O! The Joy. Hmmm let’s see. It started snowing on Wednesday morning so when I parked the car Tuesday night I put the wipers up so they wouldn’t freeze to the window.
Got up yesterday morning to find 9 inches of snow on the front steps and, according to www.mta.info, no bus service and no train. All buses had been suspended city-wide. SIR is above-ground and that wasn’t running either.
Oh well, got ready for work anyhow. On Tuesday my boss, Rob, said “you have to get in – no matter how late. We’re a building services firm”. To which I wanted to say “You’re an idiot and I’m a secretary – neither one of us is needed in a foot of snow!”
But I didn’t.
At 6:37 yesterday morning I saw a train headed to St. George. So the trains were back. Damn! Headed out about 6:50 or so – waded through snow from my front door to the street and to the corner. I had to hold the skirt of my coat up above my knees or I’d have gotten stuck in the snow. North Railroad had been plowed but my street had not.
The train station hadn’t been shoveled. (Did I expect it would be?)
Undaunted I carried on and trudged up the stairs to the unshoveled platform and waited until a train came at 7:35.
The train was being pulled by a diesel engine. We didn’t get to St. George until 8:20. The boats were running every half hour so there was plenty of time to get a cup of coffee and a bagel. (Both were spectacularly execrable. If you’re ever at the St. George ferry terminal, skip Liberty Deli.
While I was waiting for my coffee and bagel, there was an announcement about a bus. “There is one bus, the S-48, that is leaving now. It goes along Forest Avenue. There is one bus, the S-48. One bus.” Seriously, the announcer said “one bus” three or four times. Can you imagine? 8:30 on a Thursday morning and there’s one bus serving all of Staten Island. Not even one bus line. One bus.
At least the 8:30 boat left on time (I think). It could have been a couple of minutes late but what’s a few minutes between the city and hundreds of commuters?
I stood on the lower level – the car-free car deck – and enjoyed being outside. I even took a few pictures of the harbor sights. (Imagine a civilization without camera phones. How very Dick Tracy we are.)
When we got to Manhattan I took the R to 34th Street. No pictures, but the stairs out of the station and the sidewalks weren’t cleared so it was slip and slide up the stairs and around the corner to 6th Avenue.
Got to work about 9:35. All told, about 2 hours and 50 minutes to get to work.
Then I got to go home at 5:30.
The evening commute wasn’t bad at all. Because so many people had taken the day off, there were a lot fewer people commuting. I actually made the 6 o’clock boat! Leaving at 5:30 usually gets me to Whitehall in time to wait for the 6:15 boat (which leaves somewhere between 6:15 and 6:30).
So when I got home I decided to check on my car.
I could tell it’s mine – the wipers were still in the UP position. I’ll dig it out on Saturday. I hope by then I’ll be able to brush off the snow and just drive out of the spot.
So last night I walked in my door – after falling once in our icy parking lot – at 7. Only 90 minutes to commute home.
And today I’ll do it all over again.
O! The Joy.
