87:00 PM

I switched hotels last night for one night since the hotel I’d been staying in was too full, due to the U.S. Open, to accommodate me for Saturday. So, the hotel found by the company for me to daty in was the Hyatt Greenwich-Stanford. Now this was an upgrade from a 2 star hotel to a 4 star hotel. Truth be told, even though it was 30 miles away, I really couldn’t argue with it. Before I was able to go however, I had a few things to do.
I made copies at Kinko’s, which now has a full self-service, which means you have to get your card to use the copiers by yourself, by inserting cash up front. The copies are now $.10 a piece regardless of size. I then went to Stapes and got some more 9 x 12 envelopes. After this, it was on to the Laundromat.

I’d mapped three different Laundromats and the first two turned out to be dry-cleaners instead. The third, however, was just what it should have been. A large room full of washing machines and dryers right next to a “The Country Buffet” which for some odd reason had Chinese characters on each site of the channel letters spelling out its name. I guess it was a Chinese Country Buffet, so I opted out of that. Having never really used a Laundromat I was a bit out of my league. Sure, I’d used pay washers and dryers in my apartment building, and non pay units at home and at friend’s houses, but never in this setting. Of course the change machines were not working, I later found on in the back that worked, but by then I’d already gotten my change from the front desk. I needed detergent, so I purchased a small bag from behind the counter for $3.75, since the single use vending machine was conveniently out-of-order as well. The bag contained enough detergent for at least six loads of clothing. I only needed two. Reading instructions is always a good idea. I read the first four lines and should have read the rest. After inserting $4 in quarters into the machine, which I was doing to get them out of my hands to free them up to put the detergent and the clothes in, the machine took off and began washing its own insides. I wouldn’t make that mistake again. The second time I waited until I had the clothes in, the detergent in, and had closed the door. Having wasted $4 on an empty machine, I went ahead and washed everything in one machine. As the clothes washed I went outside and read a book in my car. The drying, folding, and repacking of clothes into my back pack was pretty uneventful. I just hope that whomever came behind me and used the first machine I’d cleaned was appreciative of the fact that it was probably the cleanest machine in the whole place.

On the way to the hotel, seeing as how it wasn’t late enough to check-in, I stopped off at the Palisades Center Mall, which is supposedly the second largest mall in the US. One would assume, as I did, that it is second to The Mall of America. I don’t know if this is true, but seeing as it had an Imax theatre, Best Buy, Target, Home Depot, Circuit City, Macy’s, etc in it, it was most likely true. Did I mention the Ice skating rink? Anyway, while I was there, I did my normal looking about fro my friend Alan’s book SAMURAI SHORTSTOP in the B&N and as I wrote to him earlier in the evening:

“After searching far and wide, and I do mean far and wide, I finally found a location with your book. Having had no success in CA, I came to upstate NY on work and after not finding your book at either the B&N nor the Waldenbooks in Nanuet, NY, I finally succeeded. While switching hotels for the night, I stopped by the B&N in the Palisades Center mall on Saturday afternoon. There I found 4 copies of SS. I faced two copies and accidentally made room on the "Summer Reading" table in the children's section for the remaining two copies. Then, this afternoon while switching hotels back, I stopped in to keep cool, it's 95 degrees here today, and found that the two copies I'd left on the summer reading table were gone; I feel that because there were only two copies left next to a stack of five "Eldest (Inheritance, Book 2)", that it seemed more "limited". I then moved the two remaining faced copies to an accidental hole than appeared rather suddenly, and in alphabetical order I might add, on the "Recent Teen Releases" shelves. Hopefully they will move as quickly as the other two and give the poor book buyer something to ponder. Sorry there aren't any photos, you'll just have to take my prideful word for it.”

That alone made the mall trip worthwhile. After that it was onto the Hyatt Greenwich Stanford. As with most hotels of this level, I felt inadequate from the moment I tried to figure out where to park. After enquiring from one of the porters I went around back to the pay lot and “self” parked. Inside I registered and got my room and moved my stuff in. The room looked like this:





The swag I took looked like this:

The movies that were available, the ones still in theaters, were between $10.00 and $12.99. I of course watched none of them and wasn’t even aware that this was an available service in high end hotels. I guess cinefiles on the go, unable of making it to theaters, like to pay more than they normally would for a pan and scan version of the latest releases.


Oh, and there was a reception at 87:00 PM last night. I missed it of course seeing as it was on another plane of reality in the Regency Ballroom.

And finally, this is what an $11.00 club sandwich looks like after a 21% serice charge, a 6% state tax charge, and a $2.50 delivery fee are added before it makes it to your room, which makes it really a $16.50 club sandwich.

I’m now back at the Days Inn in Nanuet and have very little to show for it. I had to open my window and place my laptop on the ledge to get a strong enough signal to post this.

p.s. I broke Connecticut State Law by using my ice bucket in the following way:

The state law denies you the right to bring your own alcohol into the hotel unless you pay an outrageous corkage fee. Ooops!

I won't even mention the $5 liter bottles of Auquafina in the room. You drink-it-you-buy-it.

[EDITOR: All instances of "cloths" have been corrected to "clothes". Sorry for the mix-up. I have dyslexia and am tired. FCUK OFF!]