Look at my last acquisition:
You can buy the letters individually and create your own neon sign. And it's not expensive, $7 per letter and $30 for the power supply. The light can be fixed or blinking. Ideal for your home bar or to impress your friends, as I am doing right now :-)
For sale at Thinkgeek, the store for the coolest gadgets for geeks ever. It has great competition from Thanko though.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Monday, November 26, 2007
Phone stories
This morning the phone rings. Here's the conversation:
-Hello?
-Hey, when are you guys coming to visit?
-Pardon me?
-Rob?
-No, I think you have the wrong number.
-Elaine?
-No, no, you dialed the wrong number.
And then she lets go what I think is the sentence of the year:
-Well, I'd like to talk to Rob or Elaine. Can't you go get them?
Unbelievable. I don't know who she thought I was, maybe their friends' butler, or the neighbor who was paying a visit and answered the phone. And I don't know what else to tell her.
-Sorry, you have the wrong number, which number are you trying to reach?
-My friends Rob and Elaine, at 507-9008.
-Well, this is 507-0008, and you have made a mistake when dialing.
-Oh, OK.
And of course she hangs up without even apologizing a little.
It's amazing to me how some people, when they dial the wrong number, they get annoyed and act like it is your fault, as if saying: "who the hell are you and why are you answering my friends' phone?"
Some years ago, when I lived in Boston, there was a woman who used to call. I don't know if she misdialed or had the number wrong, but she called me about twelve times in two years. And every time, after I said "hello?" she would always say: "who is this?" The first few times I would say "who are you trying to reach?" or "you have the wrong number," but at the end, all fed up, I would say: "I don't know, you should know who you're calling." And she would hang up without a single word.
But the worst, the ultimate worst that can happen to you phone-wise is if your number is very very close to a number which gets calls around the clock. This has happened to me twice in my life.
When I lived in Salt Lake, I had the 532-3347, with such bad luck that the Salt Lake Hilton had the 532-3344. Every once in a while (although not too often, fortunately), I would get a call at 2am by someone who asked me if he could talk to room 210, or something like that. And a few years later, when I arrived back in Barcelona, the number I got (934185429) had very recently been a fax of a large company in Terrassa, whose name I have forgotten. There was some time when I was receiving faxes at any time of the day or night. And some fax machines are programmed to repeat the call if they can't connect, like 5 times at 5-minute intervals... Once a guy from Argentina called me (at 11:30pm) asking why wasn't the fax working. It was a nightmare. I ended up changing the number.
-Hello?
-Hey, when are you guys coming to visit?
-Pardon me?
-Rob?
-No, I think you have the wrong number.
-Elaine?
-No, no, you dialed the wrong number.
And then she lets go what I think is the sentence of the year:
-Well, I'd like to talk to Rob or Elaine. Can't you go get them?
Unbelievable. I don't know who she thought I was, maybe their friends' butler, or the neighbor who was paying a visit and answered the phone. And I don't know what else to tell her.
-Sorry, you have the wrong number, which number are you trying to reach?
-My friends Rob and Elaine, at 507-9008.
-Well, this is 507-0008, and you have made a mistake when dialing.
-Oh, OK.
And of course she hangs up without even apologizing a little.
It's amazing to me how some people, when they dial the wrong number, they get annoyed and act like it is your fault, as if saying: "who the hell are you and why are you answering my friends' phone?"
Some years ago, when I lived in Boston, there was a woman who used to call. I don't know if she misdialed or had the number wrong, but she called me about twelve times in two years. And every time, after I said "hello?" she would always say: "who is this?" The first few times I would say "who are you trying to reach?" or "you have the wrong number," but at the end, all fed up, I would say: "I don't know, you should know who you're calling." And she would hang up without a single word.
But the worst, the ultimate worst that can happen to you phone-wise is if your number is very very close to a number which gets calls around the clock. This has happened to me twice in my life.
When I lived in Salt Lake, I had the 532-3347, with such bad luck that the Salt Lake Hilton had the 532-3344. Every once in a while (although not too often, fortunately), I would get a call at 2am by someone who asked me if he could talk to room 210, or something like that. And a few years later, when I arrived back in Barcelona, the number I got (934185429) had very recently been a fax of a large company in Terrassa, whose name I have forgotten. There was some time when I was receiving faxes at any time of the day or night. And some fax machines are programmed to repeat the call if they can't connect, like 5 times at 5-minute intervals... Once a guy from Argentina called me (at 11:30pm) asking why wasn't the fax working. It was a nightmare. I ended up changing the number.
