Sunday, December 25, 2011

blue chirstmas


Well, last week I as sick on Sunday,sO I didn;t post.
I mailed my packages at the Rensselaer Amtrak station/ post office:
From 12-24-2011
.
Just like an airport, but no TSA.
From 12-24-2011
The reason why it new is that the tracks for the old Albany Union Station were torn up to build Interstate 787. The Building is still there:
From 12-24-2011
,but is vacant. It was renovated into office space.
despite the cold, I did get in 9 miles:
From 12-25-2011

, but ,other than that. I'm packing. Gotta get to memphis and TCB

Sunday, December 11, 2011

too cold to ride

Well, I could if i had the clothes.
Instead I wrote Java and ruby surfed info about Memphis.
one of the best places is MallofMemphis.org, which,I admit, is a strange name for History.
The Actual Mall Of Memphis was a Star-crosssed place -It started out in 1981 as the "the" mall but neighborhood demographics (only Mall with Prison Guard Towers in the Parking lot!) caught up it, causing to be stuck with the nickname "Mall of Murder". I can remember going there right after I got my Bachelors and it had opened during the early 80's - another difficult economic time

It was finally torn down about 2003

A Wal-mart was going to go there, but it still a vacant lot.
At least some thing do get re-used, like this former auto dealership and of course, where My mother is moving, The Parkview, used to be the parkview hotel. At first I thought the dealer was the old Oakley-Keesee ford, where dad insisted on buying his cars despite the fact that we lived in the Bootheel. I thought I could remember it being on Poplar, not Lamar. And I was right. The Dealers has moved out to Bartlett, but the building is now a self service facility.
Maybe next week I'll get out

Sunday, December 04, 2011

Riding with dead

It was 28 degrees at 8am on Saturday, so I decided to put off riding until the afternoon. I headed to Albany Rural Cemetery.
The Big Star here is President Chester Arthur:


The brown beauty has turned into a boon Companion. want to buy a Bacchetta strada?

Philip Schuyler - Revolutionary war general:

America's Longest serving mayor Erastus Coring:


I was thinking this trip was ironic, as this week was the 10 year anniversary of the TWA shutdown, and my last flight on them was coming back from burying my dad in 1999,

Of Course, now that mother is moving to Memphis, it looks like it be a while before I make another trip to lambert field:

Sunday, November 27, 2011

pedal the blues away

at least that's why I tired to do :

did it work? maybe, I did try a different route and found the uncle sam bike path in Troy:

I also found cohoes falls:

I even got brave and made it up the hill to the Cathedral:

and since it was small business Saturday:

bought a tube, and got a reward:

and I did stop at the Empire state plaza:


and as far as Memphis - I've been trying to put a happier song (at least in tempo) on my mind:

well, until you listen to lyrics. I always wondered about who wrote this song, as Johnny Rivers did seem to be a southsider , I can still remember the looks Dad got when he mentioned he went to Southside HS. Turns out, it was written by Chuck Berry, Ahh, makes sense (and a Saint Louis Connection)

Keep the rubber side down until next week

Thursday, November 24, 2011

happy Thanksgiving: Bah humbug!

I admit that this had not been a good thanksgiving.I had planned on flying back to Missouri from California, But I'm sitting sleepless here in Upstate new York.
The other issue is that my mother is getting to where she cannot handle her current living. we've spent the most of this month addressing the issues both present and underlying, and found a solution. Well not the best , as she is going to have to move back to Memphis, Tn. Along the way, I've found which relatives and friends I can trust and which I can't. This probably means it's going to be a while before I wind up back in Saint Louis or Cape Girardeau. And Since I hold Power of Attorney for my Mother,I signed that lease for her at he Parkview.
Right now , we are planning on moving her over New Years. I'm experiencing the "joy" of long distance estate sales (One of her friends in Missouri also has power of attorney, so that has been a help) I was planning on being back for Christmas on "Unicon" It was a ticket Continental, but I was to connect in O'hare, which really meant it united , but that flight has gone by the wayside in favor of a trip to Memphis to get her settled. I would up using my AAdvanatage miles and Flying out of Bradley airport in Connecticut, as American does serve Albany. Hopefully, I'll be able to rebook it. I had been saving my miles for such an occasion. Looks like I'll have to start over with United(tied with Southwest for #1 at alb, no Blue 737's in the land of purple planes (Memphis being FedEx's Headquarters) or Delta.
I did make it to all saint for Thanksgiving mass.

Though about riding my bike there, but need to work out parking. The Dean's, David Collum, sermon was on the topic of that a lot of folk don't have much to be thankful about this, particularity here with Hurricane Irene and Lee . He used the life of Martin Rinkart, who despite all he went through , managed to write a Thanksgiving standard:

And I did get out for a brief ride. My dad was a Pharmacist:

not much action here versus next door at target:
.
Is Albany a Dead end?

And I stopped by the cemetery:

so not a lot of fun, did take a brief break before heading in to work tomorrow. Hope you had a better one. This sonf has been running in my mind all day. I even have my blue suede shoes on

Sunday, November 20, 2011

getting broke


Ok, I stimulated the economy:

I went up the Mohawk Hudson path No leafs this time of year:

:(

in Waterford:

The real reason I got the bike: Cinder Trails:

which leads to the Hazardous waste site:

back on the canal:


and the modern day version:

The wind was really roaring:

and I finally got a pick of mill creek falls:

Saturday, November 12, 2011

apple cider the new enegry drink


Yesterday, I went down to Hyde Park, The home of Franklin and Elanor Roosevelt:
From 11-11-2011
Franklin, or FDR, was America's president during WWII.
From 11-11-2011
FDR would attemmpt to walk down the lane to the road every day after he had polio, he never made it:
From 11-11-2011
I thought about going back up to Saratoga, but the weather did not look promising. It was a good day.
Today looked better, so I took off for the Mohawk Hudson. Since I did not have energy drink, I used some (non-hard) Apple cider. The Mohawk has not frozen yet:

I made it all the way to Schenectady today:

GE started out here , and is still a major employer:
\
old depot in Crescent:

Pretty soon, I'm going to have put away my bike:

Maybe I'll sign up for a snowshoeing class at ll bean:

And the cider worked amazingly well!

Sunday, November 06, 2011

double time

I decided to ride to my ride, I took little longer on the Mohawk Hudson. My thermometer said 32 degrees, so it was time to ride
It was just a little colder:

after 10 minutes , I thought about turning around> My Hands had frozen, and so do the water in My Camelbak tube,
It did get better. Here is the Niskayuna depot:

and lock 7 on the Mohawk:


I turned around at the Knolls Lab and headed back. I though I could get a good pic of this ghost sign, but no luck:


Then, I test rode a bike - a Trek 7300 - almost bought it, I need an all round bike since my Giro is for sale in California
Today, I went down to Castelton and back. I needed to get some quarters to do my laundry. There was a Laundry there, So I didn't see a need to make a special trip.
Well, it was closed. Like this building:

A nice mural:

I'll close with this old truck:

I can remember when these were new. Show I 'm getting old. The other reminder of that is that I'm dealing with my mother, who is starting to develop Alzheimer's. Trying to convince to give some independence when you're a thousand miles can be frustrating, At least I knew it was coming.