Visiting NYC During October

Statue of Liberty
October 2, 2016

It was a fast and full weekend. Chris and Ethan and I boarded a MegaBus north of Baltimore at 7:20AM on Saturday morning heading for the Big Apple. We planned to return about 10PM Sunday night. In between? As much sightseeing as we could cram into one short weekend.

Little Italy

The initial itinerary included:

Hayden Planetarium
Rockefeller Center
Times Square
Statue of Liberty
Ellis Island
Empire State Building
Macy's
Central Park
Nintendo Store

We accomplished almost all of the itinerary.  The major miss was the Planetarium--we just didn't make it there. We also had a couple alternates on the list--for instance a baseball game since the O's are in town--but, this was a weekend for Ethan and carving out four hours in the middle of the day for baseball just didn't fit in. 

The Bull of Wall Street

Ethan's First Chili Dog

On the fly, we added China Town and Little Italy, Wall Street, and the 9/11 Memorial. Lunch in Little Italy was fabulous. 

I took the image of the Bull of Wall Street because it was totally surrounded by tourists and nobody could get a good picture of it. I think it is the most popular statue, aside from the Statue of Liberty, in all of NY.

Along the way we learned to navigate the Subway--and I had to relearn that Subway is not a place to eat, but means to travel. Ethan hailed a taxi! We had a long ride to China Town from Times Square. 

Did I mention chili dogs? Ethan loves street vendor chili dogs!

A View of the Weekend Weather

The weather was a bit problematic--it was misty and overcast, but that did not dampen our spirits! Although, we did visit the Empire State Building twice to find the best weather before actually paying the incredibly high admission to go to the 86th Floor.

In the end, we made it to the NYC MegaBus stop on time and had a great ride home with many memories. 

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Orioles Season Finale

The Orioles went to Toronto to begin the MLB Post-season. It was a one-game play in to the division series. The game lasted 3 hours and 25 minutes--but in the end, it was over so quickly in the 11th inning.

Buck on the Game

And with its ending, so ended the Orioles season. 

The game was close and tense all night. The pitchers generally controlled the batters as the innings passed. 

The Orioles three inning-ending double plays were beautiful, saving the team and the score as the game wore on. It seemed that neither team could muster the offense necessary to score and that the game could continue well into the early morning hours.

Bluejays Manager

But in the bottom of the 11th inning, the end came quickly. The first out was a 5 pitch strikeout.  And then, a pitching change with the bases empty in a move that seemed to make a lot of sense by bringing in a starting pitcher who had been almost unhittable during the month of September to set up for a long multiple-inning ending to the game. He was the pitcher that many thought should have been given the start for the game, so it seemed like a good move.

I didn't realize then that in just five more pitches to the next three batters the game and the Orioles season would be over as a three-run homer sent the Bluejays into the next round of the post-season while sending the Orioles home. 

My playoff tickets arrived by Fedex yesterday and they will remain unused. There will be no playoff games this season at OPACY. While the ending saves me a lot of money that would have been spent on souvenirs and tickets, it is money I was looking forward to spending. The World Series ticket that came yesterday for Home Game #2, will remain unused; like all of the ones that I have received before. 

But, it is over. A season in which the Orioles were projected by many to finish last in the division ended in Toronto after the Orioles had ended tied for second place. A successful campaign, but an unsatisfying ending.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Chasing October Glory

After a 162 game regular season, the play-offs begin tonight. 

American League Post-Season Teams

The goal? To win the World Series.

The participants? The best 10 teams in baseball--and what a group it is.

From the American League: Texas, Cleveland, Boston, Toronto, and Baltimore.

National League Post-Season Teams

From the National League: Chicago, Washington, Los Angeles, New York (Mets), and San Francisco.

Back in April, when the season was young everyone dreamed of October glory and now the reality is here.

Tonight in a one-game play-in the Orioles travel to Toronto for the honor of facing Texas in the Division series. Sadly, the game is not being hosted in Baltimore, although the two teams finished with the same record, the Blue Jays won the season series 10-9 and earned the right to host the Wild Card game.

I hope that the Orioles make it to the World Series and form the National League I am cheering for the Washington Nationals. It would be really exciting to have a beltway World Series. 

The stage is set and I already have tickets for the ALDS play-off games in Baltimore if the Orioles win tonight.

Let's Go O's!! 

