First Day of School

 

 

Today was my first day at my new train stop! I was so excited. I got up early and took the dog for a walk. I’m trying to get her back on a schedule after a little confusion and chaos thrown into her life.

After our walk, I came home and grabbed the outfit I set out. It was like the first day at school or a new bus stop. I needed to look my best. I put on my Lilly Pulitzer dress for the occasion (It’s business casual this week at work so I could do that!). Once I was done getting ready, I scooted out the front door and WALKED to the train station! I didn’t drive! This was awesome! 6 minute walk and I was there!

As I was waiting on the platform, an express train flew by kicking up the wind and sand just flew everywhere. This is usually not a problem. However, I decided to use the Body Shops body butter on my legs today since my legs took a beating this weekend while I moved in. I also used Honey Trap lip balm on my lips from Lush. Um, well, when the train comes by and kicks up sand it’s more like “Sand Trap” lip balm. My goodness! My legs and lips now had little tiny granules stuck to them.

I hope this train doesn’t whiz by daily like that because I need to wear lotion. As I found out while packing, I have enough lotion to last me for the next 10 years and while unpacking my mother told me I am not allowed to by lotion ever again! SO, as you can see…it is mandatory for me to wear lotion every single day to justify my purchases of lotion. If I can’t wear lotion every day… well, I will then have enough lotion to supply me for the next 20 years! AND PS: Bath and Body Works just had their HUGE sale and I got their emails DAILY advertising it and it took ALL of my will power to stay at my desk and not run down the Down Town Crossing and grab as many sweet smelling lotions as I could buy! Yup! Absolutely KILLED ME! So, another reason to wear lotion every single day and apply it morning, noon and night… I get to go buy MORE!

Anyway, aside from that sand sticking to my lotioned legs and glossed lips, my new commute was smooth sailing! 

Yup! I Lost My Car!

Last night I went on a fabulous harbor cruise. (Or as we locals call it “Habah cruise”). I had a few glasses of wine and finished the evening off with a Bombay Sapphire Sparkler Martini. It was delicious. After the cruise I walked over to North Station and caught the 9:40pm train. Meanwhile, the place was swarming with police and ambulances. Didn’t know what was going on and didn’t feel like asking or getting in the way since I was almost hit by a police SUV in the crosswalk on my way in. Ya, that really happened and when I was standing their totally blown away I go “REALLY! Did that really happen?” and the officer on the other side of the street just shrugged.

Once I got in the station, I googled who was at the Garden and low and behold it was Avicii. On the way in this morning, I heard on the radio while stuck in traffic that several people were taken into the hospital due to heat exhaustion, alcohol and drug abuse. So, that explains all the commotion.

Anywho… Last night, I get off at Anderson-Woburn and there are hardly any cars in the parking lot. I look in the general direction of where I parked and I do not see my car at all. I start thinking to myself “Did you get on here this morning? Did you park somewhere else? Was it stolen? Please don’t be stolen, I just want to go home. I didn’t drink thaaat much. Am I losing my mind?” I keep walking in the direction of where I am pretty sure I parked because I don’t want to look confused to the other people who got off. My pepper spray was on the bottom of my purse and I didn’t want anyone to see that I could be a confused little target!  

I see a huge SUV where I am pretty sure I parked. I look below the SUV to see if I can see the tires of my small SUV and I don’t see them. I panic! Then… I hit my panic button on my key chain to see if I could hear my car! This has worked several times during the holiday season at the mall!!

All of a sudden from behind the huge SUV I hear my little SUV crying out and see the lights flashing like crazy! AHH!! Panic is officially gone and now everyone else in the parking lot sees my car freaking out. Oh well! I definitely won’t be a confused little target now. No one wants to go near a car with the alarm going off.

So, technically I did lost my car…but it was found! Two more days to go and then I’ll totally throw a wrench in things… I’ll have to learn a new train line! Who wants to take bets I hop on my old train line before I get into the swing of things…maybe I just set an outlook setting until I am in the habit of not getting on the Lowell line….

Traffic Can Suck It!

It is a miracle I made the train today! Oh wait… I’d like to congratulate myself for making it an entire week without losing my car! We all know how when you get in to a routine, it’s easy to just be on autopilot for that routine and changing it can throw a wrench into things! So, Yay for me!

Ok, back to miracles and making the train! Good lord! The traffic coming from NH this morning was crazy! It must have been all the people enjoying their NH getaways an extra day because even in NH, I saw a sea of MASS plates (myself included) heading south!

