Beanie came to visit in late December of 2011. We went to NYC together again, sans Winkle and the other. It was the best decision of our lives. Maybe. You decide.
Uday had kindly offered his studio so we can save on accommodations for the week. Nice boss! From Grand Central, we decided to brave the subway system. How intimidating can it be, right? We figured out the correct train to take, but after 5 minutes without moving an inch, we begun to suspect something was off. A voice started to announce "Mumble mumble train, please take mumble mumble mumble or go to the mumble mumble..." and I couldn't understand exactly what the announcer was talking about. I asked a few of the other passengers but nobody seemed to know either. I did gather my dithering wits enough to infer (correctly) that this particular train may not be working at the moment. I stepped out of the train and noticed posters pasted at intervals around the subway that contained conflicting information from the PA. Which to believe? I was also afraid of the train suddenly leaving without me so I would return to the train within a few seconds of stepping out of it - just in case.
Beanie didn't understand the announcement at all. She did the train dance too (in, out, in, out) but with *much* more grace. After half an hour, we decided this was going nowhere and decided to look for alternative transportation. Cabbing was the most obvious choice, but I think I speak for all who have experienced NYC traffic when I decided against it - Beanie had 0 experience with NYC rush hour traffic. We'd have been better off walking to Uday's at 100. After consulting my useful Samsung Galaxy S2, we found another train that *should* stop at the right station and made our way there. We were later than expected getting to Uday's as a result, but I felt like a real NYer and Beanie was probably most relieved as well.
Uday had kindly prepared the studio for us. There was even an air mattress donated by Penguin, with clean sheets/towels. I finally met Penguin, Laura and Jacob irl. Jacob :> I really want a dog. Anyways, Joel was excited to meet up again and we all had an interesting Korean dinner together. It's not something I would typically choose since I'm not a soupy person, but it was pretty good. (I honestly don't think it's possible to have bad meals when Penguin is around.) We went to see the Bridge House where Joel had been living for these past few years, played a few games, met another dog, then Joel cabbed home with us. It was close to midnight so he didn't stay for long, and then Bean and I prepared for bed....
At 5AM I broke the toilet and it won't stop flushing. And flushing. And flushing. The water leaked through to the apartment downstairs. It obviously also leaked into the rest of the studio....I couldn't stop it by myself so I woke Beanie up. We had some bleary eyed panicked conversations about what to do. The studio really didn't have anything to *bail* water with (Beanie managed to convince me not to use his one pot). We emptied a bottle of water and used that instead but soon realized our efforts are futile. The overnight superintendent was roused and he quickly did something to stop the flow. To cut the story short, since Beanie had previously said she really can't afford any hotels, I used my points to pay for a nice hotel stay for us. At 7amish we fled the scene of the crime. This was beyond embarrassing despite U/L's reassurances...they were just being nice. I don't think I can stay in that studio again. From now on NYC trips will go hand in hand with a stay at the Westin at Times Square, which I love for the location and service.
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