21 Sep 06

Time:

Left the house 1216, left gym 1422.

Money:

$1, diet Pepsi, purchased from the closest market-bakery place clockwise from my apartment (I can't even come up with an idea of what it's called) while wearing a) pajamas and b) a purple sweatshirt.
$9, my favorite salad and some iced tea, All About Food.
$5, caramel latte and lemon cookie, Oren's Daily Roast (good stuff.)
$10, Y2K soba dinner from the not-sketchy Dojo (that would be the one on W. 4th.)
$4, mocha (which was okay) and cake thingy (which was outstanding) from... Beard Papa!

More interesting things:

Forgot my Metrocard when I left my apartment. This was especially irritating because I only figured it out when I couldn't find it in my pocket as I rushed down the station's staircase. However, it ended up having two positive consequences. (Well, two that I know about, anyway... you can never be sure if the extra time it took to go back and forth allowed me to avoid some negative event.) First of all, on the track where you usually find the local sat a very unusual-looking subway car - it had only a few small windows, one narrow door, and a sign reading (duh) "NO PASSENGERS." The really weird part, though, was what was attached to the back: a long line of, like, flatbed cars, each loaded with what appeared to be miniature dumpsters. It was, essentially, a tow-train, but for the life of me I cannot fathom what it was doing or where it was going; as I told someone tonight, it looked like the Seven Dwarves made a wrong turn on their way to the mine. The second good result of having to come back for my card was a little more mundane, maybe, but very pleasant all the same - I got on the treadmill just in time to enjoy the Cosby Show, which always makes a half-hour of heffing (not huffing) easier to stand.

Recognized the personal significance (to me, I mean) of some of the observations Professor Alpha made while we talked on the train awhile back. At the time, I didn't realize how they applied and could even have taken them as unsupportive commentary on his part (although, miraculously, I refrained from engaging in that particular dimension of over-analysis.) Knowing what I learned today, however - and bearing in mind that he may well have thought I knew it back then too - drastically changes my interpretation of the things he said; in this light they seem to serve not only to dismiss a situation he doesn't appreciate but to indicate that he's "got my back" (and the backs of some important others) within that situation. Interesting, and encouraging on an unofficial level.

Got startled - still and again - on the train at the sound of an approaching train's horn. I don't know if it's the way the walls are built or just the fact that a subway tunnel - even a station - is very much a closed-in environment, but you absolutely cannot tell where exactly a sound like that is coming from, and it's always a little disconcerting to consider that it might be, say, on the track right behind you. Which would not be a good thing. Of course, the fact that it hasn't happened - and probably never will - IS a good thing, so I guess I'll just go with it and enjoy that occasional little bit of creepy-crawly.