Last 10 days...

Last ten days in the US... The days are passing by veeeerrrry slowly, not without events though.

I had visitors last week and had great time in NYC. However, something rather strange has happened one night. We were returning from the city at around 11-11:30pm or so and were just about to get out of the White Plains train station. I was driving and stopped at the red light in front of the back exit of the parking area. As we were waiting, 90 degrees to our right, around 100-200 meters ahead, a guy was riding a bicycle. He suddenly hit the curb, fall down from his bike, hitting his head on the side of the curb. It is somewhat interesting that all three people in our car were actually looking at that direction (for no obvious reason) and saw the exact moment of the fall. I think the guy had a medical problem before he fell, because no one falls like that!

We waited for around 30 seconds and the guy was not moving at all, as far as we could see from the car. So we decided to go and check. I went near the guy and asked him if he was ok. However, he was not moving at all and not speaking. So we decided to call 911. Unfortunately, my phone was out of battery (as I played with the damn thing all day in NYC). Then we tried my friend's phone, which is a phone from Turkey but open to international calls. However, it did not call 911 (not good). Around  that time a guy came by who also saw the accident. He had a phone and called 911. I went back to my car and parked it at a less obstructing place (noticing that I was occupying the entrance lane in reverse direction!). A lady in a car also came by and told me that she also saw it happening. After telling her that we called 911, I went back next to the guy. Blood was coming from his face. I couldn't tell from where particularly. Then he started moving his left hand towards his face. But no speaking or no other movement. I think it was not a voluntary movement. It was a good sign though. Then the police and ambulance came by. The ambulance took him. One of his shoes was thrown off. They put that next to him as well. It made me feel rather strange, but I can't tell exactly why.

The medic (or whatever they are called, I am using Starcraft terminology here) was so relaxed as she carried through the procedures. She must be seeing this all the time. We were pretty much shocked, in complete contrast to her. We told the police what we saw and I gave my contact info. This was a very strange event ending that day. I had even more trouble sleeping than usual that night.

Ok, this was pretty depressing...

On the good side of things, I managed to sell my giant kitchen table today. A lady came with the biggest SUV I have seen in my life and took it. Despite the size of the SUV, the table did not fit as is! So I had to disassemble it. I was very happy to get rid of it though. Interestingly, the lady's grand father was Turkish. He migrated to Hungary after the World War I. Small world!

More interestingly, I was at the Wells Fargo the other day (trying to move the many many millions of dollars I amassed over the years to Turkey). After they made me wait for an HOUR before I can talk to someone who can do a wire transfer, I was not in a good mood at all. However, the guy asked me about my home town soccer team and mentioned the name of an English born Turkish player who played briefly for the Turkish national team. Mustafa Izzet or Muzzy was the soccer player. That got me into the right mood very quickly :D Again, it is a small world. Not to mention another guy in the same branch of the bank, who is an Albanian, and knows some Turkish...

Something different: I have decided, yet again, that I will wear a wrist watch. Every few years I make an attempt to wear a watch. It usually lasts a year or so. Usually something happens to the watch and I give up. The last time I got a watch I lost it during military service. It became a somewhat entertaining subject during those days, as I lost the watch in the toilet. Now that might sound rather silly, but those who know squat toilets (they are called alaturka toilets in Turkey) may understand and those who have done their military service may even sympathize (for others: imagine the dirtiest possible toilet and multiply that by two). After this event, when someone asked the time during my 3 weeks at the military, I used to say "It is shit past shit!" :D

Anyways, I bought my third Skagen watch. I was unhappy with the first two (the first one's front got scratched easily, the second one's water resistance was a joke). But I like how they look and they are thin. I have high hopes for this one...

I am gonna end this post with one of the marches we used to sing in the military service and my adaptation of it (mine was called the Toilet March). This part is for Turkish speakers only :D

Aylardan Kasım, günlerden Cuma
Gece nöbette, çıktı çatışma
İndik mevziye, mevzi karanlık
Mevzi değil bu, sanki mezarlık
Ana bilmeyiz, baba bilmeyiz
Bu vatan için, dağdan inmeyiz
Kahpe PKK, dinle bu marşı
İşte geliyor, askerin şahı

My adaptation means no disrespect to any person or institution. It was a result of my frustration with the lack of hygiene in the barracks (for the 3 week paid service). This version became popular in our barracks at the time.

Aylardan Nisan, günlerden Cuma
Gece koğuşta, çıktı kokuşma
İndik helaya, heryerde boklar
Maşrapa, kağıt, onlar da yoklar
Şifon çekmeyiz, su dökmeyiz
Dört bir duvara, sıçar geçeriz
Her gün bir manga, bok temizleriz
Askerin şahı, DAHT ERleriz

Not: Bilmeyenler için, DAHT ER bize verilen isimdi, yani 'Dövizli askerlik hizmetine tabi er'.