Work Photos From Back In The Day

These two photos were taken by the HR department at my workplace.
I believe they were both taken around the same time...the mid 90's.
That is almost 20 years ago.

This first one must have been so that the company had a photo to use in our HR employee manuals, back when we got one with photos in it.

We get no manual or photos of staff, today.




This second one must have been to show off me working...I guess.

I have a old fashioned program log on my desk, which was printed on a dot matrix printer.

I am talking on an old analog phone.

I have a workstation instead of a PC and most importantly, an old typewriter behind me, just in case the workstation died.

This was taken in 1993.

People keep telling me that I look exactly the same...uh, I don't think so. :-)

Enjoy.

The King Of The Hand Held Camera

Another occasional post on people who have worked with me. I posted about another cameraman, on this post. Don Quixote and Sancho Panza and the retirement of one of our Engineers, here. Retirement Television Style.


Many years ago, there was a time when there was a massive lay off at my TV Station. I was in the Engineering Department (in a Union Position) and thus was laid off with the Engineers, even though I was not one.
It made big news in the press and we became known as the Engineering 10. My current boss was one of us and this man was too.
He left the station and moved over to KTLA, where he worked as an engineer.
In 1991, when they began broadcast of a new concept news show called the KTLA Morning News, he was assigned to work camera. It was the first "funny" morning news show and the man you see in this photo caused a lot of the antics, via his hand held camera work. He has become a legend on that show, with the cast mentioning him quite often.

He still works occasional gigs for our station and back in the 80's I would pull camera cable for him, so we are still tight.

I happened to stop by our sound stage the other day to see a rental set up (for the Oprah Winfrey Network) and there he was. Almost 30 years have passed us both by, but he still can make miracles happen with a hand held camera.

It was good to catch up with him and of course good to see him working. :-)

US Navy Birthday

Happy 236th Birthday to the United States Navy!

When we were in Washington, DC this past May, we exited the Metro Subway at Navy Memorial. I had never been to this area of Washington.
This Navy seaman was standing amidst a large fountain and stairs. There he stands with his sea bag...just an ordinary joe.
He reminded me so much of how my Dad must have looked, back in his WWII Navy days.

Happy Birthday Navy, from a proud Navy daughter. :-)

Cats' House

A friend at work brought in this book about a house that has been designed for the homeowner's many cats. It is called Cats' House.

Walkways high up above the rooms, a huge spiral staircase to bring the cats back down to floor level. Even stops along the way, high up above, for the cats to sit and sleep if they so desire.

As with so many things in life, it started small and then, over the years, expanded, until you wonder if the people who live there have room to...well, live.

It is colorful and incredibly interesting and I am glad the owner documented their life with the house and the cats.

AMTRAK - And Its 30 Million Riders

AMTRAK, our national rail road system, announced last week that they have reached 30 Million passengers this year. The most ever. My husband and I were 4 of those passengers, earlier this year. We had so much fun on our trips, not only this year, but last year and that makes me want to take another one.

So I am already in the planning stage of a train trip from Portland, Oregon (or Seattle, Washington) all the way over to Chicago. I am planning a stop in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area for a few days and then onto the final stop of Chicago.

The train is not the expensive part, those hotel rooms along the route get expensive.



I am planning on it being the end of May, similar to what we did this past May. Ending the journey on Memorial Day Weekend, in Chicago. We are not sure what will be going on at that time, but I am sure something will. :-)

This is part of my realizing that this trip would check off some of the last states on our bucket list. Both of us have never been to almost the entire top west section of our Country and it's about time for us to rectify this situation.

If I don't get it going for May, we can always try again some other time. Health and circumstances willing.



But for now, I look at schedules and check into prices of hotels and dream. Isn't that what vacations are for?

Congratulations AMTRAK, may you rise above your 30 million riders, next year and may we be part of that number.

Brooklyn Bridge

My Water Post For Today.

I have a million different water photos from the New York area, but let's go with the grandest one. The Brooklyn Bridge.

I remember seeing a Ken Burns documentary when I was still in my early 20's and the bridge has fascinated me ever since. Those caissons that they had to sink, to build the towers. How wonderful the cables look, as they rise high above the water. There is nothing bad about this bridge...well, minus that they were working on it, the day we were there. :-(

The water is lovely, moving down the East River toward the end of Manhattan Island and out to sea.

I hope you enjoy it.

Inscribed For Another Year

Yesterday was the end of Yom Kippur and since we seemed to have made it to today, I guess we have been inscribed for another year.

Being we lost a family member just a short 6 weeks ago, it was a bittersweet time. Our cousin's name was said during the Yizkor service, which made it even more emotional to us.

