I know I keep talking about the humidity, but at this time of the year in New York it's a big part of the day. This morning it was 93% while I was walking to work. It was not quite sauna weather because it was only 73 F, but it was pretty close.
As I write this a 3rd runner in the 3100 mile race is approaching the finish line. Grahak Cunningham should finish at about 12 hours into day 47.

For the last 2 weeks cryptic cardboard signs have been showing up, taped to light poles and street sign poles all around the neighbourhood. There is a small notice on the back of each of them that says "Cardboard Bandits". It is a mystery, but quite entertaining.
2 years ago today I found a large green caterpillar, which I videotaped crawling on my hand. I put it up on youtube and it has now been viewed just over 158000 times.Check it out it's called What a Monster.

3100 mile finisher
Asprihanal Aalto the Finnish runner was the first runner home today in the Self-Transcendence 3100 mile race. He finished just after breakfast in a time of 44 days 2Hrs 42 mins 15 seconds unofficially.This is I believe his 7th finish in his 3rd best time. Congratulations !!!

Yesterday we had a lot of thunderstorms throughout the day. Then in the evening it was so nice and cool. When I left for work this morning it was just 66 F which is good for the last few days of July in New York.
I have been taking my Slovenian lessons over Skype, I think I am progressing slowly. Time will tell

About 30 minutes before I went out for my run this morning, thunderstorms passed over the area. Needless to say when we went out it was quite humid. With my second run yesterday afternoon I had completed 9 miles. This morning I ran another 8 and will go out again this afternoon. Not too long after I came back from my run more thunderstorms passed. So I had managed to run between them, however I was so wet from the humidity, it would probably have been nicer to be in one.

I said I was feeling good this week, but as I warmed up for the race I felt some pressure in my neck and shoulders. Once the race started however I felt good. An old friend of mine was running just behind me and told to keep the pace. I felt I was running fast and was really feeling it when she passed me with 1/2 mile to go. I tried to stay as close as I could and came in with a time of 14:20. My best time this year and only 4 seconds slower than my best time last year.
I jogged 2 miles as a warm down and was very happy with my race today.

During the week I was feeling tired and my running was a bit of a struggle, But today that all seems to have changed and I felt quite light and lively on my run this afternoon.
The photo was taken during our visit to the Serbian restaurant Kafana last weekend.

I think I have mentioned before that one of my workmates has been battling Cancer for some time now. Well this week he was told that after 12 different types of treatment, it is spreading and basically there is nothing more they can do. Needless to say it is a bit of a bummer.

This by the way is my 1000 post since I started this blog, it's been just about 3 years since I started, so not bad.

On my way to work in the mornings I pass an area where someone has planted some Mint. It is actually growing through the fence near to the sidewalk. So for the last few mornings I have been picking some of it and making tea at work 2 or 3 times a day.
The copy of my Birth certificate that I ordered came today. They said it would take 3 weeks, but it came in 9 days. I am getting closer to Croatian citizenship and purchase of the farm.

A much cooler day, about 10 degrees cooler than they predicted. It feels nice and there is a nice breeze.


It's not such a great shot and it's a week late, but this is Beth Orton performing at the Celebrate Brooklyn concert I went to 10 days ago.

It is a little too hot and the Sun is a little too strong to do much today. Of course it is Monday and it is a perfect day to do washing, there is even a bit of a breeze to go with the sunshine.
Two of the stores near to the apartment building have been closed for a short time and 6 families have been found temporary housing by the red cross. It seems the landlord had a building inspector say the building was safe 3 weeks ago. So I guess some heads will roll.

As I approached the place where we were to meet to go to Kafana, I saw that the street was blocked off. There were about 10 police cars and 7 fire engines. It seems that in the old apartment building there, the ceilings of 2 apartments had collapsed.
Finally after a few cell phone calls the group of 7 did meet up.There were 2 Americans, 2 Bulgarians, 2 Serbs and me the mix of English Serb.
We got to Kafana a little early and had to wait about 20 minutes. It was the first time since they opened that they were opening for the lunchtime period. We ordered a range of items to get a feel of what they had. We spent 1 1/2 hours there the food was good. Besides us there was a family of 5 and 2 couples in a place that holds around 30.