Barça at Nevada Smith's
Nevada Smith's is the mecca for soccer in New York. This is a bar in the East Village, on 3rd Ave between 11th and 12th streets, and which has a satellite subscription and every weekend it shows, either live or on tape delay, the games of the European leagues, Spanish, French, English, Italian and German, together with Brazilian and Argentinian soccer, and international games or Champions League. As they say in their slogan, Nevada Smith's is "where football is religion". I've been there twice, and both times it's been nice, but they say for some important international matches, there is a line to get in.
Every weekend, hordes of fans, mostly European, make their pilgrimage to this joint to see their favorite team's match. The English Chelsea fans are many and quite noisy, so if their game is at the same game as yours, you are doomed :-) They spend all game singing songs like "We are Chelsea and fuck the rest." It's an interesting experience.
Yesterday, Albert and me, together with Jesús, a friend of Albert's who is visiting, went to see the Barça-Recreativo match. Here's a picture where you can't see much except the screen, where you can distinguish a Barça player.
Nevada Smith's is the site of the Penya Barcelonista of New York-Nevada Smiths. There is a shirt signed by Puyol, and a plate/clock branded with the logo of the Penya Barcelonista de l'Alt Empordà :-) Every once in a while I like going there, watch the Barça game, have a beer and listen to the New York Barça fans, many of them expatriate Catalans, celebrate the goals by Barça, who won yesterday 3-0.
Every weekend, hordes of fans, mostly European, make their pilgrimage to this joint to see their favorite team's match. The English Chelsea fans are many and quite noisy, so if their game is at the same game as yours, you are doomed :-) They spend all game singing songs like "We are Chelsea and fuck the rest." It's an interesting experience.
Yesterday, Albert and me, together with Jesús, a friend of Albert's who is visiting, went to see the Barça-Recreativo match. Here's a picture where you can't see much except the screen, where you can distinguish a Barça player.
Nevada Smith's is the site of the Penya Barcelonista of New York-Nevada Smiths. There is a shirt signed by Puyol, and a plate/clock branded with the logo of the Penya Barcelonista de l'Alt Empordà :-) Every once in a while I like going there, watch the Barça game, have a beer and listen to the New York Barça fans, many of them expatriate Catalans, celebrate the goals by Barça, who won yesterday 3-0.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Cold cold
Winter is here. Temperature out is 33 degrees, and low today is expected to be 27. Brrrr!! Soon it will snow.
The other day I was in the elevator in my dorm and this girl comes in still shuddering from the cold. She said: "it's cold, huh?" and I answered "uh-huh" even though I thought it wasn't really, since it was about 40 degrees out. So I asked the girl where she was from and she said: "from Trinidad." Of course, used to the Caribbean temperatures, the poor girl was having a hard time with the New York cold. And it's only just started... She's gonna have a hard time.
The other day I was in the elevator in my dorm and this girl comes in still shuddering from the cold. She said: "it's cold, huh?" and I answered "uh-huh" even though I thought it wasn't really, since it was about 40 degrees out. So I asked the girl where she was from and she said: "from Trinidad." Of course, used to the Caribbean temperatures, the poor girl was having a hard time with the New York cold. And it's only just started... She's gonna have a hard time.
Black Friday
Today is Black Friday.
Given that Thanksgiving is usually about a month before Christmas, it becomes the start of the holiday shopping season. Since Thursday is a holiday for almost everybody, and most people have Friday off too, although technically is a workday, all stores are open, and it's become the day when everybody goes shopping. On my first year in America, I thought naively: "hey, today it's a workday, so stores will be open." So I went and I found the whole city in the mall where you couldn't even walk.
Why the name Black Friday is not clear. Wikipedia has two versions: first, that traffic cops in Philadelphia coined the word because of the traffic nightmare of that Friday; and second, that businesses had so much volume that day that they went from red numbers (loss) to black ones (profit). Be as it may, it is one of the days with most commercial activity of the year.
American stores offer great discounts today, many times to the early birds.Stores open at 5, or even at midnight. It's crazy. There are people who stand on a line in the November cold to save $100 on a laptop, for instance. It's ridiculous. One more example of American consumerism.
