weather and traffic

My mom’s favorite two topics.

I am leaving for the Cape on Tuesday so we discuss both, not that I have any interest in the latter.

First, my mom tells me the weather is supposed to be great. That, I am happy to hear.

Next, I am updated on traffic.

“It took Jeannie two hours to get down heah yestaday.”  That’s 45 minutes longa than normal.”  Okay. 

“It’s the Bahnstable Faeh this week, traffic is backed up everywheh.  It took June two hours just to get to Hyannis.  I hope when you come on Tuesday it’s not bad.” 

I hope so too, but it is what it is, and I’m not changing my plans because there could be traffic. 

A few hours later I am talking to Meredith who lives on the Upper Westside. I happen to look out my window and say, “I see a woman with an umbrella.”  Meredith tells me that it’s not raining where she lives.  And, even on my street, only one person has an umbrella. I research further.

I recently got a new app called Dark Skies.  It connects with GPS and automatically programs itself for my neighborhood.  This is what it says:

 And in two minutes the rain stops.

I really need to convince my mom to get an iPhone.  She would love this app.  And I bet I could find an equally good one for traffic.  

customer service at its very best

I love Graphics Image.  They make nice leather accessories.  Every year I get a pocket-sized leather notebook to throw in my purse.

This year, I buy one in bright pink and somehow misplace it. Permanently.

When I lose something that is difficult to lose I fear opening my freezer and finding it there.  So with some trepidation, I check and am relieved to NOT find my little pink notebook, a $40 recently-filled Metrocard, my beloved Tiffany heart key ring,  or a retractable utility knife — all recently gone missing.

But as some consolation, I am sitting at my computer and get an email:  Graphic Image is having a one-day-only 50% off sale on the exact pocket notebook I use.

So I order three:  two small ones (for $12.50 each) and a larger one in red (for $18).  They arrive a few days later. But the small ones are too small and the red is a darker red than the red shown on the website.  

I call Graphic Image and get lovely Rory (name changed for obvious reasons) after going through only two telephone prompts.   I ask Rory if I can return one of the smaller notebooks and the larger red one, and get instead three of the larger ones (two bright pink and one white gold) ... still for half price. “No problem,” she responds without hesitation.

So I return the two notebooks, totaling $30.50.  The three new notebooks will cost $54, so I figure I’ll just pay the difference of $24.50, and hopefully will not be charged for shipping.

I call Rory today.

Me:  “HI.  I was wondering if you got the two notebooks I returned last week?”

Rory:  “Yes, they came yesterday.  I already sent out the new ones.”

Me (surprised that Rory hadn't called to confirm the new order):  “Oh, okay.  Well, let me give you my credit card information to pay the difference."

Rory:  “Don’t worry about it.  I just made it an even exchange.”

Wow.  Customer Service as it should be.  Well, actually better than it should be.  

Thank you Rory.  

dear mr. mayor...

Dear Mayor de Blasio:

I live on 79^th and First.  A couple of years ago, a bike lane was added to the east side of 79^th  street.  It has been a nightmare.

PROBLEM:

It is only a matter of time before someone is badly injured or worse.  The bicyclists do not abide by the rules of the road.  I use the intersection of First and 79^th as an example, but I have seen this problem all over the city.

Bicyclists zoom up First Avenue in total disregard for the light at the intersection of 79^th and First.

They may slow down, but only enough to make sure they won’t get hit, and then they will go right through the red light.

They will make right turns on a red.

The delivery people are the worst offenders.

I often see bicyclists going the wrong way down one-way streets. This is particularly dangerous for pedestrians.

And not once have I ever seen a bicyclist who is breaking the law get ticketed, or held accountable in any way. 

RECOMMENDATION

• Make it mandatory that all bikes with drivers over age 17 be registered.
• Make the registration fee nominal: say $10/yr. or $10 every two years.
• Require a license plate or something similar for all bikes —some way for the biker to be identified.
• Ticket offenders.
• Require delivery people to wear something that clearly identifies the name of the establishment they represent; fine the restaurant if they don’t.
• Hold restaurants liable for the behavior of their delivery people 

I eagerly await your response.

lunch with a long-ago friend

I met Ellen when I was living in Chicago. She was (and is) one cool girl.

We used to live in the same building overlooking Lincoln Park.  She, and her husband at the time, removed all the inner walls from their all-white apartment, something no one did back then.  She was, and is, the only person I ever knew who could make a living selling her art.  She is immensely talented.

I last saw Ellen when I left Chicago 33 years ago.  Here we are just doing who-knows-what.

summer 1978

About a year ago we reconnected, and now Ellen is visiting NY with her boyfriend Evan.  She and I are meeting for brunch.  I am a little nervous, as it’s been 33 years since we last saw each other; I moved to Boston from Chicago in 1981.

I arrive at the diner near Columbus Circle a few minutes before Ellen.  She walks in the door, and I know it’s her right away.  She hasn’t changed at all.  Still stylish, beautiful, curly-haired, tall and thin.

It’s comfortable and easy from the start.  We catch up quickly on the last 30 plus years, but find ourselves talking more about the present.  I like that.  It’s clear that the past connects us, but if I were to meet Ellen today, I would again want to be her friend.

After brunch, we walk up to 86^th Street to meet Evan and his two kids.  Not surprising, he is adorable, as are his son and daughter. 

I am hopeful it won’t be another 33 years before we get together again. It's more than a little frightening to think how old we'll be by then.  

my first love

I wake up to the news that James Garner has died.  He was 86, and my first crush.

I was only 6 when Maverick debuted on ABC.  I can’t remember the time slot of shows I watch today, but I do remember that Maverick aired from 7:30 to 8:30 every Sunday night.  And though this was past my normal bedtime, my parents would always let me stay up and watch my favorite show.

Bret Maverick was my hero.

I was too young to imagine him my boyfriend, so instead, I imagined him my father.  Not that I didn’t love my own father, but I liked to fantasize growing up in a home where James Garner was always there.

When my friend Marcie went to summer camp in Maine, she befriended a girl named Kim; she was James Garner’s stepdaughter. My hope was that Marcie would be invited to LA to visit Kim, and be told she could bring a friend.  That of course never happened.

I would even create ideas for Maverick episodes, where I would appear as Bret’s daughter.  I was more than a little obsessed.  In fact, it was perhaps around this time I developed an interest in becoming a film star.  That, too, never quite materialized.

But boy, did I love that show, and its 29-year old star.