songbird's crazy world

not only do the rats continue to thrive in the 34th strret station, but I just saw a mouse in the World Trade Center station...and I am quite certain his name was NOT "Mickey".

whenever it snows, the genuises who plow out the local train station pile up the snow in the corners of the parking lot, thus reducing the available parking space in an already-overcrowded lot. well, all the snow from the New Year's Eve storm has melted -- or so I thought. I was running late this morning (don't ask) and got to the station much later than normal. spotted an empty parking spot at the end of the row. pulled halfway in, decided I needed a better angle, backed out a little bit...and got stuck on a huge mound of ice I never saw. had to call AAA to pull my car out of the spot. by now I was sooo late I thought I'd never find a legitimate parking spot. but no sooner did the AAA guy unhook my car from his tow truck than I saw someone actually pulling out of a parking spot . a little silver lining in an otherwise cloudy morning.

so guys, how about honoring a girl's personal space? I know we're called "straphangers", but when you're holding onto the bar over my head I would really appreciate it if you don't use my shoulder as an armrest. and I do NOT like the feel of your backpack or briefcase shoved into my spine! but what happened today takes the cake. Long Island Railroad cars are not meant for comfort, but c'mon, did you really have to...? Picture it: a bench of three seats facing a second bench of three, so that six people can be accomodated (barely), three people with their knees rubbing up against the knees of three total strangers. picture sitting in one of three seats on an airplane, with the row in front of you turned around to face you. so this morning I found myself sharing this configuration with three men....I had an aisle seat facing one of the men, and the other two men sat near the window, leaving themiddle seats unoccupied. As I sat down, the guy facing me decided...

Do you really think you're going to successfully sell it by haranging a captive audience on a moving subway car? today I had a full 15 minutes of someone loudly describing how he knows with all certainty that my fellow passengers and I are going to Hell because we don't "believe". train was full to overflowing, so moving to another car wasn't really an option. I was so glad that this train made A LOT of noise as it travelled between stations. I am sure the preacher is sincere in his belief. but please don't infringe on my relative peace and quiet as I read my newspaper on the way to work!

At least two of them, possibly more. Memo to the NYCTA : you need better pest control at the 34 th Street Subway Station. Seriously. the 34 th Street Station has two tracks headed uptown and two headed downtown, separated by a platform for A train riders. E train riders have platforms on either side of the station. so when you're waiting for the E train, you look across the tracks to passengers waiting for the A train looking back at you. I was standing on the platform waiting for the E train this morning, when what should I happen to spot crawling around on the tracks but....a baby rat. It was it was slender and lithe and almost...cute. It scurried about for a few minutes, then headed uptown. a few minutes later I spotted its older brother. Not so cute.It, too, scurried about the tracks for a few minutes, then headed downtown. then the A train pulled in on the opposite track, and I lost sight of older brother....and saw him again (or possibly a third member of the family) a f...