Ship's Log | To Boldly Go

Working security is going to be a lot different than being a homicide detective. A lot more boring, I think.

Of course, it's good that there aren't as many murderers or serious crime here as there is in LA.

All in all, though, this place doesn't seem that bad. And Hot Tub High School doesn't seem to exist here. At all. Which is so incredibly awesome that I can get used to a little boredom.

I'm not really a fan of summer in New York City. It's far more crowded than usual as schoolkids on summer vacation, tourists, and about a million interns pack the city. The smells that linger year round become all the more pungent as the temperature rises and being that there is so much concrete, asphalt, and steel packed into such a small area, the place is like a furnace. The trains run slower, it's sticky and unpleasant to wait and it's like a game of roulette to know if you'll pick the car on the train that happens to have working air conditioning. I've always hated it, always looked forward to Fall and how things calm and the weather changes to something much more accommodating to someone required to wear jackets in order to hide my gun.

But it was different when the Fourth of July came around. For one day, or maybe a weekend if the calendar cooperated, it was just magical. Fireworks off the Hudson, groups of people laughing and having barbecues on rooftops, just enjoying being together. I won't pretend it was all that much in celebration of the birth of the country, Americans have a way of ignoring the purpose of things and making it about a day off work and day drinking, but still, it was nice. Especially the one summer I had my act together and got to spend the whole holiday at Castle's house in the Hamptons.....

My point is that it's a bit weird being on this ship today because it's one of those times where I know with complete assurance where I would be, who I would be with, and what I would be doing if I were home.