My friends Truman and Ripleyz mention in their blog an initiative by the three or four people who hate Black Friday, called Buy Nothing Day, where they urge people not to buy anything today. It was inconvenient for me to go shopping today, because I was on the train back from the lake, and later I stayed home to catch up with things (and I also wanted to avoid the crowds), but I didn't want them to think I was on their side, so I made an online purchase :-) Because hey, if you don't want to buy anything, fine, but why go against those of us who love going shopping? Leave us alone.
Given that Thanksgiving is usually about a month before Christmas, it becomes the start of the holiday shopping season. Since Thursday is a holiday for almost everybody, and most people have Friday off too, although technically is a workday, all stores are open, and it's become the day when everybody goes shopping. On my first year in America, I thought naively: "hey, today it's a workday, so stores will be open." So I went and I found the whole city in the mall where you couldn't even walk.
Why the name Black Friday is not clear. Wikipedia has two versions: first, that traffic cops in Philadelphia coined the word because of the traffic nightmare of that Friday; and second, that businesses had so much volume that day that they went from red numbers (loss) to black ones (profit). Be as it may, it is one of the days with most commercial activity of the year.
American stores offer great discounts today, many times to the early birds.Stores open at 5, or even at midnight. It's crazy. There are people who stand on a line in the November cold to save $100 on a laptop, for instance. It's ridiculous. One more example of American consumerism.
My friends Truman and Ripleyz mention in their blog an initiative by the three or four people who hate Black Friday, called Buy Nothing Day, where they urge people not to buy anything today. It was inconvenient for me to go shopping today, because I was on the train back from the lake, and later I stayed home to catch up with things (and I also wanted to avoid the crowds), but I didn't want them to think I was on their side, so I made an online purchase :-) Because hey, if you don't want to buy anything, fine, but why go against those of us who love going shopping? Leave us alone.
San Guivin
I always remember fondly how, when I lived in the US, I was subscribed to a mailing list of Spanish people in the Boston area, where people would send news related to Spain, etc. This was at the beginning of the internet, when the Web wasn't as ubiquitous as it is today, and the newsgroups and mailing lists were quite common methods to communicate to large groups of people with similar interests. The association still exists, and if you dig in their website you will find El racó d'en Pep [Pep's corner], a guide to Boston restaurants written by yours truly. It's from 1997, so it's quite outdated and half of the restaurants are closed by now, but it must still be of some use since they don't take it out.
With traditional Spanish witticism, Thanksgiving was called "San Guivin" [which would be something like St. Givin's Day], a bad Spanish-ification of the word "Thanksgiving," but which sounds like a legitimate Spanish holiday. The name "San Guivin" always brings fond memories, and yesterday I got an e-mail from my friend Aldo saying "Happy San Guivin," which brought a smile to my face and made me remember the good old times.
With traditional Spanish witticism, Thanksgiving was called "San Guivin" [which would be something like St. Givin's Day], a bad Spanish-ification of the word "Thanksgiving," but which sounds like a legitimate Spanish holiday. The name "San Guivin" always brings fond memories, and yesterday I got an e-mail from my friend Aldo saying "Happy San Guivin," which brought a smile to my face and made me remember the good old times.
Thanksgiving II
As you all know, on Thanksgiving people eat turkey. Turkey is original of America, And it's supposed that the pilgrims ate it during the first harvest celebration. To help the dryness of the turkey after four hours of oven baking, it's accompanied with cranberry sauce, an interestinc combination, to say the least. Also the stuffing of the turkey, made of bread, vegetables and spices, and gravy. For dessert, of course, pumpkin pie.
In the US Thanksgiving Day is the traditional day of family reunion. As in Spain families get together for Christmas, here they do on this long November weekend. Hence, Wednesday and Sunday are the days with more air traffic of the year, I have traveled in the past on these days and airports are really chaotic. Same for highway traffic, and trains (where they exist) are also pretty full. The train I took this morning was bursting with people.
I have spent Thanksgiving with Sean and Katherine at their lake house. With us there were a few siblings and cousins. We ate turkey and pumpkin pie, and we spent the evening playing cards. I learned a new game (hearts), not too hard to learn and interesting, and I even won a game :-) in hard competition with Meg (Katherine's sister), who is an expert. Little did they know that the game was really similar to a Catalan game I used to play when I was in high school, called the butifarra boja.
