Adventures in NYC

So I spent a week in New York City, the Big Apple or as I have come to call it the Big Road Apple (hmmm, that kind of gives away my overall impression; oh well).  I can’t remember the last time I was in NYC, I think it was about 15 years ago with a college buddy who grew up on Staten Island.

This was a business trip so no out of pocket costs for me.  I was genuinely cautiously optimistic (which for me is just normal optimistic). I will say the business side of it was very beneficial.  Otherwise, mehhhh…  The people watching was interesting though.

It was no Adventures in Babysitting, and there was no Elisabeth Shue in sight (who still looks real good at 50+) and I wasn’t in Chicago (and no Thor sightings either).

But there were multitudes of women in what I can assume are their late 20’s to late 30’s who were well versed in RBF (resting bitch face).  They seriously looked as excited to be there as I felt inside.  I wonder if Elisabeth Shue smiles regularly…

At times they were walking fast with yoga mats strung on their backs but the vast majority appeared to be toiling to/from their careers and did not have those evil symbols of the patriarchy on their ring fingers.  Catlady training is a tough gig I guess…

Accomodations:

I don’t want to put myself or Beardstrong in a bind regarding the badmouthing of any powerful corporate overlords (that may give us money in the future) so I will avoid saying their real names.  Let’s say I stayed at a hotel named Milton Farden.  The bed in my room was as comfy as a heavily used wrestling mat and 24 hours in I realized the fridge wasn’t working.  With my supreme engineering and problem solving skills I was able to deduce that it wasn’t plugged in.  After plugging it in I realized why it wasn’t plugged in, the motor moaned like a feminist Social Justice Warrior decrying the patriarchy (see/hear below).  But at least the fridge wasn’t as incessant as the SJWs and actually served a purpose.

Milton Farden seemed to be nice when I looked on line and the location seemed descent.  One of the most important things for me when traveling is the gym/training/fitness facilities; from the online images it looked like it was at least moderately legit.  I didn’t expect a power rack or deadlift platform but this place was fuqn pathetic all the way to 11.  They wouldn’t be allowed to paint the equipment yellow and purple because it was so bad Planet Fatness wouldn’t sanction this setup.  I think the photographers for Milton Farden used the same editing and setup tactics Hillary Clinton photographers use to show the “support” at her rallies.

Sight-Seeing:

Central Park:  Almost odd to have a place such as this in the middle of the city, its literally an oasis.  Unfortunately, per my calculations 41.96% of the people there were nose-down in their smart (aka dumb) phones playing Pokemon Go.  Verdict: Society is doomed.

B&H: This is a store focused on high end electronics, namely cameras and video.  My wife is an avid photographer and I know she would love to go here.  I’m torn, if she went by herself and actually “shopped” we might end up with a 2nd mortgage on the house, but if she doesn’t go alone I would go with her and I’d have to go back to NYC.  That’s what’s call a lose-lose.

Penn Station/MSG:  I tried to stay away from here other than catching my train, apparently the MTV VMA’s were coming to town so if there was a geiger counter that could measure pompousness, that sucker would have been pinned in the red and humming/beeping.

Midtown Comics:  Awesome, awesome, awesome.  I was able to grab some issues of various DC Rebirth series that are harder to find out my way but were in stock here.  This is what a comic book store should be, well run, diverse stuff in stock and its top floor had a nice selection of collectibles.

Empire State Building:  Was planning to go on the tour via the observation deck but saw a long line and TSA-style security.  Pass: no kabuki theater security for me if I can avoid it.

NY Public Library:  Amazing architecture but so much of it was off limits.  Security wouldn’t even let me go into the basement to see if the librarian ghost from Ghostbusters was still down there; fascists.

Correction: Now that I think about it, of course the librarian ghost wouldn’t be there, she’s out campaigning as the (D) candidate for POTUS.

There were other places but I’m tired of writing about them so I’m not going to.

The Food:

I will likely find detractors and internet scorn for this but the facts are the facts (and yes, my opinions are in fact, facts).  THE.FOOD.WAS.NOTHING.SPECIAL.

Granted, I wasn’t taken out by a local so I was completely on my own.  The pizza I had was good but how much better was it than the best place where I live?  5% at best.

I stayed away from steakhouses because I was traveling alone and to run up $60+ dinners on the company card is simply a dick move.  Plus I was treated to Fogo de Chao less than 3 weeks ago so anything I was to have in NYC short of kobe beef  would pale in comparison.

