Larry was the financial analyst for 1010WINS and at 36 and 56 past every hour he would enlighten those of us who are not in the financial industry as to what happened yesterday and what might be expected today. His voice was quite distinctive, with a heavy Brooklyn accent and a gruffness that would make you think he was the stereotypical taxi driver, if you weren’t from around here. Additionally, he was able to boil down the major financial related news into something that laymen could understand, without being patronizing. As much as he could, without going overboard, he would throw in some humor related to the news, if it was appropriate. He tried to make it sound like a weather report. Additionally, he almost always ended his segment by declaring that it was some celebrity’s birthday and saying, “Gather those rosebuds.” Many a time, I would say it along with him.

He died Sunday night. He was 77 years old.

You can see some quotes of his here.

Good luck, Patrick, on finding your dream girl. Next time, try talking to her.

About once a year, Time Warner Cable (TWC) rejiggers it’s channel lineup for various reasons. The reasons sometimes include putting “like” channels near each other, promoting new channels (the lower they are, the more people will find them), and moving poorly performing channels out of the way (did you know that WNBC has their own weather channel? #161 in Manhattan).

Normally, I adjust to these changes in a few weeks, and move on with my life. However, sometimes the changes come too quickly and other times they just don’t make sense. Both happened in the last two and half months.

About two months ago, TWC rejiggered their HD channels in an effort to mimic their SD counterparts. The HD channels are in the 700 range, but for some reason, a lot of them did not line up with their SD versions. For example, Discovery was on channel 18 while Discovery HD was on channel 706. HBO was on channel 80 while HBO HD was on 701. They got ESPN HD correct since the SD version is on 28 while the HD version is on 728.

After the rejiggering, I was a happy camper. I no longer needed to have brain space taken up by multiple channels that didn’t make sense. If I wanted Discovery HD, I easily remembered that the original was on 18 so the HD was on 718. Same thing with HBO — 80 & 780. Life was good.

That was, until October 15th. TWC, in their infinite wisdom, rejiggered a few channels again. Look what moved…Discovery. From 18 to 66. Did they move Discovery HD from 718 to 766? Of course not…that would make sense.

In all fairness, Discovery HD has a completely different channel with different shows than Discovery and is not just an HD version of it, but still, I hate having to try and commit more information into my brain…it’s already full which means that something has to go before I can put something new in there. The sad thing is that I have no idea what I just lost. It might have been important.

Having access to all four of the major providers, I have gotten cell signal on some station platforms, but that really depends on the line, how deep the station is, etc. I can say that I am often surprised when my cell phone rings while I’m waiting for a train, and I’ve felt a little self conscious about having a conversation while on the platform. Some people are going to be against this sort of thing, where the subway is just about the only safe-haven from cell phone conversations, but if someone is talking too loud on the platform, you could always just walk away. It’s not like New Yorkers wouldn’t shush someone who’s talking too loud, would they?

These days, I’ve found that most people who have cell phone conversations are a little more polite in enclosed public spaces, so I don’t think this is really going to bother me. How does everyone else feel about this?

Afterwards, we got to enjoy a Q&A with the director, producer, and one of the “stars” of the film, as well as watch him play a little Donkey Kong on one of the museums classic arcade games. He wasn’t trying to set a new record there, especially since a camera crew from HBO kept interrupting him. We then walked around and enjoyed the exhibits the museum has to offer (Richard Gere is pretty short). It’s going to be undergoing a major renovation and expansion, and I can’t wait to see what it’s like after it’s all done.

Yes, there was a bit of nostalgic interest for me in this film since I grew up during the time that Donkey Kong and Pac-Man were considered cutting edge, but this film transcends that and gives you a glimpse into the seedy underworld of competitive classic gaming…a world that no one outside of it knew existed. If you’re looking for a movie to see, I would highly recommend it. There’s a certain kind of laugh that only real, unscripted, life can illicit, and this movie is full of it. It’s also pretty inspirational, to boot.

When I walked into work at 9:30am, I swear I thought the company I work for had the day off. The elevators, normally quite crowded at that time, were empty. In my department, two people were in. When I sat down and started looking at e-mail, I became aware of the fact that it apparently rained quite heavily overnight and of the issues commuters were having.

One person, who normally takes the E from Queens informed everyone that the E wasn’t running into Manhattan and that she was taking the LIRR. Within 40 minutes she informed everyone that she was now stuck on the LIRR and had no clue when she would be in. Another person, who also takes the LIRR, proclaimed that he was 10 minutes away from Penn at 9:45am. He walked into the office shortly before 11am, which would make his door to door commute 3.5 hours. And then there was the case of our lone Metro-North commuter. While on his train, he got an e-mail that said that all service into Grand Central was shut down. Shortly after that e-mail, a tree fell on his train car. A tree! According to him, the conductor got out, somehow managed to push the tree off the train, and they all proceeded to wait until trains were once again able to arrive at GC. All told, he was only 1.5 hours late.

