Sunday, January 01, 2006

January 1, 2006

Well folks, 2005 is over. I'm fairly glad it's over, since I managed to lose several friends, 3 jobs, 3 vehicles, and had to face the premature deaths of a cousin and a roommate (see December 25, 2005 blog- that story was not made up).

2006 started out as most years do in NYC, with a lot of fanfare in Times Square. I spent midnight at home, since I had to be up early this morning. I flipped between New York 1, Fox 5, ABC 7, and CNN (Channel 10 on Time Warner Queens cable). ABC 7 had the return of Dick Clark (no relation). He sounded awful- but supposedly because of his 2004 stroke, he had to re-learn how to talk. The real host of ABC's New Year's Eve celebration was the smarmy Ryan Seacrest. Fox settled with the more conventional Regis Philbin. Normally, Fox employs Seacrest for their American Idol show, while Philbin's normal employer is ABC 7. CBS 2, which normally is on top of news stories, eschewed Times Square coverage in favor of a CSI rerun.

I usually spend New Year's Day at work at Aqueduct Racetrack. Today was my 9 year anniversary there. I handed out and stocked the tables with calendars. I have been there every year since 1997. But due to NYRA's financial troubles (and the threat faced by a potential Spitzer administration), the calendar giveaway may be the last giveaway held at Aqueduct. The promotions department isn't sure when the next giveaway will be. Supposedly Aqueduct will become a slot machine haven next year, and assuming that happens, the track will be saved. But now the track is in bad shape, and that affects the promotional department's budget, which in turn affects my budget.

But 2006 is starting on an uncertain note. Now that the giveaways are over, I have to go on unemployment again. I found out my sister has spent the last 4 days at a hospital in Louisiana. My friends Jon and Tyrone are feuding, and I'm caught in the middle of their noncommunication. There's a tropical storm in the Atlantic (which has only happened once before in January). And the destructive job killing Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is still way out in front in the polls to be NY's next governor. I hope he doesn't win, but I have saved several potential employers' names in Colorado Springs and Las Vegas in case he does win. But I would like to go to Times Square for New Year's one of these days.

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