Success! Internet Has Been Restored!

I am so fortunate to be sitting in my squeaky computer chair in the comfort of my own home.
How did I survive two and a half years without Internet in high school? *grin* I'm a junkie....
We've decided to stick with Comcast just for the internet. Which, IMO, is good because Comcast hasn't screwed us over.
They're just morbidly expensive.
Yesterday was a fiasco that I would rather not mention, but I suffered the worst panic attack and break down afterward.
I've also contacted the animal shelter and did not get a response so I left a voicemail.
We currently do not have a home phone number.
And.... I finally got to check ANGEL (MCC's version of the online classroom) and found all of the work I have to do for my geography class.
It actually looks difficult, but the material looks interesting.
In more upsetting news, I think my rat has a respiratory infection. Then again, she came to me as a senior rat of a year and a half.
She's been wheezing for the majority of the day.
Unfortunately, I cannot cuddle her because she doesn't seem to like people.
I'm already more than halfway through The Darkest Evening of the Year. Can you believe it? I haven't even had the book a full day yet.
Hopefully, I'll finish it tonight and start on Dragon Tears tomorrow.
Thus, my current life in a nutshell.

A Tail of Two Cities: New York

SORRY - I KNOW THIS IS SO OVERDUE, BUT HERE IT IS.

PART TWO!

Saturday May 23. 2009

The delay was significant and I remember dozing off. We had left Boston at about 3:45 PM. Wheels went down at 4:20 PM. Jim and I each got wings from Jetblue airlines. It was adorable. Unfortunately, the wings weren't pin-ons, they had sticker backs. Oh well... *shrug* They had Jim and I wait to be the last ones off the plane. We got assistance from the gate to the baggage claim, retrieved my one suitcase, and headed outside to the buses. I had the man assisting me ask the driver how much the fare was. It turned out to be $15. I paid and gave my bag to the driver. I boarded the bus and immediately made sure I talked to someone onboard about which stops were being made. I was informed not long into the conversation that for anyone who flew Jetblue, the bus was free. I immediately got off the bus and demanded my money back. This was literally not 5 minutes after I handed him the money. They already said no refunds and rejected my request even after I showed them my boarding pass. I was fuming... The drive wasn't all that bad. We picked people up from almost every terminal. Finally, I found myself outside of the bus at Grand Central station. My luggage was unloaded and those who needed to get to Penn Station crossed the street, I was among them. We waited for a long while until a van appeared. The driver had a thick New York accent but was a kind, tough love type of person. He thought there was going to be a problem with me and Jim fitting in the front seat. I put my bag in the center and then jumped in. Jim fit snugly between my knees. It was a tight fit, yet the ride was short so I wasn't worried. The driver talked to me the entire way about dogs. We had a decent chat. The funny part of the ride came when the driver announced that they were all being dropped off at the Penn station side...
Convo went as follows:
driver: I'm going to drop all off at the Penn station side.. well, because of, um... *he points at me*

I chuckled under my breath. When we arrived, I was helped out first and my bag was taken to the top of the steps. He continued to probe me about taking the escalator down. Finally I said, "I'm from Chicago. This is no problem." He grinned and gave me a pat and left. I put down the handle and picked up my suitcase. Slowly, Jim and I made our way down the steep set of stairs.

Penn Station is SCARY! I hit the bottom of the steps and a whirlind of stimulants smashed me in the face. People were everywhere... The place was crawling with individuals on a mission. We weaved all over the long stretch before we were in a circular room with a staircase leading up. Once there, I had assistance from the man working there. He found someone to help me to the right platform. I spent $2 for a metro ticket and then ended up not using it because someone opened a door for me. There goes another $2. *sigh* FML...

We got on the right train, but then realized as it lurched forward, that there wasn't any audiated voice to say which stop we were at. Fuck.... I basically was counting stops and squinting the entire time. A man who held a bouquet of flowers who was standing across from me told me what stops we were at. I asked him one last time and pretty much leaped off the train. I almost missed my stop. I was at 103rd street and W. Broadway. I started walking one way, stopped, and turned around. I stood with Jim and feigned utter confusion. I was just bewildered and too tired to think for myself so of course, I had to pull something quick. A woman with big sunglasses was my life saver. It was getting dark and she helped me to the hostel. It was only a couple blocks away from the station I was at. I thanked her and walked inside.

I was greeted by the manager who informed me of who he was and that he was sorry about the inconvenience of me possibly being denied access. I was happy to be there and paid my $94. It's a good thing that they let me in. I wasn't going to take no for an answer. We took the elevator to the 2nd floor which ended up being the wrong floor. The third floor was where my room was. I was stationed in room 330. As soon as I arrived in the room, Denise, one of my roommates greeted me at the door. I was to sleep in bunk A and use locker A. There were fresh sheets, a pillow, a blanket, and a towel.

