Your Balls Aren't THAT Big

This morning on the way in, I sat at a window seat. A man sat in my seat on the aisle end of the three seater. He was reading the paper all spread out and his legs spread eagle. When he was asked to move in, he obliged. However, he remained in the same stance. Newspaper was wide open and his legs spread out as wide as they could go.

Ok buddy! First, I am pretty sure the article you are reading is contained to just one page. Fold the paper in half! Second, unless you have elephantitis, YOUR BALLS AREN’T THAT BIG! Close your legs and give me some damn room!

Happy Friday Everyone!

Sitting with a Fire Fighter

Today I was having a bad day. I dropped my “sparkly shiny dollar coins” in the parking lot and lost them in the leaves. When I bent down to get them out of the leaves, I ended up spilling my coffee on the arm of my jacket. I was so irritated. Once I found my “sparkly shiny dollar coins” for the parking machine, I heard the train coming and started to walk a little faster. My coffee splashed out of my cup and onto my gloves.

I went and paid the parking and then ran inside to grab some paper towels because there was a huge line to get on the train, I figured I had time to do it. When I got back outside I went into a different car than usual because I was freezing and that line was shorter. I grabbed a seat facing a man in a red hat. I sat down flustered and pulled out my book.

A few stops in, I decided to move inward and to let others sit. When I did, the guy in the red hat started talking to me. Small talk at first. He had an appointment in the city. He liked going in on the train but it was only his third time doing it so he was still confused but enjoyed the scenery. I closed my book and put it away.

He started to tell me how he is a fire fighter. He is ready to retire. He wasn’t really ready to retire but there was a bad fire this summer and the Chief made a bad call. The reason he was going to Boston was for a Dr’s appointment to discuss this fire. He couldn’t handle what happened that day and is done firefighting.

He then went on to say how he spent much of his life working for the dollar and how he wants to travel and see the States. Not even the world…the States. That says a lot to me. Because he was so focused on working, he missed a lot of things and now he was going to start his bucket list.

You ever have a bad day and then realize someone else is having a worse time than you. Suddenly my spilled coffee and dropped “sparkly shiny dollar coins” didn’t seem so bad. I also took away from this, work hard but play hard too. It’s not all about making money. You have to have fun, live and travel while you can.

I Got a Kiss on the Train

Yesterday, my friend and I sit in seats facing each other. We each had an open seat next to us, as we were facing each other. A woman with her adorable, well behaved son sat down next to me. He sat on her lap the entire ride and ate his gold fish. Another woman sat down next to my friend and we were all chit chatting about various grocery shopping techniques. When we go, when the worst time to go is, do you go during the game, don’t go before the game and so on. The boy just munched on his gold fish and when he and his mom got to their stop, he blew me several kisses as he went down the aisle. He was too cute! Why can’t all kids on the train be like him?

Train to Nowhere

When the conductor gets to our stop in the morning he shouts out “Train to Boston!” when he jumps on the train to let us on. Well, this morning he screams out “Train to nowhere!”

SOOO, naturally what song do I have stuck in my head all the way to Boston?

Talking Heads! Road to Nowhere

We're on a road to nowhere
Come on inside
Takin' that ride to nowhere
We'll take that ride

I'm feelin' okay this mornin'
And you know
We're on a road to paradise
Here we go, here we go

We're on a ride to nowhere
Come on inside
Takin' that ride to nowhere
We'll take that ride

Maybe you wonder where you are
I don't care
Here is where time is on our side
Take you there, take you there

We're on a road to nowhere (Hah! Hey! Hi!)
We're on a road to nowhere
We're on a road to nowhere

There's a city in my mind
Come along and take that ride
And it's all right, baby it's all right….

Thankful for: Train Friends and Not Worrying

Today is not about the train. It’s about being thankful (Well, kind of about the train since I am thankful for my train friends) I have been seeing all over Facebook people posting every day what they are thankful for. They are thankful for their BFFE, Friends, Perfect Husbands … they are even thankful for FACEBOOK! I am NOT by any means discounting these things because I am thankful for my BFFE. She is super woman and if I asked her to fly, she’d find a way to do it! I am thankful for my husband because he lets me be ME and doesn’t try to restrain the goals I have. I am thankful for friends because without them, where would I be? I’d be lonely on the train, I’d have no one to share martinis with, I’d have no one to share laughs with. I am, surprisingly thankful for Facebook…how else would I keep up with everyone’s busy lives?