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - October 3, 2016

Ethan's First Visit to Ellis Island
Mine, Too!
Oct 2, 2016

1. Slipping in quietly with the weekend, October arrived and with it the last quarter of the year. 

2. The weather has been wet, which is a good thing.

3. The length of the day is down to 11 hours and 40 minutes in Baltimore and falling by 2 minutes and 31 seconds per day. 

9/11 Memorial
Oct 2, 2016

4. I spend a great weekend in New York City. I was made even  better because I didn't have to drive. Aside form the incredibly high parking fees and tolls, there is nothing worse than having to drive almost 4 hours home after a hard day of sightseeing. Thank you Mega Bus. 

5. Did anyone notice that the Orioles played their way into the MLB post-season? They are one of 10 teams whose World Series aspirations are still alive. 

6. It is good to revisit some famous landmarks and make an inaugural visit to others in NYC taking along a first timer to the "Big Apple."

Hazy Day Atop the
Empire State Building
Oct 2, 2016

7. I watched the Pulaski Day Parade, or part of it, from atop the Empire State Building yesterday. 

8. Is it smart or criminal not to pay Federal Income Taxes? Only super rich people can get away with such things and that means that working Americans have to shoulder the burden. No wonder one candidate's tax returns are audited every year.

9. It is the stuff of dreams and science fiction, the end of the Rosetta Mission to a comet occurred the other day with little fanfare, ending a two-year treasure trove of data. We are doing such fantastic things that they are almost becoming routine.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Out the Hotel Window -- New York City

There it is. The view out my window less than a block from Broadway near Times Square. Buildings everywhere. But it is a complex view. I noted the water storage tanks. Many of them on and nestled near the buildings.

It is a visually stimulating scene. And loud. The sirens and car horns continued all night. It seems that the city never sleeps. And neither did I.

-- Bob Doan, writing from NYC

Twists and Turns

The political winds continue to blow and swirl after the "debate" and it is interesting, if not a bit scary, to watch the assessments and fallout.

The discussion/argument (I hesitate to dignify it by calling it a debate) on Monday evening highlighted two very different approaches to leadership: the prepared versus the wing-it.

In my opinion, the more prepared person on the stage was the winner, although, one writer indicated that she didn't lose.

It was a terrible example of a debate. There was no debate. 

The fallout has been instructive.

Trump has blamed his microphone and also indicated that he won the debate based upon polls. It seems that he has a problem with reality. If he cannot understand when his bellicose approach fails, then I am truly afraid of how his apparent lack of preparedness will translate into poor and uninformed decision making as our nation's leader.

Clinton, in my estimation the winner, has actually begun focusing on plans and details and programs since her evening in the spotlight on the stage.

The problem with the "debate" was that it became all about one candidate and not about ensuring the future prosperity and security of the United States. 

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Enter Rain, Good-bye Drought

Into every life a little rain must fall.

Finally, anyway, we are getting some much needed rain. It has been dry.

Too dry.

The amount of rain that we have received has been somewhat steady and beginning to add up. We received over 2 inches in the past 24 hours.

I remember earlier in the year when it seemed that the rain would never quit. And now, I am rejoicing at the raindrops falling form the sky.

I guess that it is a matter of perspective. I want the rain to end too, however, because I have a golf outing planned and I don't want the course too wet.

Look at me--thinking that just because I have an outdoors activity planned that the rain might hold off for a few hours.  

I wondered how many raindrops it would take to fill an 8 oz glass with water? I found a website, Bedtime Math,  that gave me an answer, although it must be stated that raindrops are not all the same size. The answer was about 7,200. Which, by the  way, would take hours. 

And so the rain continues pounding on my roof. It is going to be a long, slow drive to work today.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Wednesday Orioles Update

It is Wednesday, and five MLB regular season games remain for the Orioles. Based upon their lackluster performance last evening, they are continuing their September slide which likely will find them outside the post-season looking in at the players.

Currently, the Orioles hold a 1 game grasp on the second Wildcard spot in the American League, but they are 4-6 in their last 10 games which include being swept in a four-game series by the Red Sox and barely managing to split a four-game series against the bottom-dwelling Rays. The Orioles have scored three runs or less in 9 of their last 10 games! There is no offense. The pitching has allowed 5 runs (exactly) in 6 of their last 10 games. 

