L Train Chronicles

 I´ve come to the conclusion of this: I have felt most human riding the train. 

The whole concept of the train is to be an affordable and relatively reliable form of transportation for all. You can have on a brand new pair of Fire Reds and still have them scuffed. Same goes for the folk who like to wear those pairs of Vans that they´ve had for years that have holes frothing out of the big toe area. Your shoes are going to get got. Or you new Moncler puffer. Or Canada Goose. La calidad no vale para nada. In other words, how much you paid for your stupid fucking clothes doesn´t matter for jack shit. 

You are going to get shoved slightly when someone gets off of the train. They might even give you the gentle but assertive ¨Excuse me!¨ to grab your attention since you probably are listening to some bullshit song commuting either to or from your job, or wherever you seem to be going. 

The subway performers? They don´t give a shit either! The hat flip is going to be less than three centimeters from your face. If you are lucky they´ll give you a fist bump. They´ll make you and everyone else pretending to care on the train clap for them after their performance, ask for cash, and shoutout ¨WE HAVE VENMO, CASHAPP¨ to clarify that the ¨I have no cash excuse¨ is slowly dying out.

Now, what is so special about all of these happenings that compliment each other on what seems like a non-stop basis? Well, for me, it´s that they are all happening in a controlled space. The train is going at hundreds of miles per hour (cap, I actually have no clue), and the only escape is to jump out of the doors that may or may not open when you are careening through the tunnels (I have not tried that, but if I live to tell the tale this blog will be updated immediately). You can escape to another subway car if there are accessible thru-doors, but if not, you´re hit. It´s one of the few spaces that regardless of who you are, just for a subway ride, you are subject to the exact same surroundings, air quality, company, commute time, annoying children crying, dried piss smells, noise from someone´s speaker playing out loud, sand from Rockway beach, empty coffee cups, bodega sandwich wrappers on the ground, irritation from being packed like sardines, awkward eye contact, phone scrolling, and so much more, that everyone else is subject to. And that, folks, is the beauty of it. 

REST IN PEACE TO YOUNG DOLPH. 

Back by Unpopular Demand

 What the fuck is up Denny’s! 

I haven’t used this thing in like, months? Honestly it’s whatever. Most of my thoughts are aired on on Twitter anyway.

This should be a good time to give a synopsis, if you will, on what’s gone on since I last logged into this thing.

New York is still New York. The rats never go away, the train is on time maybe 4/7 days of the week, and Carmelos is still selling $2 Bud Heavys. Governor got kicked out (we don’t give a shit), rent price went up (hold that L), summer came, summer went (ratio), fall is here (l’m bought to stunt on all of y’all), and….. what else am I missing? 

Is the government still on the brink of a shutdown?

Does anyone really care about Colin Powell that isn’t a Bush Era GOP fan?

Is Covid ever gonna go away? Well, the short answer to that is no. (LOL)

Is this the year we delete Insta, or are we locked the fuck in? (Tap in on this one, I might be on to something)

Will I ever stop going driving up and down the Jersey Turnpike? 

Hell, who knows. There are known knowns. Known unknowns. And unknown unknowns. I personally will not be partaking in the ontology of the unknown unknowns. 

Here’s to covid fall/winter part 2, maybe I’ll get off work because if a huge snow storm again. 

COVID Vaccination Roll-Out Say What Now?!

 What seems to be like a never ending fever dream just seems to continue to persist. Covid is almost comparable to the new seasons of It´s Always Sunny (no offense, it´s just that the earlier seasons are way better and FX just doesn´t seem to want to cut em loose, hell I wouldn´t either). Where do we go from here?

The vaccine only protects those who have it. AKA everyone and their fricking mom, dad, dog, cat, and pet hamster have to get vaccinated. Of all places, Israel is doing the best. What, like, 40% of the population has the first shot? I got that from the Global News Podcast, so don´t quote me on that. France is so far behind on their actual plans to get the nation vaccinated. South Africa has stopped their vaccination program. The US is ordering more doses, but still lags as the world´s richest country. Palestine got a measly 2,000 doses of the Russian vaccine, and only has been able to spare Palestinian workers working in Israel (free Palestine) the first dose. 

WHEN.

DOES.

IT.

END?

Who knows. 

I´ve been on a podcast binge these last few days since that´s what I listen to at work to help time go by faster. A guest on the Aspen UK pod (if you follow my Twit, I dropped the link) was speaking about how the future of travel could mean having chips implanted into our passports that show whether we have been vaccinated or not. Authoritarian, much? In this case, I don´t know. It´s almost as if HIPAA has entered the chat or something. 

