On the Road Again

Monday, April 26, 2021 

We had not visited our second and third generations in Massachusetts for over a year, because of the pandemic.  I spotted a big change on the highway as soon as we entered Massachusetts from Connecticut, intending to refill at the famously inexpensive gas station at exit 1 of I-84, except the first exit was now exit 3.  I thought that this was an aberration until I proceeded on the Massachusetts Turnpike, I-90, heading to exit 13, Natick, and found that Natick was now at exit 117.  

Softa, the Russian-born other grandmother of the Bar Mitzvah boy, a professional civil engineer, explained that the renumbering of interstate highway exits followed federal law.  If a state takes a certain percentage of its highway funds from the federal government, its interstate highway exits had to correspond to the distance from the state line.  While the federal Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) mandated exit numbering in 1971, Massachusetts just caught up with it since I last drove there.

So, Natick was now identified as 117 miles on the Mass Pike from the New York State line, instead of the 13th exit from the start of the Mass Pike at the opposite edge of the state.

If you are not yet excited by this information, let me tell you about the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway, that state's two major north-south limited-access routes.  Exits on the New Jersey Turnpike are numbered sequentially from the southern border with Delaware, while the numbers of the Garden State Parkway's exits are the distance from the most southern tip of New Jersey on the Atlantic Ocean.  Both highways end at the New York State line, the Parkway after exit 172, the Turnpike after exit 18.  The Parkway's numbering scheme apparently originated with its piecemeal opening in the 1950s, long before the MUTCD; the Turnpike remains unchanged till this day.  Live and learn.

. . .

Our grandson did a marvelous job with his Bar Mitzvah, witnessed by hundreds of people in the United States and Israel.  I even chanted a brief Hebrew blessing aloud without the sky falling.

Sunday night, a party of nine of us went to dinner right near the very scenic Boston harbor front.  We chose Wagamama, 100 Northern Avenue, a casual pan-Asian restaurant that my young bride and I first visited in London where it has several branches.  It turns out that Boston has three Wagamama locations and at least one of them allowed us to eat outside.

I had grilled duck ramen, a duck leg in vegetable broth with noodles, cilantro, ponzu sauce (citrus-based sauce usually combined with soy sauce), bok choy, chilies, scallions and half a tea-stained egg ($19).  The generous portion was hearty and tasty.  To further counter the chilly wind off the water, I had mint tea, real mint leaves, not a skimpy bag.

. . .

In case you are not dazzled by how some of the most successful companies avoid paying income taxes (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/02/business/economy/zero-corporate-tax.html), consider how "C.E.O. Pay Remains Stratospheric, Even at Companies Battered by Pandemic."  https://nyti.ms/3xnE7zp

In other words, if you win you win and if you lose you win, except if you are an ordinary citizen, one of Leona Helmsley's "little people."   http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1891335_1891333_1891317,00.html

. . .

On both halves of our road trip this weekend, we stopped for lunch at Dottie's Diner @ Phillips, 787 Main Street South, Woodbury, Connecticut, off exit 15 of I-84, which retains the sequential numbering scheme within the state.  We stop here more often than not, because it is about halfway and it serves good classic diner food for breakfast and lunch only.    

The secret is to arrive before 11:30 A.M., when Dottie's serves some elaborate pancake, waffle and French toast concoctions, such as lemon ricotta pancakes or banana nut French toast in the $8-10 range.  It also does its own baking, allowing some of us to pack up an extra chocolate chip cookie for the rest of the ride.    

Wednesday, April 28, 2021

They say that nothing succeeds like success.  Below, we have evidence of it.  The Republican majorities in the Michigan state legislature, buoyed by the Republican majority on the Michigan Supreme Court and armed protestors in and around the Capitol building, have gone to great lengths to stymie the efforts of the Democratic governor to curb Covid-19.  The result, 9 of 10 and 17 of 20 locations in the country with the highest average daily rates of new cases are in Michigan.

