Times Square New Year's Eve

I was just reading the official instructions for attending Times Square New Year's Eve. Humbug. Why in my day...
The one time I went to Times Square for New Year's Eve we got there about 10:30 PM after taking the 165 bus from Hackensack. There were no barricades, no walking restrictions. You had to be careful about pick pockets. Everybody, including the police, had glass bottles filled with liquor in their pockets. There was no live music, just the stinking ball. We managed to get back to the Port Authority by 1 and went back to New Jersey. Mom and Dad never knew about the expedition. Who remembers when Guy Lombardo ringed in the new year?

New Year's Eve FAQ

Still want more after reading the F.A.Q.s?  We've got everything you need to know about the Ball Drop and all the festivities leading up to the big night. More >> 

 

Location

• Where is the Ball lowered?
• What streets will be closed for the celebrations?
• Will there be areas in Times Square designated for the disabled?
• Where is the best view?

 

Getting Here

• What is the best way to come to Times Square?
• How do I enter Times Square on New Year's Eve?

 

Timing

• When should I get there?
• What is the schedule of New Year's Eve events in Times Square?

 

Food, Drinks, Shopping and Restrooms

• Will there be portable public restrooms available?
• Is alcohol or champagne allowed?
• Will there be food and drink vendors in the square?
• Will there be restaurants open in the area? Can revelers return to the same viewing areas after dining?
• Are theaters, stores and restaurants going to be open?
• Which Times Square restaurants and hotels have a view of a Ball?

 

Security

• What security procedures are in place?

 

Parties

• Where can I find information on Times Square New Year's Eve parties?

 

History

• What is the history of the Times Square New Year's Eve event?
• What can you tell me about the Times Square New Year's Eve Ball?

 

Other Questions

• What should I wear and what should I bring?
• Are tickets needed for this event? Can I purchase a ticket to see the ball drop?
• Will there be a Webcast?
• Are there still hotel rooms available in the Times Square area?
• How much confetti is dropped in Times Square on New Year's Eve?

Where is the Ball lowered?

The Times Square New Year's Eve Ball descends from a flagpole at the top of One Times Square. It can best be seen along Broadway, from 43rd Street to 50th Street, and along Seventh Avenue, as far north as 59th Street.

What streets will be closed for the celebrations?

The New York Police Department will begin closing down access to Times Square starting at 43rd Street and Broadway and moving north as revelers arrive. The exact times that these blocks close to pedestrian and vehicular traffic will depend on when the revelers begin arriving. It is likely that there will be no vehicular traffic on either Broadway or Seventh Avenue as of approximately 3:00 p.m. Vehicles will most likely have difficulty traveling across town after 6:00 p.m. above 42nd Street as far north as 59th Street. If you are planning to come to Times Square and join in the festivities, you are advised to enter from Sixth or Eighth Avenue. Your chance of getting a viewing spot near the Ball (at Broadway & 43rd Street) increases the earlier you arrive. The blocks will be closed off as they fill up northward, street-by-street, as the police deem necessary.

Will there be areas in Times Square designated for the disabled?

Yes. The police will set aside a viewing area for the disabled, located on the northwest corner of 44th Street. However, this area will fill up quickly, and it is advised that disabled visitors arrive early in the day. For a listing of the access points from which you can enter Times Square, please click here.

 Where is the best view?

The earlier you arrive, the better your view and the closer you will be to the action. The sound system is set up in the Bowtie area (where Broadway and Seventh Avenue cross), and the video screens on One Times Square (where the Ball is lowered) are easily visible. There are additional screens set up at Broadway and 50th Street, Broadway and 52nd Street, Broadway and 54th Street and Broadway and 58th Street.

What is the best way to come to Times Square?

