Trains, Trains, Beware the Trains!

Face Plant!

Normally I write about bigger events going on in NYC, but you know most of the interesting things happen day to day.  Sometimes it’s just one thing that stands out, such as a disgusting incident on the subway or street.  Or sometimes, the whole day is just whacked out.  It happens more often then one would expect.  You would think over time you would become immune to half off the NYC weirdness, but every once in a while something happens so out of the norm that you can’t.

One such day occurred on a Saturday in September.  It was unseasonably warm for the year, so it was a good day to get a few errands done before meeting up with my friend at Midtown.  I also had to go to another friend’s house in Brooklyn to pick up some sheet music and help out on a site she was working on.

Roach! Though it is a different one than in the blog. Same Ick Effect!

I had worked a lot of hours during the work week and was not relishing having to be up by 7:00 AM on the weekend.  It just didn’t seem right, especially after being up until 1:00AM the night before.  So at the butt crack of dawn I dragged myself out of bed, slapped on some makeup to try and hide the look of fatigue and threw on some clothes.

As I was grabbing my bag, I noticed my cat’s face planted into the futon.  Yeah, I was in a bad mood, but it was too funny to pass up so I took a photo.  I thought the flash would wake her up, but no.  She apparently was tired too.  The only difference was she would get the allotted amount of sleep she deserved.  Ah well, what could I do?  So out the door I went.

Subway Fiasco

So before I stopped at my friend’s apartment in Brooklyn, I took a detour to the Dunkin’ Donuts that is out of the way of my subway station but well worth the visit.  I always coffee stat in the morning or it is dangerous for me and the people I cross paths with.  Just say no to addiction kids!

After I had grabbed my bagel with an egg and some cheese along with an iced coffee, I knew I was good to go, or so I thought.  By the time I had gotten to the platform I was shocked to see they had put the egg and cheese on a cinnamon bagel.  What?!?  How can you mix up wheat with cinnamon?  When you cut open the bagel wouldn’t you see the raisins?  I was seeing them plain as day.

Dance, My Lovely!

The subways on the weekends are always unpredictable.  Sometimes they will show up twice an hour or they will be on a different route completely.  They also like to train new people on weekends so most of the time the train jerks into the station and then crawls across the tracks with uncertainty as the person training learns how to drive it.  Well today was no exception.  It took twice as long as usual to get to my friend’s house.

When I finally got there I told her I had a full day so I couldn’t stay too long and we jumped right into the project.  After a few hours I grabbed the music and began to leave.

Globe Near Columbus Circle

So I went to get back on the train to get to my next errand in Manhattan.  I had to pick up some cat food for my cat.  She is on a special diet which means I have to make a special trip to get her cat food because hardly anyone carries the food she eats.  So I headed back onto the train.  Unfortunately the D trains were having problems and weren’t running at the time.

Cool Statue on 6th

So after I got comfortable on the Q train I was ready!  I normally turn on the iPod and read, but today I was too tired, grumpy and hungry so I decided to try to catch up on some sleep.  I am pretty good at doing this and have only missed my stop twice since being here.  Once I was reading a really great book and didn’t realize I had missed my stop and another time, let’s just say that liquor may have been involved.  I woke up to find that I was at the end of the subway line and was awoken to the halt of the train.

My Theme Song!

But today was yet another great subway sleeping day and I woke up at 34 street.  After I wiped my eyes I found that the train was packed and so I decided to head to the door to beat the rush as, 42 Street was next.  Waiting in front of the door I felt a hand on my backside.  Now this happens on crowded trains sometimes.  There are so many people packed into one car that you can’t help but have to touch people sometimes, so I moved forward to give the person more room.  About 20 seconds later I felt a grab again, that was no accident.

Now most of the pervs expect you to keep your mouth shut and suffer quietly and most people do.  But I don’t work that way!  My morning had been rough and it wasn’t in the mood, so I turned, looked the guy in the eye and told him if he grabbed me again I would break his hand off and feed it to him.  There may have also been a four letter word added in for effect.  He turned a nice shade of pink and slinked off.  Take that pervert!

42nd Street is always a treat.  People are crawling everywhere at all hours and getting through the mob quickly is a skill that must be learned over time.  I was well trained!  I had had enough of the day already and was in no mood for crowds after the crappy breakfast, messed up trains and groper boy, so I began cutting through the crowds in record time.  I felt like an Olympian!

Even though I was in a hurry, I was pleased to see one of my favorite street performers in the subway.  The salsa dancer and his partner!  They have a lot of skill and pizzazz and they keep the crowds begging for more.  Yeah, I know what you are thinking, what’s the big deal?  The big deal you ask?  The man’s partner is a dummy.  No I am not calling his partner slow, she really is a dummy.  She usually wears a blue outfit, but today she was wearing black to match my mood.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay long as I had a lot to do.

42 Street was a madhouse as usual, but I had to get the food, my cat was out!  It was as if a stupid bomb had gone off that day and people were not following the rules of the sidewalk.  So I had to use all of my patience not to hurt anyone on the side walk and opted to walk in the street.  Finally I reached the Pet Store in an even fouler mood than before.  I couldn’t take it anymore and my stomach was growling like a wild beast!

But the day soon brightened.  In the shop was a big chubby dog that waddled over to me with a slight limp.  He bumped his head into my leg and then wagged his tail wildly.  I looked down at him to see that my new little friend was blind and very old.  So I pet him and went to grab the food.  He followed me to the back of the store and banged his head into my leg again.  This guy rocked!  I felt my blood pressure lessen as I knelt down next to him and pet him for a few minutes.  Sure he left a snoogie across my pant leg with his nose, but you know what?  I could care less.  This dog was the best thing to happen that day thus far.  He was old, blind and limping and still he was pretty damn happy.  So I purchased my cat food gave the dog some more love and headed back out into the street.

It didn’t seem so bad this time around.  From there I had to do some shopping at Columbus Circle for a few birthdays coming up.  But before I did, I bought a death dog off the street with the works.  Now you don’t usually want to eat from the street vendors, especially if you saw the hidden footage of those carts that they show on the news.  But passing out on the streets of Manhattan is not advisable.  If you knew what ends up on the ground here you would be scarred for life.  In fact I have seen tourists walk barefoot on the streets before.  I always wondered how long it took before the onset of the flesh eating disease began to eat their feet.  Seriously!

So with a hot dog in one hand and a 20lb of cat food in the other I decided that I was done with subways and decided to walk up to Columbus Circle and turned on my iPod to block out the street noise.  The weather was nice and if I headed onto 6^th because there would be a lot less people on the sidewalk.

After a couple of hours of shopping, my friend picked me up and we headed to her house where a small group of us were meeting for dinner and drinks before heading out for the night.  It was almost Oktoberfest and we were listening to German drinking music on Sounds of the Seasons on Music Choice on her TV, why?  Because after three or four drinks, it seemed like the right thing to do!  Well that and take a photo of it.  I felt like Ansel Adams!

Besides who could argue with the sounds of Drink, Drink Little Brother Drink blaring from the speakers.  The day had started out rough, but in true New York fashion it changed in just hours. We most likely would be out late and I would be avoiding the subway by taking an overpriced taxi home.  Life was good…