crappyOnly the thing is, on Sundays, the PATH bounces through Hoboken on its way from Jersey City to Manhattan. This is a very jerky, bumpy, throw-you-around-y section of track, since it's not part of the everyday commute. Also on Sundays, they run fewer trains, resulting in a greater density of people on each individual train.
Can you guess what's coming next? I bet you can guess what's coming next.
Sunday, Kate and I got on the PATH to head into the city to have lunch with The Agent and another of her clients, followed by dinner with Betsy (Wollheim, not Tinney; it would have been a clever trick to somehow have dinner with my Seattle Maine Coon breeder whilst in New York). The train was very full when we got on; we had to stand. I got whiter and whiter as the train moved, trying desperately to keep from crying.
When I started screaming every time the car jerked to one side or another, some nice people let me have their seat. Thank you, nice people. I took my emergency pain killers and cried. "Take more painkillers and cry" was pretty much the mantra of the day, which would otherwise have been absolutely lovely. Because Betsy is a golden goddess who shall be renowned in song and story, she even drove us back to Jersey City after dinner. I have sent her a thank-you card.
My back has been out ever since. It's getting better, slowly, but it's been long enough since I had a flare-up this bad that, well, I'm being sort of a wimp about it. I cry a lot. I've been to the doctor for more painkillers, and I'm trying to schedule a spinal epidural, but right now? Right now, I just cry a lot. Part of me is glad that I'm missing OVFF and World Fantasy and my Alabama corn maze, because I am in SO MUCH PAIN right now that I wouldn't really enjoy them anyway.
So if I seem a little curt, or a little out of it, that's because I am either in extreme pain, or legally stoned to prevent the extreme pain from being a problem. Show mercy, I beg of thee. And please, Great Pumpkin, let this be over soon.
October 22 2010, 15:57:00 UTC 6 years ago
You'd think given that we've been walking erect for a fairly substantial amount of time, we would be slightly better adapted to it but noooooooo....
And I HATE that part of the PATH line. We avoid it to be the best that we can, especially in March. Hoboken does a full month of WHOO ST. PATTY'S DAY!!! festivities and the train can and does get jammed full of intoxicated people who flop about on the bumps, throw up, and pass out. It's horrid. We got stuck on it once for over an hour thanks to one person passing out half in and half out of the train and another flopping over unresponsive in a pool of her own vomit in our car. We were, for reasons we don't currently recall, all in formal wear at the time (and stone cold sober, alas). Not fun.
I hope you're back in proper working order in a speedy fashion! Or, at least, that you can spend as much time as possible stoned on painkillers until you are.
October 26 2010, 14:53:34 UTC 6 years ago
Remind me never to ride the PATH during March.