NYC Journal

[Prest_400]

My Baby-Victorian remained high and dry. The house kinda got power washed.

Crompond Road on the way home had to be detoured because it was washed out due to flooding.

Anyways, my house passed a thousand year event alright.

Cal

Glad to hear, I have seen some of the extraordinary events hitting the east coast with extensive flooding in some areas, including NY. A fellow photographer shared a well flooded Vermont. I actually thought about how the Victorian did, and good to know they built it up well. Aside of that also not greedy development in flood prone areas.

 

[Calzone]

Jorde,

Thanks for your concern. When I lived in NYC in Greenpoint I was in a FEMA flood zone and also in the south side of Williamsburg. In Long Island City and in East Harlem we were right on the fringe of the flood zones.

When we were looking at houses I checked FEMA maps and did research.

Snarky Joe pointed out that also a lot depends on hydrology. He inquired if I had a “dry basement.” I do, but my diagonal neighbor has a sump because in heavy rains water seeps in.

My sister’s house in Oakdale Long Island normally had a dry basement, but it flooded under unusually heavy rainfall over 25 years ago. Likely this has occurred a few times with global warming. Know that me and my older sister are a strange. Oh-well. Best for me… and I’m cool with that. Happy-happy.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

After our hike we stopped at “The Trail Cafe.” I had an apple and carrot juice, and “Maggie” had some type of shake made from an assortment of berries and milk. Mighty great.

At the counter I found a free “Yorktown Walk Book” that is 48 pages. New and updated, it says, but it is from 2021. Pretty much this gives me the smut on trails that perhaps only the locals know. There are lots of land trusts up here to curb development. BTW Yorktown is an upscale and affluent area with horse farms and McMansion sized homes that predate the term. Somewhat estate like.

My worries are with the Metro North. It is two days after the mucho big rain storm and Metro North service north of Peekskill had not been restored at least this was the case at noontime today. Basically on the Hudson Line Peekskill is the last stop.

We have to go into NYC for the “Look-See” to get photographed. Don’t have to get dressed up. The call sheet specified jeans and a plain T-shirt which still is a bit dressy for me. “Maggie” has a hair appointment before the Look-See, and we have other business to attend to.

My agent wants to promote me with my hair down. Maggie says it is not flattering and I kinda agree. I have big hair even though it is straight, and with my hair down I kinda look like a feral animal. I’m not going to let my hair down and will wear my pony tail unless directed to let my hair down at the shoot.

There is a second trip later in the week where Maggie will be shot. A big luxury fashion brand is going to do a campaign that promotes Maggie as a writer. This is a big lux brand that everyone knows. I’m basically just her On-Tour-Rodge.

I mowed my lawn: human powered for additional exercise.

Looks like sometime next week I’ll be taking out the grandkid’s father out fishing on a party board out of Captree Long Island as his birthday present. Pretty much the Fire Island inlet and Great South Bay for Fluke fishing. I want to get my lines wet.

Here is my recipe for Seveche: Take a Fluke or Flounder fillet (has to be mucho fresh) and cut into Triskit sized squares. Place in a bowl and squeeze enough fresh limes to submerge the fish. Cut purple onions into round slices on top. Refrigerate for 24 hours.

The citric acid in the limes actually cooks the fish and kinda pickles it. Use a nice cracker as a bed for a piece of fish, place some onion on top, and then use a bit of shrimp cocktail sauce as a condiment. Serve with a cold beer.

In my case a cold beer is a Heineken Zero, or a Stella Artois liberte, both non alcoholic.

Don’t tell anyone my recipe. BTW has to be eaten right away and is best fresh. The fish actually turns white as if cooked. If you want you can also add some quartered tomatoes as a side.

I think I will use my new Fenwick World Class rod with my Tern 300 reel. Let’s see if I’m lucky. Let’s see if I win the pool. Remember I use to be a “Sharpie” and a “Pin-Hooker.”