Whether it was breakfast, lunch or dinner everything was carby, doughy and insulin spiking.  These people need to walk miles to/from work each day just to burn off the croissants and bagels they stuff in their gullet for breakfast.

Training:
I largely tried to stay away from these foods but when they were the only choice I had to make due.  One of the catered lunches during training was actually nothing but vegetarian sandwiches. After about 48-72 hours I started to feel tired earlier and earlier each day, yawning incessantly from 2pm on.  Because the gym was a joke all I could really do was modified pull-ups (bar was so low my knees would touch the ground as I lowered myself), OHP with 50# DB’s and hit the treadmill.  I simply could not go to sleep or wake up at a descent time.  I was sleeping close to 8-9 hours each nite (7-7.5 is normal for me) but never felt rested.  Since I’ve been back I am sleeping 5.5-6 hours, lifting and training and I have more energy.

Luckily I got home Friday night and around lunchtime Sunday I felt much better after training in the morning and eating properly for just 36 hours.  People that spout that you need to eat carbs for energy are a special kind of combination of stupid and ignorant.  They are like meth addicts claiming they can’t live without their fix, except the fix is killing them.  I think if I went on a 48 hour hard fast I would have more energy than spending 48 hours eating like a New Yorker.

Misc:

During one of my walks I did stumble across 2 magnets for stupidity.  When trying to rate which one was the dumbest place in NYC, I simply couldn’t decide which one was 1a and 1b.  There were even people from the Reebok Crossfit Box (does that make it a Ree-Box?) that came out the door and ran a mini 30 yard lap down and back on the sidewalk as part of their masochistic activity they call training and muscle confusion (they are least right about the confusion part).

Monday was fine, after work I was able to visit all the places I really wanted to go but by Wednesday morning I was annoyed. After the vegetarian lunch we were served my wife texted to ask how it was going, my reply was essentially “Can’t get out of here quick enough and if I ever come back it’ll be too soon.”

This place just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.  My family wasn’t with me, I had no pews, no car and was packed into a small hotel room that was fitted with an SJW fridge with gym equipment Planet Fitness would be ashamed of.  Plus this is a place that has voted for pew control, voted for Mike Bloomberg, de Blasio and resides in the state that has elected Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton.

One positive point I do want to make is the construction workers and state DOT workers always seemed to be busting their butts. They really seemed to work hard to keep roads open, get the work done and move onto the next thing.  Maybe my perception is skewed because I’m from PA and PENNDOT’s typical SOP is 8 people holding up shovels while 1 person operates a piece of equipment for 2-3 hours/shift but the vast majority of workers were honestly legit in NYC.  I’m a hard sell, so kudos to them for getting after it.

I am an avid reader of The Burning Platform and not 24 hours after being home this gem of an article happened to be posted: DREAMING OF DIVERSITY: WHAT IF AMERICA WAS NEW YORK CITY?.  I read some of the highlights to my wife and she thought I wrote it.  The line that sums up what I saw most clearly is the following:

Thus in terms of public space, there would be little pleasantry or local escape for non-elite residents from the drudgery of work and the stress of urban life, while their wealthy counterparts would take frequent trips out of the area on weekends. New America would favor its cosmopolitan elites more than any other society perhaps in human history. For typical goyim, the options would be to shell out for an expensive night of drinking, dining, or entertainment, or to retreat to one’s (probably small) dwelling to consume take-out and watch television/Netflix. Such would be life under what one might call the Catlady Ascendancy, that Sex in the City lifestyle of nihilism.

Enough bashing (and trolling) on my part.  Some people love this type of environment and more power to them but this is a stark reminder how little many people in the USA have in common with one another even when they are separated by a measly 3-hour train ride.

In summation, I felt relief once I knew that I had exited NY and entered NJ (re-read that, because it bears repeating).  That’s quite the mindjob.

Monday I was back Frontsquatting and Deadlifting in the morning and rolling BJJ at night so balance is returning to my world.

Original posting on Nerdabolic HERE.

Author: harry p.

A Gen X mechanical engineer who values family, strength, discipline, self-reliance and freedom who is doing what he can to protect his family, belittle morons and be ready for the tough times ahead. Discipline=Freedom View all posts by harry p.