In m very honest and less than candid opinion, the vaccine roll out in the US is defined by it´s accessibility. NY, por ejemplo. Do you have internet to book the appointment at 6am, while you work from home, and are in the comfort of your own bed, along with the metro fare to make it to the vaccination spot? You´re good to go. Hell, you´re lucky if you have a whip to make it so you have less contact with unknown objects/ people. But those MORE than essential workers who are out delivering food at all times of day and night, who work hours that nobody should be forced to, don´t work from home, and sometimes don´t have the metro fare or the luxury of a car to make it to the vaccination site? These folks are getting left behind with nobody to give a rat´s ass about. Dude, the Times even dropped an article about how some delivery drivers aren´t even being allowed bathroom services at the places they deliver for, or the appropriate amount of PPE to go on with their day. 

If anything, this pandemic has hemorrhaged the ongoing racial inequity and disparity that has plagued this county for oh so long. And for many of us, it comes to no avail. 

WHEW! This could not have fit in a 140 character tweet. 

Here are some links to some info that I mentioned above:

South Africa: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55975052

Israel: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/05/world/middleeast/israel-virus-vaccination.html

PPE and Worker Absue: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/30/nyregion/bike-delivery-workers-covid-pandemic.html

Anybody else hip to the Myanmar coup? 

Journal Entry 001 (Language Barrier Much?)

 Sentándome ¨on a curb¨ en tú barrio. Un sentimiento de progreso ha aumentado dentro de mí. En vez de solamente pensando en ¨acá e ahora¨, estoy tratando imaginar un futuro que será hecho de lo que yo hago hoy, manana (still haven´t figured out how to put the enya over the N on my keyboard), etc. El Tiempo es largo cuando se espera con paciencia. Me siento bien donde estoy ahora. Escribí eso en mi Twitter personal, pero cuando veía los numeros de desempleados en el país, inemdiatemente me sentía gracioso por todo que tengo, incluyendo un salario que me sostene, la habilidad de proporcionar comida, de no preocuparme sobre donde me dormiré, que mi familia ha sido segura e afuera del caos del virus, y por Dios bendeciendome otro día de viviendo.

Es más que fácil olvidar sobre las vidas que hemos perdido, y los sentimientos graves que sufren cualquier comunidad alrededor del mundo. Desde Bushwick a Virginia, todo y todos. La unica cosa que ha prevenido mucha gente de faltar la esperanza, es la esperanza. La esperanza que tan pronto que termine la pandemia de beber cervezas con sus amigitos, la esperanza de dando un abrazo gigantesco a sus abuelos, la esperanza de siguiendo una vida cerca a ¨normal¨ que sea posible... todo desde la esperanza.

No he pido pa´ algo especifico nunca, otro que mejorar a mi trabajo y mantenerme en forma (por ejemplo: corriendo 2 o 3 veces cada semana). Para quejarme sobre cualquiera cosita sería vergonzoso. Tengo mi salud, un lugar para vivir, comidita, un coche... Quiero decir mis gratitud a Dios arriba, que sigue protegéndome desde los malvados que persisten en la vida cotidiana de todos. Ojála que pueda crecirme cómo un humano de valores fuertes, con una corazon de miel, que será listo de darle a una causa más grande que a si mismo.

chicken parmesan during a nor´easter

 It is now February. Which means Black History Month. It´s the shortest month of the year. Was originally a week, now a month. Still, shortest month of the year. I digress.

Moving to New York means a shit ton of snow for absolutely no reason. So much that I get to not go to my jobbie for an extra day, and that this fine Monday is Sunday pt.2.

Now, time to get down to business...

There´s a bodega down the street, right? Great. There´s also a pizza place within sight from my crib. OK. 

Critically acclaimed pizza place that sells chicken parm on a hero. $12 after taxes, probably. The bodega has the same thing, cheaper price, and probably same quality. I mean, Boar´s Head literally owns all the meat in New York. I can´t even believe that´s a real sentence.

Yesterday, I put a poll in my GC on whether I should do a deli combo sandwich with fries and a drink or pay for the more expensive sandwich right across the street. I decided to do the former, and to my pleasure, I was happy with my purchase. I´m thinking to myself that it´s Sunday, I´m about to watch the Nets play Bradley Beal and Co., why not enjoy it, right?

Well, that´s how I´m feeling today. I cannot make a decision. My girlfriend has abandoned me in the decision making process. I am at my wit´s end. Do I do the deed once again? Can I handle spending another $7 without thinking that I am a worthless subject to capitalism? Will Dogecoin ever get past $.038? Did Trina ever perm her weave? There are so many things that are going on in my head with relatively zero consequence on what happens on my day to day that it is actually kinda hard to believe. This is what is happening on my day off. And, ya know what, I am NOT that mad about it. 

What else is new? Myanmar and their PM (I think) just got sacked in a golpe de estado. COVID is still, ya know, a thing. Biden is president (?), yet the Times still gives Trump a headline online (double ?), I ran 3 miles yesterday, am using my diffuser, and the snow literally just won´t stop. 

Purchase of the week: A lint-roller from the hardware store.