This morning it was already 78 F and 85% humidity when Utpal ( who just got back into town ) went out for our Sunday run. I ran 6 miles then added 2 more on the 3100 mile race course, I will go out this afternoon for a few more miles. The last few days the high has been 93 F ( 33C), so it's been kinda warm.

This week it was still quite hot 77 F, but not so humid 66%. I was feeling good both when I woke up and as I ran over to the race. I actually felt good when the race started, but seemed to be struggling in the second mile, though some of the faster runners were not that far in front of me. My finishing time was 15:07 which was 5 seconds faster than last week, so I stopped slowing down.
I went over and ran an additional 4 miles on the 3100 mile race course. so a decent day.
I will not be going out again today because I am going with a few friends to a Serbian restaurant in the East village, I mentioned it earlier in the week. We decided to have a late lunch there.

The humidity has not been too bad all day, but it's been quite hot, with a temperature of 87 F ( 31C). The heat index was about 90 F and there is a heat advisory until tomorrow evening. There is a nice breeze which is a saving grace. When you are in the Sun it is very strong and you can feel it burning very quickly
My running is good and I hope that the humidity will not be too high tomorrow for the 2 mile race.

I don't know if it's because of the increased humidity, but I was really sleepy this afternoon. I somehow managed to get through my work day, but it was a long slow walk home.
I think maybe I need to take an early night. Fortunately I only have to work a few hours tomorrow.

A few days ago I read a review of a new Serbian restaurant in the East village. They said the food was just like in Belgrade. So last night one of the guys from work went in and checked it out, giving a favourable account of things. Right now we have about 5 guys who want to go in on Saturday and have lunch there.

I seem to be feeling all the running I did this weekend. My legs felt a little heavy when I went out for my run this afternoon. That is all part of the running game we play. My right achilles is a bit sore, though I think that comes from the fact that my right calf is also a bit tight. This should all get better as the week progresses. It's 86 F ( 30 C), with the humidity at 61%.

With a short day at work, some rain in the morning and it being laundry day. I had to have something to do during the day. So I played this computer game Mafia War. I have only been playing it a couple of days and don't have any "Family" members yet, but I'm up to level 3 and I have some property and a few weapons. I have won a few fights and lost a few, but I'm doing OK.
In other news. A couple of weeks ago I got a pimple on my left knee and now I have one on my right knee. What's going on I'm not eating chocolate!

We had a great night . First we took the Long Island Rail Road to Brooklyn, which is only $6:50 round trip for a same day return on weekends and only takes 15 minutes. Then it was a 5 minute subway ride to Prospect Park and a 15 minute walk across the park to the Band shell. It only cost $3 for the concert, we got great seats and Beth was really good. She did songs from all 3 of her albums and played for about 90 minutes.
I got about 5 1/2 hours of sleep and went out early for my run this morning. Utpal has gone north of the border to visit with his family this week, so I ran alone. I ran my usual 6 mile loop and added 1 more mile on the 3100 mile race course. I will go out again this afternoon.
A note to Utpal, the berries were great this week

For the last couple of days the humidity has been low, so of course on race day it would be 76%. I knew I wasn't running so fast and my finishing time was 15:12. My slowest in 2 months. Three running friends from the 10 day race had come out to see the 3100 mile race. Bob Oberkher ran the 2 mile race, Luis Rios and Shishaldin decided to do some laps around the 3100 mile course, I joined them later and did another 8 miles, giving me a total of 10 miles for the day.