I tried very hard to cut people off so I could get ahead of things but I was surrounded by motorcycles and 18 wheelers and…well… you don’t cut off 18 wheelers because that is their room they left themselves to stop and you don’t cut of bikes. Period! End of story and if you cut off a bike, well then you’re just an a*shole.

So, stuck in my little spot with my windows down and some Calvin Harris blasting, I tried not to stress out. I finally got off the highway with 4 minutes to catch the train! Yup. 4 whole minutes to get through a stop light, go about a about three quarters of a mile, pay the parking attendant, park (PS- the only spot available are in east bum f*ck of the parking lot so that was awesome), run to the train and get on the platform before 7:38!

No pressure right!?! WRONG! I got off the highway and flew through the green light and toward the train station. I grabbed my sparkly shiny dollar coins left over from my previous train station parking needs, pulled up to the attendant with the windows down and practically threw my sparkly shiny dollar coins at him while grabbing the parking pass from his hands. I sped off to the most awesome parking spot I could find and ran two-tenths of a mile (I have an app for that!) to the platform. As I got on the platform, the train pulled in and ensue…miracle! I made it!

Happy Monday!

Dude! Where's My Car?

This morning I get on the train and I see the conductor that I usually see on my way home. He looks at me funny as I walk by to board the train at my new stop.

As he is checking passes, he leans in and asks me “What is the most important thing to remember today?” I look up and go “Hmm…What?”

“I am not going to be on the 5:30 train to remind you of this but the most important thing to remember is get off at ANDERSON!! Write it on your hand! Do you have a pen? If you get off at North Billerica, you are going to be upset because your car will not be there!”

I looked up and go “I’ll put it in my Outlook!”

“You better!” he says “It’s Friday! You don’t want to waste this day trying to search down your car!”

I had to laugh! I am impressed. He is a good conductor. Not only does he recognize me, he knows where I typically get on and off!

I am also impressed with the fact that, if I...rephrase...WHEN I get off at Anderson today, I will have gone one full week without losing my car! Let's hope for two weeks in a row!!

Happy Friday everyone!

I'll Smoosh You!

So, last night while getting off at my new train stop, the door from the new double decker wasn’t latching open so as we walked through, we each had to hold the door open for ourselves. As I walked through, I got ready to pass off the door to the girl behind me. She just kept walking through as if I should hold the door for her. UM, NO! That is not how this works. I let go of the door and it smacked into her pretty hard. I thought to myself “Woopsy B*tch! Pay attention and hold the damn door for yourself.” BUT I didn’t say that. I just turned around, shrugged and smiled. Now she knows for next time…

Quick Recap:

·         Grab the door if it’s not latched open while you walk through it otherwise some b*tch (me) will slam it shut and smoosh you!

THE END!

New Hampshah Girl

So, for the next two weeks, I am back in New Hampshire. Getting up at the crack of dawn to head to my new train station…well it’s not new. I have driven through it every day on my way in and out of the city because it’s on the same line as my old train station stop…which could pose a problem you see.

Getting on there isn’t exactly the problem. It’s remembering to get off there that will be the problem. Who wants to place bets here?

A.      Will I be a Forgetful Jones and  get caught up talking or in a good book and completely forget to get off the train two stops prior to my old stop to go to my car, get off at my old stop, realize my car isn’t there and then have to take a train back two stops to get to my car?

B.      I make it the full two weeks without forgetting to get off early and get to my car with no problems to head back to NH.

We shall have to wait and see…

Watah Bubblah

This morning I was tempted to take a later train in so I could get a little packing out of the way before the weekend and my big move. I thought for a second and decided to take my normal early train in because I’d be taking time out for closings and shouldn’t piss away my time out of work on packing.

I get to the train station on time and that’s when I read the scroll that my train had been canceled! Awesome! MBTA didn’t feel like emailing me that alert apparently. Thanks for that! Apparently I signed up for email alerts so I am apprised of the situation as it’s happening instead of being warned in advance as it’s supposed to do but whatever…MBTA does what they want.

I head inside because it’s raining and stand by the watah bubblah (That’s a water fountain for of you who are outside of Boston). I figured if I stood there I’d be out of the way. BOY was I wrong! Do you know how many people asked me to move so they could get to the bubblah? A ton! I honestly thought those things were like payphones…there for decoration!

When the later train pulls up, which is the express train… ya know, the one I was going to take so I could pack but instead I stood by the watah bubblah for 45 minutes instead, we are told that it is no longer an express train and they’d be making all the stops. AWESOME! So, I left my house at 7am and got to the office at 9am. This was a very productive use of my time this morning. I guess I should just always trust my intuition because had I just stayed home and packed, I would have caught the same train anyways.

