Snowbound

I was supposed to fly out of Newark, New Jersey this morning.  If you haven’t been paying attention to weather reports, the northeast is having a blizzardy time of it.  I got to the airport via train from Penn Station in NYC and made it all the way up to the check-in counter, plugging in my name on the self-serve computer, before suddenly a light blinked on and stated the flight had just been canceled.  I kind of figured this would happen.  As I was trying to get to my counter, I had kept looking up at the departure boards and every few second other flights were being canceled.  

So I trained back to NYC, and called Amtrak on the way.  They had a train leaving for Cleveland at 4 Pm, they said.  Did I want a reservation?  They had eight seats left.  I said I’d call back, because I needed to call home and see if I had anyone back home in the Ytown area who could have picked me up in Cleveland at 3:30 in the morning.  Calls were made, yes, my mom said, she and my dad could come get me.  By then I’d arrived at Penn Station and hoofed it to the Amtrak counter, where the line was long and sad.  By the time I made it to the window, all eight of those seats to Cleveland had been sold.

Defeated, I took the subway back to Rick Bowes’ apartment.  He’d given me a key in case this happened, as he was going out to see a play with friends.  Thank goodness for foresight.  I hauled me and my way too heavy bags up to his apartment once I got off the subway and put myself to bed, as by then I was feeling way worn out by the backing and forthing of the previous six hours.  When Rick got home, we went to eat Japanese food at a nearby place, my favorite comfort food.  I had a Volcano roll and tonkatsu and miso soup and ginger ale.  On the way home, I stepped in what looked like slush but was really a gigantic puddle that swallowed me up to my ankle.  

Looking at the possible ways to get out of NY tomorrow, it seems my flight at 9:15 out of LaGuardia is still scheduled to go, but who knows?  It could be canceled at the last minute, too.  If that happens, I’ve already discovered that Amtrak is not my savior:  trains to Pittsburgh and Cleveland tomorrow are all sold out already.  My last bet is a Greyhound bus leaving at 11:15 PM tomorrow night that would take me into Youngstown at 9:40 in the morning on Sunday.  Please, please, LaGuardia, fly me home in the morning.

Now I am off to sleep a little longer before I begin my next trek into the sleet and snow in just several hours.  It would be nice to get home in time not just for Christmas, but to actually finish my Christmas shopping.  Yes, I’m one of those people, not normally, but I am this year.