The best way to come to Times Square is via public transportation. To get to Times Square, the # 1, 2, 3, 7, A, B, C, D, E, F, N, Q, R, W, V and S shuttle trains all service the Times Square area. Please note that the MTA has advised revelers not to use the 42nd Street Subway Station on New Year's Eve due to crowding conditions - you are advised to exit at one of the surrounding stations and enter Times Square on foot. It is expected that the MTA will keep all subway stations open on New Year's Eve. Some entrances and exits may be closed as crowd conditions require. After 7 p.m. on December 31st, the N and R train station at 49th Street and Seventh Avenue may be closed until after midnight. Trains may also bypass some stations, depending on how the crowds build. For further information nearer the date of the event, please call or visit the MTA at (718) 330-1234 or www.mta.info.

Other useful sources of information:

Port Authority Bus Terminal (212) 564-8484
New York City Transit Authority (Local Bus Service) (718) 330-1234
Amtrak (800) 523-8720
Metro North (212) 532-4900
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) (718) 217- LIRR

For questions on New Year's Eve about access, please contact the NYPD sub-station at (212) 239-9803 or the Times Square Alliance Dispatch Office at (212) 452-5218. Please call ONLY on New Year's Eve.

UPDATED: 12/12/12

TRANSIT INFORMATION

On New Year’s Eve, Monday, December 31, 2012, certain subway access will be altered in the Times Square area.

While the actual time of the system changes depend on the arrival of the revelers for the New Year’s Eve Celebration, based on the timeline from last year the following service disruptions should be expected:

The 42nd Street entrances to the 42nd Street Times Square stop closed at approximately 4:30pm last year. Riders can use the 41st Street entrances to access this station.

The 47th Street entrance to the N/R/W lines closed at approximately 5:00pm last year. Riders can access this station from the 49th Street entrance until the stop is skipped at 7:00pm.

Southbound and northbound N/R/W lines will skip the 49th Street station beginning at 7 p.m., Monday, December 31st until approximately 12:15 a.m., Tuesday, January 1st.

The northbound IRT "#1" train will skip the 50th Street station beginning at 7 p.m., Monday, December 31st until approximately 12:15 a.m., Tuesday, January 1st.

These entrance closings are based on the arrival of the revelers for the New Year’s Eve celebration and are approximate. These have been the times for the last two year’s but depending on the time the crowds arrive the times could be adjusted.

The Times Square Alliance will provide updates to the subway system changes as they are made available to us through this e mail alert system and also up to date Transit information is always available ahttp://www.mta.info/.

How do I enter Times Square on New Year's Eve?

If you are attending a party or event within Times Square on New Year's Eve, be sure to contact the business to confirm special instructions you may need in order to access the entrance of the establishment.

Access Points:

To Access South of 41st Street

• 37th  & 7th Ave
• 37th & Broadway
• 38th & 8th Ave
• 38th & 6th Ave

To Access North of 43rd Street

• 46th from 8th & 6th Ave (press access)
• Emergency Vehicle Route (48th, 5th-9th Ave)
• 49th from 8th & 6th Ave
• 52nd from 8th & 6th Ave
• 54th from 6th Ave
• 55th from 8th  Ave
• 57th from 7th Ave
• 57th from Broadway
• 58th from 8th & 6th Ave
• 59th from 8th & 6th Ave

Pedestrian/Subway Chutes:

• 39th - Broadway to 6th Ave
• 41st - 7th Ave directed westbound to 8th Ave
• 49th - 7th Ave directed eastbound to 6th Ave
• 50th – Broadway directed westbound to 8th Ave
• 53rd – Broadway directed westbound to 8th Ave
• 55th – 7th Ave directed eastbound to 7th Ave

When should I get there?

Revelers begin to gather in the late afternoon on New Year's Eve, December 31st. The best advice we can give is to get there as early as possible. We cannot predict how quickly the viewing areas will fill up. Prime viewing areas may fill up early in the afternoon.

At approximately 6:00 p.m. EST the Times Square New Year's Eve Ball will be raised to the top of the 77-foot flagpole at One Times Square (Broadway at 43rd Street) and lit. At exactly 11:59 p.m. EST, the Ball will make its 60-second descent down the flagpole to signal the start of the New Year.

