Dan Antion

Roll with the Punches – #SoCS

I’m out of beer

It’s not just Saturday at the bar, it’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Linda G. Hill has given us one of her famous ‘use one or both’ – wait, I don’t see an offer of bonus points – oh well, it looks like a fun prompt:

“Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is ‘roll/role.’ Use one, use both, it’s entirely up to you. Enjoy!”

If we were having a beer, you would be confused, and I would need a beer.

“I thought you said that when you got your cars in the garage, your wife’s car would be first.”

“It will be.”

“Will be? What about Thursday?”

“What about Thursday?”

“I drove by and your wife’s car was out in the snow.”

“Unless you drove by after 11:30, mine was at the train station.”

“Speaking of trains, the café car is open for business.”

“Hi Cheryl. If the train I was on Thursday night had had a café car, I would not have been fit to drive home from the station.”

“Sounds like there’s a story here, but we all know that stories go better with adult beverages. What are you drinking?”

“I’ll have a Corona.”

“I want to sip some bourbon as this story unfolds.”

“OK, but don’t start without me – it’s a slow day and I want to hear this.”

“While we wait for those drinks, how were you able to clear your driveway with the cars outside and that dumpster?”

“It took a lot longer than it normally does.”

“I’ll bet.”

“OK, one Corona has found her lime, and one splash of bourbon has found its snifter of seltzer and glass of ice.”

“Cheers! Now, why did you roll in so late? Did you stay in New York to do some shopping?”

“No, no shopping.”

“Were you cheating on me at The Molly Wee?”

“I did go to The Molly Wee, Cheryl, but I was at Penn Station for a three-thirty train.”

“Three-thirty to eleven-thirty…did you get lost?”

“Nope. The train was an hour late coming into New York.”

“Still, it’s only a three-hour ride.”

“Normally, yes, but by the time we got to New Haven, the Shuttle had left and was rolling north.”

“Then what?”

“They put us on the seven-thirty-five shuttle.”

“What time did you roll into New Haven?”

“Six-forty.”

“OK, that’s not such a bad wait.”

“Listen to you. You get angry when Dan shows up at three-o-five.”

“It would be an awful wait for me, Cheryl, but Dan likes trains and he likes being in train stations.”

“This is true, but you can have too much of a good thing.”

“What time did the seven-thirty-five train get there?”

“Seven-thirty-five.”

Well, what time did it leave? It’s only an hour from New Haven to Windsor Locks.”

“It never left. It broke. I’m sorry, it suffered ‘mechanical difficulties’ and was removed from service.”

“So, they put you on another shuttle?”

“Yes, the eight-fifty-one.”

“Why do they do that?”

“Well, by then, there were over a hundred and fifty of us. We had to have a train.”

“No, why do they have trains leave at eight-fifty-one?”

“Trains are competing for a limited amount of track. The schedules have to be precise.”

“OK smart guy, so what time did you board the eight-fifty-one?”

“They called for general boarding at eight-forty. Then they made the last call for boarding at eight-fifty-one.”

“I’m guessing you boarded at eight-forty, right?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“There was no train.”

“Did you get off at Willoughby? Cause this sounds like a Twilight Zone episode.”

“Nope, we were in New Haven. Standing on the platform, in the snow, along with the AMTRAK crew, for a train that just wasn’t there.”

“I assume it got there at some point.”

“Nine-forty. We rolled out of New Haven at nine-fifty and got to Windsor Locks at about eleven o’clock.”

“So, it took you half an hour to clean your car?”

“No, some poor slob spun out and got stuck in the dirt, blocking the entrance. We had to wait for a plow.”

“Why did you take AMTRAK in the first place?”

“I didn’t want to roll the dice with CT-Rail at that time – the time I was scheduled to arrive in New Haven.”

“Why not?”

“The trains at that time are actually AMTRAK trains. They’ve been crowded, and they’ve had to bump some people off. AMTRAK gives preference to their own passengers if that happens.”

“Their own passengers? Like you, stuck in Penn Station. You rolled the dice but threw craps.”

“I did.”

“What I was actually asking, is why didn’t you drive to New Haven?”

“I hate driving home from New Haven. I have friends who did, and it took two and a half hours in that storm.”

“Still, they got home before you did.”

“You win some, you lose some – you have to roll with the punches.”

“We don’t have punch, but can I get you boys another round?”

“After that trip, I think he deserves one, Cheryl, and put this on my tab.”

