I’m traveling in New York City with Daegan and we are having ALL the fun. According to my step counter we walked about 15 miles yesterday and 8 today – so almost 40 km in two days. It’s been great but I’m experimenting with taking notes and writing a more thoughtful, less “stream of consciousness” post or posts afterward. So you’re going to have to wait.
In the meantime here’s a silly story from the day before we left:
I am home alone working when our land line rings. Our land line is an analog phone only slightly older than this one so when it rings it is as if the 80’s are calling. And today it’s even more like the 80’s because a man who sounds like there’s a 50% chance his from New Jersey and 100% chance of his having had several drinks before dialing my number makes an exciting announcement:
“Hi, I’m Paul Bartlett and I’m with Publisher’s Clearing House and I’m happy to announce you’re one of 70 winners!”
Now we get a ton of scam calls on our land line. Everything from the “Your computer is calling us and has a problem. Let us log in and fix it.” to “You haven’t paid your taxes and the cops are on the way to arrest you RIGHT NOW unless you send us a bunch of bitcoin.” So I am wary the second I answer this phone. And this time I stop him right away:
“If I’m a winner, you must certainly know my name. What’s my name?”
His answer was short and sweet: “F*** You, That’s your name.”
I guess everyone has to have their first go at doing a scam call and they don’t always go so well the first few times you do them.
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We’ll be back home in a couple of days but may be taking a short bike trip a day or two after that so there will be only a few short entries for the next week or so… See you then!
Go Outside Today 
Oh well, maybe we passed each other and never realised 🙂 You have a great time in the city, Todd.
Thanks! Cities can be so small like that. Back home I’m shocked at how often in a city of over two million, I will run in to a friend on the subway or while I’m out walking.
Wow! Scam calls just keep getting better and better. Grrrrr
“We have a warrant for your address” came one day on my simple pay as you go cell phone. I dropped the phone in amazement and wondered who had the number before me. I didn’t think quickly enough to say, “Well, what is my address?”
Oh right – the person who had the number before you. That didn’t even occur to me as a possibility for a legitimate call. Our last American phone number had a previous owner who was delinquent on a lot of bills and we would get her calls. A few of the collectors didn’t believe me when I said we had no idea who she was.
Scam calls are really putting off, especially when you’re in the middle of doing something important! A landline must be worse as you have to get up from your seat to receive it unless its within your reach.