THE IMPORTANT OF BEING APPRECIATED

 I run an active Facebook for the alumni of my high school, Newtown High School in Elmhurst, Queens NY.  It still makes me chuckle that in the early days of my time on Facebook, I joined an alumni group for my year, 1985, and quickly made a post asking if anyone was playing whatever word game I was addicted to at the time.  In those early days, I play games tied to the Facebook ecosystem.  I think it took some effort to play non-friends, or maybe it wasn't even possible.  I already had some friends but they were not playing the word game I was interested in.  So I was looking for new players in an alumni group.  Nowaday, in groups I run that's an automatic decline.  Keep the topic relevant to the group.  Occasionally, I let things slide, perhaps on a Friday evening, but most of the time I run a tight ship.  No spam, no politics, everyone needs to play nice, etc.  We should just reminisce about the good old days, pay homage to some teachers who helped you, better thank them now before they die.  Many people appreciate my work and told me so, but this week two nice things happened.

I am helping to bring about the 40th Reunion of my Class of 1985.  One person, not even from my year, asked me if I would go.  I have to go, I am an organizer.  He went ahead and paid for my admission ticket!  It's over $100!!!  A day later, I made a car trip from Brooklyn to Elmhurst to pick up a bulk order of gym shirts.  The Internet is full of spammers and scammers offering school shirts for purchase.  I keep in touch with the Principal at my high school and according to him only Target is the official sellers of the school's ware.  Or by some stretch, Funky Otter or something.  I know that it's not these fake accounts that lament nobody like their shirts so they come to the alumni group to show the shirt and conveniently list a link.  They usually like their own posts too, maybe to fake activity.  I wish my high school would have an online store for alumni to buy merch but right now the only way to do so is via my volunteer effort.  I would setup a Google form to collect info like what shirt sizes, what colors, where to send the shirts.  When there are enough requests, I send the order to the school and they get it ready in a week or so.  I would then make the trip to pick up the shirts, laboriously pack them for mailing via USPS.  I only charge the school price plus USPS fee.  It's a slow process but the alumni get the real thing, good quality for a low price.  The school subsidizes the cost of the gym shirts and we alumni also reap the benefit.  During this most recent trip (yesterday or Feb 25, 2025), I was given a zippered hoodie by the school as a token of appreciation.  I suppose it has a value of $30 or so.  It is a very nice gesture, thank you very much, Newtown!

THINGS MOST PEOPLE DO NOT THINK ABOUT BEFORE STAYING A FEW WEEKS AT A NEW TOWN

What do most people think about before a trip to somewhere that they would be at for a few weeks, whether on business or for leisure?  What to do, things to see, right?  Well, in the case of business, I suppose they'll think of places to unwind.  I have a slightly different set of things to think about, such as

1. Hope I will have time to keep up with my exercise routine, mostly running and walking.  Will there be a nice waterfront place safe enough to run early in the morning or late in the evening?  The only down side is I'll have to bring a extra pair of shoes (running shoes, that is) and some running clothes.  Work will be hectic, hope I'll have the time to do some walking after lunch as usual.  I might even sign up for a 5K foot race!
2. Make sure to bring along my stainless steel coffee container.  Where I work the cafeteria gives a discount to encourage customers to bring their own drink containers, to reduce the use of paper or plastic cups.  Where I am going I am not sure if the incentive exists, but I'm sure there will be a water cooler.  I'll have my reusable cup with me on trips from now on.
3. Will there be an event I can volunteer at?  Whether it's a foot race or a soup kitchen, I think volunteering is a nice way to see the local neighborhoods in a  different angle.  Maybe I'll find an animal shelter and help walk some dogs!
4. Will there be a public library where I'm going?  I don't plan to pay the fee to use as a visitor, but it'll be nice to just sit down and relax with a book or a magazine.

Do you have any unusual thoughts before visiting a new place for an extensive stay? 

SCAR-FACE? NO, CUTIE FACES!

"Nhất Cử Lưỡng Tiện" is the Vietnamese phrase meaning "Lifting one hand to do two convenient things", or something like that.  I am not a big fan of multitasking but I do think of it from times to times.  So I run a lot and thought that maybe I can put my love of running to help some shelter dogs with their daily walks.  I actually registered through New York Cares to work with BARC but the date didn't work out and I had to withdraw.  Some weeks later I learned about Sean Casey Animal Rescue (SCAR) through my track club's Facebook page.  What's better with SCAR, 39th Street location, is that it's a bit closer to me.  I was able to help SCAR walk their dogs twice already.  The first time I had three separate dogs, the first two were very excited and didn't like to be leashed.  A few times they turned around to bite the leash, the second dog even gripped my coat sleeve for a while.  And they sure ran fast!  I couldn't keep up with them and had to rein them back.  Which only made them more upset!  The third dog was more mellow and just slowly sniffed its way around.  Yes, all three dogs did their doggy business and I proudly cleaned up after them.  It helped that I did diaper duty when my son was a baby.

