I said if I was smart that I would save up for a piece of string (Adventures in New York - Day 1)
...and rock to wind the string around. (Because everybody wants a rock to wind a piece of string around.) -They Might Giants, "We Want a Rock" (Flood).
Perhaps in the new economy, we'll see a resurgence in rocks with pieces of string wound around them. The perfect gift for the person who has everything!
My phone is dying. The battery wouldn't hold a charge. So I went to the AT&T store, to get a new cell phone on my parents' family plan contract. "Which phone do you want?" Asked the guy at the counter. "You know," said the llama, "The phone that's just a phone." Even so, the phone I came home with is pretty fancy. M. looked at the invoice. "They ripped you off," he chortled, "I bet they also have free phones."
This llama is so, so happy to be back in KS. Snuggling under the covers with M. and Alice, watching "This Old House" on PBS, Bliss!
This week, Llama set forth on a mission of stupendous proportions: Act as Daddy-wrangler on trip to NYC to visit Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center for a doctor's appt. On Tuesday, Daddy-Llama picked her from work to go the airport. Midwest Airlines, currently the only direct flight to LaGuardia from KC, has started subcontracting several of their flights to Republic Airlines, who fly Embrair 175 jets instead of Boeing 717s. Daddy-llama had to do some wrangling of his own with the reservations office to get seats on the 717s. Upon reaching LaGuardia, the Llamas took a cab out to Hotel Nussbaum out on Long Island, to recoup their llama-powers for the next day's trek into La Ciudad.
Wednesday morning, the proprietor of Hotel Nussbaum (Auntie R.) took us on a hike into the commercial district of Woodmere, where we stopped at a bagel shop for bagels and coffee. (Aside: There is nothing in the world like a genuine New York Everything bagel. Nothing.)Some lady (who appeared to be mentally ill) tried to convince us to donate to an Israeli political candidate. I asked her if foreign donations to an Israeli cabinet candidate would jeopardize his campaign (thinking of Al Gore and the Buddhist nuns), but I don't think she understood what I was asking. Daddy-llama thought based on the candidate's last name, he coudl possibly be the grandson of a famous Irgun operative. Later, Auntie R. dropped us off at the LIRR train station (whereupon Daddy-Llama discovered he left his wallet in his other pants, and we had to re-summon Auntie R. to retrieve it.)
On the train, I recounted to Daddy-Llama the story of the dreadfully unlucky Mrs. Palsgraf and the Long Island Railroad. (I kind of expected to see signs to the effect of "Do not bring Fireworks on to the LIRR.") Also, turns out there is a Palsgraf Family Curse, related to unlucky injuries.
The rest of the day, the Daddy-llama was subjected to all sorts of indignities as I ate pretzels, drank hot chocolate and filled out crossword puzzles. We had an exciting adventure back to Penn Station, when we couldn't immediately hail a cab and decided that would be faster to take the train. My grasp of the New Yorks subways lines led us on a trek to the 6 train to Grand Central, where we picked up the S to Times Square/42nd street. At 42nd street, we hopped on the 1, which was pretty crowded, and then people just kept piling in. And piling in. Daddy-llama: "I'm not as compressible as these people seem to think I am." Finally, we got on the LiRR and we returned to Hotel Nussbaum, whereupon Auntie R. fed us delicious chicken cutlets and lentil soup. (To be continued.)
Perhaps in the new economy, we'll see a resurgence in rocks with pieces of string wound around them. The perfect gift for the person who has everything!
My phone is dying. The battery wouldn't hold a charge. So I went to the AT&T store, to get a new cell phone on my parents' family plan contract. "Which phone do you want?" Asked the guy at the counter. "You know," said the llama, "The phone that's just a phone." Even so, the phone I came home with is pretty fancy. M. looked at the invoice. "They ripped you off," he chortled, "I bet they also have free phones."
This llama is so, so happy to be back in KS. Snuggling under the covers with M. and Alice, watching "This Old House" on PBS, Bliss!
This week, Llama set forth on a mission of stupendous proportions: Act as Daddy-wrangler on trip to NYC to visit Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center for a doctor's appt. On Tuesday, Daddy-Llama picked her from work to go the airport. Midwest Airlines, currently the only direct flight to LaGuardia from KC, has started subcontracting several of their flights to Republic Airlines, who fly Embrair 175 jets instead of Boeing 717s. Daddy-llama had to do some wrangling of his own with the reservations office to get seats on the 717s. Upon reaching LaGuardia, the Llamas took a cab out to Hotel Nussbaum out on Long Island, to recoup their llama-powers for the next day's trek into La Ciudad.
Wednesday morning, the proprietor of Hotel Nussbaum (Auntie R.) took us on a hike into the commercial district of Woodmere, where we stopped at a bagel shop for bagels and coffee. (Aside: There is nothing in the world like a genuine New York Everything bagel. Nothing.)Some lady (who appeared to be mentally ill) tried to convince us to donate to an Israeli political candidate. I asked her if foreign donations to an Israeli cabinet candidate would jeopardize his campaign (thinking of Al Gore and the Buddhist nuns), but I don't think she understood what I was asking. Daddy-llama thought based on the candidate's last name, he coudl possibly be the grandson of a famous Irgun operative. Later, Auntie R. dropped us off at the LIRR train station (whereupon Daddy-Llama discovered he left his wallet in his other pants, and we had to re-summon Auntie R. to retrieve it.)
On the train, I recounted to Daddy-Llama the story of the dreadfully unlucky Mrs. Palsgraf and the Long Island Railroad. (I kind of expected to see signs to the effect of "Do not bring Fireworks on to the LIRR.") Also, turns out there is a Palsgraf Family Curse, related to unlucky injuries.
The rest of the day, the Daddy-llama was subjected to all sorts of indignities as I ate pretzels, drank hot chocolate and filled out crossword puzzles. We had an exciting adventure back to Penn Station, when we couldn't immediately hail a cab and decided that would be faster to take the train. My grasp of the New Yorks subways lines led us on a trek to the 6 train to Grand Central, where we picked up the S to Times Square/42nd street. At 42nd street, we hopped on the 1, which was pretty crowded, and then people just kept piling in. And piling in. Daddy-llama: "I'm not as compressible as these people seem to think I am." Finally, we got on the LiRR and we returned to Hotel Nussbaum, whereupon Auntie R. fed us delicious chicken cutlets and lentil soup. (To be continued.)