i-tees

This past week my family visited with me here in Jersey City Heights. The last time they came to this area I was living in Hoboken on Bloomfield Street.

It was so interesting to see their reaction to this urban area since they live in the foothills outside Boulder, Colorado. They cannot see their closest neighbor, but here on Central Avenue we have the typical city noise, people yelling, traffic, police sirens, taxis honking and more. Since I have a balcony they would sit out there and watch the city come to life, morning and night. They did love my space, very roomy and much bigger and more spacious than anything I’d had or could have in Hoboken. I have a small view of lower Manhattan and when we went to the roof we shot photos of the marvelous view.

It has been years since I lived down in Hoboken and my brother had fond memories of that location. He only wanted to visit Benny Tudino’s (no website? must call them) and show his youngest son the biggest slice of pizza in the world. We hit their restaurant twice! (They make a great salad too!) He also likes to run in the mornings, and last time came back so excited because he had run right past Joe Pantoliano. This time it was his son’s slight fascination with Buddy Valastro of Carlo’s Bakery and the Cakeboss TV show. Luckily he didn’t feel like standing on the line that stretches down two blocks now. Since he eats a lot of sweets he was thrilled when I showed him Goehrig’s Bakery up here. During the week he sampled almost everything Joseph Gigante makes! They also hit Rita’s for ice cream quite a few times.

It was so much fun being their tour guide around NYC. We visited the World Trade Center, Battery Park City (my favorite garden over there) and went to the top of the Empire State. We took the Yankee Clipper to see the Yankees battle the Red Sox. Yanks lost and it was brutally hot, not to mention that disaster clipper ride to the stadium which I wrote about previously. We went to the Jersey Shore, Sandy Hook and Point Pleasant.

My brother commented on the strong differences between Hoboken and JC Heights. Completely different types of people, stores, activity. It was obvious to him seeing the young professionals out to dinner and drinking every night of the week in Hoboken whereas up here some stores close and there’s no outdoor restaurants or any of the more upscale shops.

I completely understand and for a long time I thought that the Heights would change the way Hoboken did many years ago, but it just hasn’t happened. I think the Heights is stuck. With the economy suffering, businesses are closing and nothing opens in it’s place. There are stores that have been vacant since I’ve lived here. What can we do to make Central Avenue more attractive, safer and a better place to live?

They left on Sunday but couldn’t help sitting outside on the balcony one more time. It was quite early and there was no activity but I promised to keep them posted on the latest happenings.

Yesterday my family and I were thrilled because we were heading to Yankee Stadium to see our first Yankees/Red Sox game live! As you can imagine we paid quite a bit for our tickets and would be going by the Yankee Clipper that leaves from Hoboken, NJ.

The clipper arrived on time, but our outing soon turned into a nightmare. We took off from Hoboken and the ferry picked up more people at Pier 11 Wall Street and within moments we’re told that due to construction of a bridge on the East River, the Clipper will now have to turn around and go up the Hudson River. Yes all the way up, under the George Washington Bridge to the tip, and then waiting for a stupid train to go by so the train bridge can open for us, and then back down the east side of Manhattan toward the stadium.

We were fighting the current, had no air or a breeze of any kind and were stuck on this slower than walking, steam machine for 2 hours! When we finally arrived at the stadium we had missed 2 innings of the game!

How come there was no better plan? How come they didn’t know ahead of time about the bridge problems? For the cost and importance of this game, why didn’t anyone care that we missed part of the game?

Why didn’t the NY Waterway offer to give us our money back, or a discount on our next tickets? You can just imagine how angry everybody was.

Shame on NY Waterway for making an exciting trip to Yankee Stadium a bummer! I called today and complained, and I better hear from Upper Management.

Lately with the iPhone, iTouch, Kindle and other assorted gadgets available, I’ve been thinking a lot about the gadgets that start piling up around and in drawers, and whether we’re being environmentally friendly.

Each time a new computer, gadget or phone comes out, we’re all eager to see them, buy them and use them, but what happens to the older models we already have. I have an older Apple desktop computer in the corner collecting dust and I’ve always thought, it’s my back up just in case these two explode someday, (which probably will never happen, because they’re also Apple…) but actually I would probably never turn it on because the software is now outdated. I also have an older scanner, and probably a few old cell phones in some drawer. Time to figure what to do with them… donate the Apple computer and scanner or look into a company that recycles parts.

Recently, I switched from Directv to Verizon FIOS and when I asked Directv what to do with the two old boxes and remotes, they had no real plan. They do not collect them or try to recycle them, which I thought was such a waste. They told me they belonged to me, I sure don’t understand this. They suggested I put them up on ebay. Are they kidding? Who’s going to buy this old equipment and for what, $5?

I do love the idea that by loading up my iPod Touch, I’m not buying paper books, plastic/paper containers of music or have to carry a laptop or portfolio, everything is stored within or I can connect via wifi. But to be honest, I really prefer reading a book with pages that I can hold with both hands, the same goes for a magazine.

I’m always concerned about being eco-friendly and spend more time reading blogs and websites so I can purchase less newspaper and  magazines, but perhaps it’s time to revisit the local public library. I haven’t been there in a while and it would be a much better way to read some of the latest or current books without buying them and adding even more books to my overloaded shelves.