I Should've Kicked Her Down the Stairs

With the weekend storm, it was obvious that commuting on Tuesday was going to be a struggle.  Thinking about it and talking it over with Dave, we figured given all the options, the train would still be my best bet because at least then I wouldn't have to deal with unfamiliar detours and crazy drivers.  I might be a little late, but I'd be safe.

I took an early train in and still got to work about 15 minutes late (so about 45 minutes past the regular arrival time for that train).  No big deal--they'd only had an opportunity to work on the rails for about 8 hours, in the dark and it was still windy and rainy.  I figured the evening would be about the same, but hopefully better.  Anticipating a longer trip in both directions, I brought my Kindle and a couple skeins of yarn to work on some crochet projects.

We got off to a good start going home, but at some point came to a pretty abrupt stop.  There were only two conductors (as opposed to three) and they weren't the normal guys for that train.  It had been slow going up to that point, so it wasn't a huge surprise that we stopped.  It happens in good weather sometimes.  We sat for about 15 minutes before the power went out. Now, it was about 5:15 pm or so, still cloudy and becoming stormy, so it was pretty dark.  Ridership was significantly down yesterday (people dealing with power out at home or at work, kids home from school or maybe just decided to drive instead), so there wasn't a huge raucous among the riders.  People were generally of the same opinion--we expected to be delayed.  What was odd, however, is that the conductors weren't making announcements about what was going on, especially since the power went out.

I'll interrupt here to say that on Monday, the MBTA--Boston's public transit--suspended service mid-afternoon,before the brunt of the storm hit us.  One of the statements I read from the MBTA said, "the safety of our employees, customers and infrastructure is our number one priority."  And I was glad to see that part of that safety meant not running trains in hurricane-strength winds.

After another 5 minutes, a conductor walked through the car I was in, but didn't say anything.  When he was almost out, a rider hollered, "What's going on?  Are you going to make an announcement?"  Apparently this guy didn't get the memo because his response (to a complete innocuous, reasonable, and mild-mannered question) was, "We're trying to get the train running!"  The guy, upset and reasonably so at that response, said, "Well an announcement would be nice!"  To which the conductor got the last word of, "We're doing our best."  Well, apparently not because we were still stopped and still in the dark, literally and figuratively.  We had no idea why.  A few minutes later, we learned we were being hooked up to the train behind us when a sudden bump jerked the train, rather abruptly.  Following that, the other conductor came through and made an announcement that we were hooked up and would be pushed to our destination.  But that would require our normally express train (ha!) to make all the local stops.

It took an extra 1 1/2 hours for me to get to my train stop last night.  And frankly, despite almost losing battery in my phone (I was down to 5%), missing an appointment, being hungry and desperately needing to pee, I was ok with it.  Yeah, it sucks, but I knew this was a risk when I chose to ride the train and luckily since the train wasn't crowded people were on their best behavior.

Until we were in line to finally get off the train at my stop.  A woman (older, maybe 60s?) who I see often and is generally cordial, polite and makes standard "train conversation" (random musings with people you don't know) with other train people (not me--I generally keep to myself) decided to engage me while standing behind me in line.  I was decked in my rain jacket, hood up and tightened.  My hood has a string that lets you adjust the fit of the hood not only around your face, but also through the back, so an elastic band hangs off the back of the hood. 

This woman pulled the string. 

Not once, but repeatedly for several seconds. And she wasn't just pulling the string, she was rocking my head and neck back and forth.

Woman: This is dangerous. (pulling the string, yanking my head)

Me: Yeah....(completely flabbergasted, then pissed) so why don't you stop pulling it.  Because touching someone you don't know is a real good idea.  You don't touch strangers.

Woman (dropping string): I didn't mean...

Me: It is never appropriate to touch a stranger.  Ever.

She didn't say anything else and then it turned out that the door behind us was being opened, necessitating that we turn around and now I was behind her.

