got home, I went for a run and to the gym... putzed around...   and now, I'm at DTUT, procrastinating on writing up some more material for my Tuesday lunch with Mary the publishing woman.

Monday morning... Again, I have lots of looming stuff to do. I'm not a fan of the looming tasks.. stuff you know you need to do in the next two weeks, but nothing you can do in the immediate moment. Ah well... I took my grandmothers to dinner yesterday for their 86th birthday. Their birthdays are within a week of each other. Funny, I input my information on deathclock.com... and it turns out I die a couple of weeks before my 86th birthday. I think the date was July 11th, 2065. I put it in my Palm Pilot so I knew it was coming. (How bizzare will that be if I manage to keep an unbroken chain of electronic calendars? I'll wake up that morning, at it tells me that, at 9AM, I have a meeting with God.) I wrote a note to a friend a few weeks ago about that....

The online death clock says I'll live until July 11, 2065. That's a Saturday... I kinda figured I'd die on a Saturday. That's not bad... almost made it to 86. I'll probably be still working then... like part time at the Fordham career office or something. Somewhere I can e-mail a lot and go for walks around campus. I'll have a lot of people to e-mail, because I'll probably be working with students by then for almost 50 years. Can you imagine that? Summer in New York in 2065... I wonder if I'll go to a baseball game that summer. Probably. By that time, the Mets new stadium will probably be old by then. Will you still be alive? Will we still stay in touch? Where will you be? I'll bet you they'll muss up your hair when you're dead. You have such great hair, but the curls are just naturally cool and flow with your personality.. I don't think they'll do 'em right. Don't have to worry about that with me... I'm getting cremated and I'm not having a wake... just some kind of party or something. Besides, I'm sure I'll be bald by then.... and I'm def going to keep my ear hair trimmed.