Friday, September 2, 2011

Say this ten times fast



And for double points guess where I snapped the photo.

Read the rest of the blog for clues.




I actually had a question for the guy in this booth  >>.

I needed to know what track my train was gonna be on.  After he told me to got to track 114.   I snapped out one more question. "Can you tell me what the clock that is above your head is made of?"  With a chagrin that any real tourist would have written home about and an unsaid "Get the fuck out of here" (only unsaid because I was with my son), he shoved a pamphlet through the slot and said next!

Yes, I knew the answer.  That four sided clock is made of solid opal.  In a documentary that I have seen on TV. it's price was described as incalculable. I thought that was a much better way to say something is priceless.  Priceless is a word used to describe inanimate objects, or even living things.  Love and kittens are both priceless.  Incalculable makes one thing that we know it would cost a lot to replace, we just haven't invented the math to figure it out, yet.
Connections: The Essential Guide to Life at Grand Central says: "The clocks above The Terminal information booth .... [is] considered priceless.  [It] has four faces mad of solid opal."  Yes, I know that.

But what is did not know is that "A private staircase connects the information booth to the Main and Lower Concourses.  The intent was that if one booth is especially busy, employees form the other booth could get there quickly to help out."  Who knew?

Wikipedia says "Each of the four clock faces is made from opal, and both Sotheby's andChristie's have estimated the value to be between $10 million and $20 million".  But Wikipedia provides no reference to this statement.  So I prefer to go with incalculable.

I don't know, but if I worked in that booth I would know if I had $40,000000 to $80,000,000 worth of opal hanging out 10 feet over my head.  Even if Wikipedia made if up.

and

Wow, did that unsubstantiated Wikipedia quote get reprinted a lot.  Click this to see how it got reproduced as fact.

and

I guess you know were the West Restroom is now....


4 comments:

  1. I didn't understand a word except "opal" and "Wikipedia" but I sure laughed a lot. Thanks! Laughter is the best medicine, according to Readers Digest.
    — K

    Kay, Alberta, Canada
    An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

    ReplyDelete
  2. There's a great FREE tour of Grand Central Station and environs, conducted by Justin Ferate, who wrote the test for NYC Sightseeing Guides, every Friday at 12:30 PM. http://www.justinsnewyork.com/gct.html
    It's never exactly the same, so it's worth going on more than once. Did I mention it's FREE?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Janet. I think I took his tour. I will take it again now that I know I PASSED his test.

    ReplyDelete

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