MTA=Manhattan Transportation Authority

Once again, the F and G trains will be out of service this weekend.  The trains were down for the weekend before the week of Thanksgiving and now they will be out of service again a week later and replaced with shuttle buses.  When I called the MTA to find out why the trains will be down for yet another weekend, I was given the standard answer about "track work" being needed.  As much as I love Brooklyn, it's times like this that I wished I lived in Manhattan where the subways are always running.  Sure, track work is done in Manhattan also, but at least you have other options if your particular line isn't running.  You can walk a few avenues and catch another line that is up and running if your particular line isn't.  Out here in Brooklyn, you're pretty much forced to take the dreaded shuttle buses if the trains aren't running. 

I will never be convinced that the service disruptions are equal between boroughs.  Manhattan gets better treatment than other boroughs because it's the moneymaker.  That's where the tourists are.  That's where the money is.  The MTA honchos must think, To hell with the people who live and work in Brooklyn.  They can suffer.  It's not right.  I understand track work is necessary and usually that track work is at least staggered a few weeks between service disruptions, but this every other weekend thing is not right. 

Subway Solicitation

When I was on the F train coming home from work tonight, a young black woman got on the train with two young children and asked for money.  Through the music on my headphones, I could hear her saying something about needing money because of Hurricane Sandy, but I didn't catch the entire story.  As a rule, I don't give money to people who pander on the subway and I didn't pony up any cash for the woman I saw today either.  I am strongly against panhandling and it's also against the law to solicit for money on the subway in New York (although I doubt the cops crack down on it).  But I get really annoyed when I see people (women mainly) panhandling with their kids.  They know they're likely to get money if they're with a child, particularly a young child or a baby. (The woman I saw today snagged a few dollars from someone on the train likely because of the two small children she had with her.)  Dragging your child around while you beg for money just isn't right.  If you want to panhandle on your own, more power to you, but don't pull your kid into it.   

As for the woman I saw today, I don't know what her situation was.  Perhaps she and her kids were truly in need, but there are a lot of social programs available to women with children in New York that help with housing and food.  There's no reason to exploit your kids while you beg for bucks on the F train.

Back to Work Countdown

Well, the long holiday weekend is almost over and it's back to work tomorrow.  I woke up this morning to find out my apartment:
1. Had no heat
2. Had no hot water.

Lovely.  Thankfully, both issues were resolved by the afternoon.  At least I didn't have to go to work.  Taking a cold shower when it's 30-40 degrees outside (and when you don't have heat inside) is no fun. 

I planned to see more than one movie during this Thanksgiving weekend, but I only saw one: Flight.  It was quite good.  Denzel Washington was great, as he usually is.  I give it two thumbs up.  Maybe I'll make it to see Skyfall and/or Lincoln later this week. 

Book Club Blues

I went to my bi-monthly book club meeting in Philly on Sunday and was surprised (and annoyed) to discover that I was the only one at the meeting who had read the 400+ page book The Shoemaker's Wife.  The woman who had suggested the book didn't even come for the meeting.  Frustrating!  I never would have read the book if I had known no one else would read it either!  Granted, we had three books to read and I read two of the three, but The Shoemaker's Wife was clearly the longest and the most time-consuming.  At least we only have two books for the next meeting and I suggested one of them.  (And the one I suggested is NOT 400+ pages either!) 

Open on Wednesday...Closed on Sunday

Today, around 1:00 pm, I bought a ticket for next Tuesday night's performance of the Broadway play The Performers, starring the terribly underrated and hugely talented Cheyenne Jackson and the Fonz himself, Henry Winkler.  Around 4:00 pm, I was on Google news and happened to see a headline that The Performers was closing on Sunday!!!  The play just opened this Wednesday (although previews had been ongoing since October 23).  Granted, the reviews were not good for the play (although the reviews I read did praise Cheyenne for his performance) and I figured the show would probably close early, but I didn't think it would close in less than a week!  So, at 4:30, after work, I went back to the box office for a refund.  Bummer!  I guess I should have gone to see it in previews.

Public Water Fountains

I don't drink from public water fountains anymore.  After seeing one too many people putting their mouths over the part of the fountain where the water comes out, I had to give them up for good.  I've also seen people letting their dogs drink from public water fountains in the park.  Nasty!  Now I'm no germophobe.  Just living in New York forces you to deal with unsanitory conditions pretty much on a daily basis when you leave your home.  Between subway poles, stairway rails, and ATM's, the world is not a clean place and that's just the way it is.  But putting your hands on something that may have been touched by many, many other people is a far cry from putting your mouth on something that may have been touched by many, many other thirsty people (or thirsty animals).  Ugh!

Great

After a day that started fine and ended poorly with me frustrated and annoyed after being bounced from one Verizon representative to another, I got off the subway and saw a woman barfing into a garbage can on the platform.  Great.  Just what I wanted to see after dealing with Verizon.  At least the barfer made it to the garbage can.  When you're sick, you're sick.  I've been there.  During my undergraduate college years in Detroit, I barfed into a garbage bag on the Dexter bus coming home from classes at Wayne State.  People moved (rightly) away from me on the bus, making me feel like more of a leper than I already felt.  Public illness is rarely pretty, but it happens.  I hope that lady on the platform is doing better.  Her day was clearly a lot worse than mine!