NYC Sites: The New Year Ball Drop

I continue to "live it up" in NYC - I make it a point to explore different parts of the city every chance I get. It is a great excuse to exercise (since you have to walk everywhere) and also a great excuse to get outside and enjoy being free from the confines of being indoors.

2008 has been quite the year. It is the year I transitioned from a lecture hall to a hospital station. From wearing shorts and polos to wearing shirts/ties with a white coat. From wearing no identification to wearing an ID badge at all times and a stethoscope to boot.

It is also the year that I enjoyed an absolutely stunning view of the ball drop in Times Square, NYC. A friend of a friend of a friend (really, no exaggeration) had gotten a hotel room and welcomed his friends to invite other friends. As such, I had the opportunity (once in a lifetime, really) to catch the ball drop from about the same height as the ball itself! I was warm and cozy, unlike the 1000s gathered outside in about 18 degree weather! And I had easy access to a bathroom, another amenity not available to the peons outside. Life was good in the last few hours of 2008!

A couple observations:
1. The actual ball is NOT huge the way it has seemed for the past 26 years on TV. In fact, it is downright small in person. (It is the tiny little green dot in the picture to the right; it does change colors, which is pretty cool!)
2. The distance the ball drops is NOT that exciting, unlike how it seems on TV. In fact, it is maybe like 15-20 feet.
3. All in all, I would be downright PISSED if I had spent 12 hours standing outside in that sort of cold to see the ball drop. I was quite pleased having spent just 30 (FREEZING) minutes trying to get through the blockades with my friends to get to the hotel to see the ball drop about 3 hours later.

All in all, this is definitely a ONCE in a lifetime experience. Emphasis on ONCE. I'm glad I did it but I certainly wouldn't stand outside in the cold to do it again. But I must admit, it was a great way to ring in the new year.

"Rejoice in Hope, be Patient in tribulation, be Constant in Prayer." Romans 12:12

May 2009 be a year that we all can rejoice in the hope for change that our new President promises, may we learn new and more effective ways to be patient with the things that bother us and we wish we could change, and may we be prayerful always that the Lord bless our lives and the lives of others for the betterment of all.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!