Yet Again

As my daughter mentioned a little while ago when we were watching CNN, yet again, New York City shows the world how to handle a crisis.

The story is everywhere, of course, but I linked here because its picture shows all the people standing on the wings of the plane. When this was happening live, you may have seen it on TV, the wings were slightly submerged, and it looked as if a line of people was standing on the river itself, each person waiting patiently for his or her turn to be picked up. It was remarkable. You would also have seen on TV how cold it is here today, and you can imagine how much colder it was to be standing in the river.

I was out in the car when it happened, and someone called into the radio station I was listening to and said the a plane had landed on the Hudson River, was just bobbing up and down there. I saw the rest when I got home, but I missed the call from R -- she talked to the Hubs -- who said that she could see it happening from her office window.

Once again, a story that shows how people can be basically good, and smart. That was one helluva pilot who landed that plane safely, and a lot of good people on board who took care of each other, getting the women and children to safety first, and all made it out safely.

Okay, on to other things. Work is improving because my attitude towards it is improving. Once again, it's the way you face things that seems to be a big factor, although certainly not always the big factor.

I'm really looking forward to the inauguration on Tuesday; I expect to do nothing all day at work but make sure that it's on and that as many people who want to can see it and that anybody who wants to discuss it has someone to discuss it with. I was promised CNN on the library TV by today, so I'll check first thing in the morning and call someone if I don't have it. I may be able to project cnn.com (or something) on the big wall screen, too; I won't really know until that day. So far, I've gotten it to work once and couldn't duplicate it, so I'll set it up and see what happens.

Two more weeks with the SCM, counting down. I have to go out this weekend and get the decorations for his retirement breakfast. He'll be out tomorrow, so we can print and laminate a few banners, too.

Oh, books. Ahem. I have actually only read a few pages of the book listed below; the print is light, and I can only read it at my desk with my reading glasses on, which is not my preferred reading environment, but I'll get to it, because it looks good. I read something else last week; I don't even remember what, and now I'll try that Dewey book again, the one about the library cat. But I'm keeping Jonathan Strange down there for incentive.



WATCHING MASH :: ENTRY #1964
READING: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norell by Susanna Clarke

Details, Details

So I have like my first free 15 minutes of the school year here, and I thought I'd try to write my entry while I was still lucid, as opposed to when I get home and have no brain cells left. I'm typing it as text, which usually looks peculiar when I paste it into blogger, for some reason. Go figure. It's my day for computers to fuck me up anyway.

There's not much more to tell about my big city adventure. I drove to R's and got there by 4 for a 4.30 train, because I am me. Since I always used to take pictures of the station while waiting for K to come in from DC, I took this one for you all of the little platform down the street from R's apartment while I was waiting:



I like trains, so the ride was not unpleasant, about 40 minutes. I think it's usually closer to 30, but we slowed down here and there. It was rush hour, but at that hour everyone is usually rushing the other way.

I told you yesterday what happened when I got into the city. Then I walked one long block alongside the main New York City post office, which let me tell you is one freaking huge building. And then only part of the next block to her office. I checked in at security, where one of her colleagues was waiting for the people coming in for the event, and she said "Oh, hi Mrs. R's mom!" Which was cute. And then I went upstairs, where I began to get similar reactions from all her other colleagues, including none of them needing to see my photo I.D. because they knew who I was by looking at me.

Found R, who took me into the studio where the event was being held. On my way, I passed a very cool control room as well as a display case full of Emmy and Peabody awards. Never been that close to such a thing before.

The event itself was interesting and, if I may say so, beautifully put together and coordinated (by my kid.) I sat at the table with pleasant and chatty people, so I was fine. There were many women there who are themselves survivors of heart disease, which, did you know, is the number 1 killer of women in the U.S.? Everybody thinks it's breast cancer because that gets so much attention, but it's heart disease. One if four American women die of heart disease.

Anyway, we got out about 9.30, which meant we just missed the 9.30 train, but we sat at the station and chilled until the 10.30. I got home to my house about 11.30. So, a real late night out for me!

---

My great I.D. card ordeal is just about over. As I sit here in school at about 11.30 am, I have 5 more to do out of the whole school, and as these 5 are either chronically absent or haven't responded to every other appeal for them to come here, I'm not keeping my hopes up. Maybe I'll get 'em, and maybe I won't. I'd like to go back to doing my real job, please.

Speaking of which, the new library software is still not operating at 100%, and the two tech people I spoke to this morning were really more of the not-my-problem sort of folk. I wasn't too happy with that. I have a few more local options to pursue, and then I have to call in the big guns.

