\t\t\t\t The sound of Myaskovsky fills the air. At a small coffee shop in LIC\/Astoria, hogging thee seats but I’m the only customer here. The music is coming from Spotify, and it’s all classical ‘cello music. I asked the barista if he was a ‘cellist. He said no but that it is his favorite instrument. He asked if I would object if the next track was Dvorak. I replied “‘Cello Concerto?” He said yes. We are in the affirmative that we both know something or other about classical music. Can’t remember last time I heard classical music at a coffee shop or anywhere else. Wish the coffee was better.<\/p>\n
Feeling all kinds of gloomy today. Weather doesn’t help but this is like yesterday’s wash of SAD. It’s like my mind is constipated. <\/p>\n
Ah the barista got into conversation with an incoming customer and forgot to change the music to Dvorak. I shall complain mightily. No I will not.<\/p>\n
Funny, there are pictures on the wall here. They are for sale. One of the photos tagged as SOLD is of the Time & Life Building, where I used to work. It shows the “Cubed Curve” (I think that’s what it is called) by William Crovello (again, not certain of the name). That sculpture was the source of a brief episode of corporate notoriety for me. I wrote a letter to the company newsletter asking about details of the sculpture. I remember me question being phrased in a witty manner, and the response was equally so. More people stopped by my office that day to comment on this published Q&A than I think ever passed through my office in one day. Not even the day AOL bought Time-Warner did I see more faces come to say something to me. People just thought it was sooooooo cool that I was published in the ompany newsletter.<\/p>\n
Looking at the photo again I think the buildings seen do not include the T&L but the Fox News Building across the street. I think that is where Avon moved after they lost their lease on 9 West 57th Street. Avon was the first real jobI ever had in NYC. I was still friends with a number of people there when they moved to that building but I don’t think I ever went inside it or saw the offices. As far as I know Avon is still there, or in one of those 4 consecutive buildings that look very similar to one another. <\/p>\n
The photos for sale here are mostly of Manhattan office buildings. I guess that could be a semi-lucrative niche, as many people have worked in those structures.<\/p>\n
This place is quite cozy. Barista just remembered to switch to Dvorak. I do love this piece, haven’t heard it in a while. Dvorak’s piano concerto is not unappealing but all in all a dud. <\/p>\n
An e-mail from a District Attorney’s office regarding (what else) payphones reminded me that they had contacted me months ago to verify a past location of a payphone at a post office somewhere in Illinois. I had nothing much to offer but they seemed to appreciate my attempts at helping them out. Now it turns out they have evidence from AT&T that proves a payphone was there in 1957. That’s impressive investigative work, such that it makes me wonder how the folks at “Serial” never pursued whatever channels these guys did. I guess if you are a DA you have more ability to get cooperation from big telcos than if you are a public radio podcast. And in the case of “Serial” I’m not sure that proving the existence of the now infamous “Best Buy Payphone” would have made any difference. Then again I never listened to the podcast. I only read scattered comments about it. The DA’s office said they would let me in on more of their investigative work after the holiday. They are waiting for someone at AT&T to get back from vacation.<\/p>\n
This is kind of strange. Almost anywhere I go with this tablet I find it impossible to maintain an SSH connection to my web server. At this coffee shop I stay connected with \u00a0no problem. I can think of only one other place where that was true. Although I never connect to SSH at home, come to think of it. \u00a0Maybe it works there. At most public spaces I guess there is too much interference to keep certain type of connections going? Who knows…<\/p>\n
I ran out of gas in seetting up the new web server. I realized I could never make my self-imposed deadline and that I will have to pay an extra month for Digital Ocean. DNS is just taking too long to propagate and I had a handful of other problems to figure out. It’s only $45 but I shouldn’t throw money away as I have for the last few years. The other server I already know will take more time so I’m not worried about that.<\/p>\n
Well I should go. This is a nice coffee shop though, I should make it a regular pit stop instead of the ghetto coffee shop. Hey that rhymes. \t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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