The wife of my Husband's cousin had the family over for break the fast and that too, was bittersweet. I was glad she went to the effort, because I think we all needed to be there with her, yesterday.

In good news, my Husband's cousin Anne announced on her Facebook page that she is expecting her second child. Her sister is also expecting her second child at the same time, which will up the cousin total to 5, in a 3 year period.

Meyers Rule! :-)

Air Train - JFK

This was the view outside our window at the hotel.

My Dad grew up on the edge of Kennedy Airport and this neighborhood is basically well known to me. It used to be largely Italian, but over the decades, the neighborhood has changed. It is not as safe a neighborhood anymore and that was an issue to me. Then I read that the hotel we wanted to stay at, provides a free 24/7 shuttle to and from the Air Train at Kennedy Airport.

We would get up in the morning and take the shuttle over to the airport and connect (via the Air Train) to the Subways. I mentioned this in a post on taking the subways a week or so ago.

The Air Train is truly a marvel. It took forever for them to build it, but now that it has been in action for just over 8 years, I can say with confidence, that I get everywhere with it. Well Done!

What you are seeing out the window is the section of the train that rides above the Van Wyck Expressway. It does that for about 4 miles and then turns to the right and ends its journey at Jamaica Station in Queens. The ride takes all of 5 minutes or so.

Very easy and fast.

Now if only Los Angeles can see their way clear to do something of this nature...sigh

Shake Shack

This is Shake Shack Theater District.

After we finished watching our Broadway play, we looked for somewhere to eat. We walked a block or so and I see the big gold sign, for Shake Shack. I had heard of the place and we decided to try it out.
It had a long line snaking outside, but it looked like it was moving fast enough, so we got on it. They gave us menus, so we could get our order together and after choosing what to get, I sent my Husband in to get us someplace to eat. That was a good idea, because as I stated, the place was packed. Within a few moments, I joined him and we waited for our order to be called.
He got their hamburger and I got a Chicago Dog, done their way. It was just fair in my humble opinion. I am not sure how the hamburger was. As a desert, we got a Concrete called The Great White Way. It was WAY too sweet for the two of us and we were glad we split it between us. I think part of the problem was that we were the wrong demographic for this restaurant. The clientele skewed VERY young and hip. In spite of that difference, we actually had a good time interacting with some of the patrons at our table (the table was very high and came with tall stools). Once we got used to this, the people conversed with us and all in all, we had a good time.

So we give it good marks for comradery, but only fair marks for the food itself.

How To Succeed In Business

While we had access to New York City, we decided to attempt to get half price tickets at TKTS. This is the booth in the middle of Times Square. We have done this in the past and had great luck with it. You don't get the sold out shows, like Book of Mormon, but almost anything else is fair game.

Since we were going to a matinee on Sunday afternoon, we decided to go to the alternate TKTS at South Street Seaport. This is the only location where you can purchase the matinees, a day ahead of time. That was perfect for us.

We chose the play, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. It currently stars Daniel Radcliffe (from the Harry Potter movies) and John Larroquette (Night Court, Boston Legal and The John Larroquette Show). The casting for this remake of a 50 year old Tony winner, is excellent. The two lead actors work well together, especially when they sing "their" alma mater, "Grand Old Ivy".

The set is truly minimalist. They use stacked boxes similar to the ones on the Hollywood Squares show. The way the boxes are dressed (office staff desks, mail room boxes and shipping baskets, The President's Suite, etc) show off the location of each scene. The lighting on the boxes, also gives the sets their character.



The songs toward the end: I Believe In You and the finale itself, Brotherhood of Man, leave you walking out of the show singing.

The Al Hirshfeld Theater, though a tight fit for the audience to get in and out of, is a beautifully restored theater and worth seeing.

My only complaint was the fact that, even though we paid half price, the tickets up in the balcony were still $81 each. A lot for a 2 1/2 hour performance...but hey, this is New York!

Highly recommended, if you visit The City.

The Cherub Gate

Trinity Church is basically next to Ground Zero in the World Trade Center site. You might want to read about the Church and its role in the past. It has had quite a history, especially after September 11, 2001. You can do that, HERE.

What I wanted to show you, my dear blog readers, is the Cherub Gate which is the entrance to Trinity Church's church yard. It looks like an old statue, sitting on top of an archway, but when we read the plaque over on the side of the gate, we found out that the tiny Cherub had not just been through 9/11, the little Cherub had been through the German bombing during WWII.



