Rain Insurance / Spotted on the train

Murphy's law:

If you HAVE your umbrella with you, and it looks like this ...

it won't rain.

I did. It didn't.

But ...

What is Murphy's law about stashed drinks on train?

If they are there, you won't be thirsty?

These were separate legs of separate commutes. 

I'm going to start a photo series if this keep up.

People! Follow the national park rules. Pack in. Pack out. 

There are enough annoying things on trains than dealing with your trash.

The company can't even afford to fix the seats with anything better than duct tape, 

forget hiring people to clean up after you.

~photos by iTouch; general distaste for litterers, all of us

Grey Days

The calendar may say spring, but it just keeps on raining, snowing, and being cold, foggy, and miserable. It's really starting to wear on a person. Everything is just monochrome. 

Even an amber lantern doesn't help make the concrete and snow seem any better.

I need spring.

I need more blue skies.

Thank goodness for fun mail from friends.

~photos by iTouch

Photos of the Day: Moody Moon Flowers

 Wednesday, October 16, 2013, Orleans, MA

Summer Fridays 2013: Washed Out

After a very long, busy, hectic crazy winter, and an equally as intense spring, Big J employees start counting down for our much-beloved Summer Fridays. About May we start to dream of all the things we are going to do with these days off.

What we often forget to factor in is Mother Nature's odd sense of humor seasoned with a hefty dose of payback. May is also the cusp of Atlantic hurricane season - which the "authoritative" source Wikipedia says is "...currently defined as the time frame from June 1 through November 30."

June is when our Summer Fridays start.

Yesterday's first June Summer Friday is when the first named storm system of the season swept up the Atlantic coast and ended up drenching parts of New York with four to six inches of water.

Mother Nature is ticked off and karma's name was Andrea.

Unlike some of my colleagues I watch the long-range forecast. I knew it was coming. I had no outside plans. I had movies stockpiled, as well as projects, but instead decided to venture out and do some volunteering up at Caramoor -- of course. A busman's holiday seemed to be a good way to get out of the house, help out a worthwhile organization, see my friends, and really - a way to transition into the concept of a day off. I'm a workaholic .... it takes me a while to get the idea I'm not supposed to be working.

It was soggy on the train platform going north in the morning ... and for some reason, my train car smelled like wet dog!

But even in the rain, Caramoor is pretty as a picture. What's the old saying?

Red sky at night / Sailors delight 

Red sky in morning / Sailors take warning 

Rooster crows: It is grey / Rain rain, please go away

It was delightful to spend the day in familiar territory, even if most of the faces these days are new. I got to help out with the collation and stuffing of membership materials, all emblazoned with the new logo. This is the new member bag - which Christine took on our beach day trip a few months ago. 

via @caramoor's Instagram

Here are Talia and Karla are putting together pre-festival membership packages! Packed with parking passes, menus, etc. Those folder were packed with information, and should be hitting mailboxes sometime next week. I saw mine ... er. ... someone named Anon Y.. Mous ... got a special delivery ahead of the pack.

Did I ever point out these semi-hidden murals in back of the Administration building? Shame on me.

Look at all these colors and textures of this office building. How do I work in a big grey box every day? (Oh yeah, the many many reasons, including burn-out, paycheck sizes, and summers being not so busy.)

 

I ask you, though, how can you stand in the area between these two pictures, turn left, and then, in all certain earnestness, ask people coming out of these buildings: "Excuse me, where is the Box Office?"

 ??

Really. If Caramoor had a quarter for everyone that did exactly that ... THERE ARE 2 SIGNS ... RIGHT THERE!

On the way back through Katonah to the train, I spotted the only kind of bike I will ever consider getting ... an adult tricycle. (After my "shark" experience on the Cape - no two-wheelers for me.) I could actually tote groceries in this blue beauty. Plus, isn't the view on the Katonah platform much nicer?

One last note. When tropical storms come through, with their bands of wind and rain, umbrellas are pointless. You are going to get wet. It's just something you accept. So I stood out on the platform - in my "water-proof" hat. I understand the concepts "drowned rat" and "soaked to the skin" so much better.

