Well…just got back here an hour ago from the trip to NYC and all I can say is that it was a frickin hoot…walked almost 8 miles over the course of the day and I am sore right now but it was so darn worth it…when we got off the bus in town, it was a two block walk and we were standing in the middle of Times Square with all of the other tourists that were gawking just like we were…oh, let’s stop here to acknowledge that I had the best tour guide in my daughter…she knows how to get everywhere so all I had to do was follow her and that made for such a stress free day…and she likes being the navigator so I just sat back and let her….we saw Rockefeller Center, Central Park and many, many other places that were just abstracts to me until now and now I’ve walked through it and seen lots of it and that is so cool…we spent some time trying to find the “Doctor Who” rock in Central Park but didn’t…but the capper of the day was going to the Statue of Liberty and being able to climb up inside of it all the way to the crown…something that only 1% of the visitors get to do and that had to be reserved in April to get in…the spiral staircase that led to the top was 165 steps but the smallest, steepest steps I have ever seen and so cramped that I was banging my shoulders on the handrails all the way up and needed to pull myself up with my arms to make it…after the Statue, we went to Columbus circle at the entrance to Central Park to meet up with one of my sons and his girlfriend and had a nice talk and lots of laughs before heading back to the bus for the ride back here…one of the coolest days that I can remember and have so many memories that I will be processing for a long, long time…and I even have lots of photos that my daughter took with her Nikon that I have to download to my computer before I head home on Sunday….what a day!

Well…up quite early today with having to be on the road to NYC by 6:30…had a nice day yesterday but it was a little tiring with all the travel but the flights went well so that was cool….slept okay even in a new bed and that may be a new pattern now and I can live with that….7 days with no sleep aids and my body may be getting used to it….and with no antihistamines and that was a little bit of a chore with  a slight headache all the way here but I can live with it if it brings my blood pressure down…used my new machine to check it yesterday when I got up and it was only 125/80 so that is quite an improvement over the 150 that the doctor got in his office…I’ll check it again when I get home Sunday to see if the improvement is real or not….went out to eat with my daughter and son in law last night and ate more in one sitting than I normally eat in two days but I hadn’t had anything all day so I guess I can live with that…will be doing a lot of walking today so that should even out….it looks like no rain today and temps only in the 70′s so it should be perfect for walking around….I need to get moving and cleaned up for the day so I’ll end here…will try to update later after I get back later today….more later…

Well…just got to Baltimore and I’m at my daughter’s house…the flight was okay and I am getting excited to go to NYC tomorrow…we’re going to try to find the rock in Central Park that they used in “Doctor Who” and take a picture there so I can post that one on Facebook….looks like my daughter has a pretty cool trip planned and I can’t wait to see the sights and smell the smells of NYC….going out to dinner in a few but wanted to update here before we do that….going to be a pretty cool weekend….

Well…at the airport now and a bit early but since I haven’t flown in 6 years, I wanted to get here a little early to find the cheap parking lot…and it was pretty cool that the shuttle picked me up right at my car and they will deliver me back to it when I get back here Sunday….not much of a pain to get through security…only took about 10 mins so I have about a half hour until I board to head to Midway for the connection to Baltimore….I may post a few travel photos to facebook when I get to Midway but I’m not sure if it’s interesting enough….more later…

Well…running early today with getting up early to get ready to head to the airport…kind of excited to have some time doing something different and to see a couple of my kids over the weekend…and I am feeling better this morning with much less coughing overnight and I even slept okay so that’s good way to start the day…even took my blood pressure with the new toy when I got up and it was better with the result of 125/80 and a pulse rate of 61…much better than the 150 they got in the doctors office….maybe the no antihistamines  or cocktails is really helping…I’ll be curious to see what it is when I get back Sunday…didn’t get much done yesterday but packing and the grocery run and today will be taken up with traveling so I won’t get anything else done…I am pretty happy that the reaction to the flu shot is almost over and I can have a nice weekend….will try to update here as normal but I may not be able to do the two a day….more later…

Well….running a little late today with my site being down for a while …my son just fixed it so now I need to get this done before I get out on the bike and go to the bank again to get the cash for tomorrow…and, I forgot the fish I wanted at Meijer’s so I may have to go back there with being gone until Sunday….we’ll see…I am feeling a little better today and even slept some last night so I hope the improvement continues today…my head is not so plugged but I have decided to take medicine with me and use it if necessary and then go back to nothing on Sunday when I get home…I do need to check in for my flight online this morning to see where and when I can board the plane…I did start getting packed yesterday and will finish that up this afternoon…I really don’t have a lot more to do..it is easy to pack for 4 days if you just have shorts and shirts to pack…I do need to prep this place a little by putting the trash out and I do need to remember to shut the router and everything else off but that’s about it….more later…

Well….have been doing my best to avoid the shows on tv today that are about what happened the day of 9/11 since it has a personal trauma for me that isn’t really related to the actual events but is a reminder of a really bad time in my life. That same day, my mother in law was in the hospital for her declining health and the prognosis was not good…and it wasn’t the first time she had been in but this time was different when the doctors told us that the end was near…she died later that evening as the incessant videos were playing on the small tv in the corner of the room….the day had started with me in the cafeteria at work when the WTC took the initial hit and no one knew what was going on….and the entire day was just moving from shock to shock but I didn’t know of the bigger shock that was coming that night or the gut punch that was coming in a week…that I was going to be fired from my job of 28 years in a bout of downsizing that was decimating the company….I think it’s why I try not to think of that day too much…I am where I am today because of that day….and I’m not sure that is a good thing….

Well….running on time this morning and I am a little worn out from being up and down all night…got to bed at 11 and then up at two and back to bed at 3:30 and then up at 6 for good so there may be a nap in my future…had a good day yesterday with feeling good enough to go out and shoot pool…which I won for a change…and Tom gave me a huge steak for my last red meat and I had that for dinner last night…still feel full from that but it is chicken and fish from now on out…still don’t feel a hundred percent with the flu symptoms still here but I do feel a little better and I hope that continues until I get on the plane Thursday….need to check in online tomorrow morning to get my seat on the plane so I’ll have to remember that…need to do laundry and hit he bank this morning after I ride…but it is cold out there right now and I am already feeling cold right now so I don’t want to push it too much….more later….

Well…still feeling like crap this morning but at least I can breathe some and that is something…but I have no energy at all and I hope that will be fixed when I get on the bike later….not sure if I’ll ever get another flu shot since this is the reaction every time I get one…it’s like half flu and I sure hope that it’s gone by Thursday….slept okay last night but still feel like I have to ease into the day and let the coffee work before I get moving….I did feel okay for about an hour yesterday and I am waiting for that hour or more today… I do need to start getting ready for the trip but I think I’ll do that tomorrow and Wed….didn’t get much done yesterday and today will be the same with pool this aft and needing to conserve energy…need to go to the bank tomorrow and deposit the check before I travel….more later….

Well….sitting here watching a little soccer and it just hit me that I may be feeling a little better… not coughing as much but that is being replaced by sneezing for some reason….but, I am not taking any antihistamines any more so I guess I’ll just have to live with it…I may have some decongestants that don’t affect BP but I’ll have to look and see….I may feel okay by Thursday and for the big plans that my daughter has for Friday in NYC…I probably even could have taken a ride today but I don’t want to push it with the trip coming up….today is my last cocktail day, too, and I am looking forward to that…and to spending the extra 25 bucks a week I’ll save on some good seafood, veggies, and fruit….