com·mit·ted : The Calm

And here you thought the story was over. No not so, silly rabbit, I just haven't posted the conclusion. If a post is never published did it never happen? Alas. That isn't the case. Play catch up, if you will.

 

Chapter 5: The Calm

In the morning we met and began to review the plan ahead of us. As much as we were discussing the new and delayed agenda doubt began to sneak in as the snow outside continued to come down and reports continued to come in of delayed or canceling attendance. The long (and chapter 5) and short of it is - we canceled the meeting. Every one's safety was of the utmost importance and to really get what we wanted out of the meeting we needed everyone there. There we were. There I was, 15 hours deep into commute, only a few hours of sleep to my name and all of that to be stranded in Neuvo Jersey.

I laughed. Uncontrollable, 5150 laughing. There it was again.

When you get handed a snowmageddon, you make snowmen. While the Boston crew high tailed it out of there - I may or may not have squealed "NOOO NO ONE IS LEAVING UNTIL I GET TO!" After I got over the loss of freedom I realized there was fun to be had. And had it I did.

But wait... there's more - like every experience like this has to have? A celebration of survival. Girls just want to have fun, style. And in the end? In the very end...

*disclaimer: when I say "best" I really mean ... it could be worse.

com·mit·ted : Through the Other Side

Chapter 4: Through the Other Side

3:00 pm: 3+ hours of sitting in wait, while stuffing my face, wrapped up in the fetal position, doing what work I can with the soothing sounds of the epic The Real Housewives of New York play in the background. I awaited for Don's call but to no avail. Who makes a girl wait? So I called him. Truth be told, I'm not 100% of exactly what he said but the jest of it was: the car won't be ready until tomorrow (Friday - yes people at this point - 4 chapters deep we are still in day one). And not only tomorrow, but the end of the day - no dice. Not an option. I have a meeting to attend.

On the road again...

GPS thanks be, says it's less than 2 hours away. At least it wasn't 2+ hours away....

7:00 pm: For those of us in the house where math isn't our friend... we're pushing 3 hours at this point. There is snow, rain, sleet, sunshine and then soon after - darkness. I used my GPS to get me to my final FINAL destination. Unfortunately and obviously only they way my luck can deliver, the address on the website was:

100 College Road East

Go ahead... put that address in google maps. Go ahead. See what happens. Go ahead.

That's right if you did it - you'll see... it'll bring you right to where I found myself after 7pm that fine night. In the back end of Princeton University. It's lovely this time of year.

100 College Road W

Not lovely? Trying to get out of there. That right there is a clear road block, right where my trusty GPS said I needed to go.
By the time I got to my final destination, while I was originally going to just go to bed how could I when drinks and food were awaiting me?

15 total times in route... and it was time to let loose. Including my hair which had been pinned up since 4am this morning.

(that is indeed my beer AND wine - car parked at hotel and ready to be taxied around!)

Final mishap? Because you know there is one... upon getting back to our hotel room we may or may not have needed to open a bottle of wine. That bottle... it may have given us a little more trouble than we bargained for - or frankly that I felt at that point I was really due at this point of the day.

OH. No that's not the end of the story... not quite yet.

com·mit·ted : The Eye of the Storm

Chapter 3: The Eye of the Storm

8:04 am: As I near the George W Bridge on the road to from New York to New Jersey, talking about how my drive is (not) moving along I begin to put put putter. While I am on the right side of the road, but not quite the shoulder and trying to explain it is going to take longer than I expected to get to the meeting - that time line immediately extended.

With a car stalled out 3.2 miles from GW bridge, blocking traffic breathing slowly after screaming "F a duck" or another favorite "Mother F'er" in the ear of my poor unsuspecting phone a friend. Her response? "Do you want me to look something up for you, on the Internet?" While I appreciated the thought and offer to help I had all that covered - what I needed now? A way out and off to Jerse.

