Bilaeva: August 2007

Thursday, August 30, 2007

A Quick update...

before I have to tell you about Labour Day weekend, the end of the summer and adventures to come...

Two weekends ago, I got a call from Kelly who was working a Saturday afternoon shift at CNN. The Deutsche Bank Building at the World Trade Center site was on fire and she need pictures. I legged out of our apartment with my fancy new digital camera, found the best vantage points, and took several photos and some film of the distaster. We uploaded them to CNN and my stuff ran on CNN domestic several times that evening and once even on CNN International. That was my shortlived career as a photojournalist.

Earlier in the afternoon I had ventured out to the Red Hook Ballfields in Brooklyn with friends (Brigham Barnes, Michelle Hales, Dave Almond and Kim Jones) to try the Latin American food on offer every Saturday afternoon. I tried something called a huarrache

and an elote, which was ridiculously delicious. I also tried papusas from El Salvador.

The weekend before I made a trifle. It was enjoyed by many.

And the weekend before that (4 Aug) I went to Jeff Mulcock's wedding reception. Mike and I took some picture reminiscent of a recent event.

Monday, August 27, 2007

Dad says I can go to Wisconsin!!!

Thursday, August 09, 2007

You may have heard that it rained here a little yesterday. We had about 3 inches in just a couple hours in the morning. The sound of rain on the window had stirred me a little, but I didn't know what a mess things were till my roommate texted us to say that the subway was all shut down. I didn't have a horrendous trip to work, I only had to walk to Canal St (about a mile) and got on the one subway line that was still running up and down the island.

I couldn't understand why the rain had caused so much havoc until this afternoon when I was listening to an Wisconsin NPR programme. Apparently, even on a sunny day, the transit authority has to deal with 13 million gallons of ground water in the subway. There are over 800 pumps working to keep the water out of the tunnels. No wonder a deluge like we saw yesterday very quickly puts them over the edge.

I was listening to a programme where they were discussing a book called The World Without Us about what would happen if humans hastily exited the planet and how nature would reclaim everything. There's a whole chapter devoted to New York City. Without the pumps, the subway would be completely flooded within a couple days, and the city would soon begin to rust, rot and eventually crumble from beneath. It was fascinating.