Partly because ... well... Grace struck again.

What was a little rain on my head and shoulders when I was already wet from the ankles up anyway?

I was tromping through the swampy woodlands at Caramoor from the office to the car park, when I ended up knees first in the mud. The blur of green on the left there -- the exact moment it happened.

 WHOO HOO! Summer Fridays. Always an adventure.

Retroblogging: Silly Self Portraits, Age unknown

Sitting in the Rain

Self Portrait
Age Unknown, 5-7?

I've finally started tackling another bucket full of papers, drawings, and documents that my mother had saved from my childhood. While I've purged about two-thirds of it, there are many priceless gems that will be making their way here, including new letters from the Grandmas, self portraits like these, and lots more retroblogging.

There are also some "interesting" discoveries, like more dance class pictures (omh, me in tap shoes at 6 and a tiny tutu!), me trussed up like a goose in 6th grade by the ambulance guys, my mother's maternal ramblings about me when I was only weeks old, and .... um.... "locks" of my hair, like 34-35 year-old 6-8 inch hanks of my hair.

Thanks Mom for saving so much of my childhood, but the hair? Really?

Um... what do I do with it now?

(After much thought and discussion, I will bury it another pile of my crap for another 34 years or so. Procrastinate much? Who me?)

Hurricane Irene Update

Pleased to report that I've made it through Hurricane Irene unscathed.

The Saturday evening of the storm was full of winds, rain, lightning and thunder. The tornadoes, that we were also under a watch for, seem to have skipped my area. The media hyping and anticipation were worst than anything. I couldn't sleep because I kept waiting for something to happen. When I did finally get to some semblance of a REM cycle, the poor air conditioner woke me up at 2 a.m. as it was struggling to deal with the conditions. I got up, turned it off, turned on the fan, and then slept until late in the morning.

After talking to Drew in the morning, and being grateful that the cable and power stayed up all evening, I ventured out at noon to take stock of the neighborhood during the one patch of sun we'd seen in four days. Of course, by the time I got geared up with the slicker, wallet, phone, camera, keys, and shoes, it had started to mist/rain again.

Heading over to the usual route to the train, noticed that most of the stores in my strip malls were closed. No coffee for the Starbucks addicts, no donuts at Dunkin' for the carb addicts. Pizza and Chinese seem to be off the menu. The dry cleaners are usually closed on Sundays, but sadly, the laundromat is closed as well. At least one Subway is open, but for sandwiches and not for commuting. If I felt like getting a "congratulations to me, I survived the Hurricane" mani-pedi, both options were closed. I didn't even LOOK to see if the liquor store was open (that is if they had anything left.) The poor gang at 7-11 is having to serve at a surrogate donut/coffee/food source/ and grocery store. So glad I filled up earlier in the week. (Suckers!)

So here's a visual tour of part of my commute. Under the overpasses leading to the various highways, including:

the flooded Bronx River Parkway, featuring the flooding of the Bronx River. Looking south to the Bronx;

the water is almost up to the exit ramps;

water from the River isn't quite up to the gravel Metro-North train tracks - at least on my section of the route. It is definitely up and over north and south of the line; and

the scary maelstrom of current under the overpass bridge. Also note the concrete degradation to the overpass. One of these days that's going to be an issue.

As for work on Monday, and probably Tuesday? I will probably be working from home. It will take a while for the City/MTA to pump the tunnels; check the tracks, signals, and cars for damage; and then restart the systems. Aside from raising the money for the bottom line, I consider myself a non-essential personnel.

Also, we still have the day to get through with the last of the bands of winds and rain. Those, often, can be the worst, because everyone is prepared for the onset, and let their guard down. There's still rain, high winds and tidal surges to go. Plus in the winds, trees and poles come down due weakened conditions and soaked grounds. (In fact, as I typed that, we actually had a flicker in the lights ....)