I called AAA, however inconvenient, and awaiting help. As I waited, so close to the side of the road, yet so far - I was warmly received with honks, middle fingers and the love that only New York can show. Two guys pulled over and while I thought there was nothing they could do to help, how I was wrong. As usual. These two angels came over and helped me steer (backwards) down the slight incline I was on, onto the shoulder. Ah and finally the silence set in - no more cussing, fingers flying or honking as I await for the tow truck. Tow truck #1 that is.

Oh yeah, that's right because of the road I was on, AAA couldn't send a truck. What they could do is let a company who could pick me, pick me up - tow truck #1 and when I get towed off the exit, call again and get into tow truck #2. Honestly. While I waited for the first pick up, C found a place to bring my car. If any luck my piece O junk could be fixed at my final destination where the guy there has a level 3 English. Sure we didn't know what he said, mostly, but the hope was you didn't need to speak English well to fix a dang car. He told C he would 'call me' (we think) and he never did. At this point, I'm thinking there was a misunderstanding, miscommunication perhaps I didn't give him enough time. I'm hopeful his optimism will be contagious and not his business etiquette of returning phone calls.

9:40 am: Tow truck #1 dropped me off in the BoogieDown Bronx, with a special little surprise. He decided to "shake" my car before dropping it. Apparently, that did the trick and before demanding a tip, the tow truck driver #1 informed me that the car started. Of course it did, and unfortunately this has happened before.

I called AAA again, as instructed and was told to "Sit tight" (where would I go) and the next tow truck would be by to get me on or before 11 am (I repeat, it's 9:40 am at this point). He dropped me off, right in front of a D&D. Where my morning really began, but was so not soon to end. At this point in my journey, despite my recent pit stop, I got worried. I needed to use the ladies room, but didn't want to leave my car on the side of the road in the BoogieDown. And then it hit me, oh yeah - it's broken down. Where would anyone take it? Event though the car started, I could tell there wasn't a whole lot of power left in her, and so what if it got stolen?

10:40 am Tow truck #2 arrives, and oh boy was that fun. First the truck itself stalled as he was loading up my stalled car. While I sat on the side of the road awaiting the next leg of my journey I just laughed. I laughed so hard I'm fairly certain the driver was going to call the police reporting a 5150. Despite that scare, he really wanted to push the envelope.

Tow truck driver: "Your car is pretty strapped in there."
Me: "I hope so."
Him: "We don't want to get there with out the car."
Me: "No. No we don't. But frankly I wouldn't be surprised."

It's at this point he proceeds to tell a story about how once he got to his destination with out the car he was towing.

This is not a drill. I am not making this up.

We arrived to the car's final destination (not mine) and while I couldn't figure it what in the hell the guy was telling me - what I could figure out is my mom would pick me up at the wine store a few doors down. He said he would call me. I started walking to go get some vino, up a hill - and slipped down it of course because that's how I roll and who would really be surprised?

12:01 pm: Arrive at Nana Lu's. It's at this point I am in the eye of the storm. Through the madness and at a calming - the thing with the eye of the storm? It's just the beginning of the end and there is more to come.

com·mit·ted : Storm Clouds

Chapter 2: Storm Clouds

Where last we left our superhero, she was driving into the darkness towards the great state of Neuvo Jersey. The time line to follow brings up through the darkness into the morning and the storm ahead.

4:30 am - I want to get going, but since I should look half way presentable I should do my hair. Unfortunately with the commute (2+ hours according to GPS, mapquest, google maps... you know, reliable sources) I have ahead... drying and straightening isn't in the cards. Instead, I decide to curl it out. I put some lovely scrunching moose up in there and scrunch all my newly cut hair - clipping them up in hopes when I get to my final destination I can have the kind of waves that most can only dream of. Ah the simplicity of how I thought my day would be.

