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New York State of Mind...
Took off today and yesterday to get ready for new job on Monday and mother's arrival. Yep, she's coming back, like a boomerang, to help kidbro with the baby.
Last day of work was a trip. First, cable went out. (Rented movies on Wed and Thurs to compensate but missed NY1's news coverage.) Then, the subways were flooded, which ended up costing me $22 bucks ( I lost an hour of work and was being paid by the hour, yeah I could have stayed longer, but I had the sinus headache from hell.).
Okay first off, discovered on Thurs that it wasn't a cold I've been suffering from but allergies. Ugh. Did not know that on Wed though, when my head felt stuffed to the gills with cotton, nose was dripping intermittently, throat was scratchy, persistent dry cough, and feeling of dizziness plus sinus headache from hell. So I get up at 7. Discover Cable is out.
Look out the window - the sky apparently had decided to open up and dump buckets of water on us. You could not see more than two inches across. Hopped in shower. Hopped out. Spent twenty minutes hunting something suitable weather-wise. Selected blue suit. Ate breakfast. Rain stopped. Grabbed stuff and ran to subway. Made it just before it poured again.
Got on train...and well, all was fine until we hit the tunnel between Brooklyn and Manhattan, where we proceeded to wait for 20 minutes. Apparently there was an A train stuck at Delancy due to a sick passenger. Course the question in everyone's head at the time was not what was wrong with the passenger, but what the heck was an A train doing at Delancy? (You see, Delancy is on the F line, or what becomes the 6th Avenue line. The A is on a completely different line and goes way south to Canal. This could not be good.) The conductor comes back on to inform us that there is also congestion ahead due to the weather. Then finally we begin to move and crawl our way to
Broadway-Layfaette. Luckily I had a seat during most of this and just read. That is I had one until B-way/Lafeyette, when we stalled again for 20 minutes. A D pulls up. I jump trains, thinking, okay, D is likely to get there quicker. It does cross my mind that it is a tad weird that a D is stopping at Bway/Lafeyette. (Only F/V trains go to Bway/Lafeyette). After 20 more minutes of standing, I'm rewarded and the D takes off.
But it doesn't go where it's supposed to. Instead of staying on the 6th Avenue D line, it jumps tracks and goes on the 8th Avenue A line. Now this is a problem. Why? Rockerfeller Center, where I work, is on 6th/47th street. It is raining cats and dogs outside (ie. an umbrella will not protect you, especially in NYC where the weather has learned to compensate for tall buildings by raining sideways.). And did I mention,I have a cold? While I could technically take the an 8th Avenue line up to 50th St and walk across - that could mean getting drenched. Not a good idea. So I leave the D train to go down to the F again, only to run into a mob of drenched, forlorn, weary passengers shaking water out of their shoes. They inform us that no, sorry the F/D/B/and V trains are not running. I look past their heads to the ground below. Yup, worste fears confirmed, West 4th is flooded. Great. Quick calculation in my head and back up to the D I go. And wouldn't you know? It waited for us. It's actually still there. 20 minutes later it leaves. Crawling it's way with intermittent 15 minute pauses to 50th St. I consider hopping off at 34 and trying to take a shuttle to get the N/R but am informed by fellow passengers that the best option is to take my chances at 5oth St and grab a bus. Apparently the N/R, E/and 1/9 are also flooded. The only trains running at the moment appear to be the 6 and the A/C. Nifty. So I get off at 50th and grab a cross-town bus, packed to the gills, to Radio City Music Hall, push my way off, race across the street and great my boss, an hour late for work. $22 bucks down the drain. I'm not the only grouchy employee. Three of my work colleagues arrive one-two hours later. One gal literally walked from 30th Street to 48th Street in heels. Took her 3 hours. Another guy drove from Jersey - took him 3 hours. One from Staten Island on the bus, took her 3 1/2 hours. Gotta say this much for New Yorkers, we aren't wimps. I've lived in several places in my life: Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Pennsylvania amongst them and yep, weather will stop people in those states from going to work. But not in NY. IT has to be *really* bad to stop a New Yorker.
Other big happenings this week...let's see yesterday there was a knife fight outside my brownstone. That was fun. I was busy cleaning the air-conditioning/fan filter when I heard screaming and cursing in the street below me. Through the branches of a tree I saw a guy cursing out his friend, waving his arms, screaming, "You want a piece of me? Come on, get a piece of me?" Okay, I think, this is either a really bad imitation of a Robert Deniro movie or these guys are serious.
They are serious. One pulls a switchblade. A woman screams "Stop, please!". Cars honk. Because they are standing in the middle of a busy two-lane street, backing up traffic. Just as I'm beginning to wonder if maybe I should call the cops, they arrive. Two cars. Break up the fight. I go downstairs to see what's up. According to my neighbor, these two guys who hang out after work at the local deli, got into a fight, one pulled a knife on the other, sliced open his shirt and his cheek before cops broke it up. But I shouldn't be worried or anything, because the two guys are really close friends. Hmmm. A friendly fight. With switchblades no less.
