I like to smoke cigarettes. I’ve tried to quit, and I will try to quit again. But, for now, this is where we are. Unfortunately, it’s summer and not the 1960s, so I have to cross the river Styx to do what I enjoy. Through trial and error and lots of practice, I’ve found some acceptable workarounds. Herewith, then, the four best places around the D Magazine building to enjoy the sweet, life-sapping caress of cigarettes. Yes. This is actually occurring.
This is the parking garage across St. Paul. There are two benches, both shaded, but generally I like to sit on the short wall that separates the ground floor spaces from the street. This is my No. 1 spot. Decent people-watching and almost always shaded. RECOMMENDED.Sometimes, as a change of pace or just to get some (but not much) blood flowing, I walk up the block -- up Ross Avenue from St. Paul, almost to the corner, then back. If it's cool enough -- it's not cool enough -- I may walk the entire block. Not a bad view: you get the DMA across the street, and random tourists. This is the same parking garage as above, just up the block. I prefer this in colder months, because I like the metal bench. In the summer, as you can see, that bench hangs out in the sun a bit. No thanks. A decent afternoon backup. There is a tiny park across San Jacinto. Well, it's a grassy mound with a couple of benches, like the one pictured. Theoretically, this would be the No. 1 spot. And it is -- for the other smokers in our building. There are A TON of them. There is a call center or something in the buidling and they come out en masse. So usually this place is swarmed. I don't like to talk to strangers when I smoke, so I avoid this almost at all costs. Also, all of those smokers got the actual smoking area in front of the building -- in the shade, plenty of places to sit -- shut down, so I have a grudge. Jerks. Only to be used at lunch, when everyone from the call center has adiosed to Subway or whatever.
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