How old were you when you learned it wasn't ok to touch a stranger?  Why do people feel it's appropriate to put their hands on someone else?  I have friends who are befuddled when someone they don't know thinks it's ok to touch their baby or child without asking.  I'm not sure which is more shocking--that someone would touch a child they don't know or a grown adult who might just deck them. 

I was completely ok with being stuck on the train for hours, in the dark, but why would another person in that same situation think it's a good idea to doing something so inappropriate and irritating to a complete stranger?  I feel confident that this woman has ridden the train for enough years (I've been on it for 5 1/2 and have seen her often), that she knows the one way train commuters get on edge is dealing with a late train.

All I know is that I hope she was scared as hell knowing I was walking behind her as we exited the train.  Because it was all I could do to not kick her down the stairs.

We Survived

Well, luckily Hurricane Sandy didn't hit Massachusetts nearly as hard as was anticipated.  It was forecast to be so bad that the governor closed all schools, colleges & universities.  Which meant that the university I work at closed for the first time in almost forever. Possibly since World War II.  Basically this place never closes.

Anywho, the storm came and didn't directly hit the coast, instead doing much more damage south of us.  We did go through heavy rain and extreme winds.  I'm pretty sure the wind didn't stop all.day.long.  It was so bad that when we went to bed last night, after things were starting to calm down, I said to Dave that I could no longer tell if the wind was blowing because the sound was so constant I'd become immune to it.

But the best part of the whole thing is that we didn't lose power.  YAY!  After last Halloween's freak snowstorm, I wasn't looking forward to a hurricane damaged version of the same. It was still dark when I left this morning, but I don't think we lost any trees.  Just a lot of leaves and small twigs and branches littered the roads nearby.  A lot of people in our town and towards the coast are dealing with much worse clean up, so my heart goes out to them and I hope they remain safe. 

Thinking of all my friends and family closer to the impact of the storm:  Hope you all are safe and well!

New Rule

When at the gym, if you insist on walking around the locker room buck naked (no towel, no bra/panties, buck.naked.), please have the decency to follow common etiquette of walking on the right in the hallways. 

I would prefer not to turn the corner and run into your boobs.

Really.

This Post Would Be Better With Pictures

Last Saturday, Dave and I went kayaking, but I didn't think to take my camera or my phone, so I have no pictures.  Which would make this story far more interesting.  I'll try with words instead.

We dropped into the Concord River not far from home and thought we'd paddle south toward the Old North Bridge.  We were going against the current and the wind, apparently so we'd have an easier time getting back (HA!) but we never actually considered how far that would be.  Seriously we thought it would be an easy little jaunt down the river.  The day was gorgeous, sunny, and warm with a slight breeze, and the leaves on the trees along the river bank were starting to turn in to pretty yellows and reds.  A few fishermen were out and a couple other kayakers, but for the most part the river was empty.  Empty enough that we saw a few heron at different points, apparently "fishing" for breakfast.  Nice and tranquil.

Until we were paddling for about an hour and still weren't at the bridge.  Three times I thought to myself, "It should be just beyond this bend."  Each time I was wrong.  We reached a fork in the river and Dave, ahead of me, asked me which way.  I honestly thought we were supposed to go to the left and said so.

Again, I was wrong. 

Turns out it was just a large cove. so I turned around, paddled out of the cove and almost made it to the turn to continue back down the river. 

Now at this point, my arms are sore because I'm not used to paddling for so long against the current and wind.  I'm starting to get blisters on my thumbs from the grip (and because I forgot my gloves and don't have squishy paddle grips,yet).  So I won't lie that I was mildly irritated when Dave called me from the back of the cove.

Dave: Colleen, come here.

Me (muttering to myself): This better be good.

I turned around and just as I started to paddle back, something popped up out of the water. And I swear it looked me in the eye.  We had a moment where I thought, "What the hell is that?" and it thought, "Ahh! I'm gonna die!"

I paddled back to Dave and saw he was looking at some sort of wooden, branch-like plant that was home to probably half a dozen turtles sunning themselves.

