Sabbatical Day 23: Sunday Quiet

The morning came too soon. I had to get going early as I needed to do laundry, which is available at 8AM. So I threw on some clothes and went down and brought the need-to-be-washed items. I started the loads and then, having to return to the apartment for the mask I forgot, went to Dunken Donuts. I brought the desk person a donut and got Susie’s fav, chocolate glazed, to take to the hospital. I had a plain one, my fav, with a large coffee. The laundry took about an hour.

I then wrote the blog and then showered and dressed. I was about 90 minutes late.

The 1 train was packed, and the compliance with mask-wearing was lower than a workday. Columbus Circle station was full of people for a Sunday morning.

This is actually Times Square Station, and a telephone is strangely on the platform.

I brought Susie’s Halloween shirt and recently washed clothing. Soon Susie was dressed and off to therapy. I stepped out and had a baguette sandwich nearby that was not that great. So I tried something more exotic, and it was, unfortunately.

I returned to find Susie having lunch and stayed for a few hours. I kept nodding off as I had been up late for two days in a row. I parted with Susie about 2:15ish.

Susie was having some trouble with her speech on Sunday. I am hoping it will be better on Monday after she gets some sleep and drinks more water.

I headed to Times Square for the Regal theater there. Unfortunately, I used my phone to get to the theater and walked a block in the wrong direction. It is not always helpful!

Returning to my starting location, I then turned right and walked a 1/2 block to the theater (not sure what was so hard about that for the Maps app). Some construction had blocked the enormous lighted sign “Regal,” Thus, I did not see it on my first attempt. I bought a ticket, showing my Vax status, and then took six escalators (yes, six, and one was not working, so you had to walk it). I got popcorn and diet soda and entered a dark theater ten minutes late.

I was hoping to miss the previews or at least some of them. It is approaching Halloween, so the previews are mostly things I would prefer not to see. The previews just started as I sat down. The previews mainly were about number x of a horror movie remake.

Surviving the previews, I watched the new Dune movie. It is hard for me not to compare it to the previous film, but it had a totally different feel and a slightly different plot, and it did include most of the scenes from the book I was expecting.

I was impressed with the epic they produced, but I really did miss the look of the steam-punk tech. At one part of the movie, some flashbacks, I suddenly saw a mix of the old and new movies. I had nodded off, but only for a few minutes. I was running my own film in my head, combining the new actors and better effects with steam-punk. I am tired. I managed to stay awake for the rest.

The movie ends 1/2 way through the first book in the seemingly endless Dune books, and there will be a follow-up. If you love Dune, I would suggest the film. If you want another space opera film, this too is a good one. It is a long movie.

I took the 1 train from Times Square back to the apartment and made dinner once there, about 6:30ish. I had Zabar’s premade stuffed cabbage. Two rolls stuffed with rice and meat in the microwave. It was too sweet for me, but I finished it and thought it well made. I will not get it again. I will be back at Zabar’s (stop off at the 79th station on the 1 train) for dinner and supplies on Wednesday night.

I nodded off while reading and slept a few hours, unplanned. I managed to sleep a broken sleep as my legs hurt from all the walking, and my usual pain killers were not enough. I finally slept with the light on, having fallen asleep reading in the early morning of Monday.

An aside: I did have one of those work moments as I remembered it is October, and I need to do the health care assignment for next year, 2022. So I was up at 11:30ish reading tiny text on my phone, trying to figure out how to do the reselections.

I finally got the website up on my Apple computer and discovered that the start date is Monday. Thus, first thing this Monday (before writing the blog), I made my next year’s selection of benefits. It is a must-do and usually done via a Nike networked laptop, but I managed using my phone (using an app called Web that allows me to access the Nike network on a tiny screen) to get the URL. Once I had the URL, it was easy.

Monday is started.

I hope you enjoy this strange story of my accidental residency here in NYC.