Labor Day Weekend

When an organization is successful, credit is always given to the leadership, but the contributions and sacrifices of the middle and lower levels of the echelon are seldom acknowledged. These days, loyalty and work ethics are not valued or cherished. Loyalty is often mistaken by employers as an employee's inability to find alternative employment or further advancement in one's career. Times have changed and values have changed. The average turn-over rate in our office is 2 years.

This month marks my 10th year with our office and this Labor Day weekend calls for reflection and review of the past 10 years. This is a mile stone and a new path must be charted for the next 5 to 10 years.

To those hardworking employees that their sacrifices have never been recognized, this Labor Day is a celebration of your contributions.

Trip to Chicago

After working for the office for 10 years, I was finally sent on a paid trip to attend a out-of-state conference. I left New York on Sunday morning to spend an overnight in Chicago. Other attendees who could afford spending more time in Chicago actually arrived either on Friday night or Saturday. I was on a tight budget, both financially and time wise, and therefore chose to arrive in Chicago on Sunday afternoon.

I haven't travelled much since my trip to England and Belgium last year. If my memory serves me well, services from that other airline was quite well. So, it was a bit disappointing to find that agents from this airline were rather discourteous. One agent at the counter did not even give me a greeting and, when I presented my eticket, asked harshly and with an accusatory tone why I did not use the self-service kiosk. Aren't agents supposed to be there to help? If we passengers all use the kiosk and be able to handle everything ourselves, wouldn't they be out of their jobs? Perhaps I was wrong and that there were a lot of airline agent openings waiting to be filled? Not!

Well, I didn't care much for the agents and their attitudes. I told myself that I would not need to deal with them again, probably ever, in my life after this. So, I got on with my life.

The airline workers may be somewhat unprofessional, but at least the flight was on time.




A bird's eye's view.




That's if the bird can fly at 30,000 feet.





Flying over Lake Michigan?

Another bird's eye view.

Before I left New York, I downloaded the map of Chicago and its subway plan from the Internet. I was planning to take the Blue Line from O'Hara International Airport to Jackson and then switch to the Red Line and get off at State and Grand to walk about two blocks to the hotel. It would be a rather inexpensive way to travel. But as the miltary saying goes, even the best laid plan would not survive the first shot. So, somewhere along the Blue Line, the public announcement system informed us that due to subway construction, the Blue Line will terminate in the middle of a "no man's land" and we were instructed to get off the train and out of the subway system to a shuttle bus. Terrific! One would have thought that the shuttle bus would run all the way to the end of the route, right? No, the shuttle bus would only take us over a few subway stop. At another "no man's land," we were told that we needed to get off the bus and back onto the subway system. I finally got to Jackson but was informed by another announcement that the Red Line train would not stop at State and Grand due to construction. I went over to a conductor in a glass booth and asked how I could get to State and Grand and was informed that I would need to get off the subway there and walk a block over to Dearborn Street to take a number 22 bus. Like a good trooper, I followed the instructions only to find myself waiting for over 15 minutes for the number 22 bus. That was the last straw, I checked my Chicago map and asked a couple also waiting of the bus if State and Grand was far away. I was told that the intersection was about 8 blocks up north. Eight blocks is nothing to a city dweller like me. Since the weather was very pleasant, I decided to hike up the eight blocks.

That part of the city was strangely quite on this late Sunday afternoon. The sky was clear and blue, and the temp. was not too high. It was a nice enough to hike and the view of the river and the buildings around was beautiful.

Compare to NYC, Chicago or at least the part of town that I was at, was much cleaner.

Chicago has some very interesting architecture and I really wish that I could stay a bit longer and have a more extensive tour of the city.

Like many modern international cities, culture is an important part of Chciago. I wish I had time to visit the museums.

A room with a view. View from hotel room: Sunset over Chicago.

Rise and shine: view from hotel room on the next morning at 7 AM. Time to check out and head to the conference.

Late evening, after the conference: Goodbye Chicago.

Memories

Memories of my days as a young fencer came rushing back when I was recently watching the Olympic fencing events on the Internet. This photograph was posted on a related web site of my alma mater about 10 years ago. The picture was taken in 1982 when we were the champion foil fencing team at the Hong Kong Joint School Fencing Competition. I am the second person from the left. Later that year, we went on to capture the second place in team foil fencing at the Inter-School Competition. About a year or two later, I received fourth place in the men's individual sabre for the Under 21 event in the Hong Kong Open. By then, I had already left my my alma mater.