Today I came back to walk dogs again.  My son and nephew came along to pet the furry friend.  They also helped take photos, which helped because SCAR rules state that the dogs must be held by the leash all the time so it would be really difficult to take a photo and have a good grip on the animal.  Also, by rules the dogs are to be kept away from other dogs, which is too bad because they sure love to interact with each other.  Each time I spot another dog nearby I had to hold the SCAR dog back or steer it to another spot.  Good thing I have no plan to use the SCAR dogs to meet women.  I'm only doing out of the goodness of my heart.

SCAR has two locations, 551 39th Street, and 153 East 3rd Street, both in Brooklyn.  I haven't been to the East 3rd Street location but was told that the dogs there are smaller.  You don't have to be a runner to help walk the dogs.  You just need to be strong enough to hold them in check.  Most of the times the dogs just like to sniff around slowly.  The times that the dogs trotted it may have been me who started the run.  Of course you have to be able to clean up after them.  Just be sure to get a pair of gloves from SCAR and lots of plastic bags.  Donate your time or donate money, whichever you can afford, or both.  Even better, adopt a dog or whatever animal that you may like.  I am not in a position to adopt a dog but maybe you are!

Charlie likes milk-bone treats.

Unnamed dog was easy to handle, I took her to nearby Sunset Park.

PURPLE STRIDE 5K AND MINI MIGHTY MAN TRI

It has been a busy weekend.  It all started on Saturday with working for NYCRuns in support of the Purple Stride NYC 2013 To Fight Pancreatic Cancer, in Riverside Park.  There was a 5K run then a 2K walk.  The event was the first NYCRuns gig after the bombing at the Boston Marathon, so security was tighter.  Bag checks actually involved checking the bags for anything suspicious.  In addition to two NYCRuns staff doing the checks, the Purple Stride people also had two private security guards standing nearby.  Then there were a few NYPD scooters in the area.  The runners and walkers were cooperative.  The only complaint I heard, not addressed to me but to a policeman nearby, came from a dog-walker who had to carry his pet's output in a bag in search of a trash-holder to dispose of.  New Parks regulation forbid garbage containers for the event.  Something else, which I would not label as a complaint, was that some walkers were surprised that the walking course was shorter than last year.  I don't know what the course was last year, but this year it was just north to 116th Street, up the hill to the highest path below street level, then back down to the tree mall level at around 103rd Street or thereabout, for about 2 km.

It was my second visit to Riverside Park and I got to explore the park a little more.  I actually traveled the entire 5K race course, not in one shot but at different times.  Some day I need to go north from 96th Street to see where the path no longer runs along the water.  For Saturday, after a long wait to make sure the trash got taken out, I went south on my bike along the Hudson waterfront.  Weather was perfect for riding, a bit cool but not too cold.  At around 72nd Street, cyclists were required to dismount and walk the bike.  I was going to keep walking the bike along the waterfront until wherever it's okay to ride again, but then I discovered that just not too far inland was a bike path.  It went below the elevated Henry Hudson Parkway all the way to 59th Street.  Not waterfront, but you still get glimpses of the water.  Lovely!  Cyclists, we don't ask for much, just enough room for two bikes in each direction, at worse one in each direction, enough room for passing.

The next day I found myself at the Nassau County Aquatic Center to volunteer for the Mini Mighty Man Triathlon.  A few months ago I discovered that NYRR will not hold the sprint triathlon in Flushing Meadows this year, perhaps never again, for whatever reason.  There went my hope for a sprint tri!  Luckily, through the power of social media, I discovered that the Mini Mighty Man just outside of NYC in Nassau County is similar to the NYRR event.  Pool swim followed by actual bike race and foot race.  There are sprint tris that involve stationary bikes and treadmills but I am not interested in those at all.

The ride to Nassau in 5 AM was wonderful.  There was plenty of parking when I got there.  After getting out of Meadowbrooks Parkway, I almost missed the left turn on Merrick Boulevard because the street sign was so small.  Luckily, a car ahead of me had a bike sticking out the trunk so I correctly assumed that it was a tri participant.  I followed that car and got to the place without any lost time.