I talked to Denise a while longer. She was from Vegas and determined to get signatures from Gene Wilder and Susan Seranden. As she left, I settled in some more. I went outside to break Jim and then returned indoors. I was given a tour by an employee named Barbara. She was really nice and so were all the people working the night shift. Because they had run out of locks that I could purchase, one of the employees went out and purchased a lock for me to put on the locker. I purchased a roast beef sandwich, chips, and had some water for dinner. I walked around a bit outside and returned into the hostel. It was dark, so I didn't want to be out long. I chatted and enjoyed the evening. At around midnight, I retired to my room. Denise came in not too long after and we chatted. Turns out that she had a bad experience with a girl that slept in the bunk I was in the night before. Denise told me everything about the hostel and how nice it was. I let Jim up on the bed because there wasn't enough floor space. The room was tiny and it holds 4 people. The dog needs a night to be a person too. I slept soundly. Only too glad that I made it there. the air conditioning felt good.. It was on because Denise has MS and needed it to help keep the swelling down on her joints. I just took it as another bonus. *grin*

Sunday May 24, 2009

I remember the door opening and the other roommates walking in. I heard a gasp of surprise as Jim lifted his head. As they finished their nightly routine and dozed off, I returned to my slumber.

I woke up just around 9 AM and trekked to the bathroom which was very far from our room. The one closer to our room was being remodeled and was closed. I trekked back and fell asleep. Denise left and the others left too. I woke up around 1:30 PM. I was hungry. I fed Jim, took a shower, thought I was going to get tetnus from the shower floor, and walked downstairs. I was going to visit Central Park, but I needed to eat first. I asked the man at the front desk where I could find some food. He told me that there was a really good pizza joint about three blocks away on the same side of the street. I busied Jim and then we started walking.

We arrived at Mama's pizza and as soon as I walked in with Jim, heads turned. The owner helped me to a seat and asked me questions about Jim. He also let me have a paper menu and let me order before I payed him. They were so incredibly nice. I had a saussage, onion, cheese, and pepperoni hero with a 20 oz. bottle of ginerale. It was massive and SO increidlby delicious. The owner returned and cut it into four pieces. As I ate, the owner came and talked to me about how amazing Jim was and how in his country dogs saved people from drowning in the ocean. Jim was offered some ice and I gladly said it was OK because he was panting from the heat. After I ate, I was invited back. It was wonderful knowing that so much diversity was nestled in the area.

I walked out onto the corner and started heading back towards the hostel. I stopped on the corner and must've looked confused because I was contronted by a nice older gentleman. He asked me if I needed directions and I just asked him how to get to Central Park from the corner we were on. We had a friendly conversation which lasted for about 7 minutes. I was on my way and turned myself around a couple times. I was accidently heading back towards the little pizza place when there was a woman with a walker in front of me. She was walking very slowly. I was going to bypass her when she abruptly stopped and turned around and started saying something to me in a different language. She kept pointing at the sidewalk and gesturing. I didn't understand her at all. Finally, I lifted my shoe and saw a big, nasty, brown smudge on it. I looked back at the sidewalk and there was a streak from where my shoe walked through a pile of soemthing gross. I nodded to her and she walked away. I was SO incredibly grossed out. My shoe basically smelled like shit. We had stopped not even two feet away from it. If she saw it before, why did she let me step on it and then say something? Blah - oh well....

We stopped into the little 99 Cent store and I purchased two very large 1.5 liter bottles of water, a can of Chef Boyardi ravioli, and some candy peach rings. There were other things in the store, but I decided to save my money. If I needed water, I would go back. We were both hot and tired when we returned to the hostel. I took Jim straight up to the room, slid my card in the slot, and went inside. It was cool from the air conditioning. I poured some of the water into his bowl. He lapped it up and feel asleep immediately on the floor. I went into the bathroom and tried to get the nasty stuff off my shoe. Finally exhausted myself, I laid back in my bed. I had dozed and it was 7:30 when I awoke. Jim seemed refreshed, but it was getting too dark to venture to Central Park. Perhaps this will be something I do when I return to Manhattan. I fed and watered Jim and took him out. While we were outside, he did his business, and we took a little stroll. I was curious about where we were, but before I crossed another street and almost got lost, I turned around and we headed back. Jim started pulling me toward the trash. I gave him a "no, leave it" command, but he disobeyed. I gave him a sharp correction and he ignored this as well. Out of the trash popped a huge, gray rat. Jim took chase with me in tow. When the rat brought us to the spot where Jim did his business, I gave him a correction and half dragged him to look away from the rat and instructed him to go inside. The rat was massive... I could hear it walk. Gross... and to think, Jim could've been bitten by that. His nose was about a foot away from the trash. I spoke to Sarah and Kelly on the phone. I also exchanged text messages with Megan about the upcoming day. Dinner consisted of a ham sandwich with melted cheese, chips, and New Leaf mango green tea. I finished eating and called Adam because I hadn't talked to him yet. Our conversation lasted well over an hour. I was enjoying the garden outside and on the phone. The warning beep of the battery dying brought me back upstairs to my room.