Work Completed

On Sunday, I got up at 8 AM to put on 2 coats of latex paint. I was planning to get up at 7 AM to begin work, but I was really tired and I allowed myself another hour of sleep. I finished the first coat by noon. I will admit that I might have missed some areas, but I tried to give as extensive a coat of paint as possible. There were indeed some areas that I couldn't reach. I guess that's the difference between an amateur painter and a professional painter. Even my many years of experience painting military models and figures couldn't adequately prepare me for this project.

By the time I finished the first coat of the last bit, the areas that I started out first had already been dried. So I continue to put on the second coat. The second coat progressed much faster and I didn't have to spend too much time painting the details of the fence railing. So, by about 1:30 PM, I switched to mowing the lawn while I let the paint to dry. At 2:30 PM, I breaked for a late and quick lunch. After lunch, I did a final touch up and began packing things up. By now, my back began to hurt and I noticed that my arms and legs had some itchy mosquito bites, even though I had put on "Off" earlier. Around 4 PM, I locked up and headed to the bus station for a ride back to NYC.

When I got back to my apartment in Bay Ridge, I was dead tired. I was so glad that I had done my chores last Thursday. Now, I kickback and ,for the first time this weekend, I relaxed and watched a little Olympic Games on T.V. before I went to bed.

Monday came with a little pleasant surprise. A client without a scheduled appointment came in to see me bearing a gift. He thanked me for my work on his case. It's always nice to have an appreciative client. This lifted my spirit somewhat. The gift was nicely wrapped and I didn't have the hearts to rip the wrapping paper up. So, I haven't opened it yet, but I bet it is a shirt.

Busy Weekend

When my father passed away, my mother became the surviving owner of the house in South Jersey. After she passed away a few years ago, I became the owner and custodian of the house. Taking care of the house in South Jersey while residing and working in New York has been quite inconvinent. When everyone makes plans for the weekend to kickback and relax, I have to plan a schedule to make the best of Saturday and sometimes even Sunday to get everything done in South Jersey and then rush back to New York to prepare for the start of a new week. Naturally, I found myself usually tired and burned-out by Monday morning. Consequently, I try to make as few trips down to South Jersey as possible. But that means things that should be done are sometimes deferred for another day until the annoying notice to abate from City Hall arrives.

Only in small towns like the one that my house is located will such City Hall send code enforcement inspectors to walk around town to issue annoying notices and sometimes summons for minor infractions like having cracked paint jobs on columns of the house. My tax dollars hard at work, I guess.

The project for this weekend was prompted by such a City Hall notice. My major task this weekend is to paint the 4 columns and the fence railing on the front deck. Planning began on Wednesday night. I figured what I need for the job: rollers, brushes, cans of paint, and a telescopic-handle that can extend to reach hard to reach spots. I Googled several paint shops near home in South Jersey and called ahead to inquire about shop hours. All the paint stores close at 12 noon on Saturdays. So, on Thurday night, I went to Home Depot in Chelsea and brought some of the items that I can carry with me on the bus and left the paints to be purchased in South Jersey. After that, I did my laundry and ironed all my shirts for next week.

After work on Friday, I took the bus down to South Jersey. I spent Friday night setting things ready for work the next day. On Saturday morning, I got up at 7 AM and went to the paint stop to purchase my paint. I figured that I need a can of primer and 2 cans of regular latex paint. I also picked up a putty knife. The entire lot cost about $80. Ooch!

The guy at the store was very friendly and put everything in a box for me to carry. Still it was very heavy. I stopped at least four times carrying it for the three blocks from the store to the local bus station.

By 1:30 PM, I finished about priming 2 columns. It looked like it's more demanding than I thought. I began to fear that I had made a mistake tackling the task myself instead of hiring professional help. I breaked for lunch and washed down half a take-out order of fried rice with Coke. I rested for half an hour and went back to work. By 6:30 PM, I finished priming all 4 columns and painted half of the fence railing. I was behind schedule. But I needed a break for dinner and rest. I went inside, cleaned up and went out to get something to eat. I bought a sandwich and went to sit on the Boardwalk to eat. It was quiet and relaxing.

After dinner, I went back to work. I wanted to complete painting the fence railing. Half way through the last part of the fence railing, Sam came home after work and saw me. So, he came up to the deck to chat. We chatted for about 15 minutes and Sam went back down to get some rest. He has to get up to work again in about 6 hours. He has a crazy work schedule. I went back to work and completed the last fence railing by 10:15 PM. I was dead tired and I could bearly lift my right arm. It's going to hurt like hell tomorrow.

