Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Transit Strikes and Lotsa Zeros

So… for those of you not involved with New York City… we are in the middle of a Transit Workers Strike. Basically, all of the city buses and subways have been shut down. Just to give you a brief hint of how that affects New York… 7,000,000,000 (that’s a million… it just looks more impressive with all the zeros) fares a day use the subway. Now because each individual trip is a single fare, and most of the trips are really round trips to and from work, the number is actually more like 4,000,000,000. Well, that’s a helluva lotta people to move no matter which way you look at it… and has caused hellish traffic conditions here in the city.

Needless to say… ambulance response times are up… and I’ve been striving to get people places since early this morning. The strike, technically, is illegal because of the Taylor Laws that forbids Transit, NYPD, FDNY, and the sort to strike. There are some pretty serious fines involved… the union is getting whammed $1,000,000,000 a day… and each individual worker gets fined two days pay for every day they’re not there. That’s nothing compared to the estimated $112,000,000,000 that the city lost today alone… and the 20+ per day hereafter.

So… work has been hectic and havoc rolled into one… something like the other lives I lead. So let’s see… well The Steff got back with Officer Crumb… and he has once again decided to be a Crumb and is playing his mind games. I really really really really want to put an end to him once and for all… and it’s coming… really it is… and hopefully she’ll give the new guy a chance… as opposed to constantly going out with idiot savants. I just need a few minutes… and I know myself and Uncle Louisville will be able to make Crumb crumble… and he’ll skip out of her life forever…

Then there’s The Nick… who has found herself in a quandary… stuck between rocks and hard spots seems to be a specialty for me and mine. She has a living situation she’s trying to resolve… and so far it’s no goosh… she’s going to be stuck paying an exorbitant amount of money and still stuck with no space of her own… sharing it with her mom. This has sent her into a depression… which isn’t good… and while I wish I could help her further… I think that beyond lending an ear and a shoulder to cry on… well I’m pretty useless.

Then there’s the Match girl… not sure what to call her yet… mmmm… maybe just Nikki… but we ended up having a 4 hour IM conversation the other night. She seemed really cool… but then the weekend came. Over the weekend I took DJ to go see the “Big Tree” at Rockerfeller Center. We ended up walking up Fifth Avenue, went to World of Disney, FAO Schwartz, and tried to have lunch at Jeckyll & Hyde’s. Unfortunately… I forgot Jeckyll’s was so hardcore and not really a good place for a 4 year old. So we left after about five minutes and went to McDonald’s instead. So I haven’t heard from Nikki… which is a little depressing… it was good conversation.

So… here I am. I’ve done next to no Holiday shopping… the streets are flooded with people… my involuntary celibacy clock continues to tick… and I just drank the last of my 9th ice coffee. Am I having a good day???

My one solace… is that tomorrow is the Winter Solstice… and Yule has begun!!!

And all that cal my little droogies... all that cal...
Posted by New York City's Watchdog :: 12/20/2005 10:28:00 PM :: Permalink :: 0 Bones Added to the Pile

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