Wednesday 24th 2005f August 2005

Long Island

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A , posted by Anthony in the late evening.

It’s not so hot anymore. I guess summer is nearly over – I’m pleased to report that I survived, not much the worse for wear. Mostly I dashed from airconditioned space to airconditioned space. There was the occasional unavoidable foray into the outdoors, and those subway stations are rank in the heat. Luckily I work right on Broadway, so I walk past a large number of department stores with extensive airconditioning and welcomingly open doors blasting cold air out onto the street. I have sometimes felt that the city ought to undertake some kind of massive public works project to keep the temperature and humidity at reasonable levels, but I am reassured to see that private enterprise is doing its best to fill the gap.

It was particularly hot last weekend. It wasn’t really good suit weather, but I was wearing a suit anyway. I was at Anne and Mike’s Wedding in Westhampton on Sunday. I had a fantastic time. It was a great wedding. I caught the train up there in the morning, and then back again in the evening. It was a shame – I had to duck out a bit earlier than I would have liked to get home at a reasonable hour, what with having to work in the morning. I still haven’t got them a present. Any day now!

This was my second visit to Long Island. Interesting place. Very rich. It feels very snooty and self contained. It has a very distinct aura about it. Going there reminds me of what it felt like to first arrive in New York – the sense of seeing and experiencing something you had known existed but had very little idea of what it would actually be like.

Of course, I don’t feel that way about NYC any more. I’m an old hand now, with a job and everything. I’ve been here for nearly two years. Having a job still kind of freaks me out. I think this is largely to do with my writing, such as it is. When I was still nominally freelance, I could reassure myself that even if I wasn’t writing as much as I should it was only because I was working temporarily, and I could pick it up when I finished. I did need to pay the rent, after all.

This will no longer wash. I now work full time. I no longer have to ask each day if I will be required the next day. The probability of my having any substantial free time in the future is minimal. I decided that the thing to do was to buy myself a new laptop.

I know, I know, I just bought one. It’s incredibly powerful and I love it dearly, but it’s just too damn big and heavy to carry around. And I can’t really do any writing at home. I just can’t. There are too many distractions. So I got myself one of these. It’s kind of the opposite computer. It’s not that powerful, and it’s tiny and light. It’s perfect. I can carry it everywhere, and when I do break it out I can’t distract myself because it’s not powerful enough to play any games!

I must confess I was unsure of my own motives for clicking “Add to Cart”. I tend to spend money as if it expired, and now that I’m pretty much guaranteed not having to scramble for cash for a while it’s hard to convince myself to save. I occasionally could be accused of throwing money at problems rather than actually looking too closely at them. But this has actually worked. I have used it to do writing. I have taken it into coffee shops and fired it up. I even did some writing on the train to Long Island. Not on the way back, obviously. This has to be the best technology purchase I ever made.

I will even take it with me to Vancouver and use it on the plane (nine hour battery life). It’s a long flight. I’m heading up there for Labor Day Weekend – I’m so conscious of having almost no holidays that I feel I have to make the most of any free days that come my way. Actually, if you look at cost and distance there’s not a lot of difference between going to Vancouver and going to Dublin, but Vancouver seems a lot more manageable. There are too many people to see in Dublin – it would just be frustrating. I only know one person in Vancouver – James Finlan – which is a much more manageable number. And I already know what Dublin looks like.

I have decided to take the high road as regards the infiltration and attempted subversion of this blog through the comments section. I feel that this is a matter best dealt with face to face. I will be in Canada soon.

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Sunday 14th 2005f August 2005

Hot

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A , posted by Anthony in the early afternoon.

It’s very hot. Hot and humid. This isn’t weather, it’s punishment. I wore a black shirt yesterday. It was a light shirt, but it was still a very bad idea. I could smell myself cooking.

I was trying to go on a training J-Walk. I wasn’t being trained, I just …

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