Cal

 

[Phil_F_NM]

We keep dreaming about (and planning) to move out of Philadelphia, to another, cooler state or country. I'm hoping to find a significantly cooler, friendlier environment, farther north, maybe much farther east. I've been thinking of Newfoundland for a few more decades of cooler maritime weather. Maybe Ireland if we can swing it. This heat and especially humidity, in Philly is killing me slowly. It's depressing my mind and keeping me from riding, so I'm allowing my blood to pool in my legs. I had a 3ft long blood clot in the early spring of 2019 and I was much more active then. Fire, flood, drought, landslides, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes. I've already lived through four five of those seven conditions, and really want to stop moving. I do not like evacuating. If I were content with the climate here in Philly, I'd stay, but it simply sucks this last few years. Near intolerable summers. I won't even mention crime beyond this: that if you look at the whole "war on terror" from our first incursion in Afghanistan through 8/30/2021, there were more people murdered in Philadelphia than US military casualties in all of our AORs combined.
Anyway, I want out. A modest urban environment with a collection of higher education institutions, better climate, less crime, and I'll cross my fingers for better drivers.
Phil

 

[Calzone]

Phil,

At this point I believe you are a licensed professional. You have a graduate degree. Suffering should not be your lifestyle.

I am so glad I am no longer in NYC. My quality of life is better and richer. I have less stress and I can truly relax. I lucked out and secured a home at the very beginning of the housing shortage. I also secured a mortgage under 3%.

I bought a home no one wanted, but it was right for us because we saw mucho potential to make it into a dream house. Modest in size and sustainable. It is still a work in progress… Today it stands out as a very cute house.

I wish the same for you. Philly and NYC took a turn for the worse With the pandemic.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Not sure if modeling is what we want to do. We had decided not to sign up, but got snookered into signing by our agent. We have our new life now after daycare, and now we just want to enjoy our retirement.

”Maggie” gets these solicitations that involves free travel in a kinda barter like arrangement where free travel experiences are line up in exchange for perhaps some photos and writing getting posted.

Of course this does not involve money and pretty much is a barter system. I’m more interested in free luxury travel and exciting experiences that fashion modeling. I hate the last minute notifications and all the complications in the world of fashion. I want to have fun and the world of fashion is not what you think. It is chaotic and takes over your life.

Of course this is not good for our agent…

BTW that’s what Maggie’s book is about.

We just want to be happy and not bothered.

Part of not wearing my hair down is that really is not how I look or who I am. I want to remain authentic…

I already know I’m a good salesman, but I want to remain authentic. If I get no gigs I’m cool with that.

Cal

 

[Phil_F_NM]

NYC is still one of the safest places to live in the country with one of the lowest per-capita homicide rates among all US cities. Philly and Chicago are sitting right around rates similar to Honduras and Colombia. I'll take the rate of NYC any day over most of the cities I've lived in, including Albuquerque.
If it weren't so expensive, I'm sure Bethanne and I would have returned to NYC. With a similar climate though, it's just not worth it. Maybe Providence, Burlington, or Portland (ME) have some promise. Aside from New England, I don't know where in the US I could live comfortably anymore.

Phil

 

[Calzone]

Phil,

I know that space you are in now. I did not think I would be a home owner, but you are right NYC is expensive, yet I was able to save about 1/3rd of my income tax deferred and do things like live in Madhattan. Yes living in a 650 square foot apartment for a decade was not comfortable, nor luxury.

In my case things just fell into place and somehow became perfect timing.

Also the headlines that suggest that nearly 7% interest rates as being a record high are in fact a lie. If you look at the long term average mortgage rates over the decades the average is 7.49%.

The problem really is the housing shortage that inflated prices, and this shortage is due the FED’s past low interest rate policies that had unintended consequences of effectively making it cost effective for people to stay put in homes that have been either refinanced at record low interest rates, or secured with mortgages at record low interest rates.

