DAYS BEFORE THE NEW YEAR

10 . 9 . 8 . 7 . 6 . 5 . 4 . 3 . 2 . 1. Happy New Year!

Thursday, December 31st - My husband still wished we were among the hundred of thousand of people (drunken fools) standing around in Times Square, for 10+ hours, being confined in tight space, waiting to watch the ball drop while counting down for the arrival of the New Year. The top and below photos were taken around 5:09 p.m. on December 30, 2007 in Times Square, yet the area was packed with people going in all directions. I could not image what it would be like to be in that area on New Year Eve! I am sure one of the many surveillance cameras (above photo) will be there, and NYC finest men and women in uniforms will be working hard keeping everyone safe. If I am able to stay up late, I will be watching the celebration from the comfort of my sofa. I will be thinking about ideas for the next posts, "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of 2009", New Year Resolutions, and "What the next Decade will bring".

Wednesday, December 30th - It snowed in the morning but no accumulation and by the afternoon the temperature was in the upper 40s. At lunch time, I started to plan for our next Route 66 trip, making notes of attractions/towns we missed last October, charting the course of the next adventure, over nine days rotating between the interstates and Old 66 from El Reno, Oklahoma, crossing into Shamrock, Texas, continue on to Tucumcari, New Mexico and Rio Rancho, Arizona. Just thinking about our road trip helps lessen my sadness that 2009 will be over in less than 30 hours!
Tuesday, December 29th - Two more full days of work and then another 4-day weekend before the long stretch of having any holidays until Memorial Day. Where I work, Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday and Presidents' Day are not considered paid holidays. Maybe I should demand a day off for Lunar/Chinese New Year or Tet-Vietnamese New Year. (I need to join the crowd using the race card or cry "racism" to get special treatment.) I wonder if I changed my name to Patricia O'Mara, would I get a day off on St. Patrick's Day? Not much going on at work due to the holidays. Besides I have made a promise not to talk/write about work or even mentioned the name of the head clown and his minions at the circus!