Walking Home Backwards

...er...not literally (if I did that, you'd probably be sending me 'Get Well' cards right about now!)

This was my first full week of taking the "A" train to and from work, thanks to the "R" train tunnel being closed.  You all remember the "A" train, don't you - http://youtu.be/bHRbEhLj540 - or are you all too young  :>)  How about "New York, New York a wonderful town...the Bronx is up and Battery is down"?  http://youtu.be/x7CIgWZTdgw

But I digress!  The result of my subway train was that at the end of the day, I had to walk back the way I came in the morning. Until now, I'd only taken the "A"train to work - never home.  Now, you may not think that's any big deal.  But when you're in lower Manhattan, 2 blocks from the "Canyon of Hero's" it is a rich experience.  And slightly disorienting, as well! Think of it, all yea suburban dwellers! How many of you park in the same spot at the mall every time (over by Sears, where there's one of only 4 trees,to allow my car some shade).  There's a reason we are creatures of habit!

I suppose this is just another way life has turned direction for me. In so many ways my life today is like I've turned around and headed in the opposite direction.  And getting my bearings is not easy!

 

Yes, I'm still working in the mentoring world and, yes, youth development is still my focus. But perspective has a lot to do with how we manage change. As familiar as the work is, turn me around, introduce new process, tools to manage the process, systems to manage the tools and the process...well...it's a bit disorienting.   Which, in turn, is scary.  Perhaps, then, the greatest challenge is in how we cope.

The first few days of my journey in reverse were disorienting. Made worse by the fact that I work in a part of town that consists of named streets and not numbered ones, I kept getting a sense I was going in the wrong direction. Surrounded by unfamiliar landmarks and a bunch of buildings either under construction or being repaired following Storm Sandy, uptown and downtown weren't clear to me anymore. I had to remind myself that I was smarter than I was feeling and that if I just tried to change my frame of reference, I'd be ok.

I took two approaches to coping: I held on to my common sense (if the street was running downhill, it was most likely heading toward a river), and I put on my best Lewis and Clark impression and approached it all like an adventure. After all, what was the worst that could happen? I walk a few blocks out of my way?

Which, of course, did happen. And, as a result, I discovered a route that cut at least 2 blocks of my walk; 2 post offices en route (how handy is that?); 2 dollar stores (keep in mind, I work 3 blocks from the NY Stock Exchange!); and a Church (with those 15 minute mini-services that city churches in business areas seem to have).   Before I knew it, what started out as an anxious time has now become a journey of discovery - Henry Hudson, move over!

So for my friends who aren't city dwellers, next time you're at the mall or the grocery store, try 'walking backwards' for a different perspective. See what you discover that you may not have noticed before. Name your favorite explorer and head-off in a new direction! Approach it with eyes open, courage and curiosity.  Journey on!

Suburban or Urban? It's all dependent.

I grew up suburban: the suburbs of Chicago. In high school we moved out west to Wheaton, a full-blown suburban environment. If you didn't drive you were trapped in your sub-division. No buses. If there was a cab service, I didn't know about it. It was nice to be out in the "country" (we actually had five horse farms within a 1/2 mile of the house and fox lived up in the forest preserve at the top of the street), but it made you dependent. You had to wander far and explore to find what you needed.

I love Brooklyn, New York. Yes, you need to drive to get to Costco's, but where else can you live where people from Manhattan take a ferry boat to Brooklyn to go to the Ikea store! In my neighborhood of Park Slope, I walk everywhere. I have everything I need to survive within 4 blocks of the apartment: 2 dry cleaners, 4 bodegas, chinese/thai/italian/diner/pita/american/bagel food, a hospital, a post office, a video store, an office supply store, 2 pharmacies, 2 Opticians, a liquor store, a car service, a jeweler, an ice cream store, a bar and access to 3 subway lines in case I need to go anywhere. Hmmm...maybe my life in Park Slope doesn't force me to wander far or explore. Have I become dependent in an entirely different way?

The 4 Horsemen of Sandy's Apocalypse

(perhaps the title isn't in good taste, but the story is pretty decent!)

It started on Monday morning with a call from the UHaul store where I have my storage unit. It's an 8' x 12' room with everything from boxes of books, all my child therapy stuff, out-of-season clothes, bikes, some furniture, etc. A pipe in the unit above me burst and they didn't think it had done any damage to my unit, but there was a little puddle of water outside the room next to me.

So I stroll over in the snow and find that, indeed, yes, the water had come into my unit and had drowned a lot of clothes, an entertainment unit, an air conditioner and computer monitor, as well as a dozen books. It took myself and 3 U-Haul staff nearly 3 hours to get everything out, sorted, moved to another unit and then packed up for the claims agent.

I was disappointed to find my Winnie the Pooh Classics book had not survived. In the words of Christopher Robin, "Tut, tut. Looks like rain."

That evening I was fast asleep at 10:45pm. I was exhausted from hauling boxes, bikes, wet furniture, etc. At 11:17pm, I woke to find out that the power had gone out. Well...kind of. Four plugs still had power in them. So we called ConEd, filed a report, were told they'd be out in 3-4 hours, and back to sleep I went. Or tried.

