Thursday, December 18, 2003
Comedy of Errors
Our city is sooo beautiful today. Everything is covered with snow, and it looks like some kind of fairyland out there.
Listening to the traffic reports this morning, I heard repeated imprecations to please use public transit, because traffic is bad and the roads are dangerous. "Of course" I said to myself "why would anyone want to drive today?"
Then I went out to get to work by public transit. My bus, which only runs once every half-hour, simply didn't come. Not late; just not there at all -- and for the second time this week! Then when I finally did make my way to the metro, it stopped halfway down the line and lost all power. It took me an hour and a half to get to work, a trip which normally takes 40 minutes. Public transit in this city is not reliable, I can say with conviction. But it's still better, and definitely safer, than driving.
This morning was actually kind of strange in a couple of ways. Must be Mercury in retrograde or some such nonsense.
For example, this morning a big truck pulls up in front of our house, from a hole-digging company. We figured they were there because our next-door neighbour, whose driveway is attached to ours, was getting the cap fixed on her water pipe. Then they started sawing a big hole in our driveway. D. went out and asked them what they were doing, and the guy said "putting a cap on your water pipe", so D. told him that it was a mistake, ours has a cap already, it's the neighbour who requested this, and the guy says "There's no cap on your water pipe" while the guy with him is going at it with a jackhammer. Dave says "There is a cap, you just didn't see it". Then the jackhammer guy stops and says "Oh, there's a cap here", and the other guy turns to Dave and says "But it's all bent." Uh -- Well, yeah, cuz you were just attacking it with a jackhammer!
Too funny. My poor neighbour, who's 87, now has to request a new cover for her water pipe, because they put the wrong address on the work order! The upside is that we now have a new stainless-steel cap that is not the least bit bent.
Not to mention the fact that the neighbour told the city about the problem in mid-summer, and the guys only showed up today, on the messiest, snowiest day of the year.
Oy Vey.
Our city is sooo beautiful today. Everything is covered with snow, and it looks like some kind of fairyland out there.
Listening to the traffic reports this morning, I heard repeated imprecations to please use public transit, because traffic is bad and the roads are dangerous. "Of course" I said to myself "why would anyone want to drive today?"
Then I went out to get to work by public transit. My bus, which only runs once every half-hour, simply didn't come. Not late; just not there at all -- and for the second time this week! Then when I finally did make my way to the metro, it stopped halfway down the line and lost all power. It took me an hour and a half to get to work, a trip which normally takes 40 minutes. Public transit in this city is not reliable, I can say with conviction. But it's still better, and definitely safer, than driving.
This morning was actually kind of strange in a couple of ways. Must be Mercury in retrograde or some such nonsense.
For example, this morning a big truck pulls up in front of our house, from