Monday, January 02, 2006

365 and counting...

New Year’s. Two words that compromise both the most depressing and happiest emotions in people. Depressing for those who realize yet another year has gone by, and their dreams are no closer to reality than they were 365 days ago. Happiest for those who recognize that they have a renewed 365 days to make their dreams a reality. I haven’t decided which one I am yet… but when I know, I’ll be sure to tell you.

So New Year’s Eve started off shaky. The Steff was supposed to call me at 15:00pm to wake me up. Well… she didn’t. So I got up at 15:45 instead. Running late, I jumped in and out of the shower and sped to work. She called me at around 16:45, saying she was sorry, she herself had just woken up. It was fine… I was already at work getting my gear prepped… but I did have something for her. So I told her I was going to stop by on my way to the city… she said no problem, she was going to be home in five minutes.

So at around 17:10 I called her, and of course she wasn’t home yet. This is The Steff we’re talking about here… she who knows no time. But a few minutes later she showed up with the New Guy… which is a good sign. I gave her the "New Year’s Eve" gift… which is was a blank journal with her picture on the cover that I had done at Snapfish.com and a little inscription about turning pages. See… I’m not allowed to get her books for Christmas. I promised her this last year. So… that was a promise made… and a promise kept. So, I wished her and the New Guy a Happy New Year, and sped off back to my house to get my ID cards.

Now here’s the thing with New Year’s Eve. I have an All Access Medical Pass for Madison Square Garden and Yankee Stadium. Both venues are high profile and therefore high security. So, I need to ensure I have those passes on me… even though they expire at midnight on December 31. So, once I got to the Garden, the secuirty people once again stopped me. Once again stated I needed a new pass. Once again were told we get the passes tonight before midnight. I was once again asked if I was in the book… I once again told them I was… and they once again PRETENDED to check it (I know they pretend because I’m not listed in the book… surprise). Every year this goes on. Every friggin’ year. Hell, I’ve been doing MSG New Year’s since before most of these guys were hired!!!

So once I got past the body cavity search I met up with Linda in the elevator and got to the fifth floor and helped Squirrel with the food. This year was two different 4 foot hero sandwiches. One was a chicken cutlet, and the other a grilled chicken. Whatever happened to good old American? Everyone started showing up, Mikey B and Dimas came in with Maribel on the mod truck, The Butcher came up with Herby, and a bunch of other irregular mercenaries arrived as well. We unwrapped the cellophane from the bread and… anyway… to be honest… the sandwiches were the best in at least the last five years. Kudos to Squirrel for finding the new caterer. At 19:00 the doors opened, and the revelers came in to ring in the New Year with the Black Crowes.
Surprisingly, the night was pretty quiet. So around 21:00 I walked the sixth floor corridors, trolling for a corpse. Well, one found his way back to the office anyway, and so I shot down there to do some TLC. I ended up transporting him to St. Vincent’s downtown… a 27 y/o male with a left side facial laceration and hurling his dinner into a red bag. My final transport for 2005… hoorah!!!

Once we got back to the Garden, I went trolling once again. I saw a lot of couples holding hands, walking around, sipping from the $5.00 cups of no name champagne that was being served. I felt the creep of loneliness coming into me… but then reminded myself that this was New Year’s… and for the last 10 years running (this being 11) I have worked New Year’s. Yes… I never spent a New Year’s Eve with my wife. Maybe if I had I wouldn’t be divorced… but this has become more of a tradition than anything else. So, I pushed out the loneliness and got text messages from both The Nick and Barista… both wishing me a Happy New Year. I kind of forgot about everyone else… and just wandered around.

Finally, I got back to the office in time to pass Kate Hudson in the corridor. Her husband is Chris Robinson, the lead singer of the Black Crowes… and he is one helluva lucky guy. She looked FABULOUS in this white dress… I damn near fell out of my boots. Once back in the office, we watched the Giants cinch and then Dick Clark brought the ball down for us. We whooped it up a bit… I did get a New Year’s kiss from Maribel, albeit… it was on the cheek… but at least I can say I had a hot Spanish woman kiss me for New Year's.

Then, we got an unconscious on the floor. So Anthony and I head over there… on the way The Steff called me to wish me a Happy New Year. I really couldn’t hear her… and was busy pushing through people to talk… but deep down inside I felt all warm and not so alone this year afterall. Once there, we found a guy who was obviously zooted and polluted. There was a nurse there who started to make a scene, and so Anthony and I just uplifted him out of his chair and into ours, where he miraculously came back to life… and he was agitated. After three minutes of trying to calm him down and reason with him, I had had it. The black gloves came on, I tilted the wheelchair back, and dragged him through Gate 1. Anthony called into the office we were bringing an agitated one in, and once I walked in with him we went on lock down.

He had finally realized that it was better to be calm and polite than be mad and threaten to spit. If he had spat, he would have lost teeth. That is the one thing I won’t tolerate. You can puke, bleed, piss, or shit wherever… but the second you spit at me it’s like shooting a gun… and I’m disarming you by any means necessary. He got taken to Bellevue with a security escort. I didn’t actually get to do the transport… but I thought the night was young. Believe it or not… that was it. No one else. I was shocked… but then I thought about it a little longer. This was the Black Crowes, and it was an older more mature crowd… so that was why we probably did as well as we did.

The show ended at 2:00, and we were out by 2:30 and headed for Roseland where a 24 hour Rave was going. It had started at 21:00 Saturday and was scheduled to go to 21:00 Sunday. When Squirrel, Anthony, and I got there at 3:00, it was hopping. Roseland is a fantastic venue… and in fact is probably one of my most favorite ones to work. The entire floor was packed with people doing their thing to the loud pounding bass beats of the dance music. The girls… and I stress the word girls because they ranged between 16 to maybe 20… were dressed to the nines and looking like the Brats toy line. Glamour… right… try Slutour… and I swear if my little Blinky even THINKS about leaving the house like that… I’ll kill her. Better yet… I’ll kill my ex-wife for allowing her to dress that way and for buying all those Brats dolls for her this past Christmas.

Anyway, while I could go one and describe the writhing mass of people on the dance floor… or the growing mass of Xers on the sideline… why bother? It didn’t change for the four and a half hours I was there. People danced, people got stoned... and probably multiple people other than myself got laid. Finally, at 7:30, I left. My head was pounding when I exited the back door into the overcast New Year’s Day morning in midtown Manhattan.

I did drive through Times Square. It’s kind of weird the morning after… very quiet… empty… hell, it was emptier than normal… peaceful. So I picked DJ up, wished Pudding a Happy New Year, came home, and went to sleep while he played with the Chicken Little videogame I got him for Christmas.

Last night I sat in the living room…watched the clock strike midnight… and had a glass of merlot. For me, New Year’s comes a day later. I guess I’m a little behind in things and the way I do them sometimes. Probably one of my greatest faults… but I’m okay with it… at least for now… let’s see what the New Year does bring.

Have a healthy and a happy.
Posted by New York City's Watchdog :: 1/02/2006 04:05:00 PM :: Permalink :: 0 Bones Added to the Pile

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