I'd just dozed off when, at a little after 1:00am there was a huge explosion that shook the house (we're on the 4th floor of a big old limestone building). I ran to the window, only to see a huge geyser of flames shooting up from underneath a van sitting right in front of the house. I ran and called 911 and the fire department had arrived before I could finish dressing and head downstairs.

The salt from the street cleaners had gotten in to the wiring below the street and shorted everything out. The partial power outage was our first hint. The exploding manholes and burning wiring was the second. Although the boiler had gone out (and with it, our steam heat), we were able to keep the fridge plugged in with the help of an extension cord and we had phones.

A police car parked outside of the house, waiting for ConED and trying to track down the owner of the car that had been char broiled. At 2:20am I was back in bed, trying to get in a few hours before the alarm went off at 5:30am.

BOOM! 3:12am and another explosion, another geyser of fire. The police called the fire department this time and again they came. They don't do anything. Well...they go into the basements of the surrounding buildings to make sure the fire hasn't traveled underground. Then they look at the manhole. And you can still hear this "POP! POP!" sound...like the jolly green giant was making popcorn. Then, after six minutes, they all pile back into their trucks, saying that ConED has been notified, ya-d-ya-da-ya-da. I think I watched 4:30am on the clock before I faded out. Tuesday morning.

It was a cold morning without heat, hot water. I made coffee using one of the four active plugs and spent an hour on the phone with the Public Utilities Commission, filing a complaint. ConED showed up at about 10:10am, our building manager called an electrician to do some fancy wiring in the basement so we could have heat (11:30am) and full power came on around 7:45pm).

Flood. Fire. What more? Well....

Wednesday morning. I dare to leave the house (although I confess with a bit of anxiety) and head to the subway. Amtrak leaves on time (7:25am) and I get to work on my laptop. I didn't even recall the train slowing down. I do remember it stopping. But sometimes the trains stop because they've been flagged for going to fast and they are reprimanded by being held by dispatch. Not in this case. Nope. We lost power. For 30 minutes we sat in the train with no power somewhere outside of New Brunswick NJ.

Flood. Fire. Loss of Power. What's next? In the words of the Police, "don't stand so close to me"

Urban Survival

NOTE: In an effort to bring greater value to my blog, I am introducing the use of the POP format (Purpose, Outcomes, Process).

P: To bring you knowledge that may prove helpful...someday.

O: To identify strategies you can use

To identify pros and cons to those strategies

To determine the most effective strategy

P: Outline the potential problem (1 paragraph)

List 4 possible strategies

List the most effective strategy

PROBLEM: what to look at when riding a crowded NYC subway (crowded defined as less than 16.75" between you and the people around you).

STRATEGIES

1. Look at the ads on the wall, up by the ceiling. Works well unless a) you are short or b) there are amazons surrounding you


2. Look over at the people sitting down and a) read their paper; b) watch them play video games on their cell phone; or c) see what they're listening to on their IPod. Works well except a) you have to read at the same pace as the newspaper owner - very, very slowly or very, very fast. Sports pages are hard due to font size of scores; b) also difficult visually and annoying if you could outplay them; and c) frustrating - no sound.


3. Try to look (discretely) at what coats people are wearing - get good ideas


4. Look people in the eye. Smile or it will be misinterpreted as threatening. Don't smile too big or people will think you're flirting. Don't smile at anyone muttering to themselves or who smell like they emerged from a swamp - they may start talking back!

MOST EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES

None of the above. Stare at the floor and get off the train as quick as you can!

IBaby

I discovered a new use for the IPhone.

Coming home on the "A" train this week, a young couple gets on at Canal Street with a cute little girl in a stroller. I'd guess the baby was about 18 months old. Well, after about three stops and a slow moving train, the baby starts to fuss.

So dad pulls out an IPhone, holds it in front of the baby and the baby starts touching the screen. I'm curious, so I move to stand alongside the father and peer over at what the baby is so fascinated with.

The baby is touching the screen and scrolling through pictures of herself! It kept her happy the remaining five stops!

So there you have it - yet another use for the IPhone and how we're 'hooking' babies on our technological gadgets at such a young age!

PS: The screen of the IPhone was smashed in the corner. I guess they'll have to make a child-proof Iphone going forward!

IBaby

I discovered a new use for the IPhone.

Coming home on the "A" train this week, a young couple gets on at Canal Street with a cute little girl in a stroller. I'd guess the baby was about 18 months old. Well, after about three stops and a slow moving train, the baby starts to fuss.

So dad pulls out an IPhone, holds it in front of the baby and the baby starts touching the screen. I'm curious, so I move to stand alongside the father and peer over at what the baby is so fascinated with.

The baby is touching the screen and scrolling through pictures of herself! It kept her happy the remaining five stops!

So there you have it - yet another use for the IPhone and how we're 'hooking' babies on our technological gadgets at such a young age!

PS: The screen of the IPhone was smashed in the corner. I guess they'll have to make a child-proof Iphone going forward!