Saturday, June 11, 2022

Pie In the Sky?

Saturday, June 4, 2022
I was about to write that Jay Stanley, whom I have known since his boyhood, is wise beyond his years, forgetting briefly that I am not the only one who has aged in the interim.  I thought of this when I read "Communities Should Have a Say in Whether They Want Drones," his recent piece in the Wall Street Journal.  

Jay wrote that "Walmart recently said it plans to introduce drone deliveries to 34 sites across six states by year-end, reaching up to four million households.  Each drone can move 10 pounds of merchandise, remotely controlled by FAA-certified pilots."  I might find this tolerable if the shipments were limited to prescription medicine, diapers, baby formula, personal hygiene products and certain cookies.  However, will those in charge be able to resist urgent requests for beer, cigarettes and Twinkies?
. . .

The Holy Land had near perfect weather today, temperature, humidity, clear skies just as you would dial it up.  We took advantage of this by going to dinner outside with Gentleman Jerry and Gentlewoman Melanie at The Thonglor, 789 Ninth Avenue.  It's a new Thai restaurant, small, nine two-tops crowded into a narrow space, named for a trendy neighborhood in Bangkok.  For reasons of health and safety, we took two tables out onto the sidewalk, providing a bit more space to staff (two people scurrying around) and patrons occupying all the other available seats.

Not only was the restaurant crowded, but the sidewalks saw a constant parade of people celebrating graduations, the start of Pride Month, or "I am in New York and my parents aren't."  It made you almost forget what the rest of the world is like right now.  

We shared an order of vegetable dumplings ($7 for six pieces), very light, with near-translucent wrappers; Thonglor spring rolls, “mixed vegetables wrapped into a crispy spring roll pastry served with plum sauce” ($6 for three pieces), done just right.  We then branched out.  I had Pad Thai Noodle Bacon ($16), a large portion of rice noodles stir-fried with egg, bacon, bean sprouts, scallions and chopped peanuts.  Another interesting dish on the table was Pra Raam Chicken, sautéed chicken with peanut sauce and steamed broccoli served with jasmine rice ($15.95).

We all felt almost satisfied enough to skip going next door to Holey Cream, 791 Ninth Avenue, but not quite.  It advertises a stunning array of choices, with at least 24 flavors of ice cream and frozen yogurt on display.    https://m.yelp.com/menu/holey-cream-new-york?adjust_creative=apple&utm_campaign=action_link_view_menu&utm_medium=feed_v2&utm_source=apple   

The basic scoop is $5.75, more than a pint of Ben & Jerry’s in many stores, but less than most local competitive scoopers.  I had a delicious cup of cinnamon bun ice cream, “Cinnamon ice cream with sweet cinnamon swirls and cinnamon sugar dough bites.”
  
Sunday, June 5, 2022
"With home prices at record highs and inventory at record lows, nearly two-thirds of non-homeowners (64%) say [that] an affordability factor is holding them back from owning a home, according to a new Bankrate.com report."  https://www.bankrate.com/pdfs/pr/20220330-march-fsp.pdf

Those factors include low income, high prices, high down payment, bad credit, too much debt, low inventory.  While younger folk seem to be daunted by high prices, older folk don't seem to have the financial resources to pursue homeownership and that's a sad story.
. . .

There is no typo in Holey Scream, the joint that we visited last night.  Besides excellent ice cream, at least based on one sampling, it offers donuts, elaborately decorated donuts, what we would call in Brooklyn ungepatchket.  Which reminds me that Danny Macaroons has expanded his empire to Super Nice Coffee and Bakery, 198 West 108th Street, a branch of the original at 156 East 117th Street.  While Danny is famous appropriately for his macaroons, he, too, sells donuts and other pastries.  The new shop is around the corner from Absolute Bagels, 2799 Broadway, allowing you to get the finest in carbohydrates in one sojourn.

Monday, June 6, 2022
I returned to the Halal cart in front of the Apple Store on Broadway at West 67th Street, for the first time in over two years.  I had my usual -- grilled chicken/mystery meat combo over rice with pita, lots of white sauce, a little red sauce ($8).  I don't know what flavor Arab the man in the cart is, but we have been practicing peaceful coexistence for many years and he welcomed me back with a larger than average serving.

The atrium at 1991 Broadway, right next door, serves as my dining room.  It has a dozen tables and comfortable chairs.  While a homeless person or two may be in attendance and a cluster of middle-schoolers appear at 3 PM on school days, the space is generally clean, calm and convenient.

Tuesday, June 7, 2022
This analysis claims that almost 4 billion robocalls were placed in May.  https://robocallindex.com/history/time

Why did I receive most of them?
. . .

"A new study found death rates are improving faster in Democratic counties than Republican ones." 

“White Americans who live in Democratic areas are much more likely to have great improvements in health compared to white people who live in Republican counties.”  However, people of color were consistently less healthy regardless of location.  Will someone notify Fox News of the new Replacement Theory -- healthy white Democrats are replacing sickly white Republicans? 
. . .

On the other hand, some presumably white Democrats are showing signs of mental illness.  "The San Francisco Unified School District will no longer use the word 'chief' in job titles because of concerns from Native Americans."  https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2022/05/27/san-francisco-school-district-bans-chief-titles/9959030002/   

Wednesday, June 8, 2022
Hurray!  A European Union mandate set to begin in 2026 will require all new smartphones, tablets and laptops to use a common charger.    

Thursday, June 9, 2022
The Upper West Side’s Power Couple hit the road to spend the weekend celebrating grandson Boaz’s graduation from middle school.  Instead of immediately heading due east to the Boston suburbs, we headed north to visit Barbara and Dean Alfange in their small town above Amherst, Massachusetts.

Dean retired as a distinguished professor of American government at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, which, by coincidence, happens to be the nominal target of a pernicious inhuman rights group.  “The Mapping Project says UMass Amherst supports ‘ethnic cleansing and colonization of Palestine…through its campus Hillel, pro-Israel course listings, statements from administration, and by hosting Israel-linked weapons manufacturers at its career fairs.’”   https://www.jta.org/2022/06/08/united-states/boston-jews-say-a-pro-palestinian-groups-map-of-local-zionist-leaders-and-powerhouse-ngos-leads-to-antisemitism

In other words, Israel is toxic and Jews are too and we can’t tell the difference, but so what?

Oh, there you go, Grandpa Alan being the touchy Jew.  Well, it’s not just Boston “progressives” on the prowl.  Some Republican politicians can’t restrain their enthusiasm for Adolf Hitler.  

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