Well I made it here. There weren’t too many delays with Amtrak after we got north of Balmer, hon. Still, arrived over four hours late. The sun is just starting to lay itself down on this island as I walk to my hotel. I decided to walk because I was so happy to be getting off of that train that I didn’t want to get on another one. The walk was only 15 minutes.

After checking in I make an inquiry into my new neighborhood to find some New-York-hotel-staples: apples, bananas, nuts, bagels, cheese, juice and vodka. Eating breakfast/lunch in the room, as well as having walking around food, and doing a little frontloading is always more economical. So now I’m decompressing a little before going out into my Saturday night.

I’m staying at the Chelsea Inn, a place I’ve never staying before. I usually stay on W 83rd but this will be much closer to everything (most things) I’m here to see and do so I took a chance. My room is cute, clean on the 2nd floor with a view of the street. And inexpensive plus free breakfast from Nana’s Treats shop in the English Basement!

I would be doing a liveblogging of this but since WordPress isn’t playing nice lately, this will have to be the way to input it.

When I travel to New York City I am more than happy to take of the super-inexpensive buses that provide round-trip service. They’re not that bad; the biggest nuisance being cramped for space (leg room, personal space). Train travel is referred because of its spaciousness plus the ability to walk to the club car or even use the bathroom with relative ease.

The tickets I got for this weekend’s trip were pretty outstanding. I had a $28 voucher and price for one-way was only $49. So instead f spending $40 for a bus roundtrip I spent $72 for my roundtrip tickets thinking it would be a little more comfortable.

Mistake.

My train was scheduled to leave Union Station at 9:25 putting me into NYC at 12:45. Pretty good, right? I’d have the entire afternoon to enjoy.

Due to electrical problems on the overheads from DC to NYC there were outages all up and down the line. So we ended up not even leaving Union Station until the time I was supposed to be arriving. Then there were more delays at our first two stops. I might be able to make it to the city before the sun goes down but I’m not putting any money on it.

And the cafe car is almost completely out of food. I had planned on eating lunch in New York once I got there but since I’ll be on this train until almost dinner time I had to get whatever slim pickings they had left. You would think they would refresh the club car in Baltimore or Wilmington or something. Very poor service and a bad day for Amtrak in my book.

100 words each day for 30 days? Well I made it six. Sometimes it’s hard to write anything when you get home from your third 12-hour workday. And then sometimes it’s easier to be lazy.

So what has happened in the last 12 days?

My grandmother is pretty sick and just got out of the hospital so I went to visit her last week. So I went to visit her last week. She looked pretty weak and was in a lot of pain but at least she was cognizant and I got to speak with her for a little while. She’s 92.

Afterwards I went to my brother’s house to spend time with my niece and nephew, Sarah Jane and Will. We played with the Lego I bought them for Christmas. Me and Will built trucks and then me and Sarah Jane built a replica of New York City.

Speaking of New York City, I’m on my way there now. I’m on Amtrak sitting outside of Union Station, waiting for them to switch the diesel locomotives to the electric ones. The northeast corridor runs on electric while the rest of the country’s rail system runs on diesel. There’s a problem with the electric locomotive so it may be a while. Sigh.

It’s rained all day. Are you glad I chronicled that for you?

Today is my third 12-hour day, between my two jobs. Tomorrow’s shift should be a total breeze since it’s only a normal day. This also means that tomorrow night will undoubtedly be spent on the couch.

This is going to be a pretty boring post since all I’ve done is work for the past couple of days. I’m going to have a quick bite to eat and then get in bed. Don’t have much to eat here easily and I’m too lazy to cook anything.

I need rest!

<word count: 100>

After last night’s instant cocktail party at Dick & Kitty’s I woke up this morning a little haggard-feeling. Thankfully I woke up with plenty of time to hit the snooze bar for an hour or so and then slag my way to work (both jobs). But at least Metro worked on my side and the trip isn’t wasn’t the usual weekend nightmare that it is.

I missed out on evolve’s art opening today so that kinda sucked. But I had a good day at work(s) so there’s that.

Is this 100 words yet?

Tomorrow is another busy, full day. So tonight is straight to bed when I get home, gotta be at 5:30ish.

<word count: 112>

Almost forgot I was to be writing 100 words tonight. Well, not that I forgot, but that I just got distracted with a little trip to Dick & Kitty’s tonight after my 2nd shift…

Being home now, the next song that comes up on my iTunes is Andy Gibb’s “Love Is Thicker Than Water”. My first memory of this is when I would run into the yellow-muddied woods of middle Texas with junior high school girls to test our kissing abilities. Humble as I am, I can say that I was always the boy the girls wanted to make out with. I was am a good kisser.

Then, as I’m heading to Mexico City for spring break in 1988, I’m sitting in the airport reading of Andy’s death and it somehow rings true and reminds of those innocent days on a military base in the middle of Texas. RIP Andy, you made a mark.

<word count: 152>

So on my “Sunday” today, I didn’t really do too much. Actually nothing. I updated my MobileMe calendar to the new version. Big whoop. My operating system (because it’s so old) doesn’t support all the functions of the new calendar and so it wasn’t an automatic upgrade as it would have been. I had to do a little backend work, but it was all laid out here and everything went according to plan.

I found ‘Scotchie’s favorite sleeping place while I was home today. It’s on the radiator in the living room. But also while I’m here all day (a rarity) she also likes to cuddle up with me which is cute. I feel bad working so many hours at my 2.5 jobs so it’s good to give her some snuggle time.

I went to dinner with Melba tonight, to our usually place La Lomita.

Tomorrow is my Monday while it’s everybody else’s Friday. Oh well. And tomorrow is the first of my three 12-hour days. What a way to start the week, right? I’m anxious to get back into work though. Fun!

<word count: 182>

What did I do on my “Saturday”? I first woke up around 7:00 am but then was able to fall back asleep until around 11, which was really nice. I finished watching Monday’s episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race and then physically got out of bed.

I lumbered around until Apple’s press conference came live where they announced iPad 2. It has some really great features; you can view the keynote here.

This evening I went out with some friends to Little Miss Whiskey’s Silver Dollar for casual cocktails. Afterwards we stopped by the under construction offices of Evolve’s new space on H St. It’s going to be a really cool office space and I can’t wait until we move in there.

I’m home a little earlier than I anticipated on a night I have between two days off but that’s fine. Tomorrow I’ve got a lot of chores to do and finish everything I was too lazy to do today. Thanks for reading.

<word count: 160>

Thanks to a reference from friend and blogger GGWoo, and also as a spark to commit to writing again, I am going to participate in 100 Words during March. This consists of writing at least 100 words every day. I think I can do this.

Working retail for one of my 2.5 jobs, today is my Friday. In an unheard of coincidence I have tomorrow and Thursday off, just like I had Wednesday and Thursday off last week. And guess what? My schedule also has me having next Wednesday and Thursday off as well! So after going six months without two days off in a row, now I have three straight weeks of double days off. What a relief. Last week’s “weekend” consisted of sleeping and relaxing but these two days off will be a little more active.

<word count: 135>

Tonight I was awarded the “Person Who Best Exemplifies Our Company’s Culture” or something to that wording. It felt great to be recognized as such because it was voted upon by my peers. I feel proud and very appreciative right now. In addition to a bottle of sparkling cider, this is the statue I won. I will lurv her.