Author: mwmiller2@outlook.com

It’s hard to believe that it’s already April but here we are.  I have booked my flight back to LA for April 30th and am beginning to plan the next phase of  this whole adventure.   I will be in LA the first couple of weeks of May getting my stuff ready to go and then the movers will pick everything up and it’s off to Montana.

Last weekend was pretty busy as I took a photography class on Saturday and a TIG welding and metal finishing class on Sunday.  Jordan had to work both days so I decided to keep myself busy.  It turns out the photography class was in the atrium of Trump Tower on 5th Avenue – a face that I was not aware of when I signed up for the class.  All of the guys walking around with machine guns gave the place an interesting ambiance!  The instructor was not a Trump fan but said that the atrium was a good place to teach her class and she had been doing it there for years.   So, I have now set foot in the Trump Tower – another thing that I thought I would never do!  But, it was a good class, and I learned a lot about my new camera which was the whole purpose.

On Sunday, I returned to the metal shop in Brooklyn where I took my first MIG welding class to ta

ke the follow on class in TIG welding and metal finishing.   The TIG welding is much more challenging for sure.  I can see where it would take a fair amount of practice to get really good at it.  That said, it was a good combination of fun and hard work!  But there were only two students so we got a lot of one-on-one with the instructor.  I can definitely see more welding in my future once I get a shop set up in Montana!

 

I knew when I started out this year that things would be a bit fluid and that is already impacting plans for the year.  I was originally scheduled to leave here March 31st but decided to extend my stay through the end of April.  I

had signed up for an 8 day bike ride up around Glacier Park in July but I have now pushed that back to August just because I didn’t think I was going to have enough time to train properly in just a few short weeks after arriving in Montana.

 

And I’m seriously thinking about just doing the New Zealand part of the ride down under rather than the whole Australia and New Zealand ride.  It’s still a 1,000+ ride but I’d only have to be gone around 6 weeks rather than the 3 1/2 months if I did the whole ride.  I decided I just don’t want to be rushed into buying a house and then disappearing for 3 1/2 months.  We’ll see how it all develops.

There are a few more things left on my New York ‘to do’ list but I’m really looking forward to the move to Montana and a little less hustle and bustle.  New York is a great city and I have had a grand time here and it’s been really great to spend so much time with Jordan – but I’m ready to change gears and start building a life in Montana.

On Wednesday the 4th Nor’easter hit the Northeast in 30 days.  In the previous three storms, NYC got hit somewhat but not as bad as some other places in the Northeast.  However, this latest storm was predicted to drop 6″ to 12″ of snow on NYC itself.

The mayor ordered the school system closed for the day and even NYU shut down.   And, yes, we did get quite a bit of snow but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be.  In fact I ventured out Wednesday evening to go to my stone carving class and I made it without getting stuck in a snow bank!

 

 

Continue reading Finally snow in NYC!!

It was a busy week last week.  Jordan went home for spring break for a few days and then returned to New York last Tuesday with her mom.  I offered up my apartment so they both stayed at my place while they were here since Jordan didn’t have to go back to school until yesterday, March 20th.

We went into ‘tourist mode’ and had a lot of fun wandering around.  There were a number of ‘must visits’ on Francine’s list including The Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at the Faberge Eggs on display, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dominque Ansel bakery (home of the cronut!) and brunch at Balthazar!!  The pictures below are from our wanderings.   The exploration of NYC continues!

It was a pretty quiet week – no galleries, museums or classes!  Of course, we did get hammered by a “Nor’easter” on Wednesday and it was interesting.   The weather forecasters said it was going to get nasty and it did!  There were many areas that got lots of snow, downed trees, flooding in some areas, etc.  The snow was falling sideways outside my window most of the evening but there wasn’t much on the ground the next morning.

Jordan is on spring break and headed back to LA for a few days on Friday.  I took her to the airport on Friday.  I learned a very valuable lesson – if you’re trying to get to Penn Station – just take the subway!!  We decided to take an Uber from Jordan’s dorm to Penn Station and then take the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) (Cost &7.50) to JFK.  The LIRR connects to the JFK Air Train (cost $5.00)which goes to all of the terminals.  It took as long or longer to get from Jordan’s dorm to Penn Station via Uber (2.5 miles) as it did to go from Penn Station to JFK.  Cars are, in general, a bad way to try to get around in NYC!!  Oh well!  Live and learn! Continue reading My first Nor’easter!

There was not much exploring this week for two very good reasons.  Jordan had mid-terms in Calculus and Chemistry this week so she was over on Monday and Tuesday studying.  I’m certainly getting a good brush up on my calculus! And I help where I can with the chemistry – not my favorite nor my strong suit.  And the second reason was that the Northeast got hammered by a ‘bomb cyclone’ on Thursday and Friday.   It was so rainy and windy on Thursday, I didn’t even venture outside.  And Friday wasn’t much better.

I did, however, make it back to another open rehearsal at the New York Philharmonic on Wednesday.  It is a great way to spend 2 or 3 hours.  This time, the conductor had a microphone so when he wanted to go over a particular section of the music, the auditorium could hear what he was telling the orchestra.  It was pretty fascinating.   Continue reading Didn’t get washed away – ‘Bomb cyclone’!

I set out yesterday to visit the Neue Galerie which houses art work from German and Austrian artists.  Unfortunately, when I got there, I was informed that a couple of the exhibitions were being worked on and so much of the facility was closed.   However, the works of Gustav Klimt, including his famous Lady in Gold, were available for viewing.   Admission was free due to the limited exhibitions available to view.   So, it was an interesting but very short, visit.

Continue reading A walk at The Met

Learning to weld has always been on my ‘I’d like to learn to do that list’ so when the opportunity presented itself to take a MIG welding class  in Brooklyn, I signed up.   The class took place yesterday and, while it was a bit intense, I learned a lot and, more importantly, I left the shop with all of my appendages intact!!

The class is taught at a welding shop in Brooklyn which does contract work on various projects during the week.  The instructor was a professional welder who spends the time in his ‘real’ job, working on various constructions and projects primarily for the entertainment industry here in New York.  Continue reading A rookie learns to weld

Yesterday I decided to go to the Morgan Library and Gallery which I have walked past numerous times since it is just a few blocks from my apartment.

What a little treasure!  Apparently Pierpont Morgan (industrialist) was very passionate about collecting old manuscripts.  The library houses all kinds of old manuscripts.  And, he built a beautiful library to house this collection. Continue reading A spectrum of art!

Here I sit awaiting the first ‘real’ snow since my arrival.  They are predicting NYC will see anywhere between 3 and 6 inches tonight – but it’s supposed to warm up tomorrow so it will probably be a slushy mess in the late morning and gone by tomorrow evening!!  But, it will probably be pretty first thing in the morning!

Jordan had to work today so I decided to pay a visit to the Natural History Museum.  It’s up on the Upper West Side near Central Park at 81st street so I headed out about 9 a.m. on my trek involving 3 different subway lines to get there.   I had reservations at 10:30 to see a 3-D IMAX film about birds migrating around the world and it was really, really good.  I just kept thinking, “How the heck did they get these pictures?”  After that, I had reservations at the Butterfly Conservatory! Continue reading A little Natural History

 

Jordan decided to stay at my apartment Sunday night so she came over and we grabbed some dinner and hung out for a while.  When she headed for class late Monday morning, I decided to go check out MoMA, the Museum of Modern Art which is only

a couple subway stops and a short walk from here.  I had a lot of fun walking around looking at all of the exhibits.   Some of the works I really liked – others, not so much – but I guess that is what art is all about.   Continue reading A little art in New York