gc3

coasting 

welcome back stoney. exams suck. work sucks. everything sucks.

3alarmer 

Maryland has been an "almost but not quite" contender forever. It's like being a cubs fan.

coasting 

i have superhuman thumb strength. just saying.

rjones28 

I think the original Addict may be C&V now.

Heathpack 

Lol, since we've moved to LA, I find NY dining to be a PIA (and I'm a native NYer). LA food is different, but equally good. The best thing about LA dining though is that the overall scene is much more casual. As long as you don't look like a schmo, you're good pretty much anywhere you want to eat in LA. OMG, the NY drama of bringing the right clothes for fine dining and scheduling your days around food- its just not worth it (which is saying a lot, I'm semi-obsessed with good food). Now NY to me is getting NY pizza, NY Chinese, NY bodega breakfast egg sandwich on a hard roll, NY deli, NY noshing around town. Half of our NY eating seems to be standing up these days.

Our approach to NYC is to buy a TimeOut NY when we land at the airport and dive in, circling the appealing shows, music, walking tours, new best-value restaurants. Then just have at it, haphazardly. We will throw in a few sights in the mix on the fly, things convenient to whatever our planned event is for the day, and for sure always a gallery or two at the Met. But NYC is a very different thing for us, we know where everything is, how to get around and we've already seen most of the big sights.

H

Heathpack 

Shut up! Cycling does not suck.

rjones28 

A classic. I'm also amused by the concern with bicycle resale value.

coasting 

i just want to say west coast folk are nicer than easst coast folk.

rjones28 

Which continent?

coasting 

yours.

rjones28 

What about the south and north coasts?

LAJ

No.

I hope things smooth out, and stay that way, surgeonstone.

LAJ

There. That's more like it.

SpeshulEd 

We're total foodies and usually splurge on vacation with nice restaurants every night. I think we burned out on the last NYC trip tho. I'm completely over the $500 dinner for two at a stuffy overcrowded hotspot restaurant. The best places we ate at in New York wasn't at Gordon Ramsay's or Charlie Palmer's restaurants, it was the ****ty dive bars we stumbled into during the day for a drink and the neighborhood Italian joints. In fact, my omelette was so bland at Gordon Ramsay's, I asked for ketchup. And Aureole was the same American fusion crap you find at any trendy restaurant today, you can shove that Michelin star up your arse, Charlie!

rjones28 

Not many restaurants open in downtown Rochester on a Saturday afternoon. At least not near last night's concert venue.

truckstop

this trip keeps evolving. it started out very open ended, so i had a lot of places to see, figuring i had the time. now that i have a date that i need to be back home, the trip got shorter, and figuring i should reserve a day to decompress and unpack before i have to go to work (and the flights were cheaper) shortened it even more.

keeping it simple and leaving time is probably the best bet.

so, i think i'll skip arizona. not sure about cutting straight across as i have a free place to stay in vegas.

for some background... i've spent a good portion of the last 15 years of my life on road trips all over the country, but they were road trips chasing other people's dreams, and were usually marathon drives, 10, 14, 18 hours straight, covering 1000 miles a day to then spend the weekend in the woods waiting for a car to go by, or at a racetrack with motorbikes. it's been a very long time since i've had an opportunity like this, and i'm not sure when i'll get another. so. the instinct to see as much as i can is strong. go see the stuff i missed when we were slogging through at 2am. i'm realizing now that trying to do too much will defeat the purpose.

cutting straight across, if any of the roads south of lake tahoe (i've seen it already a couple times) through the sierras are open, will be completely new to me. that might be the best way to go. skip vegas, i've been there. ****. i got married there.

lonliest highway it is then. (as long as i can find gas stations every 150 miles).

surgeonstone

Except cycling, and donuts, can't forget donuts.

surgeonstone

Been an interesting 8months. My wife was hit on her way to work by a drunk driver going 90. That she survived is a miracle. Literally had to crawl around the house on all fours for 5 months. Guy got three years in prison. Sad, really, he had just graduated from Purdue, 4th drunk driving offence in 3 years. Janet got a broken back, a shattered foot and will never walk the same out of the deal. Her career as a floor nurse on her feet all day is over. And she was the best damn nurse I ever met. At the conclusion of the trial two weeks ago she addressed the defendant and his family and without rancor or malice or self pity described what had happened to her and what she thought about the defendant. Her attorney got up and said after she was finished to the Judge- "your honor, I don't think I have ever heard it said as eloquently as she has just put it and I have nothing to add". The kids mother came up to Janet after and thanked her for saying it so well. Been doing a lot of cooking and shopping as well as work. Honest to God, I start at 4 am and finish 7 pm Monday through Friday. Gotta stop.

Here is Jan 1 week before the crash.


And here is the crash.

rjones28 

She sounds like a great lady. I hope her recovery beats expectations.

And quit working too much.

RollCNY

If I can give my take about Addiction:

It is the crap we talk about standing in line at the coffee shop at the mid point of the group ride. We rode here, we'll ride home, but we'll talk about anything over coffee.

Nice to see you, Stoney. Encourage your wife to get an FNP. My wife is six weeks from finishing hers, at 43. It seems like a strong compliment to a strong floor nurse.

surgeonstone

Yeah I will and thanks. The thing is if you are passionate about your job, and I am, and do it well, you will be in demand. In medicine you are taught early on, never refuse a consult, always be available. It can definitely lead to problems.

surgeonstone

She is actually thinking of getting her masters in social work to start a counseling practice dealing with addiction.

RollCNY

Cool. As many rocks get thrown at education, the US hard a great university system to return to at any point.

LAJ

I remember the days around the time of the wreck, surgeonstone. There really is no way to understand what you two went through, but I hope the trial put some of that behind you, and especially Mrs. surgeonstone.

I have a lot to say regarding substance abuse, but I will keep that to myself.