What we achieve inwardly will change Outer Reality.

-Plutarch.

It’s certainly true. If you convert a sandwich into fuel by consuming it, it will certainly change the outside world in some form or other; either by expanding your stomach which takes up more space, or expelling it out of your arse in a different form. Here, a different mass occurs, and you may hear a mighty splash and a smell of methane might also be released, depending upon the health of your digestive system. There may be sound effects too if you’re that unfortunate. Or if you take space travel, then the earth has had to evolve over thousands of years for us to manufacture the materials required to change the environment outside of it. But a more modern phrase to that of our Greek philosopher friend would be that you get out what you put in. Even if it does take a long time to shift last week’s curry out of you.

New York Old York

After our late-night walkabout, it was time for some nibbles, and we fancied some dessert, specifically some New York-style cheesecake. After a quick google search, we found a back-street restaurant that is famous for its desserts named Juniors. We walked in and the place was absolutely packed; but the maître d quickly spotted us and guided us to a table close to a window. The restaurant was very open-plan and had cosy comfortable seats and a bar-stool diner area, which I would have preferred to be seated at but I guess these were reserved for singletons looking to mingle. It was also very bright and colourful. I went for a brownie explosion cheesecake, while Mum ordered a cherry one Once we’d ordered drinks and our food by a very cheerful waiter, we noticed that a queue had formed to be seated. While we were waiting, we couldn’t stop reading through the menu, and it was a shame that we didn’t have time to go back there. On our way out we passed a theatre, and we noticed that a barrier was being put outside the stage entrance and a crowd had begun to form. After checking the show, we discovered that Jim Parsons was currently performing. We waited half an hour with other autograph hunters but we got fed up of waiting and decided to head back to the hotel.

Firebrand West Coast IPA at the Rose Villa Tavern, Birmingham

As I was passing through Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, I thought it was a great opportunity to grab the Cask Marque scan at the Rose Villa Tavern before I returned home. It was only a stone’s throw away between my destination venue and the tram stop, and it’s an area of Birmingham that I haven’t visited for a long time. I found the pub quite quickly, and wondered how I would remember it. As I entered, it seemed that it hadn’t changed much. It still had its magnificent stained-glass windows present. Once I’d reached the bar, it did seem that there was a local’s corner and it took some peering over shoulders to see the beers on offer. But I did spot a beer from a brewery that I’d never heard of before. It was kept in a great condition and was very reasonably priced too. Once I’d got my beer, I headed round the corner to sit in a very comfortable tall armchair. I felt that Morpheus and Neo could have met here. I still hadn’t spotted the certificate scan though, but I discovered through a quick chat with the bar staff that they were waiting for it to arrive. On the plus side, there was excellent wi-if and I connected quite quickly; only to find that my time was limited as my return tram was en route. Hopefully I can get back there again soon and take advantage of their offers on their mailing list.

Night at the Empire State Building

Going to a tourist attraction at night was a strange experience, but at least it was open. Macy’s was just kicking out as we walked past. Once we’d found the correct entrance, we walked into a marble lobby with a large picture carved into a wall. A uniformed bellhop pointed us in the direction of the ticket queue and once our money had been extracted; we were free to board. Gone was the virtual roller coaster from last time; instead Kevin Bacon narrates from a TV screen as you climb the lift. And we didn’t have to wait long. We spent an hour at the top trying to take in every view from every angle. I didn’t even realise that H&M was a thing stateside. What I did do was try and discover which building was being used as Stark Tower for the Avengers movies. We didn’t realise at the time that we could get a deal to climb the top of the Rockefeller as well but we wanted to tick off as many places as possible.

Mouse in the House

One night I was lying on the sofa watching a movie. It was a late night and I might have dozed off. I lifted my head and glanced down at the carpet to notice a large brown mouse look back at me. Our eyes met, then, having realised that it had been spotted, it ran underneath another sofa. I slowly prepared to catch it, but by then it must have run beyond the sofa and down through a hole in the floorboards cut out to let the radiator pipes come through. A few weeks passed, then one day while I was in the pub Mum had spotted a mouse living underneath the kitchen sink. She closed the cupboard and daren’t look again until I returned the next day. We made the room escape-proof and couldn’t see the mouse, but we discovered that some of cleaning supplies had been chewed through and a nest had been made. On the following day, we had a sighting, so a plan had to be made.

The AmTrak Convoy

I was looking forward to a long comfortable train journey on a sleeper carriage with all the comforts, and I was hoping to be on top of a double decker carriage. Sadly, our train from Washington to New York wasn’t to be. It was quite a hefty climb up the ladder and into the carriage. Luckily a guard was on hand to help us load our luggage, which we still had to hoist into the overhead compartment if we could. Although the seating was spacious, it did look slightly old and faded; especially with the round metallic ashtrays in front of us. The guard’s uniform also looked outdated; his round flat grey hat looked as if it had been made from toilet paper. Nevertheless, I got a lot of reading done and Mum fell asleep; which was just as well as we sat on the wrong side of train and missed most of the scenic views. At least our tour group had a private carriage.

Lady in Waiting

There’s a woman standing at the counter stating that she’s been waiting for ten minutes. She’s short with a tanned complexion, she has a pointy nose and is trying to talk in a calming upper-class accent, though her dyed hair with a large fringe at the front somehow makes me doubt her credentials. Her grey sweatshirt also does little to assist her image. Perhaps she’s trying to talk over me in an overpowering tone in the hope that I will offer her a discount in fear of her complaining too much. Instead I just apologise for her wait and explain that we’ve been tied up with other customers and begin to process her order, only to discover five minutes later that she’s ordered the wrong thing. Here then, is her just desserts for trying to act too snooty in the first place. She’s now forced to wait longer as we exchange and locate her new one. I do catch a slight conversation with a passer-by while she waits; but whether she knows the man or is asking him about his experience is beyond me. Her voice does drop slightly as she departs, as the evidence is clear that my team is clearly working as hard as we can to keep things running.