I was assigned to Body Marking, Swim In, and Run In.  Armed with a marker, I wrote the triathletes' number on the left upper arm and on the left calf, then the age on the right calf.  It was a cold April morning so many people had many layers to remove to get the upper arm part done, but everyone was cooperative and nice.  The athletes came in all shapes and ages.  One little girl was only seven, then at the other end I think there was a 62-year-old woman.  Many people were fit and trim, but some people were a round at the middle, so it makes me feel more confident to give the tri a shot some day.

Eventually there were few people left to have body marking done so I went inside to help with the Swim In.  I came in just in time to pause for the national anthem, followed by a moment of silence, which I am sure was for Boston even though I didn't quite catch what the announcer said.  There were about 400 people total but because there is only so much room in a pool lane, the line moved very slowly.  We had to make sure people get registered as they walked across the timing mat, then that they only jump in with enough distance between swimmers.  Many people appeared to be veteran triathletes but there were some first-timers who were nervous.  Everyone got to start somewhere someday.  I ended up getting drafted for Swim Out as well, to make sure the pool was empty of event participants.  As someone who is out of breath after a 50-meter swim, these slow swimmers are still better than me.  Slowly they covered the entire 400 meters, even if they have to stop once or more times at the end of the lanes to rest.

By the time I got outside many runners were already finishing.  The bike transition area looked crowded with bikes so I suppose the bike race was over.  I came mainly to see the swim portion, as I saw one too many foot races already, so I decided to skip out.  I stayed out for a long time yesterday so it would be better to be home earlier today.

One day, perhaps before I turn 50, I will participate in a sprint triathlon.  I just need to improve a lot with swimming and get a better bike.  In the mean time, some time this year when NYC's bike-share program, CitiBike, finally gets implemented, I will definitely have my own little triathlon.  Hop on a subway to some pool, do 400 meters then jump on a CitiBike for some miles, return the bike then go for a run, finally take the subway home.  Anyone thought of that already?  A small benefit of living in a big city.

Greetings from Nassau County.

Step right up and get your body marks, triathletes!

Random finishers.

NYRR NYC HALF-MARATHON 2013

In 2012, I had some extra money and poured it all into the NYRR 5-boro series.  It was no longer a 5-boro Half-Marathon series, since the Queens race was a 10K and Bronx's was a 10-miler.  Having done the entire series got me guaranteed entry into the NYRR NYC Half-Marathon, which runs through Times Square and down the West Side Highway, but I gave the NYC Half a pass.  For me, a half-marathon should be $50 max for early registration.  Maybe even $60, but $117 is way out of my league.  I suppose there are race amenities to die for in the NYRR NYC Half, but I don't mind not finding out.  I still wanted to get involved and to be caught in the excitement, so I originally signed up as a course volunteer, individually.  Shortly afterward, I found out that the North Brooklyn Runners (NRB) run-group had a water station assigned to them and welcome my club, Prospect Park Track Club (PPTC).  I cancelled my individual gig and joined the group effort.

Volunteering with the group near Mile 12, as opposed to doing it as an individual near the starting line, gave me an extra half hour of sleep.  I still had to try to get to the water station by 6 in the morning.  Much as I love the subway, and cycling, neither options are great if you have to go somewhere in the wee hours of the morning, on a very cold day.

The water station was referred to as near Rector Street and the West Side Highway but it was not that near.  More like one long avenue block south of Rector, on a traffic median outside the exit of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel.  I bumped into a medical table and asked for direction.  I almost went the wrong way to some other station at Canal Street.  I suppose if the sun was out I could have seen better the so-called Rector water station a few blocks away.

The race was to start at 7:30 AM, some 12 miles away, but we had to be prepared for the onslaught of thirsty runners.  Water was run from a huge hose into big plastic bags housed in plastic bins.  Pitchers were made out of used Gatorade powder bottle and used to pour water into individual paper cups.  Have too many empty cups out and the wind would just blow the empty cups away, so I found it best to have the same person pour water and place the partially-filled cups down.  Runners shouldn't drink a whole cup of water, so the cups were only half-filled, or less.  Old signs were used to create tiers to have a total of three levels of water.  We had a lot of time, and many capable hands, so the work was done soon enough.  We were not even supposed to hand the runners water, they just have to snatch the water off the table themselves.  We had to leave some room so that the runners could easily pick up one cup without having to touch the neighboring cups.  Once the three tiers were filled with water, not much left to do but stand back and wait for the runners to arrive.

