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[wombat]

When I was a kid in NYC we went to a beach that was on a bay. I didn't realize till I was in my twenties that I had never seen the ocean.

[Nabubrush]

When I was a kid in NYC we went to a beach that was on a bay. I didn't realize till I was in my twenties that I had never seen the ocean.

So, I read a thing in the New Yorker talking about seals roundabout there somewhere - I realize this is extremely vague, like people asking me "I know a guy from Alaska - have you ever met so-and-so" but I thought I'd ask if you've ever seen seals in NYC.

[wombat]

When I lived there I am sure the water was too filthy for seals.

I read that article too, I can't remember where it was but it was someplace I never frequented. The thing about NYC, you can go for years without ever leaving your neighborhood, and it can basically takes two hours to get from the Bronx to Brooklyn and that's not even necessarily the far reaches of either borough. On a map it may look small compared to, say, Alaska, but it's packed so full of stuff that that is kind of an illusion.

[theinevitable]

I learned this when I was in Brooklyn for New Year's Eve last year. My girlfriend didn't want to take the subway back up to Columbia alone. Ended up being something like 2 hours on the subway to go there and back. Mostly because I forgot that you should never take the (some letter) train, because it is really slow.

[Nabubrush]

When I lived there I am sure the water was too filthy for seals.

I read that article too, I can't remember where it was but it was someplace I never frequented. The thing about NYC, you can go for years without ever leaving your neighborhood, and it can basically takes two hours to get from the Bronx to Brooklyn and that's not even necessarily the far reaches of either borough. On a map it may look small compared to, say, Alaska, but it's packed so full of stuff that that is kind of an illusion.

I've been there a few times and I certainly know that (hell, I live in podunk Portland and there's stuff I haven't seen and will never see) but I thought the animal connection might have brought you out. From what I remember from the article, they implied the harbor seals have always come back, although the numbers have fluctuated (though I may be misremembering).

[wombat]

This may be a shocking statement but... I am not that big a fan of trying to see animals in the wild. They're so damn unreliable.

[Nabubrush]

This may be a shocking statement but... I am not that big a fan of trying to see animals in the wild. They're so damn unreliable.

I'm glad that I was sitting down for that.

[jay-ell]

That's why she keeps her figments here, in captivity.

[jaydub]

I recently took my family to the Wild Animal Park near San Diego.  Some of the big cat enclosures mimic nature so well that you never see them.  The lion "exhibit" at the Oakland Zoo is like that as well.  They have about 9 lions, and there are days you won't see a single one. 

[greenkoolayd]

I recently took my family to the Wild Animal Park near San Diego.  Some of the big cat enclosures mimic nature so well that you never see them.  The lion "exhibit" at the Oakland Zoo is like that as well.  They have about 9 lions, and there are days you won't see a single one. 

i think the big cats are generally nocturnal.

[wombat]

More to the point is that lions are incredibly lazy, as one scientist discovered:

IWhen he first visited the Serengeti lions in 1974, he concluded that “lions were really boring.” The laziest of all the cats, they were usually collapsed in a stupor, as if they had just run a marathon, when in reality they hadn’t moved a muscle in 12 hours.

The Truth about Lions at Smithsonian magazine.

Also, tigers sleep nearly 16 hours per day.

[Nabubrush]

I went to the Portland zoo and a chimpanzee attempted to throw feces on me. Fortunately I am sort of an expert on chimps, having seen several in their natural habitats, riding tricycles and smoking cigars, so he was unable to get the drop on me.

[theinevitable]

today I went on a run that I am going to generously say was 2 miles. Felt like a damn marathon. I think the last time I ran was... 2005? 2004? Jesus that sounds like a long time ago.

Anyway, I think I have gotten out of the habit of pushing myself, because I didn't get home completely wiped out. Felt good, though.

I know this is a dumbass question, but people who run: what do you take with you on a run? I felt like I should have my phone on me, but then it was bouncing around/out of my pocket, so I ended up holding the damn thing in one hand the whole time.

[AugustWest]

Keys and phone.  I use Runkeeper which is pretty dang cool to an old fossil such as I am.  Uses the GPS to tell me exactly where I ran, how long it took and how much of a climb it was.

I ran 27.4 miles in the month of May!

[Nabubrush]

I always take a handgun with me.