And I guess that was your accomplice in the woodchipper.

Shades of Fargo! Life has been well, busy for me - happy busy (oh jeezzz...now I'm sounding like some Asian shampoo commercial!) - but, busy, nonetheless. So, not only has my irratic daily (yeah...whatever...) blogging dwindled but, my book still takes up megabytes on my PC, with no newer updates. Ehhh...life is what it is - truly! K...there's this one thingy...

Doing my last personal prep work before I headed out the door for the day and with the toothbrush poking out of my mouth, I was just about ready to expell the anise flavored leavings when the lights flickered and then, went out. Darkness. And Silence. Which was broken in the next few seconds...

We had quite a day and night. Without electricity at our house at this point, I'd had very little sleep since the HUGE windstorm on Tuesday night/Wed morning...more like a shitstorm as it blew down a couple 100 year old + trees on either side of our house! Our neighbors car was crushed...totalled! And all the power lines were knocked out as the tree(s) dragged the lines down to the ground. The big 440 cable (main electric current from transformer to secondary lines) snapped off the ConEd pole and jumped across the pavement, hissing, spitting, arcing all over the place...and this all happened during that last few minutes before James and I walked out of our place, on our way to the train to get to work! NNN EEE WAYZZZ...long story, short, when we finally walked out, we were blocked in on either side by trees and arcing power cables! I'd thought the fucking house was on fire at first. Regardless, we had to wend our way around the dormant Fire Station (next door to us...not functional, used for storing old Fire Engines...and other stuff) to even get to the street!

And if that wasn't enough...when we got home that night, absolutely NOTHING had changed. Except for the command post/staging area which had been set-up in the Fire Station. The streets were blocked off - 4 ways - at the intersection and we had to walk under hazard tape to get to our back porch. Fortunately, our brand new SUV (we just bought not even two weeks ago!) was unharmed as was our house but, no electricity and the remnants of two trees still lay in the street...until around 10pm when the City street crew brought in a HUGE generator and set it up at the Fire House with GIGANTIC white lights, beaming into our place - it was like daytime! Okay, that wasn't so bad, hey, we needed some light and the generator, although noisy wasn't too bad (I pretended it was a giant air conditioner...white noise thingy) but, when they started with the giant power saws and mega-woodchipper around 2am, that took the cake! Oh yeah, and when did they stop? Oh, around 6am...turned off all the equipment (including the big, beaming lights) and went home. Oh, gee, thanks guys...uh, couldn't you have done this during the day when folks go to work as opposed to doing this shit in the middle of the night while we're trying to get some sleep in our cold-assz home(s)?

Life in the 'burbs...ya gotta love it!

Holidaze

Well, Holy Holiday Fruitcake, Batman! It’s been a while since I’ve tumbled out a few of my thoughts. Although I HAVE been thinking, putting fingers to keyboard has been problematic as I’ve been busy using the digits for other endeavors (heh, heh). A whirlwind of activity, I might add! So, okay…here’s a thingy I’ve been ruminating over…

Dismal, gray skies are typical this time of year in Westchester County as I cautiously navigate over the heaps of slushy, dirty snow - traces…remnants – James is a few steps ahead of me, his long legs affording lengthy strides, I’d recently reminded him I take a step and a half to everyone one of his. We’re on our early morning stroll to Metro North. It’s the day before Christmas break and I’m tired…exhausted is more like it as I’ve not yet adjusted to life outside the City and that whole waking up at 5am shit. Jeezzzlaaaweeezzz! Even though Metro North is for all intents and purpose a ‘civilized’ commute, no one seems all that jolly to be on a train, whizzing along in the near-darkness of early morning. (duh…ya think?). Only the rustle of newspapers and an occasional sneeze or cough reigns in this time.

Soon enough, I’m tumbling out of the train at Grand Central, giving James a quick kiss and smile, he heads north as I negotiate my way from an upstairs platform, across Grand Central, quickly weaving in and out, sidestepping other commuters and tourists who consistently look up (rather than where they’re actually going!) at the dome’s Holiday laser light show, which stops them dead in their tracks and blocks those of us who have other things to do and places to be. Somehow and once again, I’ve crossed the huge train station. Lightly pushing on the doors they give way and I’m out on the street.

“Hello, pretty lady”, I hear. Returning a smile, I accept the free AMNew York newspaper handed to me by one of the pushers. Crossing 42nd street, I dodge weary (generally Asian) tourists, clinging onto disposable mugs of designer coffee. While they wait in haphazard lines for an assortment of the airport shuttles, their last memories will be of diesel fuel.

“Hey, darlin’…ready for the Holidays?” I fumble around in my giant, waterproof book bag searching for a dollar to give to the bagel guy and smile at him, saying I’ll be flip-flopping my way around Florida over Christmas break. He raises an eyebrow and appears suddenly wistful. From the window of his dull, steely cart, he hands me a small brown paper bag .

Passing the church on Park Avenue, lilting Hispanic dialects of the day-workers huddled together in the early morning chill, hoping for a break and a few dollars in their pockets, stalls my stride for an instant and silently I count my blessings – “there for the grace of God…” – I have a high, five-figure, interesting job to go to.

At 34th Street, the wind suddenly blows sideways as an older woman in a full-length mink and sunglasses, swishes past me, her flat, taught lips revealing the fate of someone clinging to youth.

Rounding the corner onto 31st street, I tap on the office door and the receptionist buzzes me in.

“Good Morning!” I'm welcomed. I’ve arrived.

My Commuter Routine.