Our 7 Service

What a day.  Seriously though.  You don't even understand.  :)

I was actually having a decent day at work.  Yesterday as just plain miserable (I'll spare the details), and today was supposed to be even warmer.  I prepared by wearing a dress to work to keep cool, and I had a fan blowing the entire shift.  It made standing for probably seven hours much more manageable.  At about five, Marcus and I made a dinner plan, and I grabbed a couple things at the grocery store in Flushing before heading to the subway.  Now that's when the fun starts...

You know, there are so many things we take for granted in life.  I hadn't realized one on my list was the train.  We rely on it so much out here, so when our blessed 7 line is closed, life basically ends.  I learned that today the hard way.

I walked the two blocks with my two grocery bags to the subway.  Remember, it's hot.  100 degrees!  In a freaking humid state!  So I get down to the platform, and they're announcing the 7 line is closed.  Not delayed, CLOSED.  Now what?!  Well, that was my thought.  I call Marcus, since I don't know how to get home without the subway.  He doesn't answer.  Just my luck.  And every time I try to pull up a route home on my phone, it keeps defaulting to my usual subway line.  Not good.  So what do you  do next?  Yep, that's what I did.  Call Mom :)  She helped me google bus lines and Long Island Railroad schedules, but nothing was working.  All the buses were crazy full to start with since everyone on the train was looking for new routes.  And the LIRR was another hour away.

All of these plans took a lot of discussing, so I did a ton of walking.  In the heat.  I walked all around Flushing.  It was a good adventure.  I'd never really passed the subway station before.  I saw the LIRR station, tons of restaurants and shops, the other mall, ...  And I finally had to complete the huge circle back to the mall because I realized the only way to get home was a cab.  There weren't many car options where I was walking, since the entire area was jumping into any cab around, and I know cars wait outside the mall.  Plus there was a bank there.  I had finally gotten in touch with Marcus, and he reminded me how I need cash for a car service by the mall.  I grabbed some cash, and when I got out of the bank, there was a car waiting outside.

It was a really exciting moment.  I saw the AC in the car and knew I had made the right decision.  :)  So another ten minutes and I was home.  Mind you that drive is really only about five miles, but I had taken about two hours to get home by this point.  With my groceries.  The best part... I had Oreo's in one of the bags!  And I got to experience my commute in Queens in a way I hadn't ever before.  By car.  Haha.  We drove by the Mets Stadium, along the water, through some cute neighborhoods.  Really a nice drive.

Well, remember how I said the 7 was closed?  Well, obviously that would impact Marcus a bit too.  He made it home just before I did.  And he had left work when I did.  And his trip was only four miles.  He waited for the 7 line for a long time, and then he had made up a new plan to get home as well.  We had a difficult time communicating since his phone was almost dead, but luckily we both were able to quickly talk confirming we would make it home.  He took another train home that didn't quite get him in the area and then had to walk.

We had definitely gotten our exercise for the day!  And I know there was some divine intervention because I got home at seven, showered, ate, started watching Batman Begins with Marcus (to prepare for the big day on Friday), and don't have swollen feet!  Miracle!

See, I told ya.  Crazy day.  Or maybe just another day in the life of a newby New Yorker...

(In case you were curious, we've been told the 7 line was closed because there were issues with the signals.  Definitely a worthy cause.  And a major bummer!  It is running now finally, but still with huge delays.)