In effect too many homes are off the market or never will be sold anytime soon. Mortgage rates below 3% may likely never-ever happen again. Also know that the housing shortage will not go away for at least a decade or two. Also remember that since the housing crisis of 2007-2008, housing starts have been depressed for 15 years. Could it be 15 years of overbuilding to catch up? Maybe longer…

Another problem is that employment and cities grew together. Things have changed with work from home, and the commercial real estate market appears to be the next shoe to drop. I’m not so sure urbanization will continue to grow. Without growth and prosperity what is a city?

Already in NYC some financial firms like hedge funds are moving or have moved out of NYC. The rebound post Covid to me defies logic. Cites are for visiting, but I no longer want to live in a big city.

I do not see a robust NYC. I do not understand what is happening there now. Rents are higher than ever.

Cal

 

[jszokoli]

Cal,
Hedge funds may be opening offices out side of New York, but most are keeping their NY offices. Early in the pandemic we saw offices closing their physical location with no new ‘real’ address. Now we are seeing lots of firms growing and other shrinking. But that’s actually a normal pattern. Office space may go empty in NYC but class ‘A’ buildings are kind of ok.
Joe

 

[Calzone]

Joe,

Good to hear. Now I understand. Business wise it makes sense to expand elsewhere to save money and increase influence. A smaller footp[rint in NYC now makes sense.

My worries is that if NYC goes down that so would the value of my house which increased in value by an incredible amount.

I know one of my neighbor’s put in a bid for $325K on the abandoned house, and another neighbor placed an all cash bid for $335K. Pretty sure the pending sale is an all cash deal that is at least $350K or even north of there, which is crazy money.

Even if just a flipper the house and property needs $150K-$200K to make it a $500K house, but it is only about 1000 square feet. Yes a double lot and in one of the top 100 school districts in New York State. The housing market is so inflated at this point, but the housing shortage is also so bad.

I saw desperation it the people who were looking at this wreck of a house.

Cal

 

[Phil_F_NM]

Was going to ride to work this morning but there is an air quality alert, paired with a high of 92 and a heat index of 96. Same tomorrow, so no riding for me this week.
Phil

 

[Calzone]

“Maggie’s” bike is expected to be delivered on Monday. I’m kinda excited.

Snarky Joe helped me locate a good source of 7-speed freewheels made by IRD that seem to be of better quality than the Shimano versions made in China. How cool is it that I can keep an old bike original and keep period correct with a 7-speed triple?

Just got back from NYC. Did 9 1/2 miles of walking, broken up over the course of a day. Wearing skinny jeans as directed for the “Go-See” was uncomfortable. First Maggie had to get her hair cut on the upper east side. We enjoyed Tal Bagels and I cheated and had caffeinated coffeee.

At 2:00 PM we met Logan and Tara the casting directors under the Washington Square arch. On the way there along 5th Avenue on the bus I saw a “Hooverville” strung along Central Park where the homeless enjoyed police barricades that legitimized their rights to basically camp out in the city. Reminded me of Portland Oregon and the homeless “Campers.”

I found the noise level as an assault of sorts. And on the bus I brushed into a mentally ill germaphobe who took exception to me brushing her gently with a small backpack by accident. I apologized twice, but this woman went on and on untill she got off at 42d Street.

Anyways, it didn’t take long for me to miss my quiet and peaceful life in Peekskill that perhaps for others would be boring, but I don’t miss NYC at all.

The Go-See was like a job interview. The photography was taken with cell phones, and there was also some video interview to get acquainted. Pretty much this casting agency is a filter of sorts between clients and our agent so time is not wasted by the clients or agent. Pretty much to cut the chase.

The takeaway is that time was spent to know us as persons and personalities as well as our life and lifestyle. They got to know us enough to basically promote our interests and know us as friends. I feel things went well…

Another crazy thing happened when a panhandler solicited us politely interrupting the interview. I gave him a dollar, but I guess that was not enough, so he gave it back to me as an insult. LOL. Oh-well.