“Coming right up.”

“Thank you. Why so generous.”

“The holidays are coming. I can play the role of Scrooge, The Grinch or George Bailey. I figure I’ll be the nice guy.”

“Can we get some wings?”

“Only if your name is Clarence.”

Thanks for joining us at the bar. I’m updating this since Cheryl joined the #SoCS crew – Check it out!

Later this night, I would really appreciate this escalator down to the subway platform in NYC.
The E-train is arriving. From 3rd and Lexington to Penn Station will be about 20 minutes.
This guy was so cute. That suit has legs and a hood!
My train is the 3:30 N.E. Regional that’s leaving at 4:35.
“I don’t think that’s a four-wheel drive suitcase, buddy.”
As close to the Twilight Zone as I’ve been. The train moved for about 8 minutes than returned to the station.
No escalators in New Haven.
Train 494, the 7:35 that’s showing as ‘On Time’ will never leave the station tonight.
I’ve never seen a black New Haven Railroad train like this in real life.
I guess we need the cleaning crew again.
They kept coming by. It kept snowing. The train was MIA.
At least I’m on a good looking train.
That’s my ride – AMTRAK 412 to Springfield.
Connecticut’s Capitol was a welcome sight near the end of this long day.
Waiting for the snow plow to clear a path around the sad sack that got stuck.
The driveway is normally empty when I’m snow-blowing.
I’m not sure I’ve ever had to clean this much snow of The Editor’s car. It’s usually in the garage by now.
I think she knows that I’m tired.
Surveying the aftermath.

74 comments

  2. You and John rolled right along with all the roles in one story!! But I liked the train station picture, it’s been a while since I rolled down the tracks in one or even played chauffeur for my godfather dropping him off at the station.

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    • Thanks Judy. I think we had 7” but once it turned to rain, it made it very hard to clear. Fortunately, I was able to work from home yesterday. The cars never moved other than what was necessary to clear the driveway. Today looks to be sunny and dry. I hope I can finish off that long walk and wrap up a few other little jobs. Have a good weekend!

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  5. “Only if your name is Clarence.” AHHHH-ha-ha-ha-ha-haaaaaaaaa! ~whew~ Thanks for the first guffaw of the day! Oooh, a black train in the night would be so spooky. Hmmmm. Story seed! I’m sure sorry you had such a tiresome, frustrating day. I’ll bet Maddie is looking forward to the growth of the Mount. Or did yours melt away like ours did? One day, we were sheathed in ice; the next day, it was fall again.

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    • Ours hasn’t melted, Mt Maddie is pretty small, and there’s a healthy mix of leaves in it. My guess is it won’t last the weekend, but what do I know?

      The mostly black NHRR train is so pretty. I’d love to find one. There’s one RR museum in CR that I haven’t been to. Maybe…

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  6. Snow is pretty to look at, but that’s where the ‘pretty’ ends! That was a nightmare trip home….but at least you got home safe and sound, and tired. Soon traveling home from work in the winter will be just a memory.

    I’ll bet Maddie was anxiously awaiting your arrival home so you two could share the couch. She’s such a sweetheart. I think she might have been surveying the yard looking for Mt. Maddie!

    Hope you and your girls get a chance to just relax this weekend. Sometimes we just need a day to hang out.
    🔹 Ginger 🔹

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    • Thanks Ginger. Maddie was a little crazy when I got home, and a little angry that we all wanted to go to bed – not play in the snow.

      She took note of Mt. Maddie, but she actually seemed eager to go back in the house.

      We went for a short walk (lots of people didn’t clear their sidewalks) and we sacked out on the couch for a bit. I think she’s good for a while.

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  7. “Trains are competing for a limited amount of track. The schedules have to be precise.”
    NOW I understand why you love trains so much. 😉 I’m so sorry about the travel ordeal. It’s the main reason I passed on a lucrative job with an electronic medical records company some years back. The trip to NC and interview went great. It took me over eight hours to fly home. Via Houston HOBBY. Spent four of those hours there. Not for me. My favorite photo is the raindrops on the window. Love it! 👏
    You Wordsmith, you. I love that twist at the end about the wings. Clarence indeed. Happy #Free 48 Dan.

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    • You do have to look for the bright side, Norm. I kept looking at the board and checking to see if there was a later train scheduled. There was one more after the one I took, so I guess I was actually lucky.

