winter soldiers
the last week or so has been a total hoot. after i got home from dinner with meredith, ibrahim was outside obsessive-compulsively cleaning the street despite the snow's continuing to shower down. with all he does for the neighborhood, i figured i should stay out with him as long as i could. it was a workout...for an hour or so he and i traded off on shovel and pushbroom detail. the other day i was standing outside smoking. he had some chairs out to call dibs on his parking space. as he rolled up, he shouted "c'mon john, don't just stand there. move my chairs so i can park!" i love my neighbors.
saturday morning, sarah and i tried the new diner in bridgeport. it boasted meals called "the slenderella" and "the belly buster omelette." it also felt like old school bridgeport--old spacey staff like the bridgeport diner had before they switched ownership. the waitress' conversation was totally pleasant, but she delivered each line with a death glare. the hostess was an improbably beautiful slavic woman who seemed lost in her own reveries. she insisted i have a cookie on the way out. i love my neighborhood.
with kimberly's boyfriend having moved to bridgeport, kimberly met me for mass sunday morning. we were enjoying the coffee and pastry afterparty when her boyfriend called for us to meet him at the diner for breakfast. it was a hoot. then began the polar vortex ii workapalooza. the shelter opened an hour early, and went into 24 mode. i was working noon to midnight at thresholds for polar vortex, so i stayed at the shelter til 11:30 or so monday morning. it was a magical morning; i felt like a proud father stoked at the holidays to have all his children under one roof. we joked about the ice world of hoth, i strolled out every hour to take the smokers on a break.
a few days previously i bumped into one former guest, "carwash," at SSA. he repeated, mantra style, that he turned "a rag and a bucket into an empire."
so mary and i ran around, climbing fences and shouting at tents to spread coffee, handwarmers, and cheeseburgers. it was a delight to just be "an angel" instead of a caseworker--no assessing for appropriateness, no nothing, just getting to be a friendly face responding to immediate needs. it's also just a party to roam the city at night. approaching a scrapper camp just isn't too novel or exciting any more. but approaching in the dead of night with a flashlight and a box of coffee? that's a party!
afterward i wandered over to that dude's house to crash for the night. he's an angel baby--he does not seem all that interested in me, but he was receptive to staying up late to watch a movie so mesler wouldn't have to drive me back to the southside and i wouldn't have to take a bus home during a polar vortex. there was screaming in the house when i arrived--ryan and his roommate acted the scene out so i could appreciate the hilarity of the two terrifying each other in their darkened hallway. it looks like we reached the "okcupid i'm a stop talking to you" point now, which is a shame, cos he's really good people.
he had his job interview in the morning, so i wandered over towards to mesler's house. it was a lovely walk, a bit chilly, but i figured i should fully experience the vortex. i stopped for a coffee, then wandered over to loiter in mesler's kitchen while she did her morning routine. man, it's been so long since i loitered in someone's kitchen while they start their morning. i've always maintained that morning/breakfast is the most romantic point of the day, the most intimate point, etc. mary gave me some coffee jello that hiro had made, and we chatted while the cool morning light illuminated her kitchen. then came 12 hour supershift part two. we found a lot more people, and gave away quite a few burgers. mary fixed coffees for chilled gentlemen, i took photos of some of the van under the viaducts.
today we sat around at home...it's been a pretty perfect week all told. oh, hey, i forgot i went to that party with meredith and jason! we met at simone's for a few beers, then strolled over to paul's house. i was not as successful as i was at my last party (diane's in september, when i totally talked to strangers). but i did chat a wee bit with paul's girlfriend, and it was generally just nice to drink and talk with jason. man, this week was perfect!
saturday morning, sarah and i tried the new diner in bridgeport. it boasted meals called "the slenderella" and "the belly buster omelette." it also felt like old school bridgeport--old spacey staff like the bridgeport diner had before they switched ownership. the waitress' conversation was totally pleasant, but she delivered each line with a death glare. the hostess was an improbably beautiful slavic woman who seemed lost in her own reveries. she insisted i have a cookie on the way out. i love my neighborhood.
with kimberly's boyfriend having moved to bridgeport, kimberly met me for mass sunday morning. we were enjoying the coffee and pastry afterparty when her boyfriend called for us to meet him at the diner for breakfast. it was a hoot. then began the polar vortex ii workapalooza. the shelter opened an hour early, and went into 24 mode. i was working noon to midnight at thresholds for polar vortex, so i stayed at the shelter til 11:30 or so monday morning. it was a magical morning; i felt like a proud father stoked at the holidays to have all his children under one roof. we joked about the ice world of hoth, i strolled out every hour to take the smokers on a break.
a few days previously i bumped into one former guest, "carwash," at SSA. he repeated, mantra style, that he turned "a rag and a bucket into an empire."
so mary and i ran around, climbing fences and shouting at tents to spread coffee, handwarmers, and cheeseburgers. it was a delight to just be "an angel" instead of a caseworker--no assessing for appropriateness, no nothing, just getting to be a friendly face responding to immediate needs. it's also just a party to roam the city at night. approaching a scrapper camp just isn't too novel or exciting any more. but approaching in the dead of night with a flashlight and a box of coffee? that's a party!
afterward i wandered over to that dude's house to crash for the night. he's an angel baby--he does not seem all that interested in me, but he was receptive to staying up late to watch a movie so mesler wouldn't have to drive me back to the southside and i wouldn't have to take a bus home during a polar vortex. there was screaming in the house when i arrived--ryan and his roommate acted the scene out so i could appreciate the hilarity of the two terrifying each other in their darkened hallway. it looks like we reached the "okcupid i'm a stop talking to you" point now, which is a shame, cos he's really good people.
he had his job interview in the morning, so i wandered over towards to mesler's house. it was a lovely walk, a bit chilly, but i figured i should fully experience the vortex. i stopped for a coffee, then wandered over to loiter in mesler's kitchen while she did her morning routine. man, it's been so long since i loitered in someone's kitchen while they start their morning. i've always maintained that morning/breakfast is the most romantic point of the day, the most intimate point, etc. mary gave me some coffee jello that hiro had made, and we chatted while the cool morning light illuminated her kitchen. then came 12 hour supershift part two. we found a lot more people, and gave away quite a few burgers. mary fixed coffees for chilled gentlemen, i took photos of some of the van under the viaducts.
today we sat around at home...it's been a pretty perfect week all told. oh, hey, i forgot i went to that party with meredith and jason! we met at simone's for a few beers, then strolled over to paul's house. i was not as successful as i was at my last party (diane's in september, when i totally talked to strangers). but i did chat a wee bit with paul's girlfriend, and it was generally just nice to drink and talk with jason. man, this week was perfect!