Saturday evening my parents came over, and my dad helped me to install our new dryer. It was a painless procedure. Later, we packed up for a ski trip to the Poconos on Saturday.
The drive to Camelback took about 2 hours. Not bad at all! We met up with Jon, Rachel, Mike and Julie at the West Cafeteria for lunch. Not surprisingly, it was a circus. Thereafter, we headed to the nearby snowtubing park. Alas, they were sold out for all sessions until 4 PM. We reserved our space, and then loaded up the car for the Tannersville outlets. It was a compelling lineup of stores with some unusual entries: Burberry's, a Bible discount store, Fossil, Ecko and Coach. I purchased a bunch of fly threads at Geoffrey Beene (I found out today that I selected the wrong neck size... I now carry a 16 inch neck, not a 15 1/2 inch! I've been watch shopping recently, and saw some nice Emporio Armani's at the Fossil outlet. I picked up a $350 piece for just $129, and for another $20 was able to purchase Charlotte a $100 Armani sports watch.
Back at the snowtubing park, we were able to purchase tickets. The place was mobbed though, and it took 25 minutes of standing around to get one ride. It was a fast run down the hill though, and Zach enjoyed the speed. In my one solo run, I was off-center, and felt like a beached whale. Meanwhile, our water thermos which holds hot water for Max's milk exploded in the backpack. Max, the poor guy, was hungry and began suffering a meltdown. I was the next to melt down. We abruptly bailed for the comforts of Mike Z's swank condo timeshare. Things improved from there with Max content once again.
In the late PM, we played an interesting board game based on the premise of 'Would you rather do this... or that?' Both choices are not appealing. For example, would you rather be videotaped throwing a temper tantrum or videotaped sitting on the toilet? Would you rather eat an earwax omelette or a hair sandwich? On challenge cards, it turned into more of a truth or dare game. John C. drew the ire of players by using psychological game theory and then later sharing an unpleasant medical problem with us.
My prank of the weekend involved blasting a boat horn inside the condo. The guests did not appreciate this shocking effect.
After returning without incident on Sunday, I caught a nap, showered and then caught a train to Manhattan. It was bitter cold with a nasty wind chill. I met up with the group at a Thai restaurant called Topaz on West 56th between 6th and 7th. It's just around the corner from Carnegie Hall where the concert was. Gregg W. and I dined with LeAnn and Dennis - LeAnn is an old associate from the Merrill days. The conversation and food were very good. Many of my old analyst/money manager colleagues are out of the business entirely. One former Merrill colleague, Raoul, moved to the Philippines and married the daughter of a sugar baron. As a career, he manages his own investments from home. Dennis, a former technology consultant, is now a full-time real estate investor focused on New Jersey, including Union City and Newark. I indulged in the red curry with chicken and coconut milk, a cucumber salad, mango ice cream and Singha beer. The red curry was tasty, but not spicy. At $20, the meal was an excellent value. My only complaint was that the place was jam-packed and the tables were really crammed in. Interestingly, the ceilings in the kitchen area were only about 6 feet high... I learned this when having to use their restroom back there. I guess that tall employees cannot work there?
Weill Concert Hall at Carnegie Center was a more intimate hall than Alice Tully at Lincoln Center. Zephyr and the recently pregnant Rain joined the fray. The pianist, Belgian Carine Gutlerner, performed a combination of classical and contemporary pieces, including selections by Brahams, Beethoven and Prokofiev. These selections were challenging and tended to be on the more dissonant side. The Beethoven piece, Sonata 32 in C Minor, Op. 111, explored this life, the mystical world and the transition between the two. She also performed a piece by Belgian composer Frederik van Rossum with the novelty that one hand only played white keys and the other only black keys for the entire song! Gregg Wramage had two of his pieces performed. The second piece, "La tristesse durera" (the Sadness will remain) was based on a painting by Van Gogh of people leaving a church from a funeral. After the performance of the piece, Gregg took a bow up on the stage, and it was nice to see the packed house showing their appreciation. The pianist had a dramatic presentation style with abundant flair. The show ended at 10:30 PM.
Not wanting to get stranded at Penn Station, I grabbed a taxi, skipping the subway. I entertained myself riding home by reading Computer Shopper and listening to a trance set mixed by Armin Van Buuren.