In the US Thanksgiving Day is the traditional day of family reunion. As in Spain families get together for Christmas, here they do on this long November weekend. Hence, Wednesday and Sunday are the days with more air traffic of the year, I have traveled in the past on these days and airports are really chaotic. Same for highway traffic, and trains (where they exist) are also pretty full. The train I took this morning was bursting with people.
I have spent Thanksgiving with Sean and Katherine at their lake house. With us there were a few siblings and cousins. We ate turkey and pumpkin pie, and we spent the evening playing cards. I learned a new game (hearts), not too hard to learn and interesting, and I even won a game :-) in hard competition with Meg (Katherine's sister), who is an expert. Little did they know that the game was really similar to a Catalan game I used to play when I was in high school, called the butifarra boja.
Thanksgiving
Tomorrow Thursday is Thanksgiving. As you know for the movies, it is one of the most important days of the American calendar, and the only four-day weekend of the year. It's celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November, and most people also have Friday off. The University closes up for the four days, and in fact on Tuesday and Wednesday many students are already gone, off to spend the holiday with their families. Only us foreigners remain :-)
Thanksgiving Day remembers the first Fall spent here by the pilgrims arrived from England, who celebrated the first successful harvest, which ensured their survival for the upcoming Winter.
On Thanksgiving Day, people are supposed to give thanks for the good things they have in life. This holiday doesn't exist in Spain, and I believe this grateful feeling is not common among Spaniards, who many times are too busy coveting more and more things (more money, a vacation house, a better car, more sex), without stopping to think about the good things they already have and which are taken for granted (a job, enough money to live comfortably, a house, a family who loves them). I know some people who could use some thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving Day remembers the first Fall spent here by the pilgrims arrived from England, who celebrated the first successful harvest, which ensured their survival for the upcoming Winter.
On Thanksgiving Day, people are supposed to give thanks for the good things they have in life. This holiday doesn't exist in Spain, and I believe this grateful feeling is not common among Spaniards, who many times are too busy coveting more and more things (more money, a vacation house, a better car, more sex), without stopping to think about the good things they already have and which are taken for granted (a job, enough money to live comfortably, a house, a family who loves them). I know some people who could use some thanksgiving.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
The Dakota building
The Dakota is one of the first luxury apartment building constructed in New York. It's located at the corner of 72nd Street and Central Park West (8th Avenue).
Like most buildings facing the Park, the Dakota is one of those buildings where really wealthy people live. People like Lauren Bacall, Roberta Flack, Judy Garland or Boris Karloff have lived in the Dakota. But nowadays the Dakota is famous worldwide as the building where John Lennon used to live, and in whose door Lennon was killed on December 8th, 1980, it will be 27 years ago soon. Yoko Ono still keeps the apartment in the Dakota.
As a memorial to Lennon, the Central Park area across the street from the Dakota is called Strawberry Fields. In it you can find the monument to Lennon, a round mosaic with a geometric motif around the word "Imagine". People go there every day to revere Lennon. As you can see, the day I went there were some plants making a peace symbol, and also a guitar and few white paper peace doves.
I would like to remember Lennon and these verses from Imagine, in my opinion one of the most beautiful songs ever written.
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Like most buildings facing the Park, the Dakota is one of those buildings where really wealthy people live. People like Lauren Bacall, Roberta Flack, Judy Garland or Boris Karloff have lived in the Dakota. But nowadays the Dakota is famous worldwide as the building where John Lennon used to live, and in whose door Lennon was killed on December 8th, 1980, it will be 27 years ago soon. Yoko Ono still keeps the apartment in the Dakota.
As a memorial to Lennon, the Central Park area across the street from the Dakota is called Strawberry Fields. In it you can find the monument to Lennon, a round mosaic with a geometric motif around the word "Imagine". People go there every day to revere Lennon. As you can see, the day I went there were some plants making a peace symbol, and also a guitar and few white paper peace doves.
I would like to remember Lennon and these verses from Imagine, in my opinion one of the most beautiful songs ever written.
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Monday, November 19, 2007
UN Headquarters
One of the visits we had planned was to the UN Headquarters, on 1st Avenue and 46th Street. The UN is in an area declared international territory, so for a few hours we were outside the United States. It has its own postage stamps and its own post office, so one of the favorite activities for visitors is sending themselves a postcard with stamp and postmark from the UN.