To make things funnier I will take this lucky dollar and buy a LOTTO ticket. It would be mighty funny if I won anything.

I also saw some street hustler solicitors bothering a tourist, so I kinda let them know by my posture to leave me alone and Maggie. All I did is give them a look. Two guys against one I would not be fooling around.

I guess I forgot all the things you have to watch out for in NYC to remain safe from criminal elements, mentally ill, and the homeless. I have gotten use to not being constantly on guard and on alert for danger. I kinda like living in peace.

Seems like the grandson might have a modeling future. This kid is a mighty happy baby, and he engages people readily. Part of this is because of the care we have given him. He pretty much draws a lot of attention to himself, so his mother asked Maggie to solicited the casting agents, and they were enamored by the slide show of him.

They want to pursue representing him. Strawberry blond hair, blue eyes, and the smile of a devil. Just over 10 months old.

Cal the ex-urbanite

 

[Phil_F_NM]

Cal, IRD freewheels are not any better than Shimano, they just look prettier. Seriously. They are overpriced for what they are and they blow up just as much as the ugly Shimano units. People like them because they are new and they think they are going to shift better, which is a misnomer because they don't shift better when using friction shifters. You may be putting a 7 speed Shimano shifter on the bike, so that might work out, but if you really want a durable multi-speed freewheel, the only choice is a Suntour. Specifically a Suntour New Winner, ProCompe, or Perfect. They have even numbers of teeth and better hardened races in the body, so they have opposing points of simultaneous engagement. When Suntour went with the more modular Winner, Winner Pro and Alpha, they cut corners a bit and your freewheel will have two pawls but an odd number of teeth. They tightened up the tolerances with the last three freewheels, but they also took out adjustability which existed in the New Winner. The last three respectively felt like they engaged quicker, which they did, but only at a single point, thus creating an asymmetric load on the inner body and leading to wobbling cogs (one of the reasons Accushift didn't work well). The New Winner is where we got the long-lived 7/8 speed spacing that Shimano copied by increasing space between the cogs while making the cogs narrower and not infringing on Suntour's patent.
The IRD freewheels are fine but they are definitely not as durable as a Suntour New Winner, which won't cost much more and will last a lot longer.
There are also cases of compatibility issues as the smallest cog has a lockring that adds an extra ~2mm which can force a user to have to respace the axle and redish the wheel. I'd recommend a Suntour New Winner (I have at least four spares and one that I ride on the Miyata) if you want longevity.
If it's a 130mm frame, you can get a Shimano XT M732 (must be 732) and stick on a 7 speed HG cassette.
More things to think about.
Phil

 

[Phil_F_NM]

An XT M730 will also do an HG cassette but each of the cogs needs a few seconds of dremel work to enlarge the space between lands on the cassette. Then a 13 or 14 tooth UG cog is used as a lockring and you’re good to go. I went full UG (Uniglide) on the Breezer and it is one of the nicest working drivetrains I’ve ever shifted.
Phil

 

[Calzone]

Phil,

Thanks for the expert advice. This bike is just so clean and original that my thinking is to keep it as a period correct vintage/retro bike. The Sachs freewheels from my back in the day served me well.

I’ll try to hunt down some Suntour Winner freewheels. They may be costly at this point, but an upgrade to 8,9 or 11-speed is also costly.

Also I like your idea of a possible 40/28 up front with a 11-40T XT 11-speed cassette. Not only do I have the parts on hand, I also stockpiled the cassettes as per your advice. Anyways I’m thinking in the long-long term decades out.

Overall I favor keeping the bike 7-speed as long as possible, but I want to be prepared for an eventual upgrade to keep things covered.

