It's Not A Bargain, It's A Steal

Monday, November 8, 2021

Normally, I spend my few idle hours working on an alternate proof of  Fermat's Last Theorem.  However, I occasionally seek even lighter diversion, playing a few hands of Freecell on my smartyphone, usually ignoring the advertisements that randomly pop up.  Yesterday, though, I couldn't help but pay attention to this promotion.

 

 

I like to shop and I admit to waiting for sales and using coupons when available.  I stop short, however, of packing heat on a trip to COSTCO, although it's something to consider.

. . . 

 

Let us now praise Jerry Latter, my second cousin.  He is the grandson of Samuel (Zamwel Lato) Latter, brother to Yetta (Ita Lato) Latter Gotthelf, my grandmother.  I know this because of Jerry's prodigious genealogical research, which has resulted in the publication of "Our Family Roots from the 1800's: The Descendants of Marx Lato and Marian Ryzowy."  It is a 186 page work, beginning in the late 1700's, identifying 165 people from almost 150 families on our family tree, from Aman to Zerlin.  While I am not surprised to see connections to Cohens, Kaplans and Levys, you don't typically see names like Defourneaux, Mullaly and Standish on the UJA donor list.  It's a fascinating work.  I can't help but wonder who will play me in the movie.

. . . 

 

Americans don't sit still.  The average American supposedly moves every five years.   https://www.mymovingreviews.com/move/how-often-and-why-americans-move/ 

 

On the other hand, I'm only at my second address since 1980, another way that I digress from the mean.  Significant  movement for others isn't entirely random.  It is predominantly city to city, warm to warm, as illustrated by this list in the weekend's real estate section.   https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/04/realestate/which-cities-are-growing-most-at-the-expense-of-others.html 

 

The Holy Land appears only once on the From side, paired oddly with Charlotte, North Carolina.  Maybe folks liked living in Queens so much that they were lured by the Queen City, named for the wife of King George III.  He, of course, was kind enough to allow the American colonies to rebel, so that, today, we can drive on the right and use our hands playing football. 

. . . 

 

I had lunch at Al Horno Lean Mexican Kitchen, 156 East 33rd.  It is part of a local chain, previously unknown to me.  The lean particularly applies to the premises, which has room only for four stools at a ledge against the front window.  The kitchen in back, however, seems capable of producing a very fat list of dishes according to the menu, although many of them are professedly lean.  For instance, I had a "Lean Beef Barbacoa" burrito ($12.45), containing "Barbacoa [cubes of brisket], black beans, low-fat cheddar, jalapenos, brown rice & low-fat sour cream."  It was the size and weight of a brick, but couldn't have tasted better if it had been soaked in chicken fat.  

 

Wednesday, November 10, 2021

The United States Supreme Court is considering the case of an inmate on Texas's death row who wants his pastor to touch him during his execution by lethal injection.   https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/09/us/supreme-court-pastor-texas-execution.html 

 

This is a very specific fact pattern, but I found broad implications in the newspaper report of the oral arguments.  Admittedly, a few inches of print may not do justice to the Justices, but the inmate's claim to exercise his religious freedom was challenged by several members of the Court's conservative wing.  These same Justices have not hesitated to extend the protection of the free exercise of religion far and wide, particularly when asserted by conservative (white) Christians.  They have ruled that religious scruples may govern who gets a wedding cake, Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (2018), and what medical procedures may be excluded from an employee medical plan, Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. (2014).  Do I hear an Amen?  

. . . 

 

Stony Brook Steve and I met Michael Ratner for lunch at China Jade, 1643 Second Avenue.  We picked it because Michael thought that it had the same name as the restaurant that his family went to when he was a boy on Long Island.  In fact, we can see that China Jade, 1322 Broadway, Hewlett, New York, advertised its support for the 1959 graduating class of Hewlett High School.  http://www.e-yearbook.com/yearbooks/Hewlett_High_School_Patches_Yearbook/1959/Page_140.html

 

Long Island China Jade is now defunct, according to the records of the New York Department of State.   https://www.corporationwiki.com/p/2nzz2p/china-jade-of-hewlett-inc 

 

But, back to lunch.  We ate at one of the four tables in the hut in front of the restaurant, not well insulated from the incessant traffic noise.  Since almost all commercial vehicles are banned from the West Side Highway and the FDR Drive, Second Avenue carries the bulk of southbound commercial traffic in Manhattan and it was all running a few feet from where we sat.  The 10 tables indoors were all occupied, probably by local people familiar with the relative decibel levels. 

 

On the other hand, much of the food was so ordinary that there is no reason to return even if a hush descended on Second Avenue.  There are 42 lunch specials hovering around $10 each, including soup, spring rolls or a can of soda and white, brown or fried rice.  The hot and sour soup was very good, as was the (not) Spicy Sesame Noodles ($8) that we shared.  However, the gooey sauces covering the main dishes failed to overcome their blandness.  Of course, the company was excellent. 

 

Friday, November 12, 2021

The Upper West Side's Power Couple hit the road today to visit the second and third generations living in eastern Massachusetts.  Our long-established travel routine was disrupted on our last trip through Connecticut on I-84, when we found that our favorite lunch joint was pitching anti-mask propaganda. 

We stopped to eat, therefore, at the Blue Colony Diner, 66 Church Hill Road, Newtown, Connecticut (exit 10 on I-84), which conceptually is to roadside diners as Wo Hop is to Chinese restaurants.  The booths, the stools at the counter, the 5 lb. laminated menu, the seeming endless choice of food that can be deep-fried, grilled or reheated in a microwave oven all approach the Platonic ideal of dinerdom.  Unfortunately, the ideal extends only to quantity, not quality.