And I am feeling chubby today, too, which is not my favorite feeling. Like my bulges are showing more. Maybe just to me. You never know.

WATCHING DR. PHIL :: ENTRY #1597

Lived to Tell the Tale

Well, I am completely exhausted, but other than the late hour getting home -- 11.30 -- it was a lovely evening. The clip from the show and the speakers were interesting, and even the people at my table, too. The audience was seeded with member of an organization of women who are all heart-disease survivors and who have been trained at the Mayo Clinic to lead discussions, answer questions, etc.

And it was very cool to see my kid at work and to see how much everybody there likes her and appreciates her work. Mmmmmm, big-time kvelling.

I also enjoyed the adventure of the train. I had a kind of a Jed Clampett moment, where I came out of the doors of the train station onto the street and boy, was I in the big city! I looked up at the skyscrapers and everything. I felt very silly, as if I'd never been there before, but of course, I have and many times, just not recently. I even thought to myself as I waited on the corner to cross "Now just how close am Ii to Madison Square Garden?" and then I turned around. Giant DUH. Madison Square Garden sits atop Penn Station, which I have known ... well, not since birth, but since they remodeled it that way when I was a child.

So I am good and tired, and picked up sushi for dinner at the supermarket before, as well as some sushi-like something for lunch tomorrow. (I never get fish sushi, only vegetable, so it'll keep just fine until tomorrow.)

I could write more, but it would be increasingly incoherent, so I'm just going to eat my sushi now -- I think it said Colorado Roll, which could be anything; I never heard of that before) and I'll watch last night's L & O while I'm eating. Tuesday's a good TV night, so I have lots to catch up on.

WATCHING RAYMOND :: ENTRY #1596

Big Plans

So at this time tomorrow I will be IN THE CIT-TAY! The Big City, the Big Apple, Hog-butcher to the ... no, wait.

I'm going into New York tomorrow. My sister is already praying for me. She expects me to wind up dead, and said that if our father were still alive, I'd be re-thinking this whole thing. So now you know where I'm coming from, or whom I'm coming from, anyway.

Here's what this reminds me of, a little. Not long after K started college in DC, there was that whole sniper thing going on down there. In October, the Hubs and I went down for Parents Weekend, and lots of people said to me "How can you go down there when it's so dangerous?" and I thought, Hey, I'd be quite the coward if I didn't go because I was afraid of the sniper and yet thought it was okay for my kid to live there full-time.

R works in the city; she goes in every day by train and comes home alive.

Now it's true that in general I don't like going into the city. However, it seems that there are times when I can make myself do something that would otherwise terrify me, oh, say, like driving into the wilds of Connecticut to spend time with people I've never met. And yet that was an experience I wouldn't trade for anything. Not that I'm expecting tomorrow night to be life-changing, but I think it will be interesting and fun and I know I can do it.

Here's the plan: I'm going to drive to R's, park there, and catch the 4.30 train at the end of of her block and get into Penn Station around 5.15. I will walk -- in daylight -- the three or four blocks from Penn Station to her building. The event I'm going to is there, and in fact, she's running it.

(The event, btw, is a screening of a new TV show on the human heart and heart disease in women. There will be a "heart healthy" dinner served, there will be couple of guest speakers, and a goodie bag full of stuff, like pamphlets, and heart-healthy chocolate and who knows what else.)

The event is over at 9.00, but R will probably not be able to leave much before 9.30, which means we will not catch the 9.30 train but the 10.30. Whatever, we'll be hanging out together and will come home on the same train. We'll walk the half block to her building, where my car will be parked, and I'll drive home.

My only concern is the fatigue, since I'm always so tired, but I'll have a latte or something in the afternoon and that should keep me perked up, that and the fact that I'll be sitting in a room full of people and will have something to do, essentially. So I'll be fine.

I think my sister's concern is not so much robbery or street violence, but terrorism. Really. Here's what I think. Do not go into dangerous neighborhoods wearing jewels (note to self: take off diamond pendant before I go) or do things that are otherwise obviously tempting fate. That's just stupid. Terrorism? It's so random that there's no way to plan for it, so it's best left un-thought of. My sister, at this point, is afraid of public transportation. (Which is funny, because other than airplanes, she hasn't used public transportation in years.) She can't believe I'm getting on a New Jersey Transit train and going into Penn Station in New York City. Because they could be terrorist targets. Tomorrow. Night.

Oh, come on. As I've said before, if we live our lives in perpetual fear of terrorism, then they've won. And that's that.

So there. See you on Wednesday.

WATCHING FRIENDS :: ENTRY #1595