Please Note: Revelers who arrive very early in the day, before the police have established viewing areas, may be moved by the NYPD when barricades are put in place.

What is the schedule of New Year's Eve events in Times Square?

Check the event schedule to see when and where it's all happening in Times Square on New Year's Eve.

Here is the timeline for LAST YEAR'S street closures and viewing areas and are subject to change without notice. We will update as more information is release by the NYPD. This information may be helpful for planning your trip to this year's event:

1:30 PM - All pedestrian mall pens full 43rd to 47th Street
2:00 PM - Vehicle traffic closed 42nd to 48th Street
3:30 PM - Viewing areas filled north to 49th Street, south 40th - 41st Street
5:00 PM - 52nd Street Access Point Closed
5:15 PM - 54th Street Access Point Closed
6:55 PM - 56th Street Access Point Closed
9:00 PM - 58th Street Access Point Closed

Will there be portable public restrooms available?

No. There are no portable restrooms in Times Square during the celebration. The Times Square Museum & Visitor Center has public restrooms but will be closing early on New Year's Eve.

Times Square Museum & Visitor Business Hours

• 7 Days a week, 8 am - 8pm
• Venue will close at 2pm on New Year's Eve (December 31st)

Is alcohol or champagne allowed?

No. Public drinking is illegal in New York City. Police will confiscate alcohol.

Ring in the new year

Here were my predictions for 2012, given a year ago today, with the actuals in brackets:
Dow $13000 (actual $13104)
S and P $1400 (actual $1425)
NASDAQ $3000 (actual $3020)
Unemployment 7.5% (Nov. 2012 7.7%)
President Obama will be embarrassed by the OWS demonstrations at the convention, but he will be  re-elected. (he was re-elected and OWS was but a memory)
Congress The House will remain in Republican hands, the Senate in Democratic hands. (turned out to be true)
China There will be a Chinese spring with widespread protests and rioting. (didn't happen, at least not on a large scale)
Middle East will stabilize but no major changes except the Muslim Brotherhood will take power in Egypt. (happened)
Europe will offer travel bargains for Americans. (air fares remained high)

So overall, not to brag, but my predictions were pretty good. Not bad at all. Now let us take a look at January 1, 2014. 

Dow $14000
S and P ($1500)
NASDAQ ($3300 and a comeback for Microsoft)
Unemployment (7.1%)
Fiscal Cliff Will be solved before the Inauguration. Taxes and milk prices will go up for everybody.
Middle East Gunfire but no war.
Philadelphia Eagles New head coach, new quarterback, no playoffs. 
Life in General Higher interest rates, higher prices, life will be the same muddle but there will be some decent movies released this year. The hip people will leave Brooklyn, get married and move back to the Suburbs. 

A well documented life

Going through old pictures is fascinating. I found a picture of my grandfather, Aunt Rock, Aunt Emma Dell in an old box. I scanned them and now they are preserved for posterity. One black and white faded picture each of these treasured relations. Compare that to the documentation that takes place of a young person in today's society.

A two year old child can expect to be videotaped for at least one hour of his/her existence for every week of childhood. Hours of movies. Baby's first tooth, Baby's first lunch, Baby's first splinter, Baby's first communion, Baby's first period, Baby's first boyfriend, Baby's first fight with Mother, Baby graduates from pre- school, etc.  By the time Baby is forty years old she will have 2080 hours of film. Every snicker doodle of her life will have been recorded and viewed by bored relatives on You Tube.

She can drop her cable subscription at fifty and do nothing but watch the progress of  her own life and have enough programming until she reaches her eightieth birthday. Socrates said, "An unexamined life is not worth living". I guess life today must be really worth living.

Santa rides on a fire engine

When I first moved into my neighborhood I was startled to hear fire trucks and police sirens in my neighborhood. #(*&*(^*&)% I said, there must be a fire! Hurrying to put on my shoes I looked out the window. There was a red fire truck with Santa Claus waving from the engine. This being a new facet of the holidays I had never seen, I was still relived to be able to go back to my Masterpiece Theatre and put my pajamas back on.

