It has been an interesting ride since Canada Day. On the 2nd the Bees played a team called Interpro in Central Park. Since we were the visitors, we came up first and drew first blood (1-0). But it was too good to last as Interpro scored a few in the bottom of the first inning. Then it got worse. They went further ahead, and then we caught up and tied them, and finally Interpro pulled ahead of the Bees 17-13, which was the final score. We felt that there were a few bad calls, but we also made some base running blunders. Worse of all, our first baseman nearly got thrown out of the game as he started to argue with the umpire (luckily our captain told him to get back to first and keep quietly). Since it was a late starting game (7 PM instead of 5:30 or 6), I headed to the subway at Central Park West to head home. Hopefully the Bees will do better at our next game, on the 8th.
On Thursday I met my friend the visiting professor, his wife and their daughter, as we as Ellen and Eileen, at John’s Pizzeria on Bleecker Street. I had my usual slices with anchovies, as well as some Sierra Nevada beer. We then walked up Bleecker to the Magnolia Bakery at 11th Street, and got some cupcakes and molasses cookies. It turns out that besides their great products, another reason for the store’s popularity is that it is featured in Sex and the City. Once these goodies were consumed, we walked back down Bleecker to Rocco’s Italian Bakery for some gelato and Italian ices (I enjoyed some great pina colada ices). Since we checked out all of our favorite Bleecker Street shops, we then walked up 6th Avenue to West 8th Street to get the subway.
Then it was the US’s national holiday, and Happy 4th of July to all of us American subscribers. Ellen and I hosted her brothers, sister in law, nephew and nephew for a cookout, and also eating outside since there were not that many bugs out, only humid, and the rains held off until very late in the evening. Since my nephew is a baseball fan, he and I had a few series of games of catch, with a softball and also with a hardball. By the way, it’s a lot easier to throw a baseball than it is to throw a softball. Later my sister in law helped me download some anti-spy ware softball, and also another URL called www.firefox.com as an alternative to Internet explorer.
Yahoo also notified us that former North Carolina senator Jesse Helms passed away. While I believe in a strong army, navy and air force, I do not agree with subsidies to tobacco farmers (they want limited government, grant them that wish). While he did stand firm in his convictions, I also felt that he was too intolerant. Apparently most visitors to the site called www.findagrave.com did not think too highly of him, since on the day that his memorial page went up the virtual flowers link was turned off.
The fire brigade was busy yesterday and today, mainly for ambulance calls. On the 4th we had a man who we thought was an overdose victim was only disoriented. We still had to take him to Southside Hospital. Early this afternoon when I was having lunch at the local McDonald’s I noticed two Exchange Ambulance of the Islips rigs rushing past. When I got into my car to head home my pager went off saying that an advanced life support (ALS) medic was needed at a location in Bay Shore (where the two rigs were headed). It was a cardiac arrest case, and an echo call – the most life threatening. When I got to the Islip fire station we were about to take our ambulance, when we were told that extrication tools were needed - the medics would have to lower him from a window to their rig. So we put on turnout gear and headed over there is the heavy rescue truck. When we got there it turned out that the medics had him on the gurney in the walkway and were performing CPR. They put him into their ambulance and took him to Southside. As of this moment, we don’t know if he made it or not (thought we all hope that he does). They then sent us back to the fire station.