I cleaned up the deck a bit to get ready for tomorrow. I am planning to put two coats of paint on the columns. The store guy said a coat takes about 4 hours to dry. So, if I start at 7 AM, I may just be able to put 2 coats on before I need to leave for NYC. Also, I hope to have time to mow the lawn too. Lest the code enforcement inspector targets me for that as well.

Right now, the headaches of work seem very far away. I am comparmentalizing my brain: One headache at a time. I will deal with that Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test application on Monday.

Arch, Firehouse and Chinese Building

Most of us have busy lives and we are always on a rush to get to somewhere. Sometimes, it is nice to slow down, stop and take a look. You may find that there are a lot of interesting buildings and structures around. Below are some interesting landmarks.

This is the Soldiers and Sailors Arch of the Grand Army Plaza at Prospect Park. The structure, designed by John H. Duncan, is very majestic and similar in style to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. It is erected to commemorate the victory of the Civil War. On top of the Arch is the Quadriga, the four-horse chariot. It's very similar to the one on top the Brandenberg Gate in Berlin, Germany, which has Victoria, the Roman Goddess of Victory, in the chariot. However, it is Columbia, the symbol of America, who is in the chariot at the Grand Army Plaza. The two sides of the chariot are each flanked by a winged Victory. Down on the structure of the Arch are two more groups of sculptures called the Spirit of the Army and Spirit of the Navy designed and added on by Fredrick MacMonnies. Simply marvellous!

This beautiful firehouse is located in downtown Manhattan. It no longer houses fire-engines, but now serves as the home of Downtown Community Television station. It was also once the home of Democracy Now!

The location of this building is pretty obvious. It is very eye-catching and kind of uniquely standing there alone among other buildings, reminding passers-by that they are in Chinatown.

Night Views of Manhattan

Midtown near 40th Street a few weeks ago.

Night view of downtown Manhatthan from our office.

This is how it looks during day time.

View of downtown Manhattan skyline from the right hand side of the office. The sun has just set.

Of figures, symbols and stores

If you are a shop owner, what would you use as a symbol to represent your business, store, products, or services.

Here at a fast food shop called Astroland on the Boardwalk at Coney Island, there erects on the roof a figure of a heavy set guy with a receding hair line or balding head holding a plate of something in front of a rocket. Interesting. Is the figure a representation of the owner? He has a big smile on his face.


Here is a bubble tea shop in Chinatown. Can someone explain to me what Homer Simpson has to do with bubble tea? Where are Matt Groening's copyrights lawyers? Well don't wake them up, I happen to like this figure and would like it to remain at this bubble tea shop.

Still more churches!!

More churches, and all of them are on Ridge Blvd. between 72nd and 86th Streets in Bay Ridge. This one is St. Mary's with a combination of modern and traditional architectural design.




This is a Greek Orthodox church. Look at the beautiful cross above the front main entrance. Also, see the Greek flag hanging from the pole.

I listed this one in my first posting, but this is a complete front view of the church. Look at its lovely stain glass windows. Beautiful.

This one is between 72nd and 73rd Streets. My hands were not very steady when I took this. I was holding a few books on my left hand when I took this after existing from the local Brooklyn Public Library.

More Churches

I came across more churches last Sunday. Here is Our Lady of Perpetual Help between 59th and 60th Streets on Fifth Avenue. It is huge. The entire church compound, consisting of the church building and a school, occupies the entire avenue block between two streets. It's like a medieval castle. It's built on a slightly raised ground very similar to a motte.

In this picture you can see how long the church is.



The church building is also tall. It's tower is like a castle keep and is very imposing.

This is the school at the back of the church compound facing Sixth Avenue. It gives you a sense how wide is the church compound. It stretches from 59th Street to 60th Street.

A half-cylindrical turret on the side of the church building provides excellent defensive position. Imagine archers shooting arrows from the turret's windows.

Another view of the keep.

Another view of the turret.

The brick wall is similar to a medieval curtain wall protecting the bailey.

Here is a smaller Lutheran church on 59th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. It has an interesting entrance.

A Trip to the NY Aquarium

Last week, I went with my sister and her family to the New York Aquarium in Coney Island. Here are some pictures that I took.

Otis and his trainer.

Mother and baby having a lazy afternoon nap.

A pretty tropical fish.



A jelly fish.

A small penguim.

It was a bit of a let down as there weren't any dolphines or whales.