Although the sweep of the Diamondbacks to complete the home portion of the season raised their post-season projected chances form 44 percent to 73 percent--the next five games are against the Blue Jays (2) and Yankees (3). Scoring 2 runs per game against these teams is not going to get them into the post season. And then, even if they do manage a Wild Card spot, their game would be in Toronto (in all likelihood) against the Blue Jays. Not a recipe for success. 

The Blue Jays close their season against the Red Sox and Detroit, who are chasing the Orioles, are playing the cellar-dwelling National League Braves. 

It is crunch time! 

Go O's!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

My Take: The First Presidential Debate

How many times did I hear "It was the worst thing ever?" And it was. I also heard "surreal" used in the post debate discussions.

I heard Trump flip-flop on the tax return situation? He went from  "No" to "If she does, I will."

There were a lot of statements made during the debate. Many false, some true based upon the political fact checking site Politifact. The New York Times also published an article this morning fact checking the debate. 

I felt that Lester Holt had great questions, but it was clear that at least one of the candidates never took a debating class in school. He was thuggish and talked over top of the others when they were speaking, while there are some who appreciate that approach, it is not conducive to addressing the issues.

In my estimation Trump generally overstated facts or just made statement that had no basis in fact, like the following statement he made about Hillary and ISIS, from the New York Times:

On Mr. Trump saying Mrs. Clinton had been “fighting ISIS your entire adult life.” 

In reality, the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, began as an Al Qaeda affiliate that sprang up in Iraq as the Sunni insurgency amid the power vacuum created by the American invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein’s government in 2003. It was largely defeated and pushed into Syria during the Obama administration’s first term, when Mrs. Clinton was secretary of state. It eventually split from the original Al Qaeda and rebranded itself as ISIS, sweeping back into Iraq in 2014, when she was out of office.

—Charlie Savage

I was looking for four things during the debate: leadership, integrity, context and details. Here are my grades for the candidates based upon what I heard:

                                      Trump            Clinton

Leadership        -                 +

Integrity         -                 +                   

Context           -                 -

Details           -                 -

In terms winner or loser? Neither candidate clearly won, but Trump was the bigger loser. His grasp of context and basic facts highlighted his lack of preparation and his "I'll just wing it" approach to something as important as the debate. He apparently believes that debates are a performance and not something materially important to the process of selecting a President.

One statement which clearly demonstrates his failure to grasp context was the statement about the $14 million loan he received form his father to start his business. The New York Times fact checker details it as follows:

On Mr. Trump’s loan from his father.

Mrs. Clinton said it was $14 million in loans from Mr. Trump’s father that helped him get his real estate business off the ground. Mr. Trump said it was just a “small” loan. A recent Wall Street Journal article notes a series of loans and gifts that Mr. Trump received from his father, citing a casino disclosure document from 1985 showing that Mr. Trump owed his father and his father’s company about $14 million.

—Steve Eder

Seriously, someone who can call a $14 million loan small lacks context. 

Trump also said, in the Spin Room, after the debate: "I'm smart for paying no taxes." So a man who would be President believes he is smart for failing to pay taxes? 

Who won and who lost? 

My Take: Chuck Todd, the moderator of Meet the Press, said it best--there was a big loser tonight and it was the American people.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - September 26, 2016

Makayla in Glasses

1. The first 2016 Presidential Debate is tonight--watch it. It is important. I read that one of the candidates is not preparing for the questions.

2. The Orioles swept a series against the Diamondbacks this weekend. They were also eliminated from the division race and can only make the post-season via the Wild Card route.

3. Makayla, my Keeshond  was trying to imitate my look in glasses yesterday. It worked pretty well. 

18th Green
Walden Golf Club
Crofton, MD

4. I need to say thank you to my family for the great birthday celebration. Of course, it was made a bit better because the Baltimore birds (the Orioles and the Ravens) both won their games.

5. Early morning golf yesterday. It was very cool! I had to wear a light jacket. Another sign that autumn has arrived. 

Geese at Walden Golf Club

6. There were a lot of geese on the golf course yesterday. And they were also flying around honking and generally being a nuisance.  

7. I was saddened at the announcement of the death of Arnold Palmer. 

8. We were invited to dinner at, a really good German restaurant right near us--The Bavarian Brauhaus. I don't know how we missed it all of these years.

9. There is rain in the forecast, finally. We are very dry. I am actually looking forward to seeing my lawn green up a bit before winter arrives.

10. It is hard to believe it, but the MLB regular season will be over by this time next week and it will be the Post-Season.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD