July 12, 2007

Update from Midtown

moocowinthecity 2007-07-12 No Comments

I’m currently in Midtown Manhattan (it feels weird typing that, since normally we just call it The City) but I figure for the intents and purposes of location we can go with something more than the usual vernacular.

So this morning I woke up, groggy, and got a ride to Hicksville Station and managed to get on a non-peak Penn Station express train which meant I only had to go through Jamaica Station, Woodside until I got into The City.

From there I took the 3 to Fulton Street Station; the exit that I took actually took me up through an older office building; and there was a door there that I need to go back and photograph (I forgot I had my digital camera with me…); just looking at the door and you can tell that there’s definitely memories there; mostly a scene from the 80s, two gay investors from wall street meet up for a goodbye before the weekend starts…not at all a premonition, more like a foreword to a new piece I want to work on. It was a cool door.

Anyways, I then walked about four steps and I was at the New York State Department of Licensing which also houses the Secretary of State office for Apostilles. I made my way through various layers of insecurity, showed my ID a few times and got on line to get my Apostille written up and sealed.

Upon handing in my apostille application and of course the money that goes along with that I did what one does in government offices: I sat and waited. About an hour later I had two Apostilles attached to both of my Birth Certificates.

I then caught a late lunch with kaygigi in Battery Park as we caught up and reminisced about Israel (we met at the Citadel Hostel in the Christian Quarter). It was fun, I’d missed hanging out with her.

Currently I’m sitting at Penn Station, in a Starbucks, catching up on work before I take a train to Jamaica and then take the AirTrain to JFK so I can fly back to Buffalo. The only plane I was able to get was the one that lands at 10:30pm-ish; from there heading to my apartment; then dropping of my labs in the morning, then in the evening getting back on a plane and heading back to NYC for my meeting on the 16th. I’m pretty sure the people at the Buffalo airport think that I just like riding on planes or something; I’m starting to get weird glances (‘it’s that guy again’) but maybe it’s just my dashing good looks.

Now excuse me…back to watching New York’s Finest…I mean…doing work…back to doing work…yes…working…that’s what I’m getting back to…work…right…

Update from Midtown

moocowinthecity 2007-07-12 No Comments

I’m currently in Midtown Manhattan (it feels weird typing that, since normally we just call it The City) but I figure for the intents and purposes of location we can go with something more than the usual vernacular.

So this morning I woke up, groggy, and got a ride to Hicksville Station and managed to get on a non-peak Penn Station express train which meant I only had to go through Jamaica Station, Woodside until I got into The City.

From there I took the 3 to Fulton Street Station; the exit that I took actually took me up through an older office building; and there was a door there that I need to go back and photograph (I forgot I had my digital camera with me…); just looking at the door and you can tell that there’s definitely memories there; mostly a scene from the 80s, two gay investors from wall street meet up for a goodbye before the weekend starts…not at all a premonition, more like a foreword to a new piece I want to work on. It was a cool door.

Anyways, I then walked about four steps and I was at the New York State Department of Licensing which also houses the Secretary of State office for Apostilles. I made my way through various layers of insecurity, showed my ID a few times and got on line to get my Apostille written up and sealed.

Upon handing in my apostille application and of course the money that goes along with that I did what one does in government offices: I sat and waited. About an hour later I had two Apostilles attached to both of my Birth Certificates.

I then caught a late lunch with

kaygigi in Battery Park as we caught up and reminisced about Israel (we met at the Citadel Hostel in the Christian Quarter). It was fun, I’d missed hanging out with her.

Currently I’m sitting at Penn Station, in a Starbucks, catching up on work before I take a train to Jamaica and then take the AirTrain to JFK so I can fly back to Buffalo. The only plane I was able to get was the one that lands at 10:30pm-ish; from there heading to my apartment; then dropping of my labs in the morning, then in the evening getting back on a plane and heading back to NYC for my meeting on the 16th. I’m pretty sure the people at the Buffalo airport think that I just like riding on planes or something; I’m starting to get weird glances (‘it’s that guy again’) but maybe it’s just my dashing good looks.

Now excuse me…back to watching New York’s Finest…I mean…doing work…back to doing work…yes…working…that’s what I’m getting back to…work…right…

Aliyah & Travel Update

moocowinthecity 2007-07-12 No Comments

Okay, so here’s the deal:

Apparently the Apostille people/Secretary of State people operate out of the New York Licensing Building at 123 William St, New York, NY 10038; they of course open and operate at inconvenient times; which means I head out and take the train to The City from The Island at some time closer to 7:00am than I would like it to be. From there I get the Apostilles affixed to both of my (new) birth certificates since my old one can’t get one (see two posts down) which then make them valid internationally to any of the countries that signed on at the Hague convention.

