Steve Fischer's Random Blog

Category: Brooklyn

  • Scooter

    Danielle is doing a two-week gymnastics day camp at Chelsea Piers in Manhattan. This is the first time she’s ever had to get on a bus by herself to go to something like this. She has to meet the bus about 6 blocks away at 7:40 am. Thankfully she loves the camp, otherwise getting her ready in the morning could be a real chore.

    She asked if she could ride her scooter to the bus. She can’t take the scooter, so that would mean that I’d need to bring it back home.

    I think I’ve mentioned before how much Danielle rides her scooter and how perfect a scooter is in Brooklyn. Her old one broke so we upgraded her to the Razor A5. This is a great city scooter. Big wheels to eat up the bumps in the sidewalks, tall enough for adults. It flies. It’s all about the big wheels.

    I, of course, indulge my daughter and let her take the scooter to the bus. Which leaves me with a decision. As a mature adult, do I:

    1. Walk the scooter home.
    2. Ride the scooter home.

    This really wasn’t even a thought for me. Of course I rode the scooter home. It’s a nice scooter, it’s faster than walking, there’s no real decision to make.

    Yet apparently most grown-ups would go with (1). What’s up with that? Have we forgotten what fun is?

    Embrace your inner 7 year old…

  • Office Space

    Things have been picking up for Origami Risk. There has been a lot of sales activity so I’ve been helping on that front. And I suddenly find myself busy with client implementations. All good stuff.

    Suddenly, taking a phone call from a client or prospect in the coffee shop doesn’t seem so great. I love the coffee shop and the walk across the street commute, but it’s getting problematic.

    So I bit the bullet and found myself some cheap office space in Brooklyn. I’m trying out Green Desk office space in DUMBO Brooklyn. They have a variety of sizes of spaces, they rent month to month, it’s walking distance from my apartment and it’s cheap. And it’s quiet.

    I spent my first day there today. It was very interesting. First, it’s just a big change not having the hustle and bustle in the coffee shop, both in a good and bad way. It’s also in a different neighborhood. DUMBO is close to me, but not my neighborhood. It’s a good 15-20 minute walk. So there’s some of that fun excitement about figuring out a new place.

    The space overall is very interesting. It reminds me that there are lots of small companies with 1-5 people. I just walk around my floor and see a dozen companies. Some spaces are sparse (like mine) and seem to be one guy freelancing. Some have a few people collaborating on something. A few have real signage up.

    Green Desk overall seems to be doing very well. I’m sitting in their second space which they are still finishing building. They are then going to build a third one in Downtown Brooklyn, which is even closer to my place. I’ll probably move once that is ready.

    I don’t have to go there every day. I could still work outside from time to time. And I’m definitely still wearing shorts and t-shirts.

    And amusingly, one of the entrances to my space is by walking right through this bar. We’re in the same building in the back (it’s a big old warehouse). I haven’t tested it yet, but I bet Green Desk’s WiFi reaches the bar just fine…

  • Could it be?

    image

    Have we reached the point where we can have adult evenings with our kids present? Is it finally getting easy?

    Tonight my wife and a three of her friends decided they needed drinks. Working for Marsh will do that to you. It was a beautiful day so they decided that our roof deck was a perfect destination.

    I get the word around 5:45. They show up around 6:30. These are the kind of friends that you don’t need to clean up for and they know our kids. So that part is easy. So we get some wine, some glasses, some music and some snacks for the kids and we head to the roof.

    And it was easy. Our kids just hung out. Sure, they wanted me to flip them upside down and other similar things, but they didn’t just hang on me. They hung out with everyone. Of course I let them play with my phone (Tori is still into that stupid Gummy Bear song on YouTube) but entertaining them wasn’t an effort. There was even limbo.

    It was a gorgeous night. We drank wine, we ordered pizza, the kids played and everyone had fun.

    Maybe it was a fluke, but I’m getting the idea that adult evenings may start happening again…

  • Brooklyn Dark Matter

    Been asking every bartender I know. No one knows if there will be more. Much sadness…

  • Pier 6

    I’ve discussed the plans for Brooklyn Bridge Park before. Today, Pier 6 opened. This portion has its entrance on Atlantic Avenue, my street, right on the river. Among other things, Pier 6 has a 1.6 acre playground for kids. And oh my, what a playground.

