So much for the days when I could tell my parents, "Hey, at least we don't get tornadoes up here!"
Sigh...
ADDENDUM:
More confirmation that this world is coming to a swift, brutal, and terrifying end:
It Sucks to Be In South Asia Right Now (When Doesn't It?)
And also add to this: mine collapse from freak earthquake, random gas station explosion in Texas, random gas/steam line explosion in New York, random bridge collapse in Minnesota, random peace talks between the Koreas.
Yup. It's all going down. Real soon. And there's not a damn thing we can do about it.
See ya' on the other side!
ADDENDUM 2
Y'know how us Northerners always joke about how Southerners don't know how to handle snow?
Well, sometimes it can be nothing but simple rain that flummoxes us.
To go along with this tornado story, I also present to you a first hand account of a New Yorker's commute (via subway) in the wake of all this - as told to the Landroval forum trolls on Lord of the Rings Online.
So, I left my house at (by my watch) 7:53 AM, more or less the time I usually leave. It takes me about an hour or so to get to work (it would take me 45 minutes except I have to walk from 8th Ave. to 11th Ave - and anyone who knows how long block in Manhattan are can understand that that's a lot of walking on a commute, even for a New Yorker!)
So, I get down to the N train station. Now, it's been raining copiously for the past few hours (I was actually awoken at about 5:30 to the tremendous boom and flash of a lightning bolt right over our building) but when I got to the station (which is literally right behind my building) I arrive to find out that it is closed due to flooding. There were in fact no N trains running in either direction.
And I walk outside the station just in time to see the B6 bus, which I could conveniently take to the F train, pulling away. I looked at the schedule. The next bus would be coming in 20 minutes - and I knew that the way this rain was going, and with the station closing and all, this bus would not be there anywhere near as short a time-frame as 20 minutes.
So, I walk.
I walked the equivalent of about five long blocks - I believe this is just a little over a mile and a half - to the F train station (and for the record, I still got there before the bus was even within sight.) I get up to the platform, sweating terribly and generally feeling like crap due to the steamy, muggy, heat.
So the train arrives...
And guess how freaking crowded it is!
I slither into the middle of the train to politely make room for other customers. Mind you - I live out on the fringes of the NYC subway system. After only four or five stops, the F train was packed to the brim. There were about fifteen more stops before people would start getting off in Manhattan. I could tell this was only going to get worse.
And I was right.
After about three stops, there was cussing, screaming, and a fist-fight that nearly broke out.
About ten stops later, we completely stop in the station for the better part of twenty minutes. For the next five stations afterward, we wait seven to ten minutes. (Just to give you an idea, it usually takes about thirty seconds for a train to come into the station, open the doors, empty out, let customers in, close the doors and leave... Well, not today!)
So FINALLY I get to West 4th Street in Manhattan where I get to transfer. To the E or C trains. Now, people who commute in the City know that the blue lines (of which the C and the E are a part) are horrible. In fact, the C train is currently ranked the worst train in the system according to the Straphangers Campaign. But, anyway, because they go up the West Side, and the F train goes up Sixth Ave. (right in the middle) I figure "well, I'm not losing much transferring here, even if the trains are horrible."
Surprisingly, I was right. This doesn't take away from the fact that it still took 15 minutes for any local trains to show up.
So, finally I get onto an F train that's been diverted over the E line (turns out E trains aren't running at all either - and the C trains were going express) and I get off at 50th St. & 8th Ave. From thence, I walk to my job on 54th between 11th and 12th. And just in time for the sun to come out, and start warming all the nasty mugginess around me, while potentially giving me a sunburn in the meantime (thank God for tall buildings!)
Anyway, two hours and twenty-six minutes later by my watch, I finally get to work. And get this - none of my bosses are even here yet!
So everyone, glad to finally be inf the flipping coffeehouse!
Happy %&*!ing Wednesday!
