Have Shovel Will Travel

Let's give Mother Nature a round of applause for finally kick starting Winter in the '06 with a bang. I must say, there's nothing like shoveling, driving, and walking (in that order) in the middle of the biggest blizzard to hit NY.

For the better part of Sunday, the Big Apple was transformed into planet Hoth. I was half expecting to see someone riding a Tauntaun as I slowly, made my way to the Broadcast Center. Needless to say it was a good thing I was wearing my new snow boots (I knew I would need them eventually).

I still can't believe I made it into the city yesterday morning. Then again I'm sure some of you are wondering why I even bothered in the first place. It was snowing so much that when I looked at my car in the LIRR parking lot, I made a note to buy a shovel for the trip back because I was sure I was going to have to dig it out of there. Of course I shouldn't have been surprised that I ended up being stranded in the city until 2pm this afternoon.

Thank God for K and Allen who took me in as I awaited to hear whether I'd be able to make it back to LI later last night (boy, was I kidding myself or what?). They even had KFC waiting for me, shovel in hand courtesy the Home Depot, when I finally made it to their new place. It was great seeing them as well as Rupe (he eventually stopped by as well) and Alfredo (who now lives on the floor below them). As it turned out Alfredo was able to make some use of my newly acquired shovel to dig his car out from under the snow that sat on his car.

I left with Al this morning hoping that the LIRR was able to restore Eastbound service only to be let down once again. All wasn't lost since I took the opportunity to go to Ess-a-Bagel for breakfast (mmmm hot, everything bagel w/cream cheese). From there I headed down to the Village, shovel in tow, to kill some time.

It was pretty funny seeing people's reactions as I got on and off the subway as well as whenever I went into a store to look around. They ranged from slighly confused to slightly annoyed. Every now and then I came across someone shoveling the sidewalk in front of their place of business and thought about giving them a hand but never did. Does that make me a bad person?

I finally made my way up to Penn Station just in time for the 12:15 train to Ronkonkoma. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that before that I wound up buying another pair of Merrell's (the Tundra boot in black - on sale for $60.00 orig. $90!). And yes I am aware that I have become my mother.

Since it was sunny all day, by the time I got back to my car, it was clear that the shovel that I had been lugging around would be of no use.