Ok, it was good.

There was another smaller plant of the same type of to the right.  It really just looked like leafless tree branches poking out of the water and there were a bunch of 4-7 inch turtles, I think they were painted turtles because they didn't look big enough to be snapping turtles.  Apparently we paddled not into a cove but into a turtle sanctuary!  We probably saw about 30 turtles either on the branches, dropping into the water or poking their heads out of the surface (must've been what I saw when I turned my boat around to come back).  It actually made me nervous to paddle out because I didn't want to hit any of them.

So after spending a little while watching the turtles and getting out of our paddling groove, we decided just to head back since our bodies were communicating their exhaustion.

By the way, I do not think it was easier on the way back.

More Reading: Fall Book List

I work as an administrator for a bunch of faculty and each spring I make sure their course goes off without a hitch.  This includes attending weekly meeting on the upcoming classes.  While I order catering for these meetings, I always supplement with some homemade baked goodies.  It's really just an excuse to bake for the cookie blog and then get the calories out of the house (and not into Dave or I).  As a thank you, I received a very generous Amazon gift certificate which I put towards buying myself a Kindle Fire 7", LCD Display, Wi-Fi, 8 GB.  I picked it up over the summer and was in love.  I've literally plowed through books (most of them free!) by reading on the train, on the cardio equipment at the gym, and instead of watching the crap TV that was on over the summer.  I also love that because there are so many free books (and the Lending Library through Amazon Prime), I've exposed myself to different genres and if I don't like a book, I don't feel committed to finish reading it.  I just delete it and move on to something else.

There are too many books here to do a review on each, so I've broken it down into how much I liked it.  The "Definitely Read" books are ones that I could not put down and am so glad I downloaded.  The "Good If You're Bored" books were fun, mostly quick, reads that are a good one to grab while your waiting for something from the wait list at the library or waiting for a new month to begin to get something new from the Lending Library.  And for the record, I consider "chick-lit" fun, sexy stories about young women still finding their way in the world and "women's fiction" to be a more mature look on being an adult and the life they lead.  In no particular order, here's what I've been reading.

Definitely Read

• Swimby Jennifer Weiner--short story, chick lit; a prequel to her new novel, The Next Best Thing
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins--fantasy, science fiction, teen fiction (finally on board and I loved it)
• Summer of Firefly Memories by Joan Gables--women's fiction, family relationships
• Golden Lies by Barbara Freethy--women's fiction, mystery, romance, family relationships
• I Think I Love You (a humorous romantic mystery) by Stephanie Bond--chick-lit, mystery, family relationships (Stephanie Bond may be one of my new favorites)
• Crossroads Road: A Novel by Jeff Kay--(disfunctional) family relationships, humor
• Never Buried (Leigh Koslow Mystery Series) by Edie Claire--mystery, slightly chick-lit (and it's set it Pittsburgh!)
• Tales from the Crib by Jennifer Coburn--women's fiction, humor

Good If You're Bored

• Charlie In Love by LC Zingera--chick-lit; romance (I did not expect this to turn into the new generation of Harlequin romance, but it wasn't awful)
• The Enemy's Son by Kristen James--chick-lit, mystery, romance
• The Secret Desires of a Soccer Mom by Robyn Harding--women's fiction, mystery
• More by Heidi Marshall--chick-lit, romance, Christian fiction (but in the slightest sense)
• Whispering Hills (Whispering Hills, #1) by Taryn Browning--mystery, teen paranormal fiction (I had no idea, I swear!)
• Sleeping with Paris by Juilette Sobanet--chick-lit, romance
• Welcome to Scranton by Greg Halpin--coming of age
• Chop, Chop (Chop, Chop Series - Book 1) by LN Cronk--Christian fiction, coming of age (I really wanted this book to be more, so I read it through the end but was left unfulfilled.  But it could be good for the right person.)

I can lend most of these books once--leave me a comment with your email address and I'll hook you up!

