54 and Counting

It started warm and partly cloudy in New York today. After learning that it would probably be at least $50 to simply cross the river in a taxi cab, I decided to use the path train to get from Jersey City to the NYOUG meeting in New York. The hotel shuttle dropped me off at the Path depot at the Exchange Center and after paying my $4 I got a round trip ticket to the WTC depot across the river. The trip was only about 4 minutes and I was soon pushing my pay into the St. Johns University building.

After the typical continental breakfast the rest of the attendees and I settled down into the auditorium for the keynote which was given by my friend Steven Feuerstein on the golden rules for PL/SQL developers. As usual Steven gave an excellent presentation. After Steven finished I gave my presentation on “Holistic Oracle Tuning” with many good questions and only over the time by 15 minutes or so. Then he, Peter Koletzke and I gave a panel presentation in which I got the most questions, probably because DBAs outnumbered developers.

I met an old friend of Susan and I and she made me promise to give Susan a hug and kiss for her and to be sure to tell her next time we were in town so we could come to dinner for some good (I am sure great) Russian cooking. I look forward to it.

After the conference I decided to hang around the city and have a birthday dinner at The Grill Room in the World Financial Center. I sat in one of the rear rooms with a view over the river. I watched the clouds roll in and the rain began as the ferries brought people to and from the various parts of New York and New Jersey into the Big Apple. The sheets of rain washed the colors form the buildings across the river, leaving them all in shades of gray. I started with a single Sapphire Gin and Tonic. Then I enjoyed my lamb chops, broccoli with hollandaise and artesian breads along with a nice glass of Pinot Grigio. To finish my solitary birthday celebration I ended with a chocolate mousse and glass of 15 year old port. Meanwhile the rain had intensified, sometimes blocking the view of the buildings across the river entirely.

Waiting for the rain to slack off, I paid and then sat in the atrium area watching the boat masts sway to and fro in the wind and rain and called Susan. We talked about the trivia of the day and important Mother-Father talk about our grown daughters and I was reminded that being alone on your birthday sucks.

When the rain finally slackened, I made my way back to the PATH depot and rode the train back to Jersey City. I waited in the wind and the rain for the hotel shuttle for 15 minutes, it was nice to be warm and dry. So now I am back in the hotel trying to decide whether to buy a movie or just work. A middle aged man alone in a hotel room.