A Nice Dinner Ruined
I celebrated otherdeb's Birthday last night w/ friends @Tiffin Wallah on E.28th St. Had a lovely Indian dinner and found some needed spices at a store right across the street. Then it rained. A lot. Dashing one block to the Number 6 train was no hardship. That began when I got to 14th St.
The underground was dry, but the air within it was still HHH from a totally tropical day. There's a lecture I could give about the time it takes to change out the atmosphere in an underground environment like NYCTA, but I won't. Satyagraha playing in my headphones was interrupted by the rhythmic drummers on the L train platform @ Union Sq. They climaxed at the moment the shiny glass & stainless steel doors shut in my face as I reached the train. Then my overloaded bag slunk to the floor and threatened to spill my shopping onto the platform.
I got to 8th Av. after a short wait and took the lift instead of all those stairs up to the transfer level for the A train.
Then my adventure turned sour.
{Insert photo-myoclonic rant + a gastrointestinal telltale}
My fluorescent tolerance is generally about 20 minutes. It Ended just as all the wonderful substances I'd consumed that day (including dinner) wore off at the same time. The station's few benches were full, and there was NO place in the station to just stand and look that wasn't already pulsing with the reflections of the inevitable fluorescent lighting. I call that effect "bounce" and when it starts it's somewhat painful. And oh yeah, about then my GI tract had decided it was through with my lovely dinner + the pizza from lunch, and it was time to get rid of it. Now.
Myriad articles have been written about the lack of proper restrooms in the New York Subway system. Go look them up.
After waiting about 20 min. for an A train, nothing came but E trains. Only after the 3rd E train did I pay attention to the train's PA, which announced a power failure under Central Park West, which meant NO A trains. The station's PA was echoing and unintelligible. The logical alt was to ride to 42nd St and do the tunnel walk 1 block crosstown to the Number One train along with thousands of other humans and a bowel system on Orange Alert.
F-FWD: The train was slow and packed. I got a seat @ 86th St. and stayed in it until my station. I made it to my bathroom with the last track of Satyagraha unplayed. Success.
The underground was dry, but the air within it was still HHH from a totally tropical day. There's a lecture I could give about the time it takes to change out the atmosphere in an underground environment like NYCTA, but I won't. Satyagraha playing in my headphones was interrupted by the rhythmic drummers on the L train platform @ Union Sq. They climaxed at the moment the shiny glass & stainless steel doors shut in my face as I reached the train. Then my overloaded bag slunk to the floor and threatened to spill my shopping onto the platform.
I got to 8th Av. after a short wait and took the lift instead of all those stairs up to the transfer level for the A train.
Then my adventure turned sour.
{Insert photo-myoclonic rant + a gastrointestinal telltale}
My fluorescent tolerance is generally about 20 minutes. It Ended just as all the wonderful substances I'd consumed that day (including dinner) wore off at the same time. The station's few benches were full, and there was NO place in the station to just stand and look that wasn't already pulsing with the reflections of the inevitable fluorescent lighting. I call that effect "bounce" and when it starts it's somewhat painful. And oh yeah, about then my GI tract had decided it was through with my lovely dinner + the pizza from lunch, and it was time to get rid of it. Now.
Myriad articles have been written about the lack of proper restrooms in the New York Subway system. Go look them up.
After waiting about 20 min. for an A train, nothing came but E trains. Only after the 3rd E train did I pay attention to the train's PA, which announced a power failure under Central Park West, which meant NO A trains. The station's PA was echoing and unintelligible. The logical alt was to ride to 42nd St and do the tunnel walk 1 block crosstown to the Number One train along with thousands of other humans and a bowel system on Orange Alert.
F-FWD: The train was slow and packed. I got a seat @ 86th St. and stayed in it until my station. I made it to my bathroom with the last track of Satyagraha unplayed. Success.