Recently at a department Christmas lunch the conversation (these things can get dull) turned to the topic of when children discover the truth about Santa. The thought occurred to me of how to explain to a Santa believer the presence of Santa on a fire truck. The best story I could think of is that he does this to spy on the little children to make sure they are being nice and not naughty. This has the double advantage of keeping the Santa story alive (you can always blame him when the kids don't get what they wanted under the tree) and to keep the kids from getting too bratty in the month of  December.

I am getting jaded in my old age. Last night I heard all the commotion outside and ignored the whole thing. We have now all been trained to ignore the sound of fire alarms during the days preceding Christmas. Hope there never is a real fire during this time of year.

Editor's note: Here is cute video you might enjoy. It contains frank language. Happy Kringles!

The record that ruined Christmas

Before this record came out we sincerely believed in Santa, God, country, Perry Como and Pat Boone. Then this record came out and we all became cynical. Christmas greetings became ironic. Ironic as in 30 Rock, SNL, The New Girl, etc. We went from sincere people who really cared about the holiday to cynics who could only say Merry Christmas with irony.  This record ruined Christmas for a generation. 

Slate's Christmas Favorites

Slate published a list of the great Christmas records today. Not bad.

• “White Christmas,” Bing Crosby from White Christmas (1995)
• “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” Judy Garland from Meet Me in St. Louis (1995)
• “The Christmas Song,” Nat King Cole from The Christmas Song (2009)
• “I’ll be Home for Christmas,” Michael Bublé from Christmas (2011)
• "Baby It's Cold Outside,” Johnny Mercer and Margaret Whiting from Johnny Mercer: Collector’s Series (1989)
• “Up On the Housetop,” The Jackson 5 from Ultimate Christmas Collection (2009)
• “Winter Wonderland,”* Peggy Lee from Ultra-Lounge: Christmas Cocktails, Part One (1996)
• “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,” The Ronettes from A Christmas Gift to You from Phil Spector (2009)
• “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” Lou Rawls from Merry Christmas, Baby (2006)
• “Merry Christmas, Baby,” Otis Redding from Merry Christmas Baby / White Christmas (1968)
• “Blue Christmas,” Elvis Presley from Elvis’ Christmas Album (1985)
• “Santa Baby,” Eartha Kitt from The Very Best of Eartha Kitt (2007)
• “Sleigh Ride,” Ella Fitzgerald from Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas (2002)
• “This Christmas,” Donny Hathaway from A Donny Hathaway Collection (1990)
•  “All I Want for Christmas is You,” Mariah Carey from Merry Christmas (1994)
• “The Christmas Waltz,” Frank Sinatra from  A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra (2011)
• “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” Brenda Lee from Rockin’ Little Christmas (2011)
• “Silent Night,”* the Temptations from A Motown Christmas (1999)
•  “Happy Xmas (War is Over),” John Lennon from Now That’s What I Call Christmas! (2001)
•  “Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!” Frank Sinatra from Christmas Songs by Sinatra(2007)

Of course I would make a few changes. I'd substitute the Chrismas Waltz by Peggy Lee Frank Sinatra's version. I'd also include some of my personal classics like "Got a code inda node for Christmas" by Gayla Peevey,  and "Grandma Got Run over by a Reindeer" by Elmo and Patsy. Of course,  no Christmas would be complete without "Italian Jingle Bells" by Lou Monte. I also like Christmas Time in Harlem by Louis Armstrong.  I guess this year I'm doing the lazy way of making a Christmas cd. 

Dear Aunty Florence

Delco woman sentenced for food-stamp fraud

November 30, 2012|By Aubrey Whelan, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

• • hare on redditMore Sharing Services

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A Darby woman who pled guilty to allowing patrons at her food market to exchange food stamps for cash was sentenced today in federal court in Philadelphia to 21 months in prison and ordered to pay $225,000 in restitution.

