BM4 and Rotisserie Chicken

So I bought a rotisserie chicken the other day, took it home and started slicing it up. For probably as long as I live, rotisserie chicken will make me think of my friend, BM4. I refer to him that way so as not to put his business out in the street; most of the people who know the both of us will know him by that code, as it was his 3-character work email address.

Anyway. BM4 and his family (his now-wife, his brother and his sister-in-law) have always been there for me whenever I was sick. Many years ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I had a number of surgeries. When you get out of surgery, the hospital generally won't release you unless you have someone to pick you up. For a single person with no significant other and no relatives in the City, this becomes a bit of a hassle. I had like 5 surgeries. There's a limit to the number of times I'm willing to ask my friends to take off work to come pick me up and take me home. Not that they'd not be willing to do it, just that I really don't consider it necessary and would prefer to save my favors for when I actually needed something.

But my friends are great. I remember one of the surgeries, BM4 and E were there to meet me in the recovery area. This was with a doctor who didn't give you the scrip for pain meds until after the actual surgery (my last doctor gave me the scrip beforehand so I could get it filled and wouldn't have to be running around after the surgery). So I'm all out of my head after anesthesia and have this prescription that has to be filled. Not sure exactly how it worked, but BM4 volunteered to do it and went out and came back with my scrip. Very nicely done!

Then he and his wife took me home. They are just really sweet people, and I think they were concerned about whether I had enough to eat or something. So we stopped and got me rotisserie chicken and salad. In the days to come, when I was too weak or too drugged up (or too uncomfortable with the maiming surgery I'd just had) to go out of the house, I found myself incredibly grateful to BM4 and his wife for that rotisserie chicken and salad. So much so, that every time I eat rotisserie chicken, I think of him.

That's not all the story, of course. His brother stopped by just to visit. I mean, his BROTHER. We know each other, but we're not super close. But he was in the neighborhood, and gave me a call to see if I felt like a visitor. He stopped in and chatted. The brother's wife (BM4's sister-in-law) did the same thing. It's just soooo sweet to have friends like that. I probably never directly thanked them, but their sweetness, kindness, and graciousness made an indelible impression on me. It's a blessing to have wonderful people in your life!

So more on BM4: this is a guy who, after graduating high school, worked a variety of jobs, including NYC cab driver and warehouse stocker. He was working in a Barnes and Noble warehouse and started reading books on computers. Which led to him getting a job as a computer technician in a law firm (which is where both I and his present wife met him). He continued to study and was promoted up the ranks until he became the Manager of the entire IT department (after having been the whole Network Manager -- two completely different skillsets, by the way). As he made his way up the corporate IT ladder, he continued to study and to avail himself of new technologies. Long story short, he and his wife and two kids are living the suburban dream in a lovely house with a big fireplace in Connecticut. They don't work outside the house -- he's created some kind of internet something that allows him to support his family very nicely, AND he sends me emails from time to time of special moments shared with his children as they're growing up.

I wanted to say something about how he is like the perfect black man -- we always tease him about his traits that are like a brother. Except he's not a black man. And being a product of NYC, he has the most interesting and varied group of friends -- going to his house is like going to a little UN! And he's a fount of information regarding people and cultures. He'd probably be a great guy with whom to play Trivial Pursuit....

It just doesn't get any better than that, IMHO. I don't believe BM4 and his wife have an active church life, but I have spoken to her about their spiritual journey. What I see is that their faith walk is expressed in their dealings with their fellow human beings, and that's exemplary. And they have their oldest child in Catholic school, so he's probably doing enough of the organized religion stuff for everyone!

They're a wonderful family, I'm delighted to call them friends, and now that I have a car, I can't wait to take a drive up to CT and visit them! Life's good; BM4 and rotisserie chicken make it even better.

Skydiving and autos

So last week I turned 55. To celebrate, I went skydiving. You can see the video here: I can see this becoming an annual thing....

Also, the agency bought a car, of which I have exclusive use. It's a 2010 Nissan Altima Hybrid. It's been a couple of weeks, and already I'm questioning the wisdom of having a car in NYC. We paid for it outright, but the Agency pays over $100 per month to keep it parked during the day, and I personally pay nearly $200 per month to park it at my house. Yes, I could park it on the street, but already my life and schedule are impacted by "will I find parking when I get home?" -- it's just simpler to pay for parking.

And it's a hybrid. And it's a push to start. And there's only one key. So yesterday I left work because I had a dentist's appointment. I "rushed" home as much as I could in the rain and the insanity that is NYC traffic. The trip from home to work shouldn't take more than 10 minutes in a car. It took me nearly 30 minutes yesterday, mostly because people are just stupid.

So I get home and find a great space in front of the house. I cut off the windshield wipers and turn off the radio, then rush inside to pick up my cable box and umbrella. Head downtown. First I go to my dentist's office, and he makes my new bridge fit perfectly. Then I come up to 96th street and return my cable box and modem (I just went FiOS). And then I headed back down to Penn Station to go to the Liberty game.

About halftime, I get a call on my cell. It was my super. "You know," he tells me, "that you left your car on." No, I didn't know, and I was a good 45 minutes away in Jersey. He told me I had a quarter tank (I'd had less than half a tank when I turned on the car at 2-something -- I wanted to see how much of the month I could make it through on yhalf a tank of gas.

Long story short: when I got home a bit after 11, the car was still running, and still had a quarter tank of gas! Guess this whole turning-off-the-car-that-doesn't make-you-have-a-key-in-hand thing is going to take a bit of adjustment. Since you need to have the key within 30 inches to start the car, I would have thought it would have cut off if the key went more than 30 inches away from it. But that wasn't the case....

So I still have more to learn.

But the skydiving was fun!