On the way out of my apartment today, I saw the two guys, sitting next to each other at the corner deli, friendly as can be, just shooting the breeze. Now if only certain countries in the world could get along this well.
Beautiful couple of days otherwise. Blue skies. Nice breeze. Sunny. Got three calls from new work place - making sure I'm ready to appear bright and early Monday morning. Which is nice, means they still want me and nothing went amiss with reference check. Filled out millions of forms today - all due on Monday. Honestly, I think they have a form for everything.
Kept calling my folks asking questions - like: what's your social security number? Does anyone in our family work for a health insurance company? Etc. Now just have to read all the employee orientation manual and I'll be set. That and finish cleaning house for mother's arrival on Sunday.
Did rent some interesting flicks over past two days:
1. Laws of Attraction (flawed romantic comedy, only recommend to die-hard Pierce Bronson or Julianne Moore fans, everyone else should probably skip.)
2. Second-Hand Lions (equally flawed film, recommend to die-hard Michael Caine/Robert Duvall fans - very well acted movie)
3. Calendar Girls (not bad, but falls apart in the second half, first half is a pleasant ride though, for die-hard Helen Mirren/Julie Waters fans.)
4. Paycheck (another film that was really good in the first half, not so good the second where it became more of a chase/action thriller. Interesting film though. Says some interesting things about money, memory and work. Worth a rental. Especially for the first half.)
5. 21 Grams (fascinating, if flawed film, for how it is put together. Not a linear narrative. Sort of jagged in style, with the story jumbled together like puzzel pieces. The story in of itself is fairly straightforward and conventional, how it's told is anything but, which may be the point? Have to ponder this one. May comment on later. Won't forget it anytime soon. Haunting performances. Haunting directorial/editorial style. Recommend, best of the bunch.)
6. The Company (Neve Campbell/Robert Altman's ballet film. Only rent if you love ballet. Lovely ballet sequences - truly beautiful in places. One set to My Funny Valentine, is quite memorable, as is the ribbon sequence in the beginning, and a dance with a swinging rope. A definite must for a dance fanatic. No true plot or story really outside of that. May comment on later - if time permits - in greater depth.)
Okay, off to get dinner and clean some more. Thank god, allergies has dissappaited.
Last day of work was a trip. First, cable went out. (Rented movies on Wed and Thurs to compensate but missed NY1's news coverage.) Then, the subways were flooded, which ended up costing me $22 bucks ( I lost an hour of work and was being paid by the hour, yeah I could have stayed longer, but I had the sinus headache from hell.).
Okay first off, discovered on Thurs that it wasn't a cold I've been suffering from but allergies. Ugh. Did not know that on Wed though, when my head felt stuffed to the gills with cotton, nose was dripping intermittently, throat was scratchy, persistent dry cough, and feeling of dizziness plus sinus headache from hell. So I get up at 7. Discover Cable is out.
Look out the window - the sky apparently had decided to open up and dump buckets of water on us. You could not see more than two inches across. Hopped in shower. Hopped out. Spent twenty minutes hunting something suitable weather-wise. Selected blue suit. Ate breakfast. Rain stopped. Grabbed stuff and ran to subway. Made it just before it poured again.
Got on train...and well, all was fine until we hit the tunnel between Brooklyn and Manhattan, where we proceeded to wait for 20 minutes. Apparently there was an A train stuck at Delancy due to a sick passenger. Course the question in everyone's head at the time was not what was wrong with the passenger, but what the heck was an A train doing at Delancy? (You see, Delancy is on the F line, or what becomes the 6th Avenue line. The A is on a completely different line and goes way south to Canal. This could not be good.) The conductor comes back on to inform us that there is also congestion ahead due to the weather. Then finally we begin to move and crawl our way to
Broadway-Layfaette. Luckily I had a seat during most of this and just read. That is I had one until B-way/Lafeyette, when we stalled again for 20 minutes. A D pulls up. I jump trains, thinking, okay, D is likely to get there quicker. It does cross my mind that it is a tad weird that a D is stopping at Bway/Lafeyette. (Only F/V trains go to Bway/Lafeyette). After 20 more minutes of standing, I'm rewarded and the D takes off.