Average daily cases, last two weeks

Metro or micro area		Population	Recent cases	Daily Per 100k
1	Muskegon, Mich.	173,566	1,821	74.9
2	Flint, Mich.	405,813	4,075	71.7
3	Lewiston-Auburn, Me.	108,277	1,077	71.0
4	Bay City, Mich.	103,126	986	68.3
5	Adrian, Mich.	98,451	918	66.6
6	Grand Rapids, Mich.	1.1 mil.	9,752	64.8
7	Saginaw, Mich.	190,539	1,718	64.4
8	Detroit	4.3 mil.	38,189	63.1
9	Owosso, Mich.	68,122	600	62.9
10	Holland, Mich.	118,081	985	59.6
11	Klamath Falls, Ore.	68,238	558	58.4
12	Mount Pleasant, Mich.	69,872	563	57.6
13	Jackson, Mich.	158,510	1,267	57.1
14	Battle Creek, Mich.	134,159	1,070	57.0
15	Ionia, Mich.	64,697	505	55.8
16	Monroe, Mich.	150,500	1,152	54.7
17	Peoria, Ill.	366,221	2,768	54.0
18	Midland, Mich.	83,156	596	51.2
19	Kalamazoo-Portage, Mich.	340,743	2,427	50.9
20	Lansing, Mich.	482,269	3,017	44.7
69	New York City area	19.9 mil.	84,292	30.3

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/23/upshot/five-ways-to-monitor-coronavirus-outbreak-us.html

Thursday, April 29, 2021

Khokhem David Goldfarb sent me an editorial from the Wall Street Journal with the subheading "Latest Biden plan rejects the old social contract of work for benefits."  That vaunted social contract was geared to maximize benefits for the owners.  When pools of cheaper labor were discovered in the southern states, then Latin America and Asia, many subscribers to the Wall Street Journal fled communities that supported them for generations with breakneck speed.  Now that socialism for the rich is being met with economic justice for others, there doesn't seem to be enough Jergens Lotion to lubricate the righteous hand wringing.

. . .

I was fortunate to have the company of Michael Ratner and Stony Brook Steve for lunch today.  Our initial destination, Land Thai Kitchen, 450 Amsterdam Avenue, was closed, so we crossed the street to Gazala's Restaurant, 447 Amsterdam Avenue, a Druze restaurant, a rarity outside the Levant, and sat at one of the six outdoor tables.

I ordered the lamb wrap, chewy chunks of lamb (maybe too chewy) in "saag pita" (a very large crêpe), with hummus, chopped tomato, lettuce and tahini, good, but very messy ($12.50).  Michael had falafel the same way ($10.50), while Steve had the Veggie Platter, hummus, babaganoush, falafel, labane (whipped cheese) and fried cigars, served with saag pita, a best buy at $14.

. . .

It's been a busy week at Palazzo di Gotthelf and, when we could not quickly locate the can opener at dinner time, we hastened out to Thai 72, 128 West 72nd Street, with eight tables outside in a ramshackle structure that was adequate in the mild evening.

I started with roti canai, normally my first course in a Malaysian restaurant.  The small pancake was properly crispy, but the buttery curry sauce had slices of chicken, pieces of potato, onion and chopped peanuts, just too ongepotchket ($10).  I then had drunken noodles with shrimp (5 small, but not baby, size); broad noodles cooked with green peppers, red peppers, onions, carrots, broccoli, eggs and chopped peanuts ($16).  Good enough for sitting in the middle of West 72nd Street.  

America's Favorite Epidemiologist, nearly exhausted from answering inquiries about health and safety from all quarters, was revived by Ginger Tofu Eggplant, sauteed Thai eggplants, onions, bell peppers, carrots, zucchini and baby corn ($13).

Friday, April 30, 2021

Same old song.  "Only 8 Black Students Are Admitted to Stuyvesant High School"  https://nyti.ms/3t4raaz

. . .

It's uncommon, but I think that this newspaper story about a law suit by a Chinese-American police officer against a Black man demonstrating against racism deserves a sound track.   https://nyti.ms/3vqfUXC

Appropriately enough, "Avenue Q," the profane, puppet-populated Broadway show, offers the right melody.

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=th4FMmNQpAk&list=RDAMVMth4FMmNQpAk