Wonders of Modern Life

I have had an odd couple of weeks, where some really strange, rather interesting things keep happening to me. I don’t know how else to describe this except to say life can be oddly fascinating.

I am usually pretty cynical; I tend towards the critical, and yes, I have been called a curmudgeon.

Just to prove that I am not in a dark mood all the time, here are some things that have pleasantly surprised me recently:

• Checked luggage: During a jaunt of travel from NY to Denver to Vancouver to NY to Maine to NY again, I never waited more than 7 minutes for my checked luggage. Clocked on the iPhone’s timer, from the moment I arrived at baggage claim to when I physically collect my bags, no more than 420 seconds.

• Delta Terminal at LaGuardia is actually nice:  Not the new one, but the old crappy one — pretty much gut renovation, lots of seating everywhere, tons of power outlets — and affixed iPads for free web browsing. (I checked my passport to make sure I was in the right country),

• Took a friend apartment shopping. First place we saw I said “He’ll take it.” Make him fill out paperwork; We then looked at 6 other places — none remotely as good. Agent said “Good thing you took that place — 9 other people tried to get it.”

• Lost my anchor 2 weeks ago. That is not a spiritual reference, I literally snagged what I suspect is an undersea communications cable in the Long Island Sound in 39 feet of water in my little dingy. Despite lots of trying, could not get free — had to cut it loose, thinking, “there goes $500.” On Monday, I find a replacement on eBay for $30 and order it. I come home from work the next day and there is a box sitting on my front porch with a Danforth anchor in it. I am amazed.

• WTF Podcast: I continually am amazed at the high quality content that is given away for free. WTF is a perfect example of that. It is my favorite Airplane entertainment. When I am too tired to read but not focused enough to watch a movie,  WTF podcasts are the ideal time killer. They are just perfect little vignettes, smart conversations that you get to listen to. Funny, insightful, entertaining stuff.

• NYC Rocks: Walk down the streets of NY, filled with electricity, tourists, and office workers living out their lives. So much intellectual capital, all in one place. If you don’t feed off the energy in this city, you are probably already dead. (The 7 Train: Deserves its own mention for being so fast and damned reliable).

• My Co-Workers are great:  I work with some terrific people. Today was the last day for our summer interns — they get some R&R before returning to Amherst and University of Pennsylvania. My colleagues are smart, funny, pleasant people to work and hang with.  We are doing good things for people and bringing the truth to those who need (Preach it, brother!) I am thrilled to be part of this team.

• Technology is Magic: What we can do with software today was simply beyond imagining 10 years ago. It is a wondrous time, your life is better when you can appreciate these things.

Tomorrow, I will go back to being a curmudgeon, but I wanted to get these few things out there . . .

Video: Louis CK on Conan, “Everything is amazing and nobody is happy” after the jump.

Louis CK: “Everything is amazing and nobody is happy”

"Everything is amazing and nobody is happy" by Meowbay