Broken glass is sharp

I was knocked down the stairs in a subway station in Harlem.  The Lumia 920 is robust, but apparently not designed to absorb my full weight with momentum.

I liked it better before.

Luckily, insurance is covering the replacement.  Now I just have to be careful not to slice myself open on the broken shards near the bottom.

Live-in Gourmet Chef

Erin doesn't start work until next Monday, so she has had the whole semester to brush up on her cooking skills.  She really likes the food network shows and has been putting her new knowledge to work.

Pesto pasta with asparagus and garlic bread.

I thought I should post at least one picture of her work.  Tasty stuff.

Thanksgiving

After the parade, we came home to start cooking the meal.  I was worried about the lack of a turkey being married to a vegetarian, but it turns out that we had three meat eaters and only one plant lover.

Turkey!

It was my first Thanksgiving away from Texas/Oklahoma and the rest of the family, but at least the food was the same.  Now I have food for the next two weeks...

Macy's Thanksgiving Parade

We woke up at the crack of dawn to get a good spot.  It turns out we should have woken up before dawn even thought about cracking.  The maze of blocked off streets was difficult to navigate and I should have scouted it out the day before.

Luckily, we ended up in a pretty good place on Central Park West near 64th St.  We lucked out when someone left around 7:00 and we grabbed the spot.

I have way too many pictures to post here and I can't afford to use up all my space, so I'll only post a select few.  (Google charges $2.50/month for hosting all these photos and videos.)

7am.  (Parade starts at 9am)

We're underway!

First band.

First balloons.

Little Ronald.

Giant Ronald! (with a brain tumor)

Is this street legal?  I might want one.

Woo-hoo!

Scratch that.  Is this street legal?

Tap-Dancing Trees?

Erin says I can't have a candy-cane woman because they are creepy.

Buzz Lightyear and some blocks?

A horde of Christmas people.

It's settled.  Santa drives a GMC Yukon.

Santa, his other half, and an elf.

The end.

Oh wait, now the end.

Uh...huh?  The end?

OK, it's over.  Erin is pleased with the parade.

It was worth waking up early, but it made for a sleepy rest of the day.

Visiting Columbus

Columbus Circle is named after Columbus, as you would expect.  He happens to have a giant statue in the center.  It all makes sense.

There is Columbus in the middle on the pedestal.

Now for something that doesn't make as much sense.

Me with Columbus.

Yes, they built a living room around Columbus.

Columbus' house.

Erin enjoying one of his chairs.

He watches TV too.

Climbing up to the living room in the sky.

It's not everyday that a statue becomes a coffee table piece.

Since we were up high, we took a few other photos of the area.  I used to work at the Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle, so it's always been a fun area for me.

Time Warner Center

Central Park South

Down below.

Fun excursion.  I also found my first Microsoft Store.

Windows 8 laptops, tablets, and phones!

Turducken

I was expecting Turducken to look like this.



My Turducken turned out to look like this.

At least it's a Turducken.

The bucket list just got one item shorter.  Hopefully Turducken doesn't shorten my lifespan too.

Tamales

I have finally located a great Mexican restaurant within walking distance.  Not everyone would agree that it is within walking distance and I think the temperature affects that designation.  Although...isn't everything within walking distance if you have the time?  Anyway...

I found my first tamales since leaving Texas!

They look the part.

They taste the part.

I may add this to the rotation.  Also, they deliver!  Well, 95% of NYC restaurants deliver, so maybe that's not unexpected.  Still, I get excited when tasty restaurants deliver.  That's really the main drawback with high quality food.  You have to spend time to obtain it.  Well, that and adding 20% to the bill for service.  This is the best of all worlds!

Also, these pictures are pretty clear.  This Nokia camera is nice.  There are a number of lens choices and automatic photo adjusting, but I haven't quite figured them all out yet.

A few recent shots

I don't have any exciting updates.  Life since the hurricane has been pretty dull.  I do have a few random photos to show off.

Gas rationing leads to lines of 100 cabs.

Is Communism really the answer?

What is this monstrosity?!

New Phone

I made the decision to leave my iPhone behind after using different versions of it over the past 5 years.  There wasn't an overwhelming reason to switch other than the cost.  I was generally happy with my iPhone, but now that the competition has caught up, it no longer made sense to pay the premium.

In its place, I have a Nokia Lumia 920.  So far, I'm very happy with it.  It boasts the best smartphone camera ever produced, so I look forward to uploading some new photos using it.  It syncs nicely with all my different Windows products so no more transferring with a cable!

I recommend everyone go out to their nearest AT&T store and take 15 minutes to play with it.  It might not be for you, but I actually think it's easier to navigate than iOS.  That's a pretty bold statement, but I really think Microsoft did a good job this time around.

Also, I bought it on launch day in Times Square.  Everything is just more fun when you do it in Times Square!

Snowstorm?

Power and heat are still out in many places, but apparently it's time for a snowstorm.

The start.

The finish.

I have decided I need better shoes for marching through slush.  My hiking boots don't really match my suit and I'd really like an internship this summer.

Damage Assessment

I decided to go out into the storm to get a few photos first-hand.  By this point, everyone has seen some of the craziest photos on the news.  Still, I'll post a few of my own.

Not sure why all the leaves decided to collect here.

Precautions at Columbia.

Ouch.  Poor Nissan.

Road closed.

Sidewalk closed.

I hope you have insurance.

I guess the owner above really wanted a new car and this was a good excuse to get one?  Behind that car is a submerged parking lot of cars, but swimming in the Hudson isn't on my list of things to do...ever.

Police keeping people out of the toxic water.

Submerged cars in the distance.

Maybe I won't use these stairs after all.

Not many passengers out during the hurricane.

All those cabs were parked on my street.  I guess the dedicated cab lots were full since a portion of the fleet is normally always out in service.

I felt like one of those reporters who goes into a war zone.  I prepared by wearing my leather jacket and boots.  I also stayed away from the downed power lines sitting in puddles.  I think next hurricane I'll just stay inside and watch the news coverage.