Hot and Bothered

I’m sitting at home hot as Hell. Yes, hot because of the weather and yes, hot because of my looks ;) but also hot as in angry. I took a class yesterday for work and had another scheduled today way down on 23rd Street. It is an easy ride on the subway. I could take the closest train, the 2 or 3 line to Times Square , switch to another train for 2 stops or so and walk a bit to get to the class. Always one to be over prepared I arrived there 45 minutes early yesterday because I wasn’t sure how long it would take. Not long.

Today is another story altogether. Now knowing it is a quick commute, I set the alarm a little later to enjoy a rare morning of sleeping in until 8:30. I woke up around 6 to hear a nice thunderstorm going on. “Ahhhh” I thought, perfect to have this on a day I can sleep in. I rolled over to enjoy a couple bonus hours of zzzz’s When I got up at 8:30 the radio was announcing that the subways were in big trouble because of the storm. I went to their web site and of course, when people really need it, it crashed. Finally, I learned that the 2, 3 lines were completely down, so I walked over to another avenue to catch a B, D, F or C train. It would take more time, require more walking but if I hurried I should make it.

I hurried - quickly coated in the sweat that pumps out of me like a fountain. I got to the station and there was a wild mob scene. It took me at least ten minutes just to get to the platform, pushing through all the hot, angry people mulling around. When I got there they announced that ALL downtown train were stopped. Arrggggg!!!!! The bus stops resembled mosh pits and it would take forever to travel 120 blocks by bus anyway. There were thousand of people were standing in the streets trying to flag down anyone to drive them downtown. It was a mess.

I decided to go back to my apartment to see what I could find out. Seems that virtually the entire subway system is currently shut down because of the rain. RAIN! As I sit here I am witnessing today devolving into my one day off. Crap! Sure, it would be nice to have a day off but I have never, ever known what to do with a day off. The whole reason for a day off has been to go out the night before! Like a good student I spent last night studying for class when I could have been tossing back a few cold ones with my pals over at Jimmy’s. (Been about a month since I was there - it’s really overdue!)

After a night at Jimmy’s I usually like to spend the next day keeping the apartment cool and dark, cooking up a great meal, watching movies and tending to any head or stomach ailments that might have resulted from any accidental overindulgence. But here I am, with tons of energy and possibly the whole day to kill. (For me -it’s too hot to go out just for fun and to have a drink or two today would only make tomorrows work day a miserable event).

So I’m going to go back to the subway station at about 1or 2 to see if I can get to work by then and avoid totally losing this day. But if it is still a mess - which at this point seems will be the case - I’ll probably get a nice pot roast and cook it up - taking my anger and frustration out later this evening on the dead cow.

Rainy Day - Whatever day it is

The wall calendar says Friday. My work calendar says Monday. Whatever it is - it's miserable outside today in New York City.
UPDATE 10:45 AM: What a mess. I walked to the train station - getting completly soaked. When I arrived there were about 1,000 people waiting on the platform, in the station and on the staircases going into the station. I pushed myself over to the platform and waited. And waited. Finally after about an hour there was an announcement that a train would be there in 10 minutes and everyone should get on it because they didn't know if and when the next train would be. When the train arrived, it was already packed to the max!! Of the thousand people at my station maybe 1/3 could squeeze on. Maybe. I thought about shoving myself ahead of the pack - I am surprisingly good at that - but didn't for a number of reasons. 1) It would not make me a popular guy with those who arrived before me 2) I imagine most of the people there at my Harlem station had jobs where they would be fired or docked pay for being late. I saw real panic in people's eyes as they waited on the train. I'm sure most of them need every single dollar they earn. If I shoved my way ahead - I could be taking the space of someone who's very livelihood depends on making it to their job, and 3) I am so very lucky that I can work from home under special circumstances. I have all my work on my laptop so it is easy to be so generous to my fellow travelers when I have the option of going home, getting out of my wet clothes and working out of my apartment. I feel bad for the 2/3 of the folks who didn't get on that train and I hope they eventually get to where they need to be. As for me, I'm sipping tea, trying to dry off and warm up (this New York rain really chills you to the bone!) and getting a lot done in my quiet and dry apartment.

Top Underground Transit Systems of the World

#8 Montreal, Canada I ride the New York City subway every day so it was interesting to see this comparisons of the worlds best subway systems. There are some incredible photos and cool videos of subways from around the world. (BTW, according to the list, the NYC subway ranks # 7. )

#6 Seoul, Korea