Hot & Crusty was such a disappointment this morning. The people behind me in line got served before me, my bagel was burned, the coffee is bitter. The price is higher than ever. Hot & Crusty used to be a Tuesday treat for me. I could stop there at Grand Central Station and get a great bagel and coffee fast and cheap. Now it takes long, the staff is confused, the prices are high, the bagels are burned, the coffee is bitter. It’s so sad. I’m considering not returning.

I was getting on the bus this morning, nothing special about the day, just a regular morning. Or so it seemed. I didn’t have to wait long for the bus either, which is a nice change.
So far so good right? Yeah. Well the bus pulls up and everyone starts to board. I’m about to step on so I go to grab my metro card. For some reason I always look down while getting my card out of my pocket. As I am pulling the card out - the doors close. On my head. Yeah. If there had been metal and not rubber safety strips on the doors I would most likely have been decapitated by the front door of a bus.
What a way to start the day…

I just watched the best football game ever. Eli Manning and the Giants pulled off the huge upset victory against the Pats. Amazing game. No one thought the Giants could do it.. Hell even I didn’t think so. Tomorrow at the office should be interesting…

Lord and Taylor’s has their post-holiday window displays done in chess style! Funny since I’ve been playing more chess lately

Recently the MTA has opted to raise the fare for subways and busses. Not for people who ride once it a while, no - only for those of us who ride several times a day - i.e. those of us who find it more feasible to use the “unlimited” metro cards. They cite rising costs rising costs rising costs. Right. What is rising is my blood pressure. The NYC MTA has a way to rate the subway and bus lines. I’m pretty sure this is just a way to make us (the paying customers) feel better about the fact that the service does not improve while the price continues to rise. We have a chance to tell them how they’re doing. Maybe if I fill out a report card for the 19A I’ll be satisfied? Hmm…

I must admit, I am not satisfied. I understand that the costs of everything seem to be rising these days. I’m not sure why but I know for sure that the price of oil and milk are going up all the time, etc. Ok so I’ll take that into consideration. My question is - does that have a connection to why service isn’t improving? Take for example the bus I take to the subway every morning, the Q19 A. This bus is notoriously late and over crowded. So much so that there are times that the bus is so full it passes my stop by while my fellow 19A-ers and I watch in frustration. Yes, sometimes there are traffic problems or sick passengers. Yes, it’s not easy to keep anything running on a tight schedule. But for the last few years (this year especially) the 19A has been so consistently late that I am starting to believe that the MTA just doesn’t care.

I wish I could just boycott the MTA. It’s cold outside, though. Freezing some days, raining some days. It’s about a mile to the subway that I am forced to take every day, so the bus is really necessary for me. I think the MTA knows that I have no choice - so they can charge me whatever they want. There’s nothing quite so poignant as that realization that your day to day struggle means nothing to those who live off of your wages. When I think about it the word that best describes this feeling is disenfranchised. The fact that I have to pay $85 a month in order to go to work just to live makes no difference - I can’t do anything about it. What could I do? Quit working? Be homeless? Ride my bike to work in the snow?

Any ideas?

So I went to a diner… (a diner called “The Diner”). It’s obviously a diner so it’s pretty obvious that that they sell is… “diner food”, right? You know… pancakes, burgers, eggs, coffee - you know… it’s a diner. Someone walked in and asked the chef what kind of food they served. Hahaha how do you not know what a diner serves? *sigh* what is common sense?

As a New Yorker I take pride in knowing about the city I live in. I don’t know everything of course, and so from time to time I am stricken with this intense desire to figure something out about this great city of mine. The other day while walking around I noticed that the Empire State Building was blue and white, and that there were police everywhere. I joked with my friend that it was a signal that police were going to take over the city It turns out that it was United Nations day and that blue and white is chosen to represent that (the flag is blue and white if you haven’t noticed). Where did I find that out? I’m glad you asked! Check out the official website of the empire state building and the tower light schedule. There’s also a page dedicated to the history of the tower lights, and a list of the meanings for all of the colors that are displayed throughout the year. I <3 NY!