At the top of a lookout in the Catskills, originally uploaded by astoriahermit.

If I could remember the name of the lookout I'd tell you, but we're near Wyndham, NY. It's a nice hike about 1.7 miles in.

Beer 1, originally uploaded by astoriahermit.

Beer 1... So much more to go.

Stuck on the train, originally uploaded by astoriahermit.

I am currently stuck on the train at my station watching the fire department walk by to address a track fire ahead. So now people are going between the cars and climbing over the guards onto the platform. What a good idea... Darwin's theories at work here in NYC.

Not to worry, I'm safe an it's above ground tracks so no nasty tunnel evacuations. And I just got off the train, via the doors.

Share Pangea Day?, originally uploaded by astoriahermit.

On my way to the bookstore to pickup a book on Java ( neither food nor country). 5th avenue is a zoo. Mostly tourists and rubes out on a gorgeous day.

In front of the Apple store on at these two dudes are hanging out in Share Pangea Day shirts... Could it be Dogfish Head brewery? They have a beer called Pangea. Or are the continents re-colliding on the tenth of May?

All right, so I announced that I was back, and then I go and disappear again.  My bad.  Actually, I'm experiencing a slight crisis de blog.  Originally, I had intended this blog to be some technical some cultural some inane, but for the past little bit, IMHO, I've been focusing on the inane without much time or attention to la boeuf.  See, I'm even feigning clever by using foreign language tricks.

At any rate, fair reader, I'm aiming to aim higher, but I'm not sure higher what that really is.  After isn't 'up' just a construct of gravity?

Oooh, spooky....

and stolen from http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2006/02/the_paradoxical.php

Demolition in Manhattan, originally uploaded by astoriahermit.

I love demolition in progress. Not for the obvious eight year old child reasons, but because of the unprecedented view of interiors. Interiors of rooms, of walls, of floors. My favorite demo was in Chelsea a few years ago. The former occupant had left posters on the walls. As the demolition progressed and the building was more or less sheared in half you could peer into the rooms as if watching a play taking place in an abandoned apartment.

I am also a big preservationalist - don't get me started about people who paint antique furniture. So demolition is always a bit bitter sweet to me. You may remember my bathroom renovation late last year. Don't get me wrong I like my brand new fixtures but the new bathroom is not the work of craftsmen like the former was. The contractor was in such a hurry to get paid and move on that doing the work seemed an unfortunate inconvenience to him. I wish I had done my own demo actually. The old bathtub they sledge hammered to pieces was worth about $500 (about 10% of the cost of the remodel) intact as architectural salvage.

I always thought it was "Morning" like the start of the day, but apparently it's "Mourning" like sadness or bereavement.  Who knew?

These are the mourning doves that have been nesting on my fire escape for the past few weeks.  We've been trying to get a picture but have not wanted to disturb the nest, so this is one of the first pictures we've gotten.

Did I mention how much I love this place?, originally uploaded by astoriahermit.

I am long overdue on my gushing review of Fette Sau but if search the blog for earlier posts you will find some mentions. Here is a look at the interior. They have three of my favorite things: beer, bbq and bourbon. What more could a guy want than a mexican man hole?

A night at the summer house, originally uploaded by astoriahermit.

We call Fette Sau in Williamsburg (354 Metropolitan) the summer house cause that's where we like to spend our summers. The doors to the outside were open and the weather was nice... Spring has sprung.

Yeah yeah yeah, I'm blogging about my wife's blog - Bite me.  She deserves the plug.

On too business, in her most recent post she pays homage to bull shitters.  She makes reference to a quote (of mine) and I'd like to correct it.  The accurate quote is:

...don't even bother, I can make it up slightly faster than you can ask it.

For bonus points, the blog is a photo blog... can anyone tell me what the text in the image is associated with?

This is my favorite of her recent snaps.

Photo used without permission

All right, I've been a bit slack lately. There are extenuating circumstances. In the last week I experienced the most excruciating work day of my career - layoffs. No fun and a couple of my friends didn't escape the blade. But I'm recovering from my PTSD. Seriously, I wasn't sleeping and am only now getting back to normal.

Thanks go to my friend 'Killer' for giving me a little gem to blog about.  We were swapping stories about nicknames.  My theory is:

For a nickname to stick you either you assign a nickname that is a preposterous non-sequitur or one that is so finely tuned to the intended that it seems like the consummation of some longing in the natural order when it is applied.

Which is why Cobb is so perfect, but I digress.  Needless to say 'Killer' isn't really named 'Killer' but yet I predict the nickname will stick.

We were swapping stories and I was offering, what to some, is the old hoary chestnut about a friend of my little brother who I dubbed "Ox" well over 10 years ago.  I am awaiting confirmation but I'm pretty certain it stuck.

Approaching a mid-length post... She responds about telling me about a friend of hers who has fallen into a man hole THREE times - once in India.  She went on to mention that her friend was from Mexico and had likely done the other two there.  Neither of us could recall ever seeing an open man hole without all kinds of protective barriers.

Quick hop and a skip leads me to the phrase of the day "Mexican Man hole"...  I don't even know where to go with this.  I don't work blue, and this is generally a PG-13 blog, but I can't let it drop.  At any rate, fill in your own visual here all I have are some stock images:

Oh, and I'm back!

Thank you Mr. Harvey... this is beautiful

My team and I left a little surprise for about 60 co-workers this morning.  Let's just say it involved the little stickers pictured here and the optical sensors or trackballs on the bottom of their mouse.

Actually, thanks go to Noam for giving me the idea by pulling the prank on me a while ago. It takes people a bit to figure it out. Usually one or two unpluggings of the of mouse and a restart - or at least that's how long it took me.

And, before they try and weasel out, my accomplices:

If you've seen the Google April fools joke, it's a good one, but there is an Easter Egg.  If you expand the browser further and further to the right the image of the Martian landscape keeps going.  It should be mentioned that I have a dual monitor setup that extends 2560 pixels across.  Now I haven't been able to reproduce this, but when you expand all the way out to 2560 a little text bubble appears at the far right on the martian horizon in the photo that says "Welcome to Mars. Nice monitor". So pay attention as you do it, and if you figure out how to reproduce, please let us know.  Guessing it's a cookie thang.

Here is what it looks like on my screen (click the image for the full size):

I have yet to explore the questionnaires, etc.  But you better believe I'm signing up.

I love April Fools.