A bad dress rehearsal
(Before I begin: Thanks for the posts and comments, everyone!! This will keep me accompanied on my journey and I am appreciative. When I have a bit more time than I have today, on departure day, I may move the postings to comments to keep the main posts authored by myself. Please do continue to comment -- in comments!)
Due to my particular brand of optimism, energy and masochism (heh heh), I tend to over-extend myself / over-schedule with the self-belief that I can do what I set out to do, sometimes forgetting the failings of quotidian life, the subway / bus / traffic that just isn't running the moment one is in a hurry, the fact that getting from point A to point B in New York takes a different amount of time each and every time you do it due to variable circumstances and sometimes just plain bad luck.
My recent bad luck was this: I got locked out the night before departure day. Let me explain.
After a harried few days leaving work, putting things into storage, surrendering the apartment to sublettors, and finally packing for the trip (I habitually pack light, but how is this possible for 9+ months?!?) -- with the aid and aptitude and heroics of true friends (thanks Allistar! thanks Daniela! thanks Charles! you probably didn't realize what you were getting yourself into at the start, but we laughed throughout despite it all! Really, thanks a million and I couldn't have done it in the timeframe that I set for myself without you!!) -- for a sleep deprived few days, and after spending Monday running final errands and getting my visa for China and seeing friends and Bow Tie for the last time in a while. I returned to the place of my gracious 2-night host (and co-conspiritor) -- to find she had as habitual dead-bolted the door and I had only the ineffectual bottom key.
Believe me, I got over the politeness thing pretty quickly, and I tried waking her up -- ringing her doorbell and calling her non-stop for over an hour...until I collapsed on the hallway outside her door (in her nicely maintained co-op, doorman building -- not to worry Mom, it was not unsafe). In the meantime, Daniela helped by continuing to call my slumbering / comatose hostess while I slept for about an hour. I awoke to a heated debate of neighbors behind closed doors regarding the repetitious calls and whether something could be really wrong -- of course and to my relief, this being New York, no one actually opened the door to investigage. So, I went to a diner downtown and began to write about this.
My sweet friend called me at about 3am to usher me back to her place with profuse apologies. As soon as I saw her number on my cell phone, I felt only relief. And the dear that she is she apologized much more than was necessary because I was not mad, not in the least. After all, this is life. Life is not smooth, accidents happen. And if that is the extent of the bumps (for now), I'm okay.
Well, you know what they say about bad dress rehearsals.
Due to my particular brand of optimism, energy and masochism (heh heh), I tend to over-extend myself / over-schedule with the self-belief that I can do what I set out to do, sometimes forgetting the failings of quotidian life, the subway / bus / traffic that just isn't running the moment one is in a hurry, the fact that getting from point A to point B in New York takes a different amount of time each and every time you do it due to variable circumstances and sometimes just plain bad luck.
My recent bad luck was this: I got locked out the night before departure day. Let me explain.
After a harried few days leaving work, putting things into storage, surrendering the apartment to sublettors, and finally packing for the trip (I habitually pack light, but how is this possible for 9+ months?!?) -- with the aid and aptitude and heroics of true friends (thanks Allistar! thanks Daniela! thanks Charles! you probably didn't realize what you were getting yourself into at the start, but we laughed throughout despite it all! Really, thanks a million and I couldn't have done it in the timeframe that I set for myself without you!!) -- for a sleep deprived few days, and after spending Monday running final errands and getting my visa for China and seeing friends and Bow Tie for the last time in a while. I returned to the place of my gracious 2-night host (and co-conspiritor) -- to find she had as habitual dead-bolted the door and I had only the ineffectual bottom key.
Believe me, I got over the politeness thing pretty quickly, and I tried waking her up -- ringing her doorbell and calling her non-stop for over an hour...until I collapsed on the hallway outside her door (in her nicely maintained co-op, doorman building -- not to worry Mom, it was not unsafe). In the meantime, Daniela helped by continuing to call my slumbering / comatose hostess while I slept for about an hour. I awoke to a heated debate of neighbors behind closed doors regarding the repetitious calls and whether something could be really wrong -- of course and to my relief, this being New York, no one actually opened the door to investigage. So, I went to a diner downtown and began to write about this.
My sweet friend called me at about 3am to usher me back to her place with profuse apologies. As soon as I saw her number on my cell phone, I felt only relief. And the dear that she is she apologized much more than was necessary because I was not mad, not in the least. After all, this is life. Life is not smooth, accidents happen. And if that is the extent of the bumps (for now), I'm okay.
Well, you know what they say about bad dress rehearsals.
posted by Chris at 8:53 AM
5 Comments:
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What the bank assisstant told me when I first arrived in NYC and opened an account....
"Don't trust anybody!"
Well, I don't agree, but there's something to be said for being astute in your judgements.
And as they say in the opera world,
"Toi toi toi!" (Something like - 'bad dress, great show')
Has it sunk in yet?
Dx
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Hi Richard,
I'm good! Getting ready to make my first post from Korea. Already, the time is flying...
How are you?
Chris
I can't find a Bow Tie section anymore and I'm still jetlagged. But to give you the Bow Tie/Fang update... Bow Tie is now the cool 'outdoor' cat against your wishes. He always comes back to me. Fang is now very protective of Bow Tie and eating his food every chance she gets because she's a pig/dog. Joe and I are convinced that Bow Tie doesn't like his food either because he's not eating. So we will be doing a bit of 'wet cat food' experientation in the next week. I still have to buy my ticket for end of December/January.
xo anne
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