strike!

so the mta union called for a strike, and i don't really want to give my opinion on the strike and how i feel the retirement age is too old (62, the mta wants) and the race increases (the union wants a super-high increase) but want to take about how the selfish union screwed over 7million subway riders--not counting the ones who drive everywhere and cab it.

rachelle, my biking guru, gave me advice on how to ride--which was fairly good. i left my house at 215, and got to work several minutes late (after 3pm). i rode up eagle, over the pulaski, down this street whose name i don't know, across the queensboro bridge (which sucked, sucked, SUCKED because the incline is so tremendous--i spent a good deal of time grunting as i biked across, feeling my legs shout, "NO!!!!"). after i got off the 59th st bridge (aka the queensboro bridge, which i mostly call the 59th st bridge), the traffic was nuts. i learned quickly, do something illegal (like ride your bike on the sidewalk) or you will get stuck in mad traffic. i rode cross-town on 57th street, then down 7th avenue. 57th street was fairly crowded, with cabbies grinning and waving at me, and truck drivers honking and almost hitting me. quite scary. i'm glad mabel--my solid purple bike--and my helmet were aiming to protect me. i rode down 7th avenue through times square, never thinking that i'd be riding through times square. i arrived at work positively wiped out, to a library with no one in it, locked and closed. i opened it up, "yes, security, we are open," and spent most of the time knitting and relaxing. i'm exhausted after the ride, and riding home, i hoped, would be a little less crazy--though i sincerely doubted that.

i rode home during rush hour with a backpack full of xmas crafts i tried to work on at work and a book to read (blonde by jco which is over 700 pages, UGH!). the roads were positively mad, traffic everywhere--i learned to ride in between the lanes when we were stopped at traffic lights so it wouldn't take me THAT long to get home. going over the bridge there were mad pedestrians and bikes--but mostly pedestrians. one pedestrian started attacking a cyclist in front of me. pretty scary. when i got off from the bridge in queens, the red cross was handing out hot cocoa.

i'm so exhausted. my mom reminded me of how much this is hurting businesses--esp small businesses like the shops in union square flea market that are open just for the holidays. "how selfish the mta union is," everyone keeps saying. i've heard it more times today than i can even count.

i'm going to soak in a hot, hot bath now.

i hope the strike ends soon, like, now.