I am going into Prospect Park, Brooklyn tonight to see Beth Orton, with my friend Sadhak. She is giving a concert as part of the Celebrate Brooklyn series

I saw 2 interesting things on the way to work this morning; First I saw a beetle on the sidewalk, upside down waving it's feet in the air. I flipped it over and was amazed at how big it was, about 2 inches long and 3/4 of an inch wide. A real monster.

Here in New York drivers have this tendency to keep driving on a flat tire until they get to where they are going. I saw a minivan this morning where the driver had obviously done this and when he made a turn near his house, had stripped the tire off and driven on the wheel rim. It was an alloy wheel which a piece had then broken off and gauged into the road surface. Only in New York!

I have tried calling the warranty department at Circuit City a few times and always get a busy signal. Maybe this is their way of making people accept what ever warranty they want to give and then not have to deal with any problems that occur.
Today was hot 88F ( 31 C ) but the humidity was a low 26% so it actually felt quite nice. Well to me at least

I think the 2 nights of bad sleep finally made me tired enough to sleep well last night. What a difference it mad, because I felt so much better today.
When I got home I had to call Circuit City to ask about an international warranty for my cousin. After making it past a phalanx of recorded messages I finally spoke with a live person, who couldn't answer my question. She said she would transfer me to the warranty department. After 2 more recorded messages I got a busy signal. so I hung up. The "product assistant" had given me the number before she transferred me so at least I can try later.
My barber friend says that people have been taking photo's of my Clivia that is on display in his shop. That's nice eh.

For some reason the last couple of nights I have not been sleeping that well. It is probably because of the high humidity. Anyway I came home from work today feeling like I need a nap.
Another thing I have noticed this summer is that the Sun seems to be stronger. With my skin type I usually go straight to brown when I burn, but this year I seem to be burning red. I usually do not notice it though because it is not so

Yet another humid day, though there was some Sun today. I only had to work 3 hours today, so it was like my holiday continued.
It is looking like I am going to have to take Croatian citizenship to make it easier to buy my Grandfather's farm, I don't think it's a big deal, but it will save me quite a bit of money in taxes. We will see.
I have now gone 76 days when I have run at least 2 miles each day

So for the first time this summer I went out to run twice today. First in the morning I went out with Utpal, I felt kind of heavy the whole run, but stayed strong the full distance of 6 miles. It was very humid and I was quite wet when I finished.
Just after 2pm I went out again and felt surprisingly strong, it was a little less humid so I stayed out a little longer and ran 7 miles this time. some of it on the 3100 mile course while chatting with a couple of the runners.

It rained through the night and was trying to rain lightly before the start of the 2 mile race. As I started the race I didn't feel like I was running fast, but I knew from my position in the field that I was doing ok. The last 1/2 mile I seemed to be labouring a little, but kept my form and finished well, with a time of 14:51. Some said the air was a bit heavy, but when I got home and weighed myself I realized that I had gained 2 lbs since yesterday. I ate too much on 4th of July.

It is Independence day in America. When I went for my run this morning it rained lightly, which was quite refreshing.
Later I talked with my cousin in Rijeka, Croatia. He has sent me the first edition of the contract for my Grandfather's farm. Through the magic of Skype we talked about the details of me purchasing it. It is quite exciting to think that I will own the farm which was owned by my grandfather Nikola Jakovic and will once again be owned by me Nikola Jakovic.

I just got the last poem to complete my newest collection, it goes like this;

Simply put
the end
has come
when everything
we do
is done...

The collection is called "From a Joker". It is my 8th book of poems.

I saw a headline in the paper today that said, the average price of a gallon of gasoline ( petrol) in NYC is $4:33 and the average price of a gallon if milk is $ 4:37. It's amazing isn't it? They say the economy is slowing down but not in recession, oh well!

I Think I mentioned before, that for the first time this year I have a second Clivia from my collection that is flowering. This year I have chosen to display them in my local barber shop, the barber is an old friend of mine. Over the next few days I will post 2 or 3 photo's from that location. Here is the first one.