It was a gift to Trinity Church from St. Mary-Le-Bow Church in London England and arrived here in the US on June 11, 1964. St. Mary's was totally destroyed back on May 10, 1941. The Cherub was found among the ruins. It somehow survived that day and somehow survived the destruction of the World Trade Center in 2001.

That little Cherub has some serious juju attached to it. :-)

My Husband and I were both so glad the gate spoke to me enough, for us to stop and take a photo of it. Otherwise, we would have totally missed this.

50th Class Reunion

They were the Class of 1961. Pre-WWII babies, who were born ahead of the start of the Baby Boom in 1947. They graduated just as the War in Vietnam began, so many of them ended up drafted or enlisted (as my Husband did). Their music was more Elvis Presley or Do Wop and their hair was styled after Jacqueline Kennedy, who was First Lady, at the time.

We made the journey to the town my Husband basically calls home, Fresno, California. The old neighborhood has gone a bit bad, in this economy, but the High School still has school spirit and as you can see, quite a bit of attendees for the class photo.

As I sat and spoke to the graduates from that long ago class, I found out that not just 2 graduates were major league pitchers, but 5 went on to pitch in the big leagues. I may have mentioned Tom Seaver (who was technically the Class of 1962). In this class was his team mate, Dick Selma, who was reliever for the NY Mets. I also heard Dick Ellsworth and Jim Maloney were pitchers who graduated just prior to the class of 61. It was obviously a time in their schools history, where the ball players were managed well and reached the potential.

All in all, it was an interesting weekend.

If you would like to read his take on the weekend, check in over HERE.

==========
Photo
That is my guy
in the medium blue
shirt, 2nd row center.

Connetquot River

My Water Post For Today.

This is the Connetquot River, which I seem to spend a lot of time visiting, while I am on Long Island. I had never heard of this river, so I did some research. It flows a great distance, from the middle of Long Island, all the way to the Great River area on the South Shore. I admit that I wanted to show the place where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean, but lack of time and some rain that was threating, caused me to abandon that stop. Since it was my final day out on Long Island, it didn't get done. Maybe next time. :-)

What you are seeing here is the headwaters of the river. It ends just about a mile further, by the Long Island Expressway. This is what it looks like, when it crosses Veterans Hwy in Islandia.

This photo was taken through a fence. In order to get closer to it, you need to get a permit. I liked seeing it, even if it was through a fence.

I hope you enjoy.

Cradle Of Aviation Museum

This was my Husband and my 2nd trip to the Cradle of Aviation Museum. It has been around since at least the mid 2000's.
It is a tribute to the many people who worked in the aerospace industry on Long Island, back in the 60's and earlier. In the famous John F. Kennedy speech, when he told the nation that we were going to land a man on the moon and return him safely to the earth, he was talking of us. The men who worked at Grumman Bethpage were the engineers who created and built the Lunar Excursion Module (or LEM). They got the men down to the surface and got them back to the main capsule, for the return to earth.
When Apollo 13 had its crippling problem with the main section of the spacecraft, it was the LEM that kept them alive, until they could reenter the atmosphere and land safely on earth.



I can't tell you how proud Long Island was, when all this was happening.
Just a few short years later, we were totally shut out of future contracts, because Richard Nixon became President. He gave the contract for the Space Shuttle to the West Coast aerospace companies, like Lockheed and Rockwell and Long Island never recovered...but I digress.

The museum is a tribute to all that happened on Long Island. Be it ballooning, transcontinental flight by such aviation pioneers as Charles A. Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart, or WWI and WWII aircraft.
It was all represented in this well put together museum and definitely worth the time to visit.

Nunley's Carousel

When I was growing up on Long Island, we didn't have major amusement parks. The closest we had...was Nunley's Happyland.
I hadn't thought of the place for decades, but I do remember the ride that was like the Tea Cups at Disneyland, where you turn the thing in the center of the "cup" to make it spin around and around. I remember doing that and making my siblings scream for me to stop, while laughing the whole time.

I don't specifically remember the carousel, but I am sure one was there, along with cars that you could ride and a train and Ferris Wheel.

There was a restaurant next to it, called the Jolly Roger Restaurant. I don't remember if we ever ate there, but I do remember it, quite well.



I came upon this carousel, when I stopped by my 2 year college. I took the back road through the old campus. I wanted to show my Husband some of the old buildings I went to, when at Nassau Community College.
Suddenly, there was this carousel, in a beautiful building. How cool is that?
It ends up that it is not the carousel from our Nunley's, but another park they had in Baldwin. I don't honestly care, because it brought back so many memories for me and for my sister. The simpler life we led, growing up in post WWII Long Island.

I am glad that something was preserved, for the children of today.