I was not able to work it so that I could get a flight that would allow me to be in Nutrition class on Thursday; however I sent an email to both of the professors and while I fully expect to have whatever penalty applied to my grade at least they know what’s going on.

My flight leaves from JFK at 8:30PM (thom413/kaygigi I’ll have some time to kill in Mid Town before I head to the airport, so call 347-706-0009 if you want to grab a cup of coffee) and I land in Buffalo at 10:00-ish PM Thursday evening, from there I head to my apartment and do laundry (I really, really, really need to do laundry). Then on Friday morning I drop my labs off (which I’ve completed and are the only reason I’m flying back to Buffalo since they need to be handed in without loosing too many points). Friday Night I fly to JFK.

My meeting with the Shaliach (Emissary) is on Monday the 16th at 4:00PM. Words cannot express to you how tired I am from all of the traveling…they also can’t express how overjoyed I am that I have my meeting.

I now have to hunt down my Rabbi though, and get the letter from him saying that I am, in fact, a Jew.

So that’s where we stand…and it’s now 3:14AM; and I need to get at least five hours of sleep so I can face the sun tomorrow without scowling (too much).

Aliyah & Travel Update

moocowinthecity 2007-07-12 No Comments

Okay, so here’s the deal:

Apparently the Apostille people/Secretary of State people operate out of the New York Licensing Building at 123 William St, New York, NY 10038; they of course open and operate at inconvenient times; which means I head out and take the train to The City from The Island at some time closer to 7:00am than I would like it to be. From there I get the Apostilles affixed to both of my (new) birth certificates since my old one can’t get one (see two posts down) which then make them valid internationally to any of the countries that signed on at the Hague convention.

I was not able to work it so that I could get a flight that would allow me to be in Nutrition class on Thursday; however I sent an email to both of the professors and while I fully expect to have whatever penalty applied to my grade at least they know what’s going on.

My flight leaves from JFK at 8:30PM (

thom413/ kaygigi I’ll have some time to kill in Mid Town before I head to the airport, so call 347-706-0009 if you want to grab a cup of coffee) and I land in Buffalo at 10:00-ish PM Thursday evening, from there I head to my apartment and do laundry (I really, really, really need to do laundry). Then on Friday morning I drop my labs off (which I’ve completed and are the only reason I’m flying back to Buffalo since they need to be handed in without loosing too many points). Friday Night I fly to JFK.

My meeting with the Shaliach (Emissary) is on Monday the 16th at 4:00PM. Words cannot express to you how tired I am from all of the traveling…they also can’t express how overjoyed I am that I have my meeting.

I now have to hunt down my Rabbi though, and get the letter from him saying that I am, in fact, a Jew.

So that’s where we stand…and it’s now 3:14AM; and I need to get at least five hours of sleep so I can face the sun tomorrow without scowling (too much).

My Birth Certificate Has Expired…I am now…John Doe..or Adventures in Government

moocowinthecity 2007-07-12 No Comments

So, I arrived in NYC bright and early this morning…I am not a morning person; if I could exist totally during the hours of darkness I would…I’d prefer to date a Vampire, actually…it would make things so much easier…but Government likes to get up early to show the American People that they’re eager beavers so I was up on a plane a 5:55am heading for NYC.

Upon arriving home, Mom and I make our way to the County Clerks office in Mineola. I go in as Mom Circles around, because there’s no parking. I wait on line, and finally get to see a clerk. The clerk takes my Birth Certificate and looks at it…puzzled, walks to a computer, walks back to me and goes “Your Birth Certificate is too old…it’s from NINETEEN EIGHTY FOUR!!” to which I respond “I’m well aware of the year of my birth, what do you mean it’s too old?” to which he responds “IT’S FROM NINETEEN EIGHTY FOUR” to which I respond “THEY ONLY EXPIRE WHEN YOU DIE WHAT. DO. YOU. MEAN. IT’S. TOO. OLD!?!” and he goes “IT’S FROM NINETEEN EIGHTY FOUR” and at this point I realized that I was going to get no where, so I said “then what do I need to do” and he goes “You need to get a new birth certificate” and I was like “Well FUCK does that mean I have to go back to school too!?! Do I at least get to keep the same set of parents, or is this some kind of random selection thing!?!…if 1984 is too old…what year are they going to give me!? I LIKE BEING FROM 1984!” to which he directed me to go from Mineola to Manhasset (which is where I was born) to go get a New Birth Certificate.

