immunoglobulin dress up as for Halloween?

A Immunio-Goblin...

¶ 10/31/2006 05:14:00 PM //

Much has happened, and much has remained stagnate, yet this is fresh so this ferments it's way to the top.

Yes, I am a New Yorker....Although no one would believe it.

I now spend increasingly less time in NY, and secretly long for a one or two bedroom apartment in Mexico City with Elizabeth where we could be domestic together. (secretly wishing for things that can never happen in this reality). Granted I no longer aspire for such lofty goals (domestication) I do secretly wish for Elizabeth to come back, and for us to reunite in a fashion that would allow for such fantasies to come true.

So I hit the ground on Thursday, made my rounds, my phone calls, got my copy of Scarface (a few weeks early). I actually didn't unload my auto until the day after. A few loads back on forth, up and down the stairs with suitcases. Suitcases that will never be unpacked in light of another upcoming trip. I collapsed on my bed and after two days of housework and reestablishing lost connections, I was ready to sleep...and then I got the dreaded 5 minute notice of a family invasion.

I ran out, moved my auto to free up the prime spot in front of my residence, and backed in to the driveway. I rounded around the front to make sure everything was in order.(but twas not) Later I found out I was going to be kidnapped. (after being kidnapped)

Family gatherings of any size, they come with much heartache in terms of the incessant conversation in regards to myself getting married. It's all anyone ever talks about (so it seems).They make their old world arguments and I make my smart-assed remarks..

IE:
They: Who will cook for you? clean for you?
Myself: A servant is cheaper

They: When will you get married?
Myself: When I am instilled with a sense of responsibility, and common sense.
They: When will that happen?
Myself: Either by the time I'm 55, or sometime after my passing.

I then try and sell them on the idea of hooking up my brother, that he really wants to get married (he wants kids, but I'm not so sure about marriage)...

Speaking of which, our family is on cousin 10001 and ..oh no, 10002 however this is dealing with 10001. He reminds me of how I once wanted kids. I liked him better when he was indestructible and didn't talk. However now he's indestructible and talks...all the time.
Not as much in the typical fashion of two year olds (I didn't talk when I was two), but more so in a lecture/telling fashion.

He goes around mimicking his father...ie: his father was painting, so he picked up a hammer, and started to replicate brush strokes, with the hammer (ruining the new paint job). I'm also reminded of the time his father was fixing electrical outlets in their home, and he wanted to help as well. My uncle saved him once, twice, and then the third time he said he would let the local power company help teach the lesson. My cousin is no longer entranced by the electrical ongoings behind the walls of their house.

He reminds me of what it was, to once want children. Not just any children though, test tube babies, with the person my friends used to say was a test tube baby (in light of her undeniable perfect), Elizabeth.

My tangent has gone long....

So I when I arrived back at my place, they hung around for a bit before departing. At which time I escorted them out and as they pulled away I noticed the fresh oil stain (actually it was noticed while away, but I was hoping it wasn't fresh). They also have a new auto, however theirs is a Japanese tank (super reliable, super large), mines on the other hand does not share the same reputation. So I called up the dealer in Manhattan, and set up a appointment for the next week, a day shy of the warranty going out the window.

Today I took it in and I was reminded of part of the logic I used to sell the auto to myself, that if anything ever happened there was a dealership in the city. So service should be easy. I forgot to incorporate NYC logistics in to my fuzzy math. (However I am still very happy with the auto)

Last month, I was away, and took it to a dealer in a far flung place and I thought I was all up to speed, I never thought I would actually use the Manhattan location. Now all the dealerships this company has have the same basic layout, and are all pretty nice however, this company owned location certainly bucked the trend. It was very old world modern (if that's even a term) Even the car port was a floor up, and the lot area (indoors) had white tiles. (odd for a garage, especially in light of my oil leak, oops) The inside, lot's of metal, and lots of snobs (I felt a bit out of place when I realized I was the only one in jeans, but only for a moment).