Me, I arrived at work on time and only had to deal with that one large puddle. Everyone else had the commute from hell all because of a little rain that wasn’t powerful enough to wake me. Truth be told…not much wakes me. An ex of mine swears she had sex with me in the middle of the night and I didn’t stop snoring.

I normally go for a run after work or very late in the day on weekends so I’m not running in the blazing hot sun. Due to the fact that I’m going to see The Police tonight, I had to move my run around, and the only time I could do it was around 12:30pm. Big mistake.

I like to run on the East River Esplanade, and normally at 6:30pm or 7pm, with the sun low on the west side and a breeze blowing, I can run for an hour, which translates to about 5.5 miles. Today, with the sun blazing overhead and even reflecting off buildings on Roosevelt Island, and no breeze whatsoever, I had to give up after 20 minutes.

On the walk back to the 63rd Street overpass, I looked at all the people and realized that I was doing the wrong thing on the Walk at that time. I should have been sitting on a bench and reading the paper or lying on the grass and taking in some sun. Instead, I was sweating and panting and daydreaming about my air conditioner.

Even the dogs who were out, and smartly sitting in the shade of trees, were looking at me like I was crazy.

I guess a 20 minute run in the blazing sun is better than nothing, but next time I can’t run late in the day in the summer, it just might be better to just stay inside and wait another day.

The manhole explosion looks to be a steam pipe explosion, and Con Ed is slowly shutting down the steam, but to keep other explosions from occurring due to the changes in pressure, they have to do it slowly.

There is a huge hole in the middle of Lexington, and it’s going to be out of commission for at least a few days. MTA has shut down the 6 train from 86th to Brooklyn Bridge, but Metro North says their trains are running fine from Grand Central.

As of now, there have been 12 injuries reported, none life-threatening. The NYPD and FDNY are advising people to stay out of the area unless you have to be in it. They are concerned about other explosions, possible asbestos contamination, and the integrity of the street and sidewalks in the area since there was a lot of dirt that came up with the steam.

I happen to be watching ABC, since no other channel had reporters on the scene, and both CBS and NBC went to the national nightly news at 6:30pm.

Update: The steam has been turned off and we can now see that there is a tow truck inside the crater. News agencies are reporting that one person has died and that at least two people are in critical condition.

First off, I need to explain that I live about two blocks from where I went to high school. I further need to explain that that particular pizza establishment was everybody’s favorite place to hang out before, after, and during the school day. I’m sure that during many such days we gave the operators of this particular pizza establishment a hard time about taking too long to serve us, being cheap on the amount of pepperoni per slice, the cost of a slice ($1 is but a faint memory now), and a myriad of other things. I guess after years of dealing with us snotty kids, he just snapped…out came a bat, some curse words in English and a few other languages (some of which may not be of this planet), and he had what I can only describe as a conniption. As trays and drinks were flying, and as we ran for our lives (literally), I remember hearing something about our brains being served on the pizza if we ever came back. Needless to say, we did not. We were relegated to the second-rate Rosa Maria’s, which burned down a few years ago, coincidentally, right before high-rise condos were built is its place.

For a few short moments the other day, I relived both the horror and the joy of living in the same few blocks that I pretty much grew up on. I don’t think he recognized me, but if he did, he didn’t say anything and he certainly didn’t go for his bat. It’s a good thing too, because there really isn’t a good pizza-by-the-slice shop nearby, but also because I’m just not as spry as I was in high school.

In the article, Chase spokesman Tom Kelly says:

“The number one reason that customers choose a bank for their checking account is the location of that bank.”

That couldn’t be more true, which explains not only why banks are popping up all over the place, but also why they are popping up within spitting distance from other banks. For example, the west side of Third Avenue between 58th and 59th in the new Bloomberg building…this one block has a Bank of America, Wachovia, and Citibank. The only store on that side of the street that’s not a bank is a Home Depot. Why does this one block need all those banks? Simply because if one of them wasn’t there, they wouldn’t be entertained as a possible bank for people that work in the area.

In the article, Mr. Kelly also said:

“In Manhattan there may be more branches than are necessary overall, but not too many Chase branches.”

Really? I would like to officially invite Mr. Kelly to the intersection of 57th and Park. Three out of the four corners there are banks. One is a Citibank, and the other two? Yup, both Chase. Why does Chase need two full service branches right across the street from each other? Are New Yorkers that “convenience lazy” to not want to cross Park Avenue to get to a bank?