Regarding Hurricane Dean

This is an excerpt from an article in the NYT talking about the effects of Hurricane Dean on Mexico. Tuesday Aug. 21, 2007 The streets were filled with water and littered with palm fronds and other debris. Overhead, spiraling clouds slid rapidly to the west....... In the center of the old town, people peered timidly from their windows to assess the night’s damage. Alvaro Sosa Marvil, a veterinarian who lives in the town square, said he was relieved to find at dawn that the destruction was not as bad as had been predicted. “This is a price one pays for living in a privileged place — the Caribbean,” he said, as he looked at the downed trees in the town square. “Nature collects a toll from us.” Reported by:James McKinley JR and Graham Bowley A pragmatic, truthful statement.

My morning commute, you're probably not interested

This morning I awoke to the sounds of thunder, lightning, and heavy rain. I thought to myself, "I better get up, I'll have to leave early today". My commute to work always takes more time when it rains.

I got up, did my morning exercises, and turned the TV to Fox 5 News. I tried to filter out the usual shiteous banter and focus on the Weather, Traffic and Road Report. There were some major road delays this morning and some flooding in Jersey, but when isn't there flooding in Jersey or road delays? I was primarily focused on what the newscasters would say about the Subways and Commuter Rail systems. They said, and I quote, "No Mass Transit Delays Reported." Thanks Fox 5!

As usual, at 7:40 AM I get to the Eastern Parkway 2/3 stop. I notice that there are many more people standing on the platform than on a usual day. At 8 AM I am still waiting for a train when I see one of my room mates waiting for the same train. We chat and wait together. All along we hear muffled announcements from the MTA over the PA system. After 3 listens we finally decipher the message. It says, " There are no 2,3,4, or 5 trains above Wall Street in Manhattan. As an alternative change at Atlantic Avenue and take the B,D, N, R or Q trains." I turn to my room mate and we agree that this does not affect at us b/c we are below Wall Street and we always transfer at Atlantic Ave to take the B or D trains. At 8:20, forty minutes after I arrived at the station, two trains have arrived in the station. Both overflowing with passengers. So packed with people, that I saw a man trying to board the train get deliberately Pushed Out of the Train by a female passenger. Not wanting to incur such wrath, my room mate and I decide to walk the 10 blocks to take the B train as the PA announcement suggested. We arrive at the 7th AVE B,Q stop a short time later. A MTA worker and a police officer are standing at the station entrance amidst a throng of people. We quickly realize that the B and Q lines are also shut down. But I am upset because we had just been told to use the B or Q line as an alternative. So I butt in to the throng and start saying that at Eastern Pkwy announcements are being made to transfer to the B or Q lines. The transit employee responds that, "There ain't no way they told you to come over here to take the B or the Q trains. These trains been shut down since 5 this morning." I quickly start venting that the MTA is poorly organized and that they should probably use walkie talkies,semaphore,or Morse code to communicate information to one another. My room mate and I decide to walk the 7 or so blocks to Atlantic AVE and see what sort of trains we can find. At Atlantic AVE it's utter mayhem or as a friend's boyfriend put it, "Judgement Day" Hundreds of people milling outside of the terminal, on their cell phones, looking dazed, and looking confused. We hear that there are NO trains running into Manhattan. No trains leaving Brooklyn. To get to work we can now a) high jack a car, or, b) walk. If we were to high jack a car there would be no fast get away so we decide to walk.....towards the closest bridge to get into Manhattan where both my room mate and I work. That bridge happens to be the Manhattan bridge.

We followed a long procession of other commuters who also weighed their options, reviewed past MTA experiences, and decided that their best option was to walk.

My room mate and I felt pleased with ourselves that we would be getting some fresh air, exercise, and a great view of Manhattan. We saw others like ourselves walking the Brooklyn Bridge, just to the south of the Manhattan Bridge

There were lots of us office stiffs walking the bridge. It was the first time, since I left teaching, that I've gotten so much work related exercise. The bad news about the rain is that it didn't cool off the city as much as we would have liked. This guy shows you how hot it was at 9 AM.

The walk over the bridge was very nice as there weren't too many bossy bicyclists (they don't get up that early) and there was a nice breeze coming off the East River. Here we are enjoying the sights of our walk.

The walk across the bridge took us about 30-40 minutes.On the other side of the bridge we came upon Chinatown where we caught the B train at Grand and Chyrstie Sts. We thought we were home free till our stop at Rockefeller Center, but then again, the MTA is full of surprises. At West 4th ST the B train stopped it's service, and we were befuddled once again. We eventually found an E train that took us to Midtown, and we arrived to work- just three hours after we set out. Everyone at work was impressed at my efforts to get to work this morning. I am even being considered for Employee of the Week.