Wasting time with Jet

Hey, guess what?, I won the lottery...LAST YEAR.

Well, actually I didn't, MOM did.

While playing for a co-worker from Jersey, mom hit three numbers on a Take Five ticket. The co-worker eventually left the job before she could convey the good news, so she gave it to me for the helluva it.

What jaw-dropping cash prize the ticket was worth, you might ask?

A WHOPPING 22 Bucks.

So you could imagine it was VERY HIGH on my To-Do List at the time. Fortunately, winning tickets can be claimed up to a year after the results...

The Lotto Office is all the way down near the tip of Manhattan at Bowling Green, 15 Beaver Street. I kept puttin' it off and puttin' it off while mom nagged me about not forgetting about it and decided to finally take the trip today and cash it in.

After slipping into a mild coma watching Regis and Kelly (I SO love it when her husband sits in for Regis on Fridays...) I stirred up at 12:20 and left the house for the 1 Train.

I have completely forgotten what a headache the train can be during the day...Parents with their Bad-Ass Kids...helplessly lost tourist...AND a school class of SIXTY teenagers crammed in ONE subway car for a few stops, torturing the hell outta me!

By 2pm, I finally arrived, and the office reminded me of a DMV, but much faster. I couldn't believe how many people occasionally won all those lottery games, scratch-off or otherwise. There were signs everywhere explaining things, and even the security was helpful and courteous.

I half expected a few bills for such a low prize but they actually cut me a check and sent me on my way. I couldn't help laughing at what the clerk said when I was leaving...

"See you back monday when you collect your millions..."

They really try to keep your hopes up so you'll keep playing...

So, down near my old stomping grounds of wall street, bowling green and battery park, I walked by the famous "Charging Bull" Bronze Statue (And it's many photographers) to a Borders Book store where I did some shopping. I brought some "Garfield" Comic Strip Collections (Numbers 42 & 43, the very latest) and a few CD's. I finally brought AIR's "Pocket Symphony" and Jill Scott's "Collaborations" along with Mos Def's label-less "True Magic". I was curious about the last one because it was just a CD in a clear, plastic case...no cover, liner notes or even back listings...maybe he's trying to make a statement of sorts.

It was coming up on 3pm, and the school kids were clogging up the already busy sidewalks, now. I thought about the old West Side Highway Regal 16 Movie Theater me and JOE used to go to when we both worked around here (Damn, I miss that hard-headed boy...) and wondered if "300" was starting soon. I cut into Broadway-Nassau, looking for a "AM New York" Newspaper corner dispenser.

I made a stop at mini-video game/electronic store, where I saw those BOSE earplugs in the window. They were priced at 89.99 (as opposed to Circuit City's INSANE price of 99.99). I stared at them for a long time, but then I saw something similar next to it by sony..."Noise Canceling Headphones". Riding the train everywhere, earplugs that could block background noise would be nice...but so would Flying Cars. BOSE seems to be the highest standard of achieving this, but I'm still skeptical.

The Sony package had no price on it at the window so I went in...

Trying VERY hard to ignore the temping video game accessories and games, I found the earplug set priced for 59.99. I read the details in the back...

* 3 sets of earbuds (covers) for different sizes
* Volume Controller (In case you can't reach the actual player...)
* 1.5 cord (guess it's longer, which could be good)
* Noise Canceling circuit, which senses outside noise with built-in microphones and sends an equal-but-opposite canceling signal to the headphones. (Huh?)

This whole concept was alien to me so I did some research later here.

I took a chance and picked them up (guess I was making up for the splurging I was planning to do with Leeloo in the Village...we were planning to go shopping for Sex Toys *wink*).

I finally grabbed a free newspaper and looked up the showtimes...

There was a 4:10 screening and it was only 3:20, I had plenty of time, but I started feeling tired and hungry and made my way to the A train and went home.

Fridays always kill me because of working the night before. When I try to break the routine and do something during the day (other than sleep), it pushes me to the limit. As intense and exciting "300" would have been, I probably would have fell asleep watching it.

So, making it back home by 4:30, I relaxed the rest of the afternoon, caught a few naps, looked at Thursday nights TV shows and continued the cleaning effort...

The thought of Leeloo here, alone, behind closed doors, was beginning to make my whole body tingle...

"Stay Calm, Ace...don't break out the rose petals on the mattress, yet."