Federal officials said Florence Kingsley, 59, the former owner of Aunty Florence's West African Food Market, would give food-stamp recipients cash in exchange for the stamps and then falsify register transactions.

In one instance, officials said, Kingsley purchased $200.23 in Food Stamp benefits and gave the Food Stamp recipient $120 in cash, keeping the remaining monetary value for herself.

Not Dear Aunty Florence? 

the Fiscal Cliff

Charles Krautheimer has a new column on the fiscal cliff. Maybe he's right that it's all politics. Things usually are. Obama has some nice cards right now. The Bush tax cuts are going to expire on January 1 automatically. Obama won the election and the Dems have a few more Congressional seats stating in 2013. He has the big MO. So what's the hurry?

Nobody knows how things will turn out. Still it will make for some nice holiday dinner conversation.

45 rpm records

I always like to brag that I have music in all formats. I have a few seventy eights, lots of singles, albums, cassettes and cd's. One thing I  forgot is how I got all those singles. The truth is that most of them  were not bought at the standard price when the records were on the charts. Most of them were bought when they were put in plastic bags. These records have little holes punched in them at the corner of the labels.

One summer day I was at the Modell's record department and I noticed something new. Plastic bags containing  singles were on sale for three for a dollar or thirty nine cents. The records varied and contained  different artists with hits and almost hits of the past year or so. You might find "I got you babe" or "Sweet talking guy" or a Solomon Burke single. Or Mary Welles, Petula Clark and the Kinks. The artists were very varied, but except for the one time I found "Ain't she sweet" they contained no Beatles, Stones, or Dylan. You never found a Capitol recording but otherwise I remember seeing all the labels. I even discovered three Jimi Hendrix records together.

The other day I spent an hour or so playing old singles. They still sounded good but getting up every three minutes to change the record is hard on the back. A lazy man's way of listening to old records is searching for the titles through You Tube. It's amazing how many records from that era are available there.

the day after Thanksgiving

One of the weirder American holidays is the day after Thanksgiving, also known as "Black Friday". It is a day when  all school children get off but many adults have to work. I remember when I worked in Denver on that day. It was the day we got to see all the husbands of the key punch operators in the office. Mom would have to work, Daddy would be off, the kids would be off and the pay checks were given out at noon. One by on at twelve o'clock the husbands would all troop in with the kids to pick up the checks. It was fun matching up the families to the staffers. 

I wrote a newsletter column back then for the house organ of the company. I wrote how great it was to see every body's family on the day after Thanksgiving. That article must have caught the attention of somebody because the next year the company made that day a vacation day. I always felt is was my column that was responsible. 

Probably for me my happiest memory of this day is being home from college and seeing all my college buddies on that day. I remember taking the bus to New York with old friends on that day. I think we ate Chinese food. 

Nowadays the day after Thanksgiving has become the major shopping day of the year, "Black Friday". I guess getting up at three a.m to go to the stores is a ritual by itself. This year, however, the stores are opening on Thanksgiving night. More convenient but probably not as exciting. 

Thanksgiving being a Thursday can be traced to Washington. I often wonder why it isn't a Friday. Wouldn't it make more sense than creating an orphan day and a day care nightmare for millions of working parents? I guess in the good olde days Mother was home on that day, catching up on the canning.

Come ye thankful people come

I went to the same school from kindergarten to grade 6 in dear olde Hackensack. The day before Thanksgiving, every year, the 6th grade choir would march from classroom to classroom in choir robes and sing "Come ye thankful people come". Nothing being more sentimental than a fourth grader during a holiday period, I remember having moist eyes as I would hear the choir sing that song. As a sixth grader I got to wear a robe myself.

At that age I swallowed up elementary school traditions lock stock an barrel. It was a big event in my life, one that would repeat seven times through my childhood. When I was in high school I would tell you how school was meaningless and a symptom of an over regimented society but as a kid I was a true believer.

