New Blog Address

I am now posting on www.dflorack.wordpress.com. See you there!

Spider-Man 2 in Rochester

Let's hope the movie version looks better than this guy!

If you are from Rochester, New York, where nothing much exciting ever happens, you know that the big news the past week or so has been the filming of the new Amazing Spider-man 2 movie. Being my usual less than excitable self, I have to admit that at first I thought it was more of an inconvenience than something to get worked up about.  Coworkers of mine actually applied to be movie extras in the film but did not get picked.  There was a woman in our Accounting department that got the "green light", but she didn't want to commit to 5:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. every day for the duration.

Once they started filming, the Rochester Police department presence downtown really skyrocketed. Every morning getting off of the expressway, traffic would crawl.  It is the same going home every night.  For some reason the Police decided that we are no longer able to navigate through the traffic lights and stop signs on our own.  Every intersection I go through has a cop stationed there, directing traffic.  It tends to make more of a mess of the traffic patterns than usual.  I understand why they are stationed where the roads are blocked off, but having them at every intersection (even the ones farther away from the action) seems overkill.

Self Image

One's self esteem and body image are kind-of wrapped up together. If you have low self-esteem, you will most likely have a poor sense of self and a lousy body image. If you think negatively of yourself, you will have a hard time believing that you do look good.

When I did Weight Watchers the first time around, I lost a great deal of weight. I was down more than 60 pounds. In my mind, I still thought I was fat. Looking at pictures now, I see that I was skinny. Having a poor body image didn't allow me to see that I had done a great job and looked unbelievably good.

At my lowest weight - the
first time around

“To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance” – Oscar Wilde 

I also listened to people at the time who meant well but told me I was “too thin” and that it was okay to “eat” now. Conversely, I listened to the Weight Watchers leader I had at the time who told me I had to lose even more to reach goal weight. Since I was still 10 pounds away from goal and I felt it was not doable, I chose to give up and listened to those who said I should “eat”. I ate. Back came the weight. What I should have done was to ask my Doctor to set a goal weight that was a little higher than what the charts said. I don't know if I could have maintained the loss, but if I had felt the pride of accomplishment in reaching goal weight, I might have tried harder.

Walking Around Rochester - Part 3

Times Square Building

One of the more famous sights on Rochester's skyline is the building with the wings on top.

The Times Square building located at 45 Exchange Boulevard was once the Genesee Valley Trust Company bank building.  Citizens Bank more recently occupied the first floor, but they have moved out.  More and more banks seem to be leaving the downtown area.  Genesee Valley Trust Company is now a subsidiary of Canandaigua National Bank.  

On the left is an old postcard showing the "winged tower of the Genesee Valley Trust Co.".  The tower with the wings is known as the "Wings of Progress".  Each wing weighs 12,000 pounds. The building is 260 feet tall, making it the eighth tallest building in Rochester.  The building was built in 1930, and the cornerstone was laid in 1929 on "black Tuesday" during the 1929 stock market crash.  

The nesting box for the falcons which was once located on Kodak Office Tower is now located on the Times Square building.  If you are lucky, you might see the falcons flying around.  I was out at lunchtime a few weeks ago and spotted a lady with a camera with an enormous zoom lens attached.  She was looking at the statue of Mercury on the top of the former Lawyers Coop building.  When I looked up, I saw an enormous bird take off from the statue and swoop down and then up to land on top of the Time Square building.  Some online research helped me figure out I'd seen one of the nesting falcons.  For more information, see http://rfalconcam.com/rfc-main/.

Walking Around Rochester - Part 2

As promised, here is another post about some of downtown Rochester's sights and buildings.

First National Bank of Rochester-Old Monroe County Savings Bank Building


Located at 35 State Street, this is a building I pass by at least twice daily.  It sits vacant, and it makes me feel sad every time I see such a beautiful building with no use.  It was built in 1924 in the Classic Revival style. "The interior of the bank consists of a large central banking room with a 52 foot high cove ceiling with a rectangular skylight and Corinthian order details" (en.wikipedia.org, 2013).

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. According to loopnet.com, it is all marble inside and outside with marble pillars and a 58' semi-domed ceiling on the main level, with murals ringing the ceiling of travertine marble. Inside are bank vaults, men's and ladies' rest rooms with showers, and it has a time/temperature clock with a lighted sign on the building front.

Walking Around Rochester - Part 1

Now that I’m walking at lunchtime to lose weight, I have started to take a good look around me as I walk along.  I have been taking some photos with my phone, and I decided to do a little research on some of the buildings I see every day. I will share some of what I have learned here in a series of posts.

Kodak Office Building

Kodak Office Building (Kodak World Headquarters)

Built in 1912-1914, the Kodak Office Building was originally made with 16 stories and a flat roof.  At the time, it was the tallest building in Rochester. Stories 17-19 and the aluminum tower on the roof were added in 1930.  The building stands at 360 feet tall.  It is the fourth tallest building in Rochester.  It is a modified French Renaissance style and it was constructed with a steel skeleton faced with terra cotta and brick. It is located at 343 State Street.

I am old enough to remember when Kodak was the largest employer in Rochester.  I cringed every time some kid in school would say, “where does your Daddy work?  My Daddy works at Kodak.”  At the time, a job at Kodak was a job for life.  Now the Kodak Office Building houses other companies in addition to Kodak.  “Carestream Health, a Kodak spin-off, now owns part of this building complex as well and uses it as its headquarters. Additional parts of the complex are for sale as Kodak continues to downsize” (RocWiki, n.d.). Kodak, now, is just a shell of its former self.

Kodak World Headquarters (Kodak Office)

Change

"For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?' And whenever the answer has been 'No' for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."

Steve Jobs

SOURCES:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Once-is-a-mistake-twice-is-a-choice/387952404593480
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/s/stevejobs416877.html#ETfYDS5cop8wDpUi.99

The Joy of Moving

Anyone who knows me well knows I finally decided to haul my butt back to Weight Watchers and get serious about getting into shape again.  I finally got fed up with being sore, out-of-breath, tired all the time and unhealthy. 

I was very successful with Weight Watchers over 20 years ago (when Matt was a baby).  I lost over 60 pounds but sadly didn’t maintain it.  

Hey, That's for Me!

Gotta love that Google logo today.  What a clever idea!