Work is the Curse of the Drinking Classes

Brooklyn Bridge

Up at 6 am to feed Mordecai and take him over to Union Square. We got back to the apartment just as Gill was returning from a run. I’m thankful the dog needed attention – running Mordecai beats running every time.

Got on a bike at 13th Street and headed down to the Financial District for day 1 of my course. Just like the ferry, Liberty Island, and even the Beacon Theatre, security is a post 9/11 and/or Boston Marathon reality nearly everywhere we go. I presented my credentials, and was allowed through the guarded turnstiles to the elevators.

The training facility is very nice – wi fi, breaksfast, and all the coffee I can drink. Our instructor knows his stuff (he also wrote the course), and tempers some pretty dry content with a good sense of humour. I might just get through 5 days of this.

After lunch, I started to regret not taking Raymond up on the ticket to the U.S. Open men’s final. Around 2:15, I started to regret the hot dog I got from the street vendor. 2:17 brought a message from Jack at Late Night with David Letterman offering us tickets for Wednesday. Since we’d have to be there for 2 pm, once again I had to pass. At 2:38 I got an abusive text from my father-in-law about passing on the tennis. Rough afternoon for the working class.

My work commitments are really starting to get in the way of my New York social life. I wonder if Leona Helmsley suffered this way before she went to the big house. Or maybe while she was in there, poor thing.

Took a bike home north along the River Walk. Mordecai was glad to see me. We walked over to Union Square, again, for a little exercise. Met a Burmese with nearly as much enthusiasm as our friend Mozart. That’s saying a lot.

Got back to the apartment to watch the rest of the men’s final. On TV. Gill worked late, so I grabbed a slice of pizza at the shop on the corner and dug into my homework from today’s lessons.

My instructor has instructed us that class begins at 8 am for the rest of the week. I think I’ll look into this Powerball thing.