Why is this night different from all other nights?

Tonight, we had Seder at my brother’s house; the company was good and the food was delicious. And in honor of the holiday, I am going to give my son the rest of today’s space, as he shares…

Jeff’s Four Passover Questions

On all other nights we don’t open the door because bugs will get in. Why on this night do we open it for someone we can’t see or expect to show up?

On all other nights we don’t sit around for a long time before dinner starts, instead being on the computer until it’s ready. Why on this night are we here so early?

On all other nights the TV’s on during dinner. Why on this night, why are we falling behind on our watching?

On all other nights when we are asked questions we just answer “fine,” no matter what it is or how many there are. Why on this night why do we only get asked four, which we don’t need to answer with any words?

Happy Passover!

No cleaning today, thanks….

Even though our hotel offered a full breakfast buffet, but it didn’t have anything that Diane or Jeff wanted to eat (I would have been ok with Cheerios), so we started today with a return visit to the Golden Reef Diner for breakfast; it was far better than the Rockville Diner, which we’d hit on our first day of the trip. After that, we packed up, checked out, and headed for Diane’s alma mater.

We had two goals for our visit to Hofstra: take a campus tour, and replace Diane’s old t-shirt. We succeeded in the former, though we didn’t get the full prospective family experience because we didn’t go to the “information session”. The latter goal was more problematic — she did buy two t-shirts, but even though they were labelled as large, they fit more like smalls, which means they may not be ideal for exercising. But they do look good on her, so I’m happy.

We chose not to dine at Hofstra; instead, we went back to Valley Stream and an old favorite, Ancona. We’d never been there for a weekday lunch before, so I didn’t realize that parking might be at a premium. It was, but we found a spot without too much trouble (though I don’t think the person who was lurking halfway down the parking lot liked us), and the food was, as usual, filling and tasty. After that, we went to Ralph’s of Valley Stream for a farewell Italian ice — it’s not clear that we have any reason to go back to Valley Stream in the future, after all.

From there, it was a quick hop to JFK, followed by a long wait in the JetBlue terminal, a short flight to Richmond, dinner at Yen Ching, and then to my brother’s new house. I have to admit to being impressed by the place, especially the kitchen area. We left Jeff there playing with his younger cousin, while Diane and I went to my mother’s apartment, where we talked for a while before eventually admitting we were tired and calling it a night.

All cleaned out!

Not really, but we’ve done all that we’re going to do; we shipped seven boxes out this afternoon (many to Diane’s dad — he thought he’d seen the last of the pillows in the attic…), and Jeff spent the entire day shredding papers. In the end, we’d filled up about six trash bags and a dozen bags of paper (half of which were the result of Jeff’s shredding efforts). There is still a ton (probably literally) of stuff that we left in the attic pending a decision by Diane’s brother (things like ancient oscilloscopes); we just know that we don’t want any of it.

We had lunch today with Diane’s childhood friend — who took us back to International Delight Cafe. The food was good, but I think their ice cream is better. We didn’t sample it today, though; instead, we went across the street to Ralph’s.

We also took Jeff comic shopping; the store he likes (Time Warp) had moved to a new location; I didn’t realize it, and drove to their previous location, only to find them gone without a trace. Luckily, I had their number in my phone, and they talked us in. I hope Jeff’s other favorite comic shop (Dave’s Comics in Richmond) hasn’t moved!

Tomorrow, we’re going to go tour Hofstra University (if they’re really open — it’s Spring Break), or at the very least go to the bookstore so that Diane can replace a rather old T-shirt. We also should be able to do some geocaching, I hope. And then, tomorrow afternoon, we’re off to Richmond to visit my family for Seder. But I bet we’ll hit Ralph’s one more time before we leave town.

What Serenity Character are you?

You scored as Hoban ‘Wash’ Washburne. The Pilot. You are a leaf on the wind, see how you soar. You have a good job, and a stunning wife who loves you (and can kill people). Life is good, which is why you can’t help smiling. Now if you can just get people to actually listen to your opinion things would be perfect.

Hoban 'Wash' Washburne

81%

Simon Tam

69%

The Operative

69%

Kaylee (Kaywinnet Lee) Frye

69%

Inara Serra

56%

Zoe Alleyne Washburne

44%

Capt. Mal Reynolds

44%

Jayne Cobb

38%

Shepherd Derrial Book

38%

River Tam

31%

Which Serenity character are you?
created with QuizFarm.com

Dig we must!

That was Con Ed’s motto when I was young, at least according to Mad Magazine (and if you can’t trust Mad Magazine, who can you trust?). And that was how we spent today — digging through Diane’s Dad’s papers and other things. Jeff spent most of the evening on shredder duty (he filled up two bags full, but there’s lots more to do tomorrow), while Diane and I sorted stuff and decided what to eliminate and where to send what survived.

We also enjoyed talking to the people who are renting the house — and they were most gracious hosts, feeding us lunch and dinner (and I’m sure that they would have given us breakfast if we hadn’t breakfast at the Rockville Diner before coming over; we’re going to try somewhere else tomorrow. While the food at the diner was OK, they burned the coffee, which is inexcusable), as well as helping us with the work (and also having gotten rid of a lot of stuff over the past few months, saving only things which looked possibly valuable or interesting).

In exchange, we got them interested in The Next Food Network Star, which we tuned into as a result of reading a story in the Murky Nooz, and which hooked us quickly. Next week’s episode is a double and leads directly to the voting — it should be interesting.

But that’s next week; tomorrow, we have more digging to do, as well as packing and shipping (Diane’s Dad thought he got rid of all of this stuff when he moved, but we’ve got a boxful for him!). I hope we can finish up tomorrow so that we aren’t stressed out Tuesday before our next flight; fortunately, Diane’s brother is going to be here in the next month or so and he can deal with what we can’t (we’re leaving all of the electronics for him to pick through, for example).

We were disappointed in one aspect of the evening, though — Ralph’s was closed by the time we got there. Fortunately, the International Delight Cafe was just across the street (in fact, we’d parked in front of it). They serve food, but at 10:30pm, everyone in the joint was looking for dessert — including us. And with 80 flavors of gelato or sorbetto, the only problem was choosing. Jeff, of course, went for chocolate, while Diane and I were slightly more adventurous (she had Koko Moka Fudge; I had that with Bavarian Mint). The ice cream was good, if a little on the gummy side; I’d go back cheerfully (though I’ll probably hit Ralph’s again tomorrow — it’s easy to find ice cream at home, but Italian ices are only available here as far as I can tell).