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  11. Horsefeathers Dan… Definitely Twilight Zone-ish, but for me that would have been a frozen version of Dante. LOL, there have been times when I’ve said that I must surely be dead and Dante was messing with my afterlife.
    Great Buffet song — I didn’t know that one.
    Wise Maddie, holding you down by laying across your ankles. Wishing you a peaceful weekend. Hugs.

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  14. Bad week for AMTRAK. I took the Acela from Boston to New York on Wednesday. Weather was fine. But the 6:00 PM Acela was cancelled because of a fire near the tracks in Connecticut. They put us on the NE Regional along with A LOT of other people. I finally got home around 10:00. But still better than driving or flying.

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    • I took the NE regional down on Wednesday. We only have three through trains a day. The rest require changing trains in New Haven. I try to avoid that.

      We had a lot of people bound for Boston on the train out of New York who were bumped off of cancelled flights. Not a happy crowd.

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  15. We have some lovely snow here this morning, but nothing to cause any problems like yours. The one time one of our daughters took a train to NYC from Cleveland to visit a friend, there was a lot of snow on the return trip and about a mile from the station, the train ROLLED over a branch on the tracks, stopping it (pardon the pun) in its tracks. This was rather early in the morning, of course. They had to wait for someone from the city to wake up, get dressed, and come over (for whatever bureaucratic reason to play his ROLE), which took quite some time. The train headed to NYC from Chicago was blocked because the stopped train was outside the area where the tracks divided. That meant quite a few disgruntled people both on and off the train. Naturally, no one could get off the stopped train where it was, even if someone were there to pick them up, so it was quite a hassle.

    Glad you didn’t miss that last train and enjoy your weekend!

    janet

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  17. You know, there is no way I could ever go back to Jersey. I was freezing and tired just reading this. That little guy in the snow suit looks adorable. So glad Maddie was there to welcome you. Such a sweetheart.

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    • It was so cold waiting for that last train. We couldn’t go back inside because it was “coming right in” – ugh.

      Maddie was happy to see me but she got mad because I wanted to go to bed. I was not taking her out to play in the snow.

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  19. I love that movie. This story had a lot of numbers in it, and with the times and trains, I was half anticipating I’d need to break out a pen and paper for the story problem – PHEW!
    I’m glad you took the trains, I know you like that. I’da liked it too. Driving is a hassle in that weather and especially in the night (for me). Also, a bit more idle time on a train is a gift, whereas in traffic, it’s useless.
    I’ve never had that much snow on my car in November either. We had an ice storm Wednesday night, and even though it’s snowed three times, not yet has it stuck!

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    • I was tempted to start with “a train left New York, traveling at 80 miles per hour…” but I figured I’d lose too many readers. Faith offered to retrieve me from New Haven, but that would have meant hours on the road for her. I do like Union Station in New Haven, so waiting there for an hour wasn’t a problem. Standing on the platform for an hour wasn’t nearly as much fun, but there’s something about being in a mess with a lot of people. It was fun in a weird sort of way.

      There was one more train after the one I was on, so I had a fallback position. The good news was that I was able to work from home on Friday, so I dind’t have to worry about getting up at 4:00 am to clear the mess in our driveway.

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    • It was definitely one of those “if it can go wrong, it will” series of events. Even the AMTRAK crew members seemed confused. I was lucky compared to many people on the train. They were being diverted from cancelled flights to Boston or Bradley airports. At least when I finally got off that train, I was 2 miles from home.

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  21. I’m with Joey…I thought this might be a math story problem. It the train left NY at 3:30 and the commuter had to switch shuttles and trains 4 times with an average speed of 50 mph, what time would he arrive at the bar in Windsor?

    Well, we know the answer and that was a very long ride home, only to be summoned to the snow blower. I hope there’s some rest and relaxation for you on Sunday. You deserve it!

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    • I learned my lesson about the (lack of) popularity of math on a Saturday, and I promise not to bring it up on Monday. It would have been a great word problem.

      Sunday will be a relatively easy day – thanks, Mary.

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  29. Travel by public transportation can be such a hassle and take all day if you have to go too far from home.

    I’m glad you made it home safely and rolled up on the couch with Maddie.

    That arch you had going there was pretty cool. I hope you got The Editor’s car in the garage, and everything done you needed to by the end of the week-end, and there are no long commutes for a while.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Thanks Deborah. There are a couple long commutes in the season where winter likes to make its presence known. The cars are not in the garage yet, but perhaps in the coming days that will happen. I am off after today for Thanksgiving.

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