Out & About

It's February...thermal pants weather...hours before a major snowstorm hits the area. Naturally, it's a good day to see some fencing action.

In case you haven't heard...there are a group of New Yorkers who want to bring the Olympics here in 2012. This week, the International Olympic Committee came over to check things out. Suddenly, we're in the middle of an epidemic...of Olympic Fever!!!!!!! Wait, why am I writing copy for Mayor Bloomberg?

Anyway, one of the events this week was a fencing demonstration on the steps of the New York Public Library. I caught the local train, took the ferry over to Manhattan, then took a few more trains up. The experience was anticlimactic...there's a huge movement to block the Games, since it would be a huge hassle. I'm on that side...I mean, the Republicans messed things up for a week last year, so why clog the five boroughs for two weeks and change? Surprisingly, no dissenters were present. Maybe they were knocked out and flung into unmarked vans. Honestly, I wouldn't put it past the local authorities.

They had two Olympic fencers to start...hamming it up as they battled walking down the stairs. They then showed us how fencing is done, with the different styles and lunges. Next, a pair of junior fencers came out...two sisters, getting ready for 2012. Afterwards, the guy fencer got to battle a volunteer from the crowd. It actually wasn't that hysterical...the girl got a point before losing. The whole thing took about 20 minutes.

I just wandered afterwards. I hit the 5th Ave. library for graphic novels, had lunch, and walked around before heading back. The highlight came on the 1 train heading for the ferry. A guy and his wife (I assume) wanted to take the Statue of Liberty ferry. Nice guy that I am, I point it out on the map. A few stops later, it dawns on me: only the first five cars let out at the end. I poke my head out. Crap! Lots of cars! I turn to the couple. Turns out she doesn't speak English and he's deaf. CRAP! Frantically, I had to write down the instructions, and they managed to get out.

The rest of the day was uneventful. I did fire off a cathartic letter to the head honcho of that reality site, almost three weeks after I got fired. If any of them are reading this, I just want them to know that I won't be going after them for the sake of doing that. They leave me alone, I won't bug them, end of story. I had a good run of two years, but the feuding tainted it for me. I don't know if this is the best format...but dammit, I've done this for four seasons already, so why not a fifth? By the way, I'll be handling the "good guys" in the next day or so. I'll try and keep the Julie hatred to a minimum.