So tell me… do you use a watah bubblah or are you just as grossed out by them as I am?

And the Bad Day Continues

Oh, and the bad day continues. Well, it didn’t technically continue but the effects from that day carried over into another day. So, maybe it did continue…

Yesterday, I had my fire safety certificate inspection in the morning since I am selling my home. I had to wait at the house and therefore take a later train in.

The fire department came and checked out all 50 million detectors needed in my home. The alarms went off just fine and the dog freaked out the entire time. At the very end, the department needed a hammer and screw driver. I came out with a flat head that I had lying around in a drawer. Well, they needed a Philips. Then I remembered, I have a tool set of my very own and it’s a good thing I didn’t put it in storage. I ran to the garage, grabbed my pink tool set and came back up. They laughed at me but hey… it got the job done right? Much better than using my stiletto as a hammer…which I may or may not have done before.

Anyway, they leave at 10am and I have just enough time to make it to the train station for the 10:23am train. I pull in one parking lot. It’s totally full so I head to the next one. THAT one is totally full too so I say “Screw it! I’ll invent a spot!”

I invent my spot and tell myself I’ll just have to pay the $10 fine when I get back. THEN it dawned on me “If it happens again, we’ll tow you. That’s $100.” F*CK! I put my keys back in my ignition and thank my lucky stars I remembered that because I would have LOST IT if I came back and my car was gone!

I try to figure out what parking lot has ample parking and start driving towards it. I hoped I’d catch that same train just a little further down the line. I get off the highway at Anderson Woburn and am SO close I can taste it and just before I go to pay to park, the train comes and goes! It is an hour until the next train comes. I decide I don’t want to sit for an hour so I drive by the parking attendant booth and leave. My options are Target (I avoid that store like the plague! Too many obnoxious kids!), PetSmart (If I buy anything in there for the dog, I will only have to move it.), Petco (Same problem-o) Bob’s Furniture (Ding Ding Ding).

I stop at Bob’s. I am generally NOT a fan of Bob’s as it is discount furniture and I don’t do chincy cheap stuff. It’s about quality! BUT I look around for ideas for my new place. I am surprised at what I see. There is a cute bar I like and a nice fold out couch with a “Bob O Pedic” for my guest room… just the word “Bob O Pedic” makes me cringe. I see a cute chair and ottoman for my living room too. This is hard because it all LOOKS good but will it last? The nice lady is trying to get me to buy them that day. I tell her that I can’t purchase anything right now as I am being watched like a hawk by my mortgage company while I try to buy the place so once I can spend my own money, I’ll be back. Plus, I didn’t have that much time, I had to go back to catch the train.

Silver lining… I missed my train and had to drive to Woburn and miss my train again…but I got to get some cute ideas for my new place. It’s up to me though to figure out if it’s worth the gamble of buying at Bob’s!  

Mea and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Days

Two… Yup TWO consecutive horrible days. It all started when I went to the Social Security Office to get my maiden name back. I had all my paperwork ready and was going to catch a later train in. I wait in the waiting room with two thugs sitting next to me talking about how easy it is to steal parts off cars! I cringed the entire time I was there and hoped that they don’t need any Jeep Wrangler parts since I am most likely going to still be in the waiting room when they leave.

I am finally called and the clerk tells me that I have the wrong paper and that a box needed to be checked and that I have to go BACK to court because something must have gotten lost in the shuffle and the paper I needed with the box that I needed checked wasn’t there. I was heartbroken.

I call the court to see what they can do for me. I had to go in…but she takes lunch from 1pm to 2pm so don’t come then.

I head to the train station to catch the 11:23pm train in to the city. If it’s on time, I can make it before 1pm. I get to the parking lot and there aren’t any spots. I park in one that is just barely a spot. I also decided I don’t want to lug my work bag around with me so I grab my book and a snack out of my bag and leave it in the car.

I head to the platform to eat my snack. I am flustered and you can probably see the pain in my eyes. There is a homeless guy sleeping on the bench so I lean on the cement wall and eat my snack. The homeless guy wakes up and immediately starts talking to me. I don’t know why they all talk to me but they do. We start talking about food and he reminisces about his child hood in the Bronx.

As we are talking, I open up my liter of Seltzer. Yes, I have 1 liter of Seltzer. I like to stay hydrated. He stops me before I take a sip “You haven’t had any yet right?” I shake my head no. “Can you pour some into my cup please?” So, of course I did. It kind of caught me off guard a bit but why not give him some… I had an entire liter!

As the train pulled up he said to me “Ya know, I bet the worst you isn’t even bad.” It’s an odd statement but it stuck with me.