Now that I've been through one storm this season, I'm prepared for the next one. And the next one, there probably will be. They've already named the new storm churning down in the Caribbean. The difficulty will be for the governors and mayors trying to get people to move/prepare, since everyone is already jaded. But that's New York for you!

Photos of the Day: Raindrops on Lilypads

New York Botanical Garden, Late June 2011

Summer showers brings nature's illuminating little raindrops.

Photo of the Day: Reflective Reverie

New York Botanical Garden, June 2011

Photo of the Day: Raindrops on Irises 3

Photo of the Day: Raindrops on Irises 2

New York Botanical Garden, June 2011

Photo of the Day: Raindrops on Irises 1

New York Botanical Garden, June 2011

Some summer showers add sparkles to Mother Nature's beauty. You just have to time your visit between the downpours, lightening strikes, and thunder claps. Oh, and hope your camera's macro works.

If the snow doesn't kill you ...

It was an epic struggle to get to work today. We’re in the midst of a three day snow event, which someone called a snow-hurricane. First there was rain, then there was sleet, then there was wet heavy snow … combined with the howling winds, blowing everything this way and that. And it's not going to be over for another 12-24 hours. It’s beautiful – when viewed from the warm, dry side of the window, secure in the knowledge that you don’t have to shovel or go trudging through slush piles that are up to your knees. Sadly, that wasn’t me today. I had to go to work.

The Big J is a college conservatory. There are auditions scheduled every day for the next ten days. Audition week here is like the Olympics of music, dance, and drama. These kids work for years for their chance to try out, and then pass through layers of qualifiers, just to get admitted. Some people travel in from around the world just to audition. It’s a big deal for the students and their families, and the school will not deny them the chance. Thus, we are open – regardless if we are working auditions – which, luckily, I do not! (Sorry readers, you can’t bribe me for help getting in.) Repeated checking of the cell phone and the main number to the office crushed my hopes for another blessed snow day this month. Plus, I had an application that had to be filed by today. Phooey.

The newscasters warned me of 20-90 minute delays on my trains. I knew it was going to be bad. I thought I was prepared for it. The 35 minute wait on the platform wouldn’t have been so awful, if my feet weren’t soaking wet from the puddles I had to splash through to get to the station. Then the commute was a 45 minute standing room only experience, ala the Tokyo Subway. It would have been bearable if I wasn’t smooshed into a human pretzel. I want to learn yoga, but even trained yogis would have been hard-pressed to find the zen in the mass of bodies that was the train this morning. At one point, one of my shoulders was in some guy’s armpit, and my other shoulder was in between some lady’s shoulder blades. (I hope they were her shoulder blades.) I had an elbow in my kidney for a while, plus my knees and hips were canted in different directions. A chiropractor would have a field day with me right now. Oh, and that’s not all. I was in the vestibule on a local train as people were jostling to get on and OFF. It was a LONG, miserable, achy, ride. Needless to say, I got to work very cold and cranky.

As the day progressed, and the snows fell, those of us in the office got a little punchy. It could have been the exchanging of the “war stories” (my commute was sooooooo bad), or the very casual nature of the various clothing ensembles, but our conversational topics began to get decidedly odd. Somehow it turned to current events (like this and that) and this gem was uttered:

Me: Well, they are called killer whales for a reason.
Boss: I bet cows kill more people per year than killer whales do!

Me: (*beat*) hysterical laughter*

Then my Boss LOOKED UP THE STATISTICS, proving once again that you can find anything on the Internet.

Moral of the story?

Really? You want one?

This entry is about snow, trains, killer whales, and cows, for cripes sake!

Is it spring yet?


*** I do extend my deepest sympathies to the family and friends of the SeaWorld trainer, of course. I'm not trying to be disrespectful to her memory at all.

Escaping the Rain

The weather has been so foul lately that I've decided to cope by remembering my recent visit to a tropical "rain forest," aka the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory at the New York Botanical Garden. I will take my escape from the grey fog, drenching rains, sloppy muck, ice, and snow any way I can.