Tag Archives: Corinne

Twist and Shout

So nice to sit down in a comfortable chair, he wrote after coming back from spending a good part of the day with his sister in law and his niece. The three of them had gotten together after a plan was hatched a couple of weeks ago.

The niece had texted him about meeting up on February 21, which is today, to visit the exhibition of Titanic artifacts. His niece loved the movie Titanic and wanted to see the exhibition before it closed.

So today was the day and it was a lot of fun, if looking at the effects of a disaster could be called fun. Actually the fun was in spending the time together. It was crowded a bit. Who knew so many people would still be interested in such a thing almost 100 years later?

We had all met up in Hoboken at a Dunkin Donuts by the Path train. We sat and drank coffee and chatted for about an hour. Some catching up had to be done. Soon enough though, we were on the Path train headed to 33rd Street, where we then walked up to 44th Street, in the old New York Times building.

When I was first asked about going I explained that it might have been too pricey, but the niece insisted on paying and that she wanted to see me so she made it so. As we entered we were given cards with various passengers and crew and instructed to check at the end to see who survived and who didn’t.

I was a third class passenger from Ireland traveling with the missus. I had a pretty good idea how it was going to turn out. My sister in law and my niece were first class passengers, boarding in Southampton, England.

A few tools, and mechanical things from the ill fated ship were on display. As we continued on through the exhibition the items got more personal, clothes, hats, and personal effects were on display as were coins, change purses, personal correspondence. As was a piece of an iceberg that we were encouraged to touch.

It could have been macabre but it really wasn’t, it was quite tasteful. We were also encouraged to touch some brace that was used to hold the ship together. Everything was arranged in air tight, climate controlled boxes except for the iceberg and brace.

There was even a replica of the staircase which features prominently in the movie. My niece and I were photographed on it We got to the end of the exhibition, and my outcome was assured.

White Star Line passenger Mr. John Bourke, accompanied by his wife Catherine, his sister Mary and a group of passengers from County Mayo boarded the Titanic in Queenstown, Ireland, perished at sea when the ship sank.

Dishes and cutlery recovered from the ocean floor were displayed relatively intact in sand. The crate carrying them disintegrated from the pressure of being 2 miles down as well as worn away by salt and the currents.

After that we opted to leave, rather than pay for green screen photos, or shots of my niece and I on the fabled stairway. We were trying to do things on the cheap you see.

Then the three of us were hungry and we walked over to the midtown branch of John’s Pizza. I’ve eaten there a few times with Bill and I pointed out to my sister in law and niece that the restaurant used to be a church. Stained glass ceiling and windows still intact.

We left sated and I reassured them that whatever we ate, we would walk off, as we headed back to the Path train.

It was all well and good and I had a most excellent time, spending the day with Elaine and Corinne.

Corinne

Corinne

Elaine & Corinne

Elaine & Corinne

The meeting of the sunglasses

The meeting of the sunglasses

Corinne & me

Corinne & me

Me & Elaine

Me & Elaine

Run Run Run

Well it’s a Sunday evening. Clocks were moved back an hour last night/this morning so though my body is saying it’s 6:24PM, it’s actually 5:24PM. That should take some getting used to but I think I might be used to it already.

Last night I sat at home, in front of the computer, just playing music through iTunes. Bill came home and started to go into the bedroom to watch the World Series. I suggested he watch it in the TV room since I wasn’t watching just playing music.

I thought he would have the sound down while the game went on and the music played. But he needed to hear the commentary so he sat with headphones on. I didn’t realize it until I actually turned around. I was playing for his benefit so that was a bit of a downer for me.

I even went in a Jazz direction with some Miles Davis, Cesaria Evora and Chocolate Genius to name a few. I decided to let him listen to the game without the headphones and sat and listened to Bill yell at the TV.