I was wide awake and returned upstairs to retrieve my laptop and the essential cords for a long night to myself. I headed down to the basement where there was a kitchen. I began to set up my things when I heard someone trying to talk to Jim. At first, I almost snapped at her, then I realized this person was not from the U.S. Instead, I removed his harness, for he had worked hard that day, and asked her if she wanted to pet him. I brought my things over to the table and she helped me set up the wireless connection. Her name was Lucia and she was from Brazil. She told me stories of her mother and of her dog. We exchanged contact information. (I can now talk to her on Skype.) Lucia retired after a snapshot of us was taken. She said her good night and wished me luck in my travels. Who'd have thought I could meet such cool people?

The night continued on. I eventually brought Jim back to the room. I thought I woke Denise, but she was out like a light. I was talking loudly to Jim as I entered. I wiped him down with pet wipes and tied him to my bed. I returned downstairs and was online for a long time. It was 5:30 AM when I went back to my room. Sleep was finally upon me.

Monday May 25, 2009

I woke up around 9 AM and realized that checkout was in a couple hours. I showered and fed and took Jim out. I asked the concierge if I could have a little more time. I did my laundry and repacked my luggage. Denise and I had breakfast and exchanged contact information. Lucia also met me downstairs. I don't remember eating anything.

I said my goodbyes and headed out the door. I remember sitting outside of the hostel asking people to take my picture. Everyone refused until this one lady finally agreed. I told her which button to push and she revealed that she was actually a camera technician. I got two lovely photos. I found my way back to the subway station.

I paid my money and waited to board. A family boarded as well. Two bicycles were among them. The father figure was a really buff man and had a thick New York accent. I thought I was going to have issues with the children touching Jim. Fortunately for me. That was quite the opposite. The man let me know which stops we were approaching and got off. It was a nice gesture.

I reached my stop and got out of the wrong exit. A nice woman assisted me to Penn's entrance. I sought out the information desk. The man at the desk gave me a hard time. In the end, he had two oriental women help me to the right track. I purchased my ticket and waited. I almost missed my train. The ride to Long Island was not a bad one. It took about 2 hours.

MK's mother found me and we drove back to her home. I relieved Jim and put my stuff in the room. We headed out to a barbeque in celebration of Memorial Day. I had a really nice time and ate plenty. I'm so glad they were lenient about me drinking. I was offered a pina conlada and a mud slide. Yay me! We got back and talked for a while. I konked out at around 1 AM.

Tuesday May 26, 2009

We headed to GDF and I got to speak with Jody about Jim's progress. Jim impressed Dan by finding me a seat. It was wonderful meeting some of the people from CSO. Many things were discussed. I'm glad that I went. MK's mother was kind enough to wait for us. It was a two hour visit, but one I will remember.

On the way home, we stopped and got bagels. So good were they. Although I don't recall the name of the restaurant. Perhaps you could help me on this one, anglwings303. The rest of the night was spent hanging out. We free ran the dogs. G came over and we had a nice dinner. Bedtime for me due to an early rising.

Wednesday May 27, 2009

I rose around 7:30 AM... I don't remember if this time is correct or not. I took a shower and did the necessary morning routine with Jim. MK, her puppy, Jim, and I had pictures taken. Around 9, Lori, Jim's puppy walker came to the door. We hugged. I gathered my things and we were off to Lori's home. We talked a lot while in the car. Finally arriving in Lori's driveway, Jim was put in the backyard and I got to see Peony's newborn puppies. They were incredibly adorable. One was singing a lot. The four puppies warmed my heart. Lori was incredibly nice.

The drive back to the airport was also very enjoyable. More stories were exchanged. At the end, pictures were taken. I watched Lori drive away.

The front desk was not too happy about me not calling ahead of time because of Jim. I almost gave them a big FUCK YOU, but kept my mouth shut. The flight was quiet and short.

Wheels were down in Chicago. My uncle was waiting for me at baggage claim.