U Rock

I run into some neighbors in the elevator, then make my way to the garbage room where I dump a large bag of trash and some recycling. Heading out the back door, I mail some letters at the dropbox on 187th and Broadway and then to Dunkin' Donuts for a much needed cup of coffee. Being National Donut Day, I expected a longer line, and am surprised to find only two people ahead of me. The girl behind the counter pours milk into my coffee and asks if it's a good color. I tell her it’s great, and notice she's wearing a "U Rock" sticker on her left cheek. "Yea," she says, "I rock!"

Today is the first day, since I returned from Israel, that I woke up later than I wanted. I'll still make it to work on time, but I'll need to skip the gym and its unlikely I'll have time to go after work or during lunch.

At the station I run into Nomi G. and we ride a relatively uncrowded train together, discussing a large number of topics ranging from naked male yoga to California geology.

At 59th I get off and switch to the D train, but when the B arrives across the platform an announcement is made stating the B would be leaving first, so I hop across, making it inside just as the doors close.

A New Sign

Having just missed the elevator, I take the stairs down to the lobby.  Outside the building I see Avi N. walking back from synagogue, alongside someone else whose face I can't make out from the distance.

On the corner of 186th Street and Overlook a primitive "Raise Plow" sign, painted on a plank of wood, has been attached to a lamppost.  I am pondering its origin when a car pulls up next to me.  My next door neighbor Shaindle S. rolls down the window and, as other cars behind her start honking, she asks if I can drop a letter into the mailbox for her.  I happily oblige and use the opportunity to further examine the sign, which is actually just above the mailbox.

Further ahead, I see Nomi G. on her cell phone as she enters the train station.  I make it to the platform and spot Sara R. at the bottom of the stairs.  Her hair is perfectly straight.  Walking to my spot, I pass Giti L. and she waves.  I wave back and, continuing on, pass Nomi, who is now talking to someone else and doesn't notice me.  The train pulls in just as I reach my spot.

At 59th, I sit on a bench to wait for one of the Orange-line trains.  I think that’s Bonnie G. who has just passed me, in a pristine white coat and high heels; she walked by too quick to tell.  I'll email her later and find out.

Exotic Options

I head downstairs and run into Margie C. on the way to the station. She is waiting for Ruchama to pick her up and drive her to work. She usually walks there but today she overslept. So did I, and I text a colleague to let him know I’m going to be in late today.

I see Nomi G. She is heading towards the station, and goes in ahead of me, without seeing me. I get inside and through the turnstiles, and a blonde woman on the platform smiles at me. She is dressed in finely pressed black pants with a pair of very shiny heels beneath them. Her shirt is royal blue.

On board the train, the blonde girl sits next to me and smiles again. She takes out a small book, with “Exotic Options” written across the top. The text is about pricing Asian options using Black-Scholes, and there is a lot of math on the page, most of which she is trying to work out as she reads through it. For a moment I think of offering to help, then I remember than I don’t actually know this person, I just blog about her.

The Heat Is On

I’m not quite running late today, but considering how many hours I’ve already been awake I really should have left a long time ago. Jetlag, with a little bit of extra insomnia and the achy cold I picked up overseas make for a bad recipe and so I’m not particularly in the mood to get to work anytime soon. On the street, I start to flip through the songs on my blackberry and fail to notice the piece of scaffolding on the ground until I trip over it. Ezra F. is walking across the street.

I reach Overlook Terrace and I see the A Station Homeless Guy pushing his cart up the block towards me. His new girlfriend is still with him, she is clinging to his side. She has a stern look about her but he seems happier than I’ve ever seen him before. Closer up I can’t help but notice how much younger she is than him, and I think she must view him as a sort of protector in her unsheltered world.

I reach the turnstiles and get the infamous “insufficient fare.” It’s so hot and humid in the station that by the time I’ve purchased a new card I am sweating. Down at the platform the heat is worse and I slowly feel the antiperspirant start to give way. I am glad I use Dial.

Meyer B. is at the platform and starts speaking to me but I can’t hear him because my music is playing too loudly. I fumble to pull the headphones out of my ears and am able to piece to together that he has told me about four uptown trains that have passed and that a downtown train must be on the way soon. I have no idea why I find this funny but I start to chuckle and keep walking towards my spot. It’s so hot that I can’t stand still, and I start to pace even though I know it will actually make me hotter. I run into Marc R. and we wave to each other. Further on the platform I can see Yael B. talking to Simone G.

Nomi G. spots me and walks over. We start to chat about Chicago, weekend plans, holiday plans, and many other various topics. The train arrives and we board together and continue the conversation, but it’s so crowded that we keep bumping into each other. My left arm is sandwiched between my body and the door.

We are somewhere between 145^th and 125^th when the shot of Dayquil I took finally starts to kick in. At 59^th, I say goodbye to Nomi and as I walk off the train she asks for the link to my blog.

On 48^th street I spot Lovey E. and catch up to her. She works across the street from me and we try to get lunch together once a month or so but our schedules are such that I haven’t actually seen her in a really long time. I am surprised, and somewhat jealous, that she is wearing a t-shirt and when I ask about it, she tells me that she sometimes walks to work. She likes to wear comfortable clothes and then change when she gets there. I walk with her the rest of the way to her office and cut thru her lobby to get to my own building. There is nothing quite like that cool, crisp air conditioning as it strikes against me.

Different

Today is different, as I'm off to the Jersey office. I still need to take the A, but I'm heading all the way downtown to the World Trade Center and from there onto the PATH to Jersey City.

I stroll into the A station and notice right away that the homeless guy, his girlfriend, his cart, and even his chair are all gone. It's probably no coincidence that there is a police officer stationed here today. I walk through the turnstile and down to the platform, and find a seat on one of the benches. There's aren't too many people here, which means I've just missed a train.

Nomi G. walks over to say hi and startles me as I'm typing emails on my blackberry. We chat for a moment but she needs to go say the morning prayers. Headphone Guy walks by just as she's leaving. He's really Eli D. but in my head I call him Headphone Guy because I see him on the subway all the time wearing cartoonishly large headphones. They are noise cancelling headphones, and undoubtedly good ones, but they are too big for anyone smaller than Andre the Giant. I'd like to suggest to him that he replace them with a good sound-blocking headset, which will work just as well and is far more attractive. It surprises me that today he is not wearing his headphones.

I board the train and find a seat. Next to there is a man with a button down shirt and brown pants. His eyebrows are extraneously thick for a man his age. He is holding a newspaper, which he does not read, and a thermos, which is open but from which he does not drink. Only when we reach 125th Street does he finally screw the lid back on, fold the paper, and exit the train.

The man with the thick eyebrows is replaced by an adorable little boy with dark skin and neatly cropped hair. He is wearing a tuxedo shirt, with black pants and shiny black shoes. His white sox, adorned with thin black stripes, would seem out of place on any adult in the same outfit but for the little boy it simple adds cuteness.

I am finally on the PATH train. I like the PATH, even though I often get confused finding the right track, because it is cleaner than the NYC subway and less crowded during my commute. The other thing I like about the PATH is that I've never run into anyone I know on the PATH and it provides 15 minutes of guaranteed solace. Or at least it used to. Headphone Guy, still sans headphones, is sitting just a few seats over.