    It’s broken into sections. Slide Mountain has a bunch of 20 foot tall slides and various jungle gyms. Swing Valley has 10 different sets of swings. Sandbox Village, which is a 6,000 square foot sand area. And finally there is The Water Lab, with three different water sections.

    Danielle and I went there today for about an hour. They are still building out other parts of the pier, but the playground is spectacular. It was hot today, and it’s still a bit shade challenged (since most of the trees are young), but it’s the best park in Brooklyn.

    Enough talk. Pictures.

    Two of the slides in slide mountain (Danielle going down the first one).

    IMAG0028 IMAG0029

    The Tarzan Ropes in Swing Valley:

    IMAG0034 

    Part of Sandbox Village.

    IMAG0043

    And Danielle enjoying parts of The Water Lab:

    IMAG0037

    IMAG0042

    Seriously, this is one rockin’ playground.

  • Foursquare for Old Farts

    Foursquare has been very popular in New York since it first came out. I recall thinking it was an interesting concept, but with my old crappy phone (with no GPS) it didn’t really work. So while I signed up for Foursquare, I never used it.

    Hey, now I have a cool phone with GPS. Using Foursquare is a snap. It automatically detects where I am and shows me all the places nearby I could be checking in. And since it’s been around for a while now, there are a gazillion places in my neighborhood to check in. I can actually check in to my apartment building.

    But, um, why? I mean, I get it if you are single and out on the town all the time. But for an old fart with kids, what exactly is the point? Become the mayor of Walgreens?

    Sigh, clearly I’m too old to be hip…

  • First picture

    image

    The first picture taken with my Incredible.

  • Beer is Good

    My wife got invited to the Yankees game tonight (OK, I’m the Yankee fan, but she’s sitting behind the dugout – how is that fair?) so I decided to get an early bite at my favorite bar/restaurant.

    They always have good beer on tap, and they pretty much always have one of my favorite wheat beers on tap, Weihenstephaner.

    But I was in the mood for something different. They always give tastes and the Harpoon Celtic Ale was the beer of the day. I asked Jerry, the bartender, how it was and he responded, "it’s ok". (Jerry is always honest – a good trait in a bartender – plus he buys free rounds, an even better trait). And it was fine, but not great.

    Then I noticed that there was a new beer from Brooklyn Brewery on the menu. Brooklyn Dark Matter. Now, I am more of a wheat beer guy. I also like hoppy ales. I’m not a huge stout guy (of course I like Guinness, but it’s not my first choice). So I asked Jerry what Dark Matter was like, was it a stout?

    He got this look on his face. "It’s really, really good, want a taste?". So I tried it. Again, not my usual style, but oh my. Not a porter, more like a German dark with amazing flavors. So I ordered it.

    After a few sips, I turned to Jerry. "This is really, really good". A little later in the beer, I turned to him again, "damn, this is one of the best beers I’ve ever had". And he just kept agreeing.

    It’s also strong. Two was my limit. Oh, I wanted more, but I also wanted to walk a straight line on the way home.

    Not sure how many folks outside of Brooklyn will get a shot at this brew. If you ever see it, try it. Unless you are a Bud fan, you won’t regret it.

  • Brooklyn Bridge Park

    We went to the newly opened Pier 1 section of Brooklyn Bridge Park. Brooklyn Bridge Park is a big plan to turn a large section of the Brooklyn waterfront, from the Brooklyn Bridge to Atlantic Avenue (our street). When it is done it will be fantastic.

    This is the plan. The part above the Brooklyn Bridge, Empire Fulton State Park, already exists. It’s a nice park in a great spot, with great Manhattan views, great views of both bridges and even the Statue of Liberty.

    The Pier 1 section just opened. It’s very nicely done. The next part to open is Pier 6 (opening this spring), which is closest to us. It is going to have a big playground, so I’m sure we’ll be there plenty.

    Our spot on Atlantic Avenue is just getting better and better. We’re about a mile  from this park. A half mile in the other direction will be the new basketball arena for the Nets.

    If we can only afford to stay here…

  • Salt in Brooklyn

    I was walking home today and saw a group of about 30 police in serious riot gear walking down the street. Freaky. Then they all walk into the Greek Orthodox church on our block.

    Finally it dawns on me. I had seen the trailers parked up the block that they use when filming. And they often use the church to change costumes. So I checked the signs and they are apparently filming the upcoming movie Salt.

    I’ll have to keep an eye out for Angelina…