A dripping $#!+bag of inconvenience

Today's lack of a proper blog entry was brought to you by the New York City transit worker strike.


With Fried Rice Thoughts' New York Bureau Chief Mis Hooz unable to get to work today (and to be honest, I didn't know the strike was on until she e-mailed me from home), and thus not able to make important (i.e., from work) phone calls, send pertinent (i.e., from work) e-mails, and otherwise feed me the material, encouragement, and jokey-jokes I need to get through the day, I just can't get it done.

And I'm sure not going to just throw up some post, like a picture taken of me at the bar. No way. You people want substance. I know that. You need steak with your sizzle (or seitan with your sizzle, for the vegetarians in the audience). You crave words. And I want to type them.

But today, I'm standing with Mis Hooz and the other stranded people of New York. Hey, I know how you feel! I was trapped at home today, too! Yeah! I had to wait around the house while a man replaced the gutters that were filled with ice and frozen leaves, and came crashing down over the weekend. Frozen leaves! My house looked like a condemned property, man! How's that for "a dripping $#!+bag of inconvenience"?

Everyone will probably be back tomorrow. The transit workers union is getting fined $1 million a day for striking. Even if they're mad at the mayor for calling their tactics "thuggish" and "unconscionable," that's a lotta cheddar.

Until tomorrow, when gutters and subways are hopefully running smoothly, carry on.

(Photo by Hiroko Masuike/ New York Times)