Thank You Neil!

George Grand · July 2013

I just had a great cheeseburger and conversation with our own NSpindel. Neil is down the Jersey shore on vacation, so I drove down and met him for a nice repast.

I am normally very leery of blind dates, but this one started out great. As soon as we sat down Neil asked me where I was from in Brooklyn. My old neighborhood doesn't really have a name, but it is where several familiar sounding areas (Midwood, Gravesend, Canarsie, Flatlands, and more) all come together. Rather than say that I just gave him the exact location, "East 17th Street between Ave. O and Ave. P" He immediately said, "Oh, that's over by where Midwood, Gravesend, Canarsie,... all come together." I don't want to say I started thinking Mr. Right has arrived, but it was a good sign. A lot better sign than the vampire Yankees t-shirt he was sporting.

I'm looking forward to next year Neil, thanks a million.

George

ZLTFUL · July 2013

Ala Office Space...

Neil... watch out for your cornhole, bud.

nspindel · July 2013

Great meeting you George, definitely a nice time! That storm chased me the whole way back to the island, and I outran it. But it caught me while I was traveling north up the island towards the house, that was quite a dousing. How was your ride home through it?

Great talking the old neighborhood with you. As for the baseball, this poor guy hasn't had a season to root for since 1955!

scottyboy76 · July 2013

ZLTFUL wrote: »

Ala Office Space...

Neil... watch out for your cornhole, bud.

INDEED lol

nspindel · July 2013

I did not drive past your exit. I came down the turnpike!

nspindel · July 2013

I forgot to update this thread when I got back from my vacation, when I'm not typing on an iPad. First of all, it was very gracious of George to take the drive that he did. If you know much about NJ geography, you've probably heard of the Pine Barrens. A vast stretch of pine woodlands in the middle of the state, which takes upwards of an hour to drive through. In the Pine Barrens, you will find three things: 1) Pine trees. Lots and lots of pine trees. 2) Military bases. Wave as you're driving by, but don't stop. 3) Dead bodies buried by the mafia. Hard to actually find these, they're underground, but they're there! However, there are several things you won't find in the Pine Barrens - like gas stations, restaurants, bars, record stores, nor for that matter, anything else. So not exactly the place to meet up for a burger. Unfortunately, these same Pine Barrens sit dead between where George lives and where I was vacationing down the shore. George took the drive through the trees and we met up quite close to where I was staying. And the drive back was through some ugly looking weather, so thanks for doing the driving George!

It's not a secret that George and I didn't get off to the best of starts back in 2005 when I was a young troll. I dug that thread up from the dead not too long ago. But we buried that hatchet years ago, and have since become good friends here. But I was thrilled to get the opportunity to meet him in person, not just cyberspace. Besides talking about the old neighborhood, George also told me all about his involvement with the Githens Center. Suffice it to say, what George is doing with his vinyl sales is just incredible. If we were all 1% as benevolent as George, this would be a very different world.

So go ahead and buy an album or two from him if you haven't already. Not only will you lay your hands on some good vinyl, you'll also be helping some kids who need it. All the money goes to them, not George.

Great meeting you George! We'll do that again for sure.

nspindel · July 2013

And Jackie was out.

tonyb · July 2013

Good on you Neil. Glad you 2 yutes had a good time. Anyway, this cyberspace B.S. attracts a lot of unnecessary nonsense when in fact most of us could sit on a barstool and actually be friends......AS LONG as nobody sits on my lap that is.:razz: