Funny (or Crazy) Commuter Moments

I commute for work about 48 weeks, 240 days to and from Manhattan. In the span of 2+ hours daily, some crazy shit happens. Here are some memorable moments...

• One evening, I spotted a woman selling Churros and some potato chip-like items on the subway platform. She had the Churros on a baking tray covered in plastic wrap and then the chip-like items were in sandwich bags in her cart. I didn't see a Health Department certificate of a satisfactory rating so I didn't bother nor do I like Churros or mystery chips.
• My seatmate, at 7am, smelled like curry. Yup curry, at 7am. It was not a smell for early in the day. Dinner perhaps but not while I was trying to sleep and each time he moved I got a whiff of curry.
• At the time I was being audited by our corporate auditing group and one morning I let someone sit next to me. As I sat down I realized I was sitting next to the lead auditor for the team auditing my area. Crap! Thank goodness she was very nice and we had a nice, short conversation before putting our iPods on and napping. 
• Sitting next to a guy who started to speak loudly into his cell phone, hung up, read my book over my shoulder, looked away, started reading (looking) but then started to read parts aloud. He also said random things and made random noise. He invaded my personal space.  I did stare him down at one point but still cannot figure out why I didn't say anything ... I guess I couldn't formulate words for what was happening.
• I used to sit by the window, on the inside, in a two-seat bench until one morning I was being suffocated by a heavier woman wearing way to much perfume. I think I held my breath for the entire one hour ride. Keep in my the train is fairly narrow and these trains are circa 1970s or so and the seats are narrow even for me. Since then I've never sat by the window.
• Once morning I let in a nice looking lady. Big mistake, once she sat down she couldn't stop fidgeting with her stuff. She kept rooting around her bag which had a half empty water bottle that kept crackling. OMG. Then she filed her nails.WTF?

My Temporomandibular Joint aka TMJ

I have had some minor jaw issues before but nothing like the pain and discomfort I have been experiencing of late.

I have probably always been a teeth grinder but lately it is the clenching that has been most annoying. I am probably clenching as I type this. I basically clench in my sleep and when awake enough to cause headaches and earaches. Painful ones that make everything in the world around me annoying. I had a bad headache for a couple days last week which prompted me to call the dentist about a mouth guard. A specially fitted mouth piece for my issue is almost $500 without insurance but with it, it's less than $100. But before committing to such a pricey piece of plastic I hit up Target for the $30 version.

Let me introduce to you my Sleep Right dental guard. So far it is okay. The pads that go between the teeth are a bit thick for me, so I feel my jaw is separated a bit more than I am comfortable with. For the past two nights I did my best to sleep with it in but end up removing it in the middle of the night due to discomfort. I also end up putting it back on when I wake myself up from grinding or clenching.

We now live in Alaska.

 

The snow covered house.

 

Trees in the front yard, obviously also snow covered.

The snowy backyard.

Oh How I Miss You

 

I love blueberry waffles (bbw) and blueberry bagels (bbb). My discerning palette has determined that Eggo makes the best waffles and Dunkin Donuts the best bagels. I've tried blueberry baked goods from others but they're never the same. I went through a period of DD saying they "discontinued" the bbb and then we moved and our DD had them, then they stopped. Then the DD by my father-in-law's got new owners and now I have a bbb supplier. What a rollercoaster.

My latest problem is the mystery of the missing blueberry waffles. I would go to the grocery store and check the freezer and 90% of Eggo products are missing. Barren shelves in the freezer case. This morning I finally remembered to Google the missing Eggo products. Well turns out there's a shortage of Eggo products. You can read the article here or listen to me sum it for you. 

Well... what had happened was...Eggo had some factory issues a flooded plant in Atlanta and equipment issues in another plant in Tennessee. Eggo products are not expected back until mid-2010! Like five more months! 

I am trying to figure out if I can get my money back on some Stop and Shop brand blueberry waffles that taste like cardboard. Might have to Google their product satisfaction policy. I just know the waffles smelled delicious but the palette told my brain it tasted like the box my Amazon.com order came in.

Thank you Nick!

It took us about six months but we, mostly Nick, were able to clean up enough of the garage to pull a car into. We still had a little more work to do but it does just fit my car.
Yesterday some snow was predicted and I will be damned if I have to clean my car off so early in the morning. So last night I got home and parked in the garage. I had to push a few things around to be able to walk around the car but it was worth so worth it. This morning I kept hitting the snooze button and panicked when I realized it had snowed, looked out the window and I remembered Zippy was snow free in the garage. Woohoo! It was so easy to roll out of the garage (although kinda crooked) into the snow with the only finger lifted was to press the garage door remote to shut the door.

Thanks honey!

Groundhog Gots Connections

To my dismay, my nemesis, Phil seems to have connections. How do you explain his "prediction", if you can even call that, of six more weeks of winter cause he saw his shadow? If I were soundly hibernating and some annoying humans roused me from my slumber I would check out the commotion. Upon realizing the commotion was a bunch of fools staring, taking pictures and trying to pick me up I would totally haul my furry ass back where it came from.

Since a groundhog is supposed to be an upstanding mammal and would never run from commotion Phil had to call on Mother Nature to help a critter out. So she makes it snow. I bet she's cruising around in a shiny new convertible somewhere warm and snow-free. Bitch.

Tuesday February 2, 2010

At the rate the day is speeding down a mountain like a novice skier that damn groundhog better step it up and pretend his shadow doesn't exist.

I woke up early, before my alarm clock and contemplated taking an earlier train. As I was getting ready I got an email saying it was cancelled. Convenient for NJ Transit. Then it began...emails kept coming in, at first only 15 minute delays due to overhead wire problems. Then with each email the delay increased. As I took my seat in the train I was cruelly reminded of the now 60 minute delay. 45 minutes later I stand on a Path train elbow to elbow with my fellow commuters and distracting myself with this post because I am a serious proponent of personal space.

Making my way to midtown I better beat that delayed train for all the transferring I am doing.

So a message to that groundhog, Pawxa-whatever Phil, man up and get me some warm weather cause wearing puffy coats and ear muffs is not cute it is just pathetic.