Cal

 

[Phil_F_NM]

Cal, you can make it a 2x7, of course. Realistically, you want a good low range, like a 26 or 28 tooth chainring would offer, paired with a large cog in the rear. Biggest cog you're going to find on a Suntour New Winner, not Winner (they really messed up the naming) is 34 teeth. 32 teeth is the most common. Building these freewheels and repairing them used to be a big part of my job at Via Bicycle here in Philly. I was the only guy in town who did it; Suntour freewheels are also how I cut my teeth as a professional bike mechanic after high school back in NM too. Are you sure it has a freewheel? If it still has the XCD6000 hub/s then that's a Suntour microdrive cassette. Don't even bother trying to find one. If you want to build Lyn a bike that she's going to enjoy riding, switch to Shimano shifters and rear derailleur. The front can stay Suntour since it's friction, but the rear needs to index properly unless she's comfortable with friction, and I doubt that's the case.
You may need a flow chart for your options.
If it is still a Suntour cassette system, you should get the rear wheel replaced. Accushift is only for nerds like me to make work on the stand, take on a ride once, get frustrated then eventually swap to 7 or 8 speed Shimano. When I build bikes that I want to keep in the period, I go with NOS hubs from that era which will allow me to place cogs that are properly spaced for a Shimano XT 7 speed thumbshifter. This means 5 options: Shimano 7 speed Uniglide cassette, Shimano 7 speed Hyperglide with Uniglide small cog, Shimano 8 speed cassette, Shimano 7 speed freewheel (preferably 600 or Dura Ace), and finally a Suntour 7 speed freewheel. When set up properly, all five of these options will shift perfectly with 7 or 8 speed Shimano shifters. That is, if the shifter is paired with a Shimano rear derailleur.
If you need to change the rear wheel and it is spaced at 130mm which you want to maintain, your options for cassette are Shimano XT (M730 and M732) and first generation LX (most hubs are black during this period).
Your 130mm options for freewheel are incredibly varied, but in Shimano they will be either lower end or older XT, as well as 600 and Dura Ace. Remember that up to about 1992, Shimano 600 was still spec'd on mountain bikes with high end freewheels. There is no difference between 600 and XT anyway.
The Suntour freewheel hubs you can find are all over the quality spectrum, but there are many NOS sets of XC Pro (WTB greaseguard) and XC Comp out there for not much money. Incredibly beautiful hubs, the XC Pros are, and I wouldn't hesitate to ride on them. There is a caveat though, the cup and cone bearing hubs are easier to service even though the cachet of sealed cartridge bearing hubs may be enticing, I'd stay away from them for the long haul.
I can keep an eye out for parts for you. I'm always looking for stuff for my own fantasy builds anyway. First we need to know if it is currently set up with a hub spaced at 130 or 135mm, then if it is cassette or freewheel.
From the brake track wear, it looks like you should have the wheels rebuilt anyway.
One other thing I noticed is that it almost certainly has Pedersen Self Energizing cantilevers. These are for expert use, you already know, and should be replaced for regular riding.
Phil

 

[Calzone]

Phil,

I will have to perform the forensics on Monday when it gets delivered. On the EBAY listing is the spec sheet that includes all the possible options available from IBIS. The Made In USA bikes like this SS Avion basically are custom orders, and because it has the two-tone paint someone paid extra for it.

At this point I would hate to speculate, but it can be fun to wonder. The Self-Energizing brakes are dangerous for a casual rider. If that is the case they would have to be changed out, and they were an option, so my hope is that it just has stock XCD brakes.

I have a set of spare wheels that have silver White Industry hubs that are a lite build that are 32 spoke double butted and alloy nipples on retro Mavic 231 rims. Oddly the rims that come with the bike are Mavic 231’s and these do not follow IBIS options or specs, so I believe or in a delusional manner hope that the rear wheel could be an upgraded cassette hub. This would be lucky and if so would allow for 7, 8, or 9 speed upgrade EZ-PZ.

I have first generation 8-speed XTR shifters set up on a straight bar on my road bike I could easily canabilize.