And arrive they did.  First were the hand-operated recumbent cyclists, just a few of them.  Then the elite runners with their first-name bibs.  Fast runners from local clubs, like Central Park Track Club (CPTC) and West Side Runners (WSX), were not far behind. Since we were not supposed to hand out water, there was not a whole lot to do other than cheer or take photos, and took photos I did.  A fellow PPTC member had some runner-tracking app but it didn't work for me as I missed the fastest PPTC person.  I managed to snap photos of a few others.  I stood on a low wall of the median to see farther down the road but it was not a good angle and I usually had only a few seconds to get ready to shoot.  Once or twice the PPTC runner would wave at the exact second I snapped the photo.  Other times some other runner would get in the way.  Oh well, things happen when many thousands fill the road.

Ideally I should be on the course, just off to the right of the runners, like the pro photographers with their big cameras.  My measly camera won't rapid-fire and capture every single runner but I would at least have a good view of the runners from far away, but with enough time to have second-chance shots.  But being on the course would mean totally abandoning the water station, even if there was not much work to do.  Eventually, the number of runners decreased greatly and we started to rake the discarded cups etc.  Beside getting the big task done piecemeal raking also got the body warm on this cold day.  In the end, most of the nicely stacked three tiers of water was wasted and we had many blue plastic bags of waste.

It was great to be caught up in the excitement.  I definitely going for a long run tomorrow.

Lots of ice-cold water awaiting for the thirsty runners just a tad past Mile 12 of the NYRR NYC Half-Marathon.

Some of my fellow PPTC members at the NBR-sponsored water station.

It was cold enough for icicles to form while the runners were still further up the road.

Elite runners!  At least the ones I managed to snap photos of.

Here comes the elite runners with their first-name bibs!

Fast local runners were not too far behind!

F1, F2, and F3, aka Top Three Female finishers.

PPTC members showed up!  V is for Victory, or Vinny!  I missed the fastest PPTC runner of this race, could really use a spotter like in that snipers duel scene in The Hurt Locker.

Nicole of PPTC ran the rest of the way to the finish line.

Another sub-2 PPTC finisher!  Go David!

There were three tiers of water per table but it was a cold day, look at those ice on the table surface!  Not that many took the water, both because it was a cold day and it was Mile 12 of a 13.1-mile race, but a few people actually poured water on themselves.  I would do that, too, but on a hot summer day, not a cold day like today.  Hope those people had dry clothes waiting for them.

See the complete album at

https://plus.google.com/photos/109153989599275468311/albums/5856394848360301985

BOO TO BIKE BAN ON BRIDGE!

I recently went out to the Rockaway to do some volunteer house-cleaning work.  Muck-out is the term they use.  The houses got flooded during the storm, especially the basement, everything is ruined and needs to be thrown out.  It was sad to see boxes of stuff containing memories precious to the owners being tossed to the curb.  Or a whole room with bookcases tipped over, content from the shelves spilled haphazardly all over the floor.  For a pack rat like me, it was quite a horror.

One thing I love about running and cycling is to know the amount of time it takes to go to a specific place.  I admire people who can look out at the horizon and roughly estimate the distance to a place.  I have to personally travel over the distance with some measuring device, or measuring the distance afterward on a map.  With my regular running, I now know how long it would take me to run to a certain point in my neighborhood.  I am still relatively new to cycling and often wonder how long it would take to go to the Rockaway.  Years ago I went as far as Breezy Point gate or some other street on the east side of the peninsula, but I don't remember now how long it took me, or how far the distance.  For this week's trip, the distance from my home to Beach 129ish and the main road was about 16 km (10 miles).  It took me about an hour and 15 minutes.  I am happy to report that there was no sign on either approach to the Gil Hodge Memorial Bridge reminding cyclists to dismount and walk their bikes.  Maybe the signs were knocked down by Hurricane Sandy and the government hasn't gotten around to re-erecting the new ones.  All the times I used the bridge, only once did I see someone walking the bridge, I don't see the point of not letting cyclists ride on it.  Supposedly in the summer fishermen use the bridge but then cyclists can just common sense to walk the bikes past these guys, no?

The trip back took a little longer, both because I strolled on Plum Beach's newly reclaimed beach and because of heavier traffic.  Not long ago, beach erosion has encroached so much of Plum Beach, where the bike path enters the parking lot, that sandbags had to be placed to temporarily to hold back the water.  A few weeks ago, before Hurricane Sandy, I noticed that the sand went much further out into the water.  It's good to see that the beach was reclaimed but too bad the bike path is still under lots of sand.  Perhaps that's one effect of Sandy, doh!

I headed home during the evening rush hours so once I got off the bike path near Knapp Street, there seemed to be no way of avoiding vehicular traffic.  Emmons Avenue is bike-unfriendly, so was Avenues Z and Y.  How I wish the Boardwalk is open to bike traffic outside of 5 AM to 10 AM.