Only in Pittsburgh

This past weekend, Dave and I took a trip to Pittsburgh to visit my Dad and watch a little football.  We were excited to see Pitt pull of a huge upset over Virginia Tech by a score of 35 to 17.  While we were there, Dave got hungry so we stepped out to get some stadium grub at Heinz Field.  Dave opted for something more substantial than my soft pretzel: The Allegheny Burger.  A burger topped with keilbasa and a perogi.  Few things are more Pittsburgh than that.

The next day we went back to Heinz Field, this time to cheer on the Steelers during their 27-0 win over the New York Jets.  It was wonderful.  But the entertainment truly started before we even got into the stadium.  In order to direct the massive crowds of people crossing the streets separating parking from the stadium, and to make sure the cars could get through without hitting people, police officers managed to make everything run smoothly.  They were there for the Pitt game, too, but on Steelers game day, they carry equipment other than their whistles.

Yup, that policeman is directing traffic with his Terrible Towels.  So was his friend, but I only got on shot.

I love seeing the crazy that is Pittsburgh. It makes me feel at home with my peeps.

Oh, and then I totally dominated fantasy football this week...to make up for the fact that I lost to JR the week before.  

Three Years is Personal Flotation Devices

Three years ago today, I married a man with infinite patience and a sense of humor enough to let me make fun of him publicly on the internet.  He's quite the catch, this man of mine. 

For a while, like several years, Dave and I talked about buying kayaks (one for each of us, because you know we each need our own boats).  Over Labor Day weekend, we redeemed a Groupon to try out the sit-on-top variety of kayaks, which we quickly dismissed upon being soaked from the water splashing into the boat and the complete lack of control (we were both listing in various directions).

After that excursion, we visited an independent outdoor store, New England Backpacker, and got some very good information about the type of kayak we'd want and why.  Seriously, we are so glad we went there because if left to our own devices, we would have royally screwed up the purchased.  Additionally, they said we could test-paddle the kayaks we were interested in by renting them for a day and if we decided to buy them, the rental fee would be taken off the purchase price.  Which was already on sale since it's the end of the season.  Score.

So last Saturday, we rented our desired kayaks, hit the same lake as the weekend before, and proceeded to paddle in absolutely terrible conditions.  It was super windy, the waves were choppy, we were paddling with the wind which meant we'd have to battle against it to get back, clouds threatened to unload on us, and on top of that we weren't exactly pleased with each other.  So we took a break, got out of the water and regrouped. 

Then we bonded over the two meatheads trying to get their small jet boat launched.  It was awesome. The one guy had no clue and the other guy had no grasp of telling his buddy what to do.  This thing was old and after he got the boat trailer in the water, the guy had to jump it with a battery box to get it started.  The engine sounded awful.  Dave watched, and actually helped at one point to give the guy a line to the dock, ticking all the various things they were doing wrong.  The best part was that they knew there were a bunch of rocks at the launch that needed to be avoided, at which they were successful.  Until they finally turned the boat the leave the launch and scraped the bottom over the rocks in the most fantastic of ways.  The sound was horrible and it could have easily been avoided, but at this point we knew they had no clue what they were doing.

Their boat was something like this--but older and more full of idiots.

After enjoying that show, we got back in our kayaks, got rained on a bit, but toured the rest of the lake before the winds got particularly heinous.  We really got a chance to figure out our kayaks and decide if we really wanted to get them.

By the time we got back to the shop to return the rentals, we decided we really wanted to buy these kayaks.  We have a lot of fun paddling, and there are a lot of opportunities for us to try different rivers and ponds not far from our house.  The guys at the shop were great hooking us up with everything we needed, sizing us appropriately and making sure we were comfortable.  When we paid for it all, I turned to Dave and said, "Happy Anniversary!"  Maybe molded plastic and life vests will be the new contemporary third anniversary gift.

So, there you go Dave.  You now have your own boat.  Please stop asking me for a sailboat, because I don't know which anniversary nylon and dacron are given.