That's never really been my experience, but sometimes it is fun to blame the blunders of the day on the day itself. I, personally, had a roller coaster of a day, and I thought you might be interested to hear how it all went down. (aka Mom text me and said "that would make a great blog!")
I woke up early on Friday morning to go for a jog before work. (Are you proud of me? I was proud of myself.) I had a nice little 2.6 mile run up and down Riverside Park near my apartment. It was a beautiful morning, not too hot, not too humid. I thought it was a nice way to start the morning. It may become a reoccurring thing... We'll see.
After my run, I went to move my roommate's car.
...PAUSE...
This is going to take some explaining.
The NYC Sanitation Department sweeps the road every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. On Monday and Thursday, they sweep the left side. On Tuesday and Friday they sweep the right. This occurs between 11am-12:30pm each day. A car-owner cannot be parked on the respective sweeping side during those hours on the specified day or the car will get ticketed and towed.
One of my roommates left for Italy on Monday and asked me to move the car back and forth, since I'm the only other one in the apartment with a driver's license. I agreed, and for the first few days it was not a big deal. I just moved the car back and forth along the street. Easy.
...BACK TO FRIDAY THE 13TH...
I finished my run at the car with full intentions to quickly move it and go inside to get ready for work. I timed it PERFECTLY! All the timing in the world could not have prepared me for the lack of parking spaces on 138th street that morning. Clarification: there were NONE. I drove the car down 138th, with absolutely no luck finding a place to squeeze the tiny car. I drove the loop back around Broadway and drove down 137th, then Riverside, then 136th, then Broadway, then 139th, and Riverside again, and 134th, and back to Broadway. And I followed this pattern around and around up and down side streets, PRAYING for an open space along the sidewalk. NOTHING. I drove down to 125th to try the bridge. NOTHING. I drove over to Amsterdam to try that area... NOTHING... I drove around for AN HOUR looking for a parking spot on the correct side of the road. I was getting honked at by New Yorkers who did NOT appreciate my cautious driving. I was stressing, I was almost in tears, I was cursing every car that passed me. It was bad.
SIDE NOTE-
It was right about that point that I decided I never want to drive again, ever, and I was reminded that I don't have to. I called my mom in a panic because I was running late and driving around Manhattan and it was all a nightmare, and she said "OK, good. So you're not regretting selling your car today, then?" HA! No! Get rid of it!!!! Ok, so maybe I wasn't that extreme, but it was rather ironic. I loved my little Pontiac Vibe. It was a good car. I sold it to friends of the family before I left, and my parents met with them yesterday to make the trade. Having this experience made me glad to be rid of it. So Jamison, enjoy that car, and be thankful you don't have to drive it around New York.
AND WE'RE BACK -
FINALLY, I found a shining spot on Riverside and 142nd. That was the most difficult parallel parking I've ever had to do. There are maybe 3 inches between the front of this car and the bumper of the one in front of it... BUT it's parked.
I ran inside and hurried to get ready for work.
I was late and a little frazzled at work, but I quickly jumped into finishing the audition schedule for Monday. It was a pretty busy day. At one point, I was going over the reviews and the press photos from the FELA! re-opening (My boss cast the show, so we were invited to the first performance back on Broadway... That story will have to be in another blog), and I saw my face. My jaw dropped and I yelled "JIMMY! WE MADE PLAYBILL.COM!!!" Jimmy is the other office intern. We both had a minor freak-out... Seriously, it's not a big deal, but I was so excited... it's the little things in life... So what if we're in the background... We were there :)
We've been working like maniacs trying to get SUPER FLY on its feet. (More about that later). I worked diligently for hours trying to get everything finished by 6 so I could leave on time and meet up with friends in Central Park for the New York Philharmonic concert at 8. 6:00 rolled around and we were not finished... 7PM came and went, and my boss still had things for us to do. 8PM came and went, and I started to get a little frustrated. At 8:30, he looked at the clock and said, "Oh, we probably need to head out... Well, That's Showbiz!"
When I finally got to Central Park at 9PM, there were droves of people exiting. I thought the concert was over and I wanted to cry. To make matters worse, I started feeling tiny rain drops splash on my arms and hair. I called my friend Katherine to see if I had missed everything, and she calmed my fears and explained they were taking an intermission. WHEW! Things were starting to turn around. I made my way through literally tens of thousands of people trying to find my friends. Katherine finally found me and led me to our picnic spot where wonderful friends from church passed plates and trays of food to me as the concert started again.
It was heavenly. The rain stopped, the crowd got silent, and the music began. We sat on our blankets and listened to Respighi's "Fountains of Rome" and "Pines of Rome." It was like Christmas, Cinderella, Ballerinas, Fairies, Dragons, and Italy all rolled into one. I felt the stress of the day melt away as I sat and enjoyed the music. I was with good friends, enjoying good food, in the most incredible city in the world, and I was thankful. When the concert was over, I started to stand up and re-pack my bag, but the group stopped me and said "Wait! The fireworks!"
THERE WERE FIREWORKS!!!!!!!
And they were huge. Past the Great Lawn, right over the glittering skyline of whatever corner of Manhattan we were facing, there were HUGE, sparkling, exploding fireworks.
The picture seriously doesn't do it justice... This makes it seem so far away, but everything was much closer and bigger and brighter... I thought you needed at least an idea though :)
After the fireworks, we packed up, and Katherine's parents (Who are in town visiting for a little while) took us out for ice cream. I was like a little kid: give me fireworks and ice-cream and I'm happy forever.
So, today, I'm recovering from the extreme highs and lows of yesterday and laughing at myself for getting so worked up.
I would also like to give a very special birthday shout out to my mom, whose birthday was Thursday, and my Nana, whose birthday is today!!! You are both very special to me, and I'm glad your birthday wasn't yesterday... It would have been too much to handle. ;)
Grace be with you,
Lindsey Shea
I felt like I was there......so proud to live New York through you!
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