By fifth grade I knew the cynical version of the song. "Come ye thankful people come, blow the school to kingdom come, first the teachers, then the ... I forget the rest. Even school kids had their non believers.

Editor's note: Lock stock and barrel is a cliche, best avoided in writing.

Morning television

The other day I was sitting in the dentist chair waiting to have my teeth drilled. It was early and I was staring in terror at the TV screen watching Good Morning America. I guess it was supposed to anesthetize me but it had the opposite effect. I can't believe it, everybody is so happy! Everybody is so hyped up and the audience is screaming with delight. The public in Times Square looked like a group of methedrine users topping off their highs with coffee and sugar donuts. And all the bright primary colors.

Later, home I turned on the TV and there was Rachel Ray. Again, everybody is smiling and so happy. The audience is cheering with bliss. I guess they must get free pastries. Next week she is premiering smell o vision and giving out smell cards. I would have missed that fact had I been at work.

Next I watched the View. This was a downer after the other shows. Barbara Walters was bitching about Lindsay Lohan turning her down for an interview. After Barbara had a notebook full of notes. The audience cheered at the notebook. At least the View panelists are almost like real people. Real hung over people.

Finally I turned on the news. The big story was the Petraeus sex scandal. America loves sex scandals. And apparently there are reams of incriminating e mails. I keep my incriminating e mails stored on a cd rom. If I ever need to turn them over I'll be ready.

Old white men

It's official. With the re-election of Obama, Old white men no longer rule our country. The new results show that women, atheists,  along with various non white ethnic groups, voted together against the class of people that has run this country from the beginning. Old white men.

Us old white men enjoy our privileges. We make more than anyone else does at the office and when we leave we head for the bar. After a few libations, we head home. There we are met by the wife, who, recently arrived home from work herself, is making us a nice supper. Then she does the dishes, then the laundry. She takes care of the kids and allows us to watch the game while drinking another beer. We yell at the tv and everybody puts up with us because we are in charge. We are old white men.

We like things the way they are and voted for Romney to keep things that way. Dag nap it. They ganged up on us and put that Obama back in office for four more years. We believed in freedom and the right for a man to make his own mistakes. Now we're going to become socialist, just like the French. The French. Dag nap it. Fere Jacques. Pardon my Hungarian.

Frankenstorm

Well the big storm is over. Power is back. Luckily I had power during the evening hours last night. It was interesting going to the ACME this morning. They only sold cans and dry goods and the lights were real dim like it was being powered by a generator. The conveyor belts and electric doors didn't work. It felt like a scene from Foyle's War.

During a storm like this that gets a lot of media coverage, out of town friends and kinfolk are concerned. "Oh we were so worried. I hope you're all right!"

I can be truthful and say I got two days off from work and learned to read Agatha Christie by sunlight. Of course there is always the temptation to avoid disappointing your interrogators.

"Oh you wouldn't believe it. I was in the living room and the plaster fell off the ceiling and the basement flooded ten feet and the cat died. Remember the big oak in the back yard? It's now sticking out of my deck. And the roof of the car caved in." Makes for a better story.

Gasoline prices

Sometimes it's better to be lucky than right. The day after Romney was talking about how gas has gone from under $2 (I think that lasted a day) to now going above $4. The next day I went out in the car and noticed that gasoline had gone down ten cents a gallon. It was almost like the gas stations wanted to boost up the president's standing.

 I somehow got the impression that both men were a little sketchy in their appraisals of gas prices at the pump. I am sure  that they both go places in cars that have already been gassed up by one of their underlings. The president hinted that if cars are more energy efficient, the price of gas is offset by miles per gallon. He didn't have the courage to say that, but he hinted at it.