I dropped off my auto and then, after I turned down the car service upon learning I forgot to reserve a loaner, as soon as I stepped outside... I had not taken mass transit in about 5 years.

Initially I had planed a 7 or so block walk to the closest station (not bad on paper) and on the way over I recalled my 1st real job in NYC, shortly after I met Elizabeth (I worked in a suburban corporate park prior to meeting her) I took mass transit all day back then, and only drove in to the office. (however it's on thing to take transit in Manhattan, it's another thing to take it out of Manhattan and in to the boros) Um, strike that, even back then I did take mass transit, but mostly taxi's and car services. Never the less, it had been quite some time and it all felt very nostalgic.

At first I realized I had not walked for quite some time (spoiled) and after 3 blocks I was regretting it...however when 7 blocks came, I thought it time to pick up a few things down town, and save on parking (very rare for me), so I ducked in to the station, looked at the map (looking very touristy) and proceeded to walk another 14 or so blocks to the right station. Planning could have helped, but...meh. on the way over I ran in to a few old acquaintances, people I thought to myself, would have never run in to had I been driving. I also noted how 20 blocks was nothing when I was younger and how I walked at lest 50 blocks a day at the dawn of my old job. Keep in mind these are NYC blocks (massive in contrast to blocks in other locals)

Now for any other place,my absence from mass transit may be expected (LA?) however in NY mass transit is not a alternative, but a way of life for most people. What I thought of as a novelty, people relied on daily. For me it was all, quaint, for others, I heard complaints, and groans, and how things were unacceptable. I on the other hand had totally forgotten what a bargain mass transit was. A 4 usd round trip to any where i wanted to go and back, especially compared with the aprox figure of driving in. About 8usd for tolls, 7-20usd for petrol, and 30-60 usd for parking, per stop (so a shopping spree can end up costing 250usd+ in parking alone)

I have grown a bit paranoid over the years, driving a tank , siting behind reinforced steel and lucite. I don't really mingle in the crowds and I may be guilty of being a snob. So I was a bit nervous, I took the train the wrong way, got off the wrong stop on more than one occasion, asked for directions once... although a funny thing happened. I felt a weight lift off me. I feel so guilty about the damage I do to the environment every time I drive, and this was so... peaceful in contrast. Granted I had many elements beyond my control (seating, temperature etc) and yet...it was almost liberating (not having to crawl through traffic, especially in light of Columbus day parades and very heavy security all about the city.)

I had forgotten about all the "pretty" people that rode the subway, what a juxtaposition it was to see the wall street tycoon in pinstripe, or even worse, the model with all her shopping bags next to the homeless in military fatigues. The sort of interactions which never occur on the surface level.

I'm not sure if the city has changed, or it's just me, however it did seem a bit cold in hindsight. IE: there was someone going up the stairs with a cart. She had a table, tripod, perhaps a few other things, and her boyfriend (I'm guessing) just sort of looked on waiting for her to catch up. I saw these small instances of meanness here and there, perhaps I'm simply noticing more? (Yes, before you ask, I did help her up the stairs, how could I not?)

The bus...the bus was amazing. Spotless, low to the ground, (although it seemed to have less seating) and best of all , electric! I felt a proper civilian. As though I was one of the masses, not one of the targets(umm well in NY the terrorist do target the masses but that's a inevitable of any metropolis)

The bus stops just in front of my street from where is a 100 yard walk to my bedroom. Once there I noticed all the walking I had done. Yet I felt so good about my adventure. A bit dismayed about all the money I spent on silly things, and all the money I would be spending thanks to the NYC dealer surcharge (about 4 days of work for the oil leak at about 125usd a hour..plus parts) however I was really satisfied with my day, and tomorrow..well tomorrow I'll be here all day with a chain saw (4 more trees fell on my house a while ago, I didn't even realize I had 4 trees left, so I'll be doing my best GW impression and clearing brush off my roof) However, I want to go out again, sometime soon and before I have to pick up my auto.

¶ 10/10/2006 02:05:00 PM //