Deep Breath!

This morning on my way to work, I pile on to a packed train at North Station. We go one stop to Haymarket and one person gets off. Only one! There are four people waiting to get on. One gets on, two scramble to find another door they can get in and another just panics and runs from door to door but can’t get on anywhere. There is an MBTA officer standing at our door. I assumed he’d tell the guy to wait for the next train but instead he tells an already sardine packed train to “Take a deep breath!” Of course I do it. I don’t hear anyone else doing it. Everyone else is staring at the MBTA office like he is crazy. I take my deep breath in and I feel the MBTA officer push us in to the middle and this guy has Juuuust enough room to get on the T! It’s a good thing I only had one stop to go since I was stuck in my “deep breath” position. Lesson learned, no matter how “autopilot” I may be on, don’t take a deep breath so more people can get on the train. If they can’t fit while I’m standing as my normal self, they just aren’t fittin’!

Tire Tread- Manditory in New England!

So, screw talking about the train for today. Let’s talk about maintaining your vehicle! When you live in New England and it’s…THE WINTER… you need tires with TREAD on them! Just sayin’!

This morning, I was on my way to the train when an old sh*t box pulled out in front of me and proceeded to the train station going 20 miles per hour. Every time this person saw slush or rounded a corner, we slowed down to 10 or 15 miles per hour. This isn’t a matter of lacking four wheel drive, this was a matter of maintaining your vehicle, which they clearly didn’t do!

I finally get to the train station and as I am pulling in to the parking lot, I see the scroll reading “Train to Boston Approaching!” I park in the first spot I see (and fit in…that’s key after a snow storm and you have a vehicle that’s…let’s say not compact)! I grab my stuff, look at my parking spot number and run to the payment box. I fold my dollar bills into eighths while I am running. We call this multi tasking! I get to the machine and there is some woman in front of me with a bad perm blocking the whole box. I look at her and while she is blocking the entire box, she is folding her dollar bills while humming! YES! Humming. B*tch! The train is behind us get your money in the box! Had you multitasked and folded your money while walking there, we’d all have a shot at making the train. Although from the looks of things, this lady probably couldn’t walk and chew gum at the same time.

Irritated by her folding and peaceful humming, I say “EXCUSE ME!” and get my arm in front of her and shove my neatly folded bills into my slot. I am in and out of there and this woman is still humming and folding while others pile up behind her. I am not the only one irritated with her as I hear another one cut in front of her too.

We all make the train! Thankfully! As I take my seat, I realize I don’t have my coffee! It’s in my truck. I am now feeling my caffeine headache come on. I have a routine, I sip my coffee the second I am on the train. I am clearly addicted to caffeine and if I don’t get it at that exact time, I am screwed. We get to North Station, I hop on the T and go directly to the Startbucks in my lobby. The line is long so I go to my office, unload all my things and run back down to the lobby. Success! I order a Vanilla Latte and that first sip is heaven! Now, I am ready to start my day!

Winter Snow Storm Fun!

This morning, the roads were slick. I was stuck behind an SUV that was all over the road going 15 MPH. I guess not all SUV’s are created equally because the only reason why I was sliding all over was from slamming on my brakes to back off from this guy who clearly didn’t know how to use his 4WD. Had I been able to go a steady speed, I wouldn’t have had any trouble.

Anyway, after being stuck behind this guy, I wasn’t sure if I’d make the train on time. I got to the train station and the parking lot hadn’t even been plowed! I parked in what I thought was my usual spot and tried to clear off the snow behind my truck so that I could see if I had indeed parked in my usual spot. When I pushed away the snow, all I saw was pavement. The numbers were somewhere under there but I knew I didn’t have time to investigate further. I took a guess at my number and paid the honor box. I hope I am correct because I would be irritated if I came back to find a ticket on my vehicle! I wish I had a post it with me so that I could have stuck it to the money with the make and color of my vehicle but, I was in a hurry of course and while I was at the box, I saw the Boston train approaching. I wasn’t going to push my luck but when I got to the cross walk to get over the tracks, the train was plenty far out for me to cross! Success! I made the train on time in this nasty storm. The train was empty and I had an entire seat to myself the whole way in! It was great! Now, let’s just hope I don’t get a ticket!!