I remember in 1973 when there were long gas lines. My father said, "They'll raise the price of gas to a buck fifty and then everybody will have gas". Father was right on that one. Gasoline is a funny thing. It's much higher in Pennsylvania and New York than New Jersey, and those states allow people to pump their own gas. I suspect that gas will stay under $4 until the end of the year. Then there will be a rapid increase as President Romney readies America for invasions of Syrian and Iran.

the Poconos

At some point in my youth, my parents discovered the Poconos. They found a resort called Mo No Mo Nock and got in the habit of going there for a few days every summer, often with Dad's golf buddies. Occasionally the kids went with them. I remember playing skittles, hanging out at the pool, and I remember they had a social director who engineered events like square dance night. I actually spent Woodstock weekend as an unhappy youth at Mo No Mo Nock.

I was sitting by the pool one day when I was almost kidnapped. A couple came up to me with their two daughters and asked if I'd like to spend the day exploring with them. My mother headed them off at the pass.
The last thing she needed was for poor Mr. Mustache to get involved with a strange family on what was supposed to be a family vacation. Later Mother said, "What is this, the Catskills?"

Mount Airy Lodge was the more expensive cousin of Mo No Mo Nock. Although my parents were too cheap to stay there, I remember my mother telling me they went there for lunch (I was in college by then). "Oh the clothes!" my mother commented on what she saw at Mount Airy Lodge. Apparently she was impressed by the ostentatious apparel worn by the diners.

Today, after forty three years, I finally went back to the Poconos. Route 611 is rather tacky and commercialized now. Driving up to Mount Airy Lodge to lose a few quarters, I came upon a Spanish diner. I ordered pollo guisado. The lady asked if I wanted plain rice or the bean laden rice next to it. I said "con frijoles". I am always happy to impress people with my high school Spanish.

Mount Airy Lodge is very pretty in a rustic parkish way, however I doubt my mother would comment on "the clothes" today. We live in a more informal time and people with real money don't go to the Poconos, unless, perhaps, they are skiing in the winter. The denizens of the casino were mostly seniors who apparently arrive by bus. I lost twenty dollars and went home. I stopped on the way at the outlet mall and bought a pair of leather gloves. This time I promise I won't lose them.

So the Poconos survive but it's different than the good olde days. Anyone up for a game of skittles?

Pennsylvania voter ID laws

It's very significant that in Pennsylvania, Id's will not be required to vote. This should help the Democrats since they are less likely to have appropriate identifications or are too disorganized to produce one at the polls.

Mary Republican has a maid to watch the kids when she is at bible studies. On the way home she can vote and produce a driver's license and a passport.

Under the voter ID law:
Mary Democrat arrives at the polls five minutes before the polls close. Her kids are left in her car and are making a lot of noise. Mary Democrat gets distracted and  leaves her pocketbook in the car. It has all her identification and by the time she realizes she doesn't have it she can't vote because the polls are closed.
With the new ruling:
Mary Democrat can vote because the won't ask for ID.

The Presidential debates

One of the nice things about the Presidential debates is that, because they are live and unscripted, you get a look at what the candidates are like in real life. Judging from the recent debates I now have the personalities of the two men figured out. 

Romney is the pushy guy who bawls out his caddy when he's at the golf course. At the 19th hole he complains because they put too many onions on his sandwich. He's not a generous tipper. 

At the debate Obama reminded me of a high school history teacher telling the students that class participation is 25% of the grade. As a teacher he is liked by the students, partly because he also coaches basketball.  He is a tough grader, but he can be dissuaded by a vociferous parent to up the grade of a taciturn student. He is a good tipper when he remembers. 

Smart phone use

Half of all adults in the United States have smart phones or tablets. I am not one of them. I have fallen behind. I also don't have HDTV, text on my phone or have a flat screen TV. I used to keep lists of things that one needed in order to be a successful American. Here is a synopsis by year:
1970: A phone, a stereo, a car, a television set.
1980: Add a VCR, a microwave oven and a cassette player.
1990: Add a CD player and a computer.
2000: Add a DVD player, a notebook computer, a kayak, a cellphone and a house.
2010: Add  HDTV television and a GPS.
2012: Add a tablet and a smart phone. Scratch the cassette player.


Golly, you never catch up.