While on the train, it decides to die on the tracks! While we are dead on the tracks, my realtor calls and says that the seller of the house I am moving in to would like to extend the closing date. My heart sank some more. GREAT! Now, I can extend MY “homelessness” while I am in between houses. Although, my “homelessness” involves staying at my dad’s lake house with a boat and a hot tub so, I mean… I shouldn’t be complaining but still, having no “home”  and living out of a suit case really stinks.

I get into North Station and am waiting for the Green line while cursing the Commuter Rail for being an entire half hour late. I realize there is no way I am making it to the court house by 1pm. I head to work on the Orange line to wrap up a few things and then head over to the court house later.

The woman at the court house was harsh and there I was, in court, fighting for a name I never wanted to give up. She finally says something that struck a nerve. I don’t even remember what she said but I have held myself together this entire time and now, standing in court I get all teary. The second I have tears in my eyes, the lady changes her tone and offers me jelly beans and a tissue. I accept the tissue.  As I do I hear in my head “Ya know, I bet the worst you isn’t even bad.”

I leave court and take myself shopping. Retail therapy! AHH! Even if I am only looking at washers and driers for my new place…it was still helpful. (Then I made my way from Sears into the Galleria and found a cute top to go with a new pair of shorts that I got…Making an outfit that is SUPER perfect for a day time date!)

After shopping I manage to catch an early train home and meet up with my friend on the train. My day is getting better…until…

I get to the train station, back to my car and I have a ticket! A f*cking ticket! I grab the envelope off the windshield and stomp my little high healed feet in to the station (No commuter shoes that day. I wanted to look good while in court!)

The guy is in there and I ask him “What’s this?! To refresh your memory, I have the Wrangler!” He says “Oh, your tire was in a tow zone. That’s a $10 fine. If it happens again, we’ll tow you. That’s $100.” My reply was “Well, if the guy next to me didn’t take up one and a half spaces, I wouldn’t be in the tow zone.” He shrugs. I grab a $10 bill from my purse and throw that and the envelope at him. I again hear in my head “Ya know, I bet the worst you isn’t even bad.” But realize that I probably shouldn’t throw things at strangers…although it was only paper and doesn’t hurt so whatever.

I go home and relax and play outside with my dog. I figure things can’t possibly get worse.

The next morning, the commute in was nice. My friend got the same train as me and we chit chatted all the way in and the train was on time! Great start to my fresh new day…until…

I get to my desk and have to take a call where I am blown away at the stupidity and selfishness of people! Just… blown… away! I have to leave my desk and hide in our freight elevator bank while I pull myself together…NEVER cry at your office! NEVER!! So, while I sat in the freight elevator bank, where I know, no one from my office will enter, I  try to grasp what the f*ck is wrong with people? I heard the man again in my head “Ya know, I bet the worst you isn’t even bad.”

That homeless man I met on the platform will never know and I will never see him again but he got me through my worst two days I have had in a long time because he is right…if this is the worst for me, then that’s not that bad. I know everything will iron itself out eventually and I will be “Mea” again. Things could be much much worse.

Explosion at Haymarket T Stop

 Friday my friend and I got together and were going to walk to North Station. However, it started to sprinkle out and it looked like it could potentially down pour so we decided to catch the T at State.

We board the T and head to the next stop. The doors open, people get off, people get on and then the doors close. We go about 2 feet when we hear a big bang and the train stops dead. The doors fly open and we hear over the loud speaker “Ladies and Gentlemen! We must evacuate the train!” I am nonchalant about this as I have had to evacuate before and it’s usually nothing. However, my friend gets out of the train, looks to her left at the first car and sees smoke and people stampeding their way over to us while screaming. She motions for me to run and I do. She books it up the stairs and someone walking slowly is stuck in front of me. I dart around the girl and she says “What is going on?” I tell her “I don’t know but hurry up!” I don’t think I have ever run up three flights of stairs so fast in my LIIIIIFE! Good thing I had my commuter shoes on!

My friend and I finally make it out of the station and regroup as we walk quickly away from the building. We had absolutely no idea what was going on. All we knew was that there was smoke and people running in all directions screaming. It could have been anything…a bomb, a shooting, a fire… we just kept on going away from the building. We finally got about a block and a half away before we heard the sirens.

When we got to the commuter rail, we tried googling to see if we could find out what it was…nothing was posted yet but I am pretty sure it wasn’t as bad as we thought it was because the T-Alert that I got stated that there were 'minor' delays due to a disabled train at Haymarket but go ahead…ask me if I took the T this morning on my way in to work! Negative! However, on Wednesday when it’s raining, I may change my tune!