A collection of moments, memories, and discoveries.
Over the years, I’ve gathered a variety of short videos—some I recorded myself and others shared by family, friends, and people whose stories caught my attention. From family moments and everyday experiences to interesting people and the world around us, this collection brings together a little bit of everything.
Some clips may make you smile, others may stir a memory or give you something to think about. Take your time, explore the different groups, and enjoy whatever catches your interest.
On August 31, 2024, Ms. Christine Kelly celebrated her 100th Birthday in Bay Shore, New York. It was a fabulous event on a very lovely day in New York. The author of "It's About Time", took time to speak to each and every one of her guest, including yours truly. She is amazing!!!God continue to bless her and her family!!!
Sept 4, 2024. I am at my aunt Bambi's home in Cleveland, Ohio resting on her beautiful backyard deck. After taking a 4.2 mile walk up the hilly incline roads in her and her son Greg's neighborhood of Richmond Heights, what a lovely place to cool down and relax doing anything of your choice. A quarry is directly behind the deck. My late uncle Wilbur and his brother Moses would love the quarry as many kinds of animals come up to the deck for her plants to eat. I guess a hunting from the deck they would go.
Cousin Greg drove me to see Pittsburg, PA. He calls it a one tank trip which he and his wife Gwen try to take every Monday going to a different place within the distance of one full tank of gas in his truck.
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We're in the city where the three (3) rivers meet. We parked the truck in the Rivers Casino parking garage and walked through the casino, no cash spent there at all. Came out and walk to the PRT (Pittsburg Rapid Transit) which had a station across from Acrisure Stadium, home of the Pittsburg Steelers and the Hunt family.
We are on the train headed downtown. There is no charge for the ride for your first four stops in either direction. A creative way to get people to take the train around the city which goes under the three rivers.
We met this very friendly man riding the train with his eBike. We had a very informative talk about the eBike and how he integrates the train and the eBike. He uses the eBike all year round including the cold winters in Pittsburg. Only snow days stop him.
Cousin and I just got off the subway at the downtown stop and walked up to ground level and venture directly into the Market Square. Here we saw vendors, music stages, and groups of people participating in seminars of some sort.
As we start to just walk around downtown Pittsburgh, we run into the "PPG Place . These buildings are gorgeous!
PPG Place, described as the ‘crown jewel’ of the Pittsburgh skyline, sits in the heart of downtown, adjacent to historic Market Square. The complex consists of six office buildings totaling 1.5 million rentable square feet of trophy Class A space. PPG Place is home to several restaurants as well as the Wintergarden and the PPG Place Plaza – featuring The UPMC Rink at PPG Place in the winter and outdoor seating surrounding a unique water feature in the warm weather months.
Cousin and I are getting back on the PRT to head back to the truck so that we can go up Mt. Washington for some views. a bite to eat, and a ride on the furnicular incline on the mountain.
Cousin and I are back at Rivers Casino which he says is packed after working hours and of course the weekends. Parking in the garage is free and people often park here for free and then walk over to the subway and get on it for free.
I had no idea that Pittsburgh, PA was a mountainous city. I call it little San Francisco. We are on top of Mt. Washington. How do they drive cars here in the snow is beyond me. The views are magnificent. If you're walking, plenty of exercise is headed your way. We made some climbs up the roads to locations. I'm happy to know I'm in shape and so is Greg.
If you have/had no idea what a funicular, don't feel alone. The definition is: (of a railroad, especially one on a mountainside) operating by cable with ascending and descending cars counterbalanced. I have never heard of a funicular until I went to Pittsburgh. It's like a San Francisco cable car, but it only goes up and down a very steep mountain. Back in the late 1800's when Pittsburgh was a booming steel and coal town, the miners and the steel workers lived on top of the mountains and walked down the mountain to the mines or steel mills, but after 12 hours of work, they were too tired to walk back up the mountain, usually over 1,000 steps. So funiculars were built and cost 2 cents to ride.
s a cable-powered transit system that uses a counterbalancing system to move vehicles up steep inclines:
By using a counterweight pulley system, the funicular uses the kinetic energy of the descending car to raise the ascending car in a manner similar to that of an elevator. This works in combination with wheeled cars and tracks to allow for long routes and reliable rides.
Cousin Greg and I took a ride on this funicular with two other passengers. The gentleman appeared to be very humorous in his approach to this unique mode of transportation up and down a mountain.
The easiest way to get to the Open is by train. I took the LIRR from Ronkonkoma to Jamaica, change at Jamaica to Woodside, and from Woodside to Williets Point home of the New York Mets and Billie Jean King Tennis Center, home of the U.S. Open Tennis Championships.
The train stops right at the entrance to the U.S. Open. You just have to get your train ticket stamped so you're ready to get back on the train when the event is over for you that day.
The Louis Armstrong Stadium use used to be the largest main stadium at the open. It was redesigned when the Arthur Ashe stadium was built. It is now the second show court at the open.
We are getting ready for the first match of the day between P. Badosa versus YF Wang. Badosa won 6-1, 6-2. Play started at 11:00am and ended near 9:30 pm.
Music is playing and the fans are starting to come in
The first match started at 11:00 am and the stadium is starting to fill up. This stadium holds almost 15,000 people.
Looking at trains coming and going to the tennis center with Citi Field, home of the NY Mets in the background. Actually Citi Field replaced Shea Stadium the first home of the Mets and the Jets.
Here's what it looks like down on the court. Nice seats for sure.
This was the second Men's match today at this stadium. Brandon looked good the first set and the crowd really made noise for the American. However the world's #4 player Zverev took over in the second set and spanked him like he stole something.
Brandon Nakashima ran out of everything against Zverev in this 4th round match. It was ugly!!!
It was a very long day, but the tennis was exceptional and the fans got what they paid for at the U.S. Open 2024. The train ride home felt kind of lengthy because I was beat. All in all, it was a very good day!
Keep Your Head To The Sky Young Lady!
James started collecting this holiday edition doll iAs you may or may not know, Mattel has made Barbie dolls since 1959. They started producing the white holiday collectors doll in 1988. In 1990 they introduced the "Black Holiday Edition Barbie". Of course she was a hit, but was not as plentiful to get as her white counter part. It's been a struggle to get her some years because racism in America is still alive even when it comes to dolls.
It began in 2002. Playing with that awesome "Lionel" train my father bought his twin boys one Xmas , and watching all the models my twin built in our basement room in New York, I decided to build a table that represented all the places in the U.S. I've traveled to and also exhibit all of my interests. The lights go off and the table comes to life at night. Thanks Mr. Louie Cuff of Bay Shore, NY. He sold us candy out of his basement and had a table too.