But it doesn't go where it's supposed to. Instead of staying on the 6th Avenue D line, it jumps tracks and goes on the 8th Avenue A line. Now this is a problem. Why? Rockerfeller Center, where I work, is on 6th/47th street. It is raining cats and dogs outside (ie. an umbrella will not protect you, especially in NYC where the weather has learned to compensate for tall buildings by raining sideways.). And did I mention,I have a cold? While I could technically take the an 8th Avenue line up to 50th St and walk across - that could mean getting drenched. Not a good idea. So I leave the D train to go down to the F again, only to run into a mob of drenched, forlorn, weary passengers shaking water out of their shoes. They inform us that no, sorry the F/D/B/and V trains are not running. I look past their heads to the ground below. Yup, worste fears confirmed, West 4th is flooded. Great. Quick calculation in my head and back up to the D I go. And wouldn't you know? It waited for us. It's actually still there. 20 minutes later it leaves. Crawling it's way with intermittent 15 minute pauses to 50th St. I consider hopping off at 34 and trying to take a shuttle to get the N/R but am informed by fellow passengers that the best option is to take my chances at 5oth St and grab a bus. Apparently the N/R, E/and 1/9 are also flooded. The only trains running at the moment appear to be the 6 and the A/C. Nifty. So I get off at 50th and grab a cross-town bus, packed to the gills, to Radio City Music Hall, push my way off, race across the street and great my boss, an hour late for work. $22 bucks down the drain. I'm not the only grouchy employee. Three of my work colleagues arrive one-two hours later. One gal literally walked from 30th Street to 48th Street in heels. Took her 3 hours. Another guy drove from Jersey - took him 3 hours. One from Staten Island on the bus, took her 3 1/2 hours. Gotta say this much for New Yorkers, we aren't wimps. I've lived in several places in my life: Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Pennsylvania amongst them and yep, weather will stop people in those states from going to work. But not in NY. IT has to be *really* bad to stop a New Yorker.
Other big happenings this week...let's see yesterday there was a knife fight outside my brownstone. That was fun. I was busy cleaning the air-conditioning/fan filter when I heard screaming and cursing in the street below me. Through the branches of a tree I saw a guy cursing out his friend, waving his arms, screaming, "You want a piece of me? Come on, get a piece of me?" Okay, I think, this is either a really bad imitation of a Robert Deniro movie or these guys are serious.
They are serious. One pulls a switchblade. A woman screams "Stop, please!". Cars honk. Because they are standing in the middle of a busy two-lane street, backing up traffic. Just as I'm beginning to wonder if maybe I should call the cops, they arrive. Two cars. Break up the fight. I go downstairs to see what's up. According to my neighbor, these two guys who hang out after work at the local deli, got into a fight, one pulled a knife on the other, sliced open his shirt and his cheek before cops broke it up. But I shouldn't be worried or anything, because the two guys are really close friends. Hmmm. A friendly fight. With switchblades no less.
On the way out of my apartment today, I saw the two guys, sitting next to each other at the corner deli, friendly as can be, just shooting the breeze. Now if only certain countries in the world could get along this well.
Beautiful couple of days otherwise. Blue skies. Nice breeze. Sunny. Got three calls from new work place - making sure I'm ready to appear bright and early Monday morning. Which is nice, means they still want me and nothing went amiss with reference check. Filled out millions of forms today - all due on Monday. Honestly, I think they have a form for everything.
Kept calling my folks asking questions - like: what's your social security number? Does anyone in our family work for a health insurance company? Etc. Now just have to read all the employee orientation manual and I'll be set. That and finish cleaning house for mother's arrival on Sunday.
Did rent some interesting flicks over past two days:
1. Laws of Attraction (flawed romantic comedy, only recommend to die-hard Pierce Bronson or Julianne Moore fans, everyone else should probably skip.)
2. Second-Hand Lions (equally flawed film, recommend to die-hard Michael Caine/Robert Duvall fans - very well acted movie)
3. Calendar Girls (not bad, but falls apart in the second half, first half is a pleasant ride though, for die-hard Helen Mirren/Julie Waters fans.)
4. Paycheck (another film that was really good in the first half, not so good the second where it became more of a chase/action thriller. Interesting film though. Says some interesting things about money, memory and work. Worth a rental. Especially for the first half.)
5. 21 Grams (fascinating, if flawed film, for how it is put together. Not a linear narrative. Sort of jagged in style, with the story jumbled together like puzzel pieces. The story in of itself is fairly straightforward and conventional, how it's told is anything but, which may be the point? Have to ponder this one. May comment on later. Won't forget it anytime soon. Haunting performances. Haunting directorial/editorial style. Recommend, best of the bunch.)
6. The Company (Neve Campbell/Robert Altman's ballet film. Only rent if you love ballet. Lovely ballet sequences - truly beautiful in places. One set to My Funny Valentine, is quite memorable, as is the ribbon sequence in the beginning, and a dance with a swinging rope. A definite must for a dance fanatic. No true plot or story really outside of that. May comment on later - if time permits - in greater depth.)
Okay, off to get dinner and clean some more. Thank god, allergies has dissappaited.
no subject
Hardest time I ever had getting to work was once when I lived in the country, in the Kootenay mountains, and worked at a hospital about 45 miles from my home. One Christmas Day, I got in my car at 7 a.m. to go to work; it had snowed a lot the night before, and the roads weren't plowed. I literally had no idea where the road was, but couldn't turn around. Took me over 3 hours to get to work that time.