The only time I yell at the TV is when I watch Millionaire in the afternoon. I grew up in a house where my father would yell at the TV during sporting events and now, here’s Bill yelling at the TV. He didn’t stay up to watch the game and I certainly didn’t watch it after he went to bed.

I stayed up watching part of ‘Australia’ until 1:30/12:30AM. Today my niece Meghan was running in the NYC Marathon and the plan was to meet up with my sister in law Elaine and Corinne, Meghan’s sister at the train station.

They were coming in from Garfield at around 8:30. I was up at 7:00 and got myself ready. Got a call at 8:00 from Corinne, they were one stop away. I hustled a bit more and soon was on my way. I met up with them in the Dunkin Donuts by the Path train and soon we were in the station.

Meghan’s husband showed up after driving from Staten Island, seeing Meghan get to the starting line. We all rode up to 33rd Street in a very crowded train. Rob took off to queens hoping to catch Meghan before she crossed over the 59th Street Bridge. Corinne, Elaine and I trekked up Sixth Avenue, through a street fair, past the HBO store with a pit stop in the Hilton to hit the head as it were.

Then it was up to 59th street where it wasn’t too crowded. I let Elaine call the shots and we wound up walking to First Avenue where I ran into Steve Dressel who I used to work with earlier this year. He got a job up by Tarrytown and now he and his wife are likely fleeing Manhattan and moving to Croton on Hudson.

I could only stay for a minute since Elaine was chomping at the bit to find a better spot to try and catch Meghan. After moving about for close to an hour we finally saw Meghan running by. I yelled out Meghan and she turned and waved.

It was a relief to see her since Elaine and I secretly were worried and hoped she was able to make it this far. After that came the plan to head into Central Park which was the first time for Corinne.

We found a not too crowded spot in the east drive and we sat on the wooden rail like a few other people were. Unfortunately a volunteer across the drive shouted that we couldn’t sit on the wooded rail so for some reason we all got up and stood just inches from where we sat.

I was tired and my lower back was killing me and sitting down brought some relief. I looked down about a hundred feet or so where I saw a few other people sitting on the wooden rail opposite a few police officers who weren’t telling them to move.

I mentioned to Elaine that I was going there to sit. It was a great place to sit, right off a curve in the road. There were so many runners that I looked up the road towards Elaine and Corinne, scanning their faces for enthusiasm for when Meghan was running by. I had my cellphone camera all set to go, my digital camera all set to go, and my GO MEGHAN sign ready for viewing.

I sat there for about 20 minutes when some guy next to me asks what mile this part of the marathon was. I guessed about 2 miles to go so that would make where we were, at the 24 mile mark. He mentioned that his daughter was in the marathon and I said that my niece was too.

I then looked up to see Elaine & Corinne but I couldn’t find them. That meant Meghan had run by as the neckbone next to me was telling me about his daughter. I saw Elaine and Corinne and they asked if I saw Meghan and of course, I hadn’t.

Oh I was so pissed at the guy next to me, I should have just ignored him. I could only hope pigeons attacked his eyes as his daughter approached. I did stop complaining about him since I noticed I sounded like ‘himself’ or ‘himself’s eldest son’.

We did make it over to the west side where families and friends could meet up with the marathon runners. Rob had run with Meghan for a bit but was ejected at the 400k mark since he wasn’t registered. He would have run the whole marathon with Meghan but did not qualify.

26.2 MILES. 3HRS 21MIN. 7.67 MIN PER MILE

We had a good walk to the subway after meeting up and a quick ride on the Path train home. Some pizza in Hoboken before we parted ways, they going back to Garfield and me, back home in Hoboken. It was a very good, if not tiring, day. And if I’m tired Meghan is more than likely far more tired than I could ever be.

Rob De Carlo, Ace coach

Rob De Carlo, Ace coach

Elaine

Elaine

Elaine and Corinne

Elaine and Corinne

2009 NYC Marathon 007

Meghan!

Meghan!

2009 NYC Marathon 026