I also have Suntour XC Pro 7-speed thumb shifters that also could provide an indexed 8-speed, but when I used 8 speed I used Dura-Ace rear derailleurs to kinda go Micro-Drive to basically annoy people. I have a 12-26T titanium cassette and a titanium 12-23 corn cob which last a long time, but kill chains.

Next I have a complete long-cage 9-speed XTR and 11-34T XT cassettes. The nice thing here is I still can load up the truck with 11-34T cassettes at Jenson USA.

Next is if I have to upgrade the wheels, I would donate my set of spare wheels that have the White Industries hubs and build out the bike as a 2x11 11-speed XTR.

Basically I used a lot of obsessive thinking to have initiated a plan of attack and perhaps have three long-term actions that give this new/old bike legs and an extended future.

I’m excited by the possibilities and the promise of a long future with this already 33 year old bike. Seems by what you are telling me that this bike has the possibility to near or long term will convert to Shimano.

My hope, and perhaps a delusion, is that the drivetrain might still be fresh. The condition suggests that it may be a garage find.

Cal

 

[Phil_F_NM]

Cal, looking closely at the photos of the components, someone did a custom build and everything on that bike is XC Pro. Cantis are SE. I’m about 95% sure both of the hubs are WTB grease guard hubs which makes them XC Pro. I can tell by the shoulder of the flanges that they are very high end hubs and the only question is if they are microdrive cassette or freewheel. Those are definitely Suntour cogs, I can tell by the teeth and the kidney cutouts on the back side of the largest cog. I would actually consider moving from XC Pro to White Industries a downgrade, but I’m a Suntour snob.
The crankset being an XC Pro has a really good spread of rings right now, and 38/24 with a 14-30 set of cogs in back would be all the gears she’d need; as we’ve noted prior, anything lower is going to take expert handling and a lot of stamina.
As far as rims go, I never like to build with antique stuff, unless there is a guarantee of NOS as well as a full return policy. Rims are just better these days and Sun or Ryde make the best, strongest rim brake rims in the world at this time. Rims are also a wearing item, like a chain, so there is no such thing as keeping a bike as it was stock while still regularly riding it; just like your plan to stick disc brakes on the front of your Chevy pickup.
It has a Ritchey logic headset which is nothing special and could work really well if it’s not indexed. The Specialized alloy on the optional build aheet is actually a needle bearing Stronglight and an outstanding headset. I have one which might go onto the Breezer or the Raleigh.
If that seatpost is the original Strong, take it out and get it replaced with a good Kalloy Uno. The Strong pists were nice, but 30+ years has seen the epoxy used to bond the clamp head to the post, break down and allow catastrophic failure where the clamp head simply slips out. This was an interruption fit secured with epoxy, and great back in the day but repetitive use and time cause every single one of these to fail.
Keep us posted on what you find!
Phil

 

[Calzone]

Phil,

You seem as excited as me about this bike. I consider it a really nice garage find because of its UBER clean condition.

If your read is correct I got a steal of a deal. Lucky “Maggie.”

Again what great luck.

BTW I bought two scratch-off lottery tickets, which IMHO is a way to tax the poor who play these games. One was with the dollar returned to me as an insult by the homeless person yesterday, and the second with one of those MTA funny coin dollars.

Both were losers.

Anyways, you are kinda putting me over the top with excitement.

I have a spare 29.4 mm Ti seatpost from back in the day. The SR “Strong” seatpost I was not aware of the failure history.

The lack of moderation on Peterson SE brakes is a hazard, especially for a recreational rider.

I am familiar with XC Pro grease guard. It came on my Ti Basso which formally was a built up bike for a bike show. It had a Micro-Drive though.

IBIS spec used a 48/38/28. Know that I have a 110 BCD 40T that is spanking new in my spares…

Cal

 

[Calzone]

My second day in NYC. Pretty much my NYC chops came back. I was locked and cocked with my radar fully on. I saw a homeless person stop off to my side. I looked up and gave him my eye and he moved on.

