spokesNspin

This was one of the advertising signs we saw as we exited the plane in Las Vegas:

This is from Three Cups of Tea. It is one of the most amazing books I have read. If you want to feel like a slacker and that you don’t do anything for the less fortunate read this book.

“Bashir paused to watch a live CNN feed… Bashir was struck silent by the images of wailing Iraqi women carrying children’s bodies out of the rubble of a bombed building.

As he studied the screen, Bashir’s bullish shoulders slumped. “People like me are America’s best friends in the region,” Bashir said at last shaking his head ruefully, “I’m a moderate Muslim, an educated man. But watching this, even I could become a jihadi. How can Americans say they are making themselves safer?” Bashir asked, struggling not to direct his anger toward the large American target on the other side of the desk. “Your president Bush has done a wonderful job of uniting one billion Muslims against America for the next two hundred years.”"

“Osama had something to do with it too,” Mortenson said.

“Osama baah!” Bashir roared. “Osama is not a product of Pakistan or Afghanistan. He is a creation of America. Thanks to a America, Osama is in every home. As a military man, I know you can never fight and win against someone who can shoot at you once and then run off and hide while you have to remain eternally on guard. You have to attack the source of your enemy’s strength. In America’s case, that’s not Osama or Saddam or anyone else. The enemy is ignorance. The only way to defeat it is to build relationships with these people, to draw them into the modern world with education and business. Otherwise the fight will go on forever.

On Saturday, I drove to New York City.  Yes folks you heard it right.  I drove to New York City.  I would never dream of such an adventure on my own.  I have my friend  to thank for attempting such a crazy thing.

She had business there and said she had done it before.  So if she was willing to navigate, I was willing to drive.  What was going through the back my mind was “What the hell am I thinking?’

 The trip had a rather inauspicious beginning when I took a wrong turn before we got off the DC  Beltway and we drove for 15-20 minutes before it came to our attention. (Note: I was the driver not the navigator)

Here are my thoughts on the trip.

It was easier to drive in NY than I thought it would be.  No more difficult than DC and easier in some respects.  There is certainly more parking.

I would say it seems to be much safer to be a pedestrian in NY than in DC .  In DC cars rule.  In NY the pedestrians seem to rule.  I was surprised at the number of bicyclists I saw.

The aggressiveness and number of people on the street hawking services surprised me.  There was a Chinese Massage booth. As we walked by, the woman started to massage my back.  It felt really good.  I kept walking and she literally grabbed my shoulder and tried to pull me back to her booth.  She gave me the evil eye when I walked back past the booth a few minutes later.

I thought the futile honking was funny.  Cars would honk when there was no possible solution to the problem that had them stuck. What’s the point of honking?  But I loved it.  In fact, I loved it so much that I determined to make sure that I took the opportunity to honk at least twice before I left the city.  It was very rewarding.

It is most certainly an interesting place to watch people.  The number of languages  that one can hear while walking around is amazing.  The many variations of attire were also fun to look at.  Where do these people come up with such clothing schemes?

Here is a pic of me in Times Square.

It was a fun trip.  But let me tell you that up and back to NY in one day ain’t no picnic folks.  It rained for almost the entire drive both directions.  Fortunately we didn’t get rained on in the city.