4:45 am - I stop for coffee & gas on my way out. D&D doesn't open until 5am. While I await for my delicious and life affirming ice coffee to be made I remember a to do line item that did not get completed the day before. I had let my AAA membership lapse. I have needed it before, and just in case - what can it hurt? I used the time wisely and god bless my phone - put it to good use. AAA Membership, check. By the time I get my coffee, gas up the car and fill out the membership form & pay for it - I'm back on the road at 5:20. I take a screenshot of my phone for safety sake. Oh safety sake.
6:20 am - I ask for some feet on the street, a friend in Neuvo Jersey has stepped forward and will be my weather girl in the area.

6:40 am - Despite my best efforts to get to Jerz before the snow starts, the snow starts at 6:40am and I am still in New York.

7:00 am - I stop to get gas, more coffee and possibly get rid of some of the poisonous pessimistic feelings I had inside. I wrote the following email. All the truth, all things told... I thought traffic was as bad I was going to see it.

I believe I'm screwed.
I believe I've been driving for 2+ hrs.
I believe every time reset my GPS the travel time is 2+ hrs.
I believe when I started my journey it said 2+ hrs.
I believe I have Barb giving weather updates.
I believe that I will never get there.

8:02 am - As I make my way towards the armpit of America I take a call from Nat, someone who understands at the heart of it all what it is like to have a black cloud hovering around you when you set out to take a simple trip. Just the other day I poked fun at her own travel karma to which I attribute the following hours of my trip. As I poke fun, the storm clouds align and ahead of me the storm awaits.

Nat:Why oh why must my friend send me the weather report for Friday when I'm supposed to be flying into the eye of a Nor'easter? oh well, sounds like i might have something to blog about at the end of this week...

February 23 at 6:31pm · Comments

Christine: at least your in the air!!! I'll be on the ground driving through it. February 23 at 6:53pm

me: Oh Christine, you think she'll be in the air?! Obviously I'll have to catch you up on Nat's travel 'luck.' ;) February 23 at 9:16pm

Dava: That is quite the story! Nat may be on the ground at Logan for the weekend. Pack snacks, Nat!!! February 23 at 9:20pm

Nat:you people are so mean! February 24 at 3:50pm

Note to self: what is mean is karma. She's a bitch and a cold hearted snake. She kicked ass and took mine, namely mine.

com·mit·ted : Before the Storm

Main Entry: com·mit·ment
Pronunciation: \kə-ˈmit-mənt\

Function: noun

1 an act of committing to a charge or trust: as (1) : a consignment to a penal or mental institution (2) : an act of referring a matter to a legislative committee 2 a : an agreement or pledge to do something in the future; especially : an engagement to assume a financial obligation at a future date b : something pledged c : the state or an instance of being obligated or emotionally impelled

If I didn't prove my commitment this week I don't know what else I can do. As all my travel-aster
stories go - just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, it does and where to begin? I think I'll be giving this story installments.

Prologue

I travel for work, a lot. It doesn't seem like that much, until I am in the eye of the storm (ironic foreshadowing) and realize how often I am in the process of going away, execution or coming home. And since I can not travel with out incident, the issue is compounded. Each winter we have meetings through out the country that are focused on a particular theme or subject that are a mandatory requirement. Sometimes, depending on the role I am in or region I am working with or set up of the meetings I can be required to attend 1 or 6 of the meetings. This year I needed to attend 2 out of 5 of the meetings. This weekend in New Jersey and next week in New Hampshire. This is a true story, true story, where one girl stops being reasonable and starts to go batty.

Chapter 1: Before the Storm

The plan was to leave at my usual departure time of o'dark thirty on Thursday to be able to meet in lovely Dirty Jerz at 10 am. On Wednesday due to the pending snowmageddon, flights were canceled out of Boston and while I wasn't flying I did need to make sure I got to the Jerz before the storm hit. Thus O dark thirty, the sequel. The crew who were set to fly decided to take matters into their own hands and jump into vans and rode into the sunset or eye of the storm like cowboys to make sure they would arrive pre-storm and get ready for the big meeting. As they were arriving I was getting up ready to make my voyage.

Ok snow hurricane. Let's do this dance. Thu at 5:04am via Facebook for iPhone