In Grand Central I was sitting on a Yeti cooler I had bought at Paragon in Union Square. I was reading the Wall Street Journal to pass the time. At Grand Central they don’t allow people to sit on the floor, buy some how I was cool enough not to get bothered by security and MTA employees. Right across from me two people were asked to move on, but not me.

I picked a place in one of the sidehalls by Zarro’s. How cool was it that I was like the dude from the Colt 45 commercials.

In the morning I dropped “Maggie” off at the train station so she would be fresh for her shoot. My plan was to to take a later non rush hour train in to save money, and also to walk with a Yeti dry box that I mistakenly bought yesterday thinking it was a very small cooler. My goal was to return the dry box and upgrade to a modest sized Yeti cooler.

For exercise I walked 2 miles to the Peekskill train station, and my plan was to walk to Union Square and then back to Grand Central hauling around perhaps a 12-15 pound weight Of either dry box or cooler.

The exciting part is that the Yeti products were on sale with 20% off. Generally these Yeti products are never on sale. I ended up buying a 24 pound of ice cooler that sells everywhere for $250.00 for $200.00.

I also walked another 2 miles home from the station.

So Maggie was working with a luxury brand that remains un-named. They are creating the content, but the content will be distributed by the people who were the models. I can’t go into the concept or the campaign but it is mighty clever and is well thought out.

Maggie got really a elegant rose gold bracelet to keep as a gift. Some really great exposure possibilities is probable. A relationship exists where Maggie was offered access to borrowing clothes to attend events, and it would be pretty easy for me to also borrow clothes from this upper tier of luxury. Hmmm.

Maggie got a solicitation and opportunity to basically for us to go to Aruba. More free travel opportunities. Hmmm…

My takeaway is that I didn’t loose my NYC chops, but there was some rust. You don’t really realize all the hyper vigilance that becomes turned on where you really can’t relax because of safety issues in NYC.

I also processed the interview that happened yesterday. I realize how my training and education in the communication arts, theater, and performance arts came into play. I actually have a lot of “assets” to be a good model. I have been told that I have a certain “stage presence” that seems to happen naturally.

Some criminal behavior of my own has been activated. I used a lot of tax deferred money to buy Metro North tickets and Metro Cards. There was several hundreds of dollars in an account to cover my commuting costs, but some computer error sent me some money from heaven. Some of this money I got refunded, but then somehow the account balance remained. Oh-well.

So pretty much I bought mucho Metro North tickets and Metro cards. I bought all these tickets when I first retired. Somehow I had all these expired tickets because they are only good for two months after purchase. Also Metro cards have expiration dates.

So you pretty much have to be mighty cool to get away with using expired tickets, but today was the first time a conductor actually took note of the expiration and mentioned it to me. He let me slide anyways. I’m at the point where I’m down to my last Metro North tickets that are half price senior citizens versions that I purchased for Maggie. I’m down to my last three tickets.

On the Metro North ticket machines I did some math to round up the dollar amounts with $25.00 Metro Cards. They expired about 10 months ago and are dead. During Covid there was no way to update or exchange them, but I held out. Today I did my first sneaky test and acted like some tourist to inquire how to update my now expired Metro Card.

Pretty much they brought back the old pre Covid machine programming, and also I did not get charged the $1.00 fee for a new Metro Card.

I have a few more Metro Cards to un-expire.

Anyways just being honest about taking advantage of some computer error. I think this happened because I had a problem using the debit card I was issued. I called the toll free number and some woman said my account was frozen, and that she would send me a refund. Good for me because this was tax deferred money. I also remember some problem with defective cards and new cards being issued. This likely led to my discovery that the account still had a balance.

Then I happened to try the card again at a different time and it worked. Oh-well time to double dip. Pretty much I doubled my money and evaded taxes via computer error.

Cal