However, I am most thankful that I don’t have to worry about where my next meal is coming from! Yesterday I was at a conference. I saw a disheveled guy come in who was in his late 20’s, early 30’s. He had on jeans and a hoodie. I assumed he was a bike messenger since the place was swarming with business types and lots of documents were movin’ and shakin’. I looked at his pant leg and saw that he did not have his pant leg rolled up or that bike strap thing that makes it so your pants don’t get caught in the chain. So, that ruled out bike messenger. He shuffled around the lobby area nervously and then disappeared. Once the men in suits went into their meetings and the presentation rooms and it was just me manning the registration desk, I saw this man sneak by me and head into the hospitality suite where the last of our buffet lunch was sitting. I almost got up and asked if I could help him but then I saw what he was doing. He had paper towels in his hand and from my vantage point I could see him. He opened the paper towels and wrapped a few sandwiches in them. He grabbed a couple cookies and a soda. When he walked out, he had his head down and tried to sneak by me again. I saw his jeans up close. They were dirty. His hair was tattered. His sweatshirt was grungy. I almost cried. This guy wasn’t a messenger, he was finding lunch…and maybe even dinner. I have never been put in a situation where I don’t know where my next meal is coming from and I am very thankful I haven’t. To see it up close and personal though, makes me appreciate the fact that I don’t have to worry.  

Heat! It’s an Easy Concept!

This morning it’s cold! I mean cold!! I decide since it’s only November, I am not going to wear my abominable snowman jacket and sport one of my lighter winter jackets while it should be warm enough to wear them. I get to the train station, walk toward the platform and decide I am a wimp so I wait inside until the train comes. When the train comes, I head outside and wait to hop on the train. When I get on the train, there is no temperature change. The only change is that outside it is cold with a slight breeze and in the train it’s….cold with no breeze! The entire way to North Station, I read my book with my gloves on and debated throwing my hood on but I didn’t want to be too melodramatic!

OK MBTA, it’s called “HEAT!” As in, it’s 26 degrees out. Why don’t we turn the heat on?  That is all.

Get Your Suburban Panties Out of a Bunch

Oh Halloween....it's on the chopping block for me right now! I don’t think I ever really liked the holiday but I have always gone along with it.

Yesterday I wore my orange and black and was as festive as I could be in a professional office. Example: Wearing glow in the dark skeleton earrings was out of the question!

I took the early train home because my town posted on the Mass trick or treating site that it started at 5pm. I rushed home only to find that it had been miss posted and it actually started at 6pm. It also seems like everyone else saw the miss posted trick or treat time because the train was so packed that it was eventually standing room only…ALL THE WAY to the end of the line. Which never happens and then I sat in traffic to get out of the train parking lot which also, never happens!

What happens after I get home, I never saw coming! My husband works for a beverage company. A coworker of his says that he hands out soda and is the coolest house in the neighborhood. Everyone loves it!! My husband tells me and I think it’s a great idea so instead of candy, we hand out soda!

First of all, do kids say “Trick or Treat” anymore because these little snots just came to the door and just opened their bag? Not one word.

Then, we got a trick or treater that gave us back our soda and walked off of our porch almost in tears. The mom asked what was wrong as if WE did something to the poor kid.

The next kid got a soda in her bag and screams to the kids in the Cul De Sac “Don’t go to this house!!!!” Um, flat out rude!!! I would NEVER have had the balls to say anything like that when I was little. Not even of the house giving out fruit or Necco wafers!

We got another kid that was psyched over his soda and when he got to his parents, they scream to us from the street “You have some GUTS!!!!”

Another kid says to us “Sweet! My mom’s gonna be pissed!”

And another woman says to us “He’s not drinking that.” Then turns to the kid and says “Keep walking.” They then cut across the lawn and I secretly hoped they stepped in dog sh*t!

We got a few tweens that were psyched to get the soda and others welcomed the drink as they were thirsty from walking from house to house.

However, I never saw the rude comments coming. I was taught that if it’s something you don’t like, you take it and say “Thank you” anyways. If you don’t like it or your parents had a problem with it, they’d confiscate it at the end of the night or  you trade it with your sibling.

Do you think I told the people with Necco wafers that I don’t like them? NO! Do you think I told the people with Snickers that I was allergic to peanuts? NO… I took those for my dad! Did I tell people that I didn’t want Junior Mints? Nope! Those were for mom!

If it’s caffeine they are worried about… um there is caffeine in chocolate! If it’s the sugar, then go tell the house giving out pixy stix that they have “guts” too! Lighted up! It’s Halloween! Get your suburban panties out of a bunch!

That being said, I think the $50 bucks we spent on things to pass out will be spent on us next year instead.  We’ll stash the dog in the basement (the only place where the light isn’t seen from the road) and head to the local watering hole where we will avoid nasty parents and snotty kids.

I am officially ba-humbug about Halloween!

Oh….and Happy Friday.