Cycle 34

Friday evening after work. The week is so much more tolerable now that I get to break it up with some WFH days. I hit the weekend feeling much better overall. I used to be totally shot come Friday.

Nobody today. That wraps another week. Race this weekend.

Cycle 32

Forgot this from Wednesday after work:

This train is packed.

Victim: Summit, white, woman, 19-29, not fat, not married, not regular. Average height, long straight brown hair, another of the clear gloss fingernail crew. She reads a book, Everyone Worth Knowing. She's pretty non-descript. Average looks, kinda buried in her own little book world, not encumbered by the social politics of sitting next to a guy who puts superhero outfits on his fat ass and rides his bike. Black sweater, black skirt, faded white bag.

Holy shit interaction!

She starts mumbling when the conductor comes by.

Me: Huh?
Her: I have to buy a ticket.

Well she has no money, and fumbles around in her wallet. The conductor says he'll come back. I suggest telling him that she forgot her monthly at work or something, anything so he can say he did his job. She mumbles some more, and agrees. It's a valid strategy, I've seen it work before. They never make you buy a ticket.

She mumbles some more, then says it's a good idea. She seems sorta oblivious and uncaring, as if nothing is real. She eventually dives back into her book.

The conductor never comes back.

I tried to snap a picture but my phone rang. It was Steve.

Assessment: Good, regardless of the entertainment provided.

Press Your Luck

So maybe I'm pressing my luck in doing this.

Friday, end of week, feel good.

Victim: Murray Hill, white, woman, 19-29, not fat, not married, regular. Mid-short blonde hair. Jeans and a blue Yankees t-shirt (Jeter) suggest she's not in the business sector. Medium sized coach bag. Low-bling but conservative jewelry set. I'm struggling for details. Flip flops, bright red toe nail polish.

She reads some trash love book until Summit then checks out to pose for a picture...or sleep.

Oh by the way Nat read my last blog with the pics and showed me how to put the phone on silent mode so I don't have to worry about the "snap" of the picture tipping the victim off. But you know this is going to bite me on the ass eventually. Funny what you'll do when you have an audience.

She's really out of it, her head nods up and down as she falls more deeply into sleep and fades entirely. Maybe I could stick the camera in her grill and snap a pic of her nostrils. When the train pauses at the main Amtrak line she wakes briefly, looks up, adjusts herself on the seat, and goes back to sleep.

Her perfume is a hair strong, but nice enough smelling. Too much makeup.

Assessment: Good.

No Trouble Yet

Monday morning, had a really busy weekend and a little flat this morning. Slight headache which I rarely get in the morning so I know I'm a little spent or unbalanced or something or other. Had 2 enjoyable bike rides this weekend, one off-road, one on.

Terren

"I got some protein for ya."

Sweet! As I said Friday I'm going to hold off on stating for certain that this was a problem but without question I had an amazing amount of energy this past weekend, this morning's headache notwithstanding. I'm also going to leave open the possibility that my lower biking volume has something to do with it but my hunger is also totally in check.

Not really much going on here.

Victim: New Providence, male, 40-49, not fat, regular, white, married. This guy has been riding the train forever so I "know" him. Nothing special here either way. Just an average guy reading the sports section and keeping to himself. He wears glasses.

Curious that all of the sudden I'm getting a string of mostly older men. Law of averages I guess, though most of the men who commute are "older". I'm slightly on the back side of the age bell curve on this train.

This makes for boring copy.

Assessment: Good. Did I mention this was boring?

Cycle 30



Victim: a girl named Jenny. I can tell because she has a Blackberry and she's talking to her friend Hilary. Summit, white, woman, going with 19-29 though she could be 30, not fat, not regular, married. Black dress cut above the knee, black shiny bag, pink fingernail polish, long wavy red hair, very long legs. I can't really get a read on how attractive she is because she's sitting here right next to me. But I'm pretty sure she's easy on the eyes. At least her legs are.

She actually asked me if it was ok for her to sit next to me. She sat down, put her iPod on, then basically sent texts, emails, and IMs the whole ride to Summit. But she was a perfectly solid seat mate and made the reading experience much more exciting for my loyal readers.

She's another hair twirler and I eventually verify that she is, indeed, easy to look at. Eventually she looks at the ends of her hair, who knows why. Split ends? She seems bored and zones out while waiting for the next text message to show up.

Assessment: Good. Keep 'em coming. Sure beats the old man stream I've had lately.

Cycle 31



Victim: New Providence, white, woman, 19-29, not fat, regular, married. Glasses, wearing a lot of makeup, enormous bag, eating some sort of pastry and drinking seltzer water. Thin, brown hair tied up, but impossible for me to get a read on what she looks like. Hard to observe too much because she's just eating and observing the train. One of the few people who doesn't immerse themselves in a book, an iPod, email, or sleep.

Just as I wrote that she pulled out her Blackberry and started reading email. She makes the occasional noise as she reacts to something in her inbox I guess. Hmmm, grumble, fart, and so on. Clear gloss nail polish, tan long-sleeve top, navy blue slacks.

Oh she sneezes!

Her: excuse me.
Me: bless you.
Her: thank you.

We don't get much interaction on these rides you know? She sniffles after that, she has a cold. I am on the edge of a cold that Julia has. We're a seat of sickies.

She's a little too observant for me to try and snag a picture. Plus my camera phone makes a noise when it snaps. It has 4 sound options, none of which are "off". Don't we have the technology to make silent electronics?

I manage to get the standard train departing picture.

Assessment: Good