Two things I like:  large solar panel and my bicycle.

Star of Hope reads: Courage is every virtue at its testing point. (Yes, I took the liberty to correct the wrong use of "it's".  I also removed the contact info for the electrician, don't want to give them free advertisement.)

Group photo, with the house owner, after a day of mucking.  Who cares?  New York Cares!

Plum Beach with a few tons of sand recently dumped on it to reclaim the beach from erosion.  Not that far ago, mere meters from the highway was where the water has approached.

Sandbags to salvage the beach.

CONEY RECOVERS - SUPPLY DISTRO

Today I had a little time to volunteer in Coney Island.  Coney Recovers' Facebook page says volunteers should be at MCU Park 9 AM sharp so I was there some 15 minutes before that time, but when 9 AM rolled around and I asked a volunteer coordinator she told me to wait a few minutes.  After what seemed to be a long time, a group of New York Cares volunteers came so I approached them and then walked in with the group, even donned their orange jacket, for the duration of the work.  Volunteer work is volunteer work, it does not matter to me really, as long as I get some work done.  Another volunteer group present was America Corps NCCC and some other groups joined later on, one from an Intermediate School, I believe.  Together we gave out water, instant noodles, hand warmers, cleaning supplies etc.  I was at the table to give out water.  All the residents patiently waited in the long line in the cold.  Most came prepared with a grocery cart while some came up with only big, black plastic bags.  It was nice to know that some people refused the water because they already had what they need from earlier distribution.

In other news, maybe it's true that the media only reports bad news.  So we saw photos of people lining up with jerry cans to buy gasoline for their disabled automobiles.  Now that the crisis is over, no news about it?  On my way to the volunteer site this morning, this is what I saw at the corner of Cropsey and Neptune.  Look ma, no lines!  Alert the media!

HoBOOken 5K 2012

Listen to the Hula Guy, runners, and turn right from Sinatra Drive!

Ah, the plans of mice and men.  Originally I was going to register to run in the HoBOOken 5K with my friend Johnny.  It would be his first race so I thought he could use the support.  Then I became unemployed so I did not register and saved the $27 fee.  I still want to be there for Johnny so volunteering for the event was the next best thing.

Knowing PATH train's annoying weekend routes, I gave myself plenty of time to make the trek from Brooklyn to Hoboken.  In the past, when I needed to go from 34th Street to Newport, there would be no direct train going that way.  You would have to go to Hoboken and wait five or more minutes then you would be transported to Newport.  Today I needed to be in Hoboken but made the mistake of trying to get there via the World Trade Center station.  You guessed it, no direct train to Hoboken.  I would have to go take the Newark train to Grove Street then change switch to the other direction.  I had plenty of time and wanted to log in some distance for Team Luau in Charity Miles, so I got off at Exchange Place instead and walked about 1.7 miles, mostly along the Jersey City waterfront, to get to Hoboken.  Us runners don't mind long walks.

I visited the volunteer sign-in booth to add my name to the list and got a green event T-shirt, supposedly same design as the runners' but theirs is white.  It was only 8ish and the race was scheduled for 10, so we had a little time to get to know each other over coffee and such in a Starbucks at 12th and Hudson Streets.  It was a Halloween/costumed race, everyone, runners and volunteers/staff were to dress up.  I didn't have anything on me and took a hula before leaving Starbucks to report to my post at Mile 2, which was also something like 3/4 Mile.  I checked Facebook regularly for news from Johnny but there was no indication he made it to the registration area, which was Pier A in Hoboken.  I gave him my cell phone but there was no calls from him either.

Before long the lead runners appeared.  Along with another volunteer, I directed the runners to turn right from Sinatra Drive into Maxwell Park.  Johnny or not, I also started snapping photos of the runners.  My volunteer partner told me that there were 1,500 or so runners but soon they all streamed past my post, with a police car bringing up the rear.  Silly me, I thought there would be a few waves of runners, but I guess 1,500 is not that big a number.  On the way out, my post is like 3/4 or 0.75 mile from the start.  The runners would run along the water in Maxwell Park and further north then eventually return to my post, Sinatra Drive, to reach Mile 2.  I only had to turn around to snap some more photos.  Again the runners ran past but no sign of Johnny anywhere.  Later on I found out he left his phone in the car and did run, with a good finish time, too.  Oh well, Johnny or not, it was a good day to be out volunteering and cheering the runners!  Check out their/your photos at

https://plus.google.com/photos/109153989599275468311/albums/5804102230185520353