So Mom and I get into the car and drive to Manhasset, and I go into THAT clerks office, and fill out all the forms to get a birth certificate and a transcript printed/copied on the spot on a special, longer sheet of paper, which contains the new registrar of vital statistics signature (because apparently it’s too much work to keep the OLD registrars signatures on file, which is why my birth certificate is too old and why they can’t certify it)…only to find out that my birth certificate (The county’s copy) was DESTROYED because someone stamped all over the document, in pink ink, “payment received.” My fellow rogues will get why I started laughing…and then almost cried…HOWEVER, I made friends with a lovely grandmother named Alice who went to get the Microfiche of my un-destroyed birth certificate, and about an hour later I had what I needed…to drive back to Mineola to get them both certified (I was taking no chances).

So I get back to Mineola, run into the clerks office…have them certified in record time…one minute and then I had to wait half an hour for the clerk to go get change she owed me when I paid her for the certification (it cost $10.00…I paid with a $20.00)…and apparently I CAN get the Apostille in NYC (hahaha, this isn’t actually confirmed yet…this is just what they told me); so I’m doing that bright and early tomorrow morning and hoping that jetBlue doesn’t dick me over when flying back to Buffalo.

This does however mean that I can now avoid Albany.

After the Apostille I just need the letter from my Rabbi; I even have the check all written out for the Aliyah Organization: $50.00 to open my file, $50.00 for my plane ticket…

…at least if I was dealing with Bureaucracy in Israel I’d have Israelis to look at; and really…I’m very easily distracted by shiny objects, so I think I’d probably be okay…but there was no eye candy today, my friends…oh there was no eye candy…

…more updates as I have them.

My Birth Certificate Has Expired…I am now…John Doe..or Adventures in Government

moocowinthecity 2007-07-12 No Comments

So, I arrived in NYC bright and early this morning…I am not a morning person; if I could exist totally during the hours of darkness I would…I’d prefer to date a Vampire, actually…it would make things so much easier…but Government likes to get up early to show the American People that they’re eager beavers so I was up on a plane a 5:55am heading for NYC.

Upon arriving home, Mom and I make our way to the County Clerks office in Mineola. I go in as Mom Circles around, because there’s no parking. I wait on line, and finally get to see a clerk. The clerk takes my Birth Certificate and looks at it…puzzled, walks to a computer, walks back to me and goes “Your Birth Certificate is too old…it’s from NINETEEN EIGHTY FOUR!!” to which I respond “I’m well aware of the year of my birth, what do you mean it’s too old?” to which he responds “IT’S FROM NINETEEN EIGHTY FOUR” to which I respond “THEY ONLY EXPIRE WHEN YOU DIE WHAT. DO. YOU. MEAN. IT’S. TOO. OLD!?!” and he goes “IT’S FROM NINETEEN EIGHTY FOUR” and at this point I realized that I was going to get no where, so I said “then what do I need to do” and he goes “You need to get a new birth certificate” and I was like “Well FUCK does that mean I have to go back to school too!?! Do I at least get to keep the same set of parents, or is this some kind of random selection thing!?!…if 1984 is too old…what year are they going to give me!? I LIKE BEING FROM 1984!” to which he directed me to go from Mineola to Manhasset (which is where I was born) to go get a New Birth Certificate.

So Mom and I get into the car and drive to Manhasset, and I go into THAT clerks office, and fill out all the forms to get a birth certificate and a transcript printed/copied on the spot on a special, longer sheet of paper, which contains the new registrar of vital statistics signature (because apparently it’s too much work to keep the OLD registrars signatures on file, which is why my birth certificate is too old and why they can’t certify it)…only to find out that my birth certificate (The county’s copy) was DESTROYED because someone stamped all over the document, in pink ink, “payment received.” My fellow rogues will get why I started laughing…and then almost cried…HOWEVER, I made friends with a lovely grandmother named Alice who went to get the Microfiche of my un-destroyed birth certificate, and about an hour later I had what I needed…to drive back to Mineola to get them both certified (I was taking no chances).

So I get back to Mineola, run into the clerks office…have them certified in record time…one minute and then I had to wait half an hour for the clerk to go get change she owed me when I paid her for the certification (it cost $10.00…I paid with a $20.00)…and apparently I CAN get the Apostille in NYC (hahaha, this isn’t actually confirmed yet…this is just what they told me); so I’m doing that bright and early tomorrow morning and hoping that jetBlue doesn’t dick me over when flying back to Buffalo.

This does however mean that I can now avoid Albany.

After the Apostille I just need the letter from my Rabbi; I even have the check all written out for the Aliyah Organization: $50.00 to open my file, $50.00 for my plane ticket…

…at least if I was dealing with Bureaucracy in Israel I’d have Israelis to look at; and really…I’m very easily distracted by shiny objects, so I think I’d probably be okay…but there was no eye candy today, my friends…oh there was no eye candy…

…more updates as I have them.