They have guided tours, and if you call in advance they will tell you the schedule of tours in different languages. In the tour they take you through several panels and expositions about the UN, its creation and its mission, and they show you the meeting halls. We couldn't see the Security Council because it was in session, but we saw the General Assembly, which we all have seen many times on TV.
They have guided tours, and if you call in advance they will tell you the schedule of tours in different languages. In the tour they take you through several panels and expositions about the UN, its creation and its mission, and they show you the meeting halls. We couldn't see the Security Council because it was in session, but we saw the General Assembly, which we all have seen many times on TV.
My family
Here's my family in Washington Square:
And this smiling girl is my little niece Marina, who you can't see very well in the picture above because she's covered with a hat and a scarf.
And this smiling girl is my little niece Marina, who you can't see very well in the picture above because she's covered with a hat and a scarf.
Friday, November 16, 2007
My family visiting
My family is here visiting from Catalunya. We are doing all the touristy things. I will post the most relevant things as soon as I have some time.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Central Park
The other day I went for a walk to Central Park. The park, as New Yorkers call it, is the heart and the lung of the city. The person who had the great idea of saving that part of the city of building speculation and create a park would have to be worshipped in every corner of the city.
This park, 4km long by 500m wide, is the favorite relaxing place for New Yorkers, with two ice rinks, several lakes, separate tracks for pedestrians, bicycles and horses, even a wildlife reserve. It's a favorite resting place of migrating birds, which find an oasis in the middle of so much concrete. Birdwatchers love that time of the year.
Besides all that, it contains the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and across the street there is the Museum of Natural History. The most expensive buildings of the city face Central Park, obviously, because you don't have another building in front of you, and this green extension opens before you.
The famous Reservoir, in the middle of the park, has a running track around it, a favorite of New York City joggers.
I promise I will take more pictures of it as soon as the first snow falls and I can get Central Park covered in white.
This park, 4km long by 500m wide, is the favorite relaxing place for New Yorkers, with two ice rinks, several lakes, separate tracks for pedestrians, bicycles and horses, even a wildlife reserve. It's a favorite resting place of migrating birds, which find an oasis in the middle of so much concrete. Birdwatchers love that time of the year.
Besides all that, it contains the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and across the street there is the Museum of Natural History. The most expensive buildings of the city face Central Park, obviously, because you don't have another building in front of you, and this green extension opens before you.
The famous Reservoir, in the middle of the park, has a running track around it, a favorite of New York City joggers.
I promise I will take more pictures of it as soon as the first snow falls and I can get Central Park covered in white.
Veterans Day
Monday it was Veterans Day. Most people in Spain, obviously since we weren't in that war, don't know that November 11th is the anniversary of the signing of the armistice which ended World War I. Since it fell on a Sunday, the holiday was moved to Monday. November 11th is also a holiday in France and England. I figure it isn't in Germany :-)
In any case it is one of those half-holidays that Americans have. Half-holidays because some things close and some others don't. There was no mail, but the university was open normally, stores were open too, but banks weren't. In each of these half-holidays, there's a list in the newspaper of things that open and things that close. There's a few of these, Presidents Day (George Washington's birthday) and Martin Luther King's Day, for instance.
Now. For a super-holiday, that would be Thanksgiving. That's next Thursday. I will tell you about it, and its curiosities, of which it's got many.
In any case it is one of those half-holidays that Americans have. Half-holidays because some things close and some others don't. There was no mail, but the university was open normally, stores were open too, but banks weren't. In each of these half-holidays, there's a list in the newspaper of things that open and things that close. There's a few of these, Presidents Day (George Washington's birthday) and Martin Luther King's Day, for instance.
Now. For a super-holiday, that would be Thanksgiving. That's next Thursday. I will tell you about it, and its curiosities, of which it's got many.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Atlantic City II
Atlantic City is a depressing place. There's few places in the world where you can see differences in class as clearly as in Atlantic City.
Atlantic City was founded around 1950, when someone thought that a beach hotel, just 40 miles from Philadelphia, and 120 from New York, could attract Summer tourism. The railroad company extended a track from Philadelphia to Atlantic City, and the city was born. During many years it was a prime Summer vacation spot, where people would go, by train, and spend extended periods of time in Summer, enjoying the sea breeze.
But in 1950, with the universalization of the automobile in American life, and the accessibility of plane traveling, people could choose a great variation of touristic destinations, and wasn't subject anymore to places accessible by train. This marked the doom of Atlantic City as a tourist attraction. By the 1960s there weren't many tourists in Atlantic City and the economy fell to miserable levels.
So someone thought that allowing casino gambling in Atlantic City would revitalize the economy. Obviously all those new tourists would make the economy surge, attracted by gambling and the vice attached to it. Thus, in 1976 the first casinos opened in Atlantic City.
So what happened? Economy went up, yes, for casino owners, and maybe for the government in taxes, but the regular habitant of Atlantic City didn't notice it in the wallet, adding the aggravation of having next-door casinos tempting him with lights and mirrors to go spend his hard-earned dollars at the gambling tables.
So, the most shocking feature of 2007 Atlantic City is the big contrasts. The proximity of the luxurious casinos with nearly derelict houses. Walking on the city, away from the Boardwalk (that is, away from the casinos) is really a saddening experience. Here's an example, where you can see two big hotels (the Atlantic Palace and the Bally's) next to these three brick houses, in much worse shape. People living here aren't precisely rich.
Do you think that if the city was going well economically, there would be these nice empty plots of land just half a block from the Boardwalk? I don't think so.
Atlantic City was founded around 1950, when someone thought that a beach hotel, just 40 miles from Philadelphia, and 120 from New York, could attract Summer tourism. The railroad company extended a track from Philadelphia to Atlantic City, and the city was born. During many years it was a prime Summer vacation spot, where people would go, by train, and spend extended periods of time in Summer, enjoying the sea breeze.
But in 1950, with the universalization of the automobile in American life, and the accessibility of plane traveling, people could choose a great variation of touristic destinations, and wasn't subject anymore to places accessible by train. This marked the doom of Atlantic City as a tourist attraction. By the 1960s there weren't many tourists in Atlantic City and the economy fell to miserable levels.
So someone thought that allowing casino gambling in Atlantic City would revitalize the economy. Obviously all those new tourists would make the economy surge, attracted by gambling and the vice attached to it. Thus, in 1976 the first casinos opened in Atlantic City.
So what happened? Economy went up, yes, for casino owners, and maybe for the government in taxes, but the regular habitant of Atlantic City didn't notice it in the wallet, adding the aggravation of having next-door casinos tempting him with lights and mirrors to go spend his hard-earned dollars at the gambling tables.
So, the most shocking feature of 2007 Atlantic City is the big contrasts. The proximity of the luxurious casinos with nearly derelict houses. Walking on the city, away from the Boardwalk (that is, away from the casinos) is really a saddening experience. Here's an example, where you can see two big hotels (the Atlantic Palace and the Bally's) next to these three brick houses, in much worse shape. People living here aren't precisely rich.
Do you think that if the city was going well economically, there would be these nice empty plots of land just half a block from the Boardwalk? I don't think so.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Atlantic City
This weekend we went to Atlantic City for a little casino gambling. Atlantic City is known as The East Coast Las Vegas, because it is the only place where casino gambling is legal. Well, there are a few more casinos, mostly belonging to the original indian tribes, but in Atlantic City there are a lot of casinos and it does look a little like Las Vegas. Albert and me, we like to go to a casino every once in a while (not too often), and it is already traditional the yearly visit we do to the Casino de Barcelona during the Christmas vacation.
Atlantic City is on the coast, next to the beach, about two and a half hours South of New York. The main street is the Boardwalk, where most activity is located. As the name indicates, it is made of wood planks. See the picture of a casino, and the ground made of wood. To the left you can't see the beach, but it's there.
We had fun, gamble a little, lost some money, and had a few laughs. On our way back we took a little detour to stop by Delaware for a little shopping, since Delaware has no sales tax (Value Added Tax or VAT, as they call it in the UK). One of these days I will tell you stories about sales taxes in the US, which are quite interesting.
Atlantic City is on the coast, next to the beach, about two and a half hours South of New York. The main street is the Boardwalk, where most activity is located. As the name indicates, it is made of wood planks. See the picture of a casino, and the ground made of wood. To the left you can't see the beach, but it's there.
We had fun, gamble a little, lost some money, and had a few laughs. On our way back we took a little detour to stop by Delaware for a little shopping, since Delaware has no sales tax (Value Added Tax or VAT, as they call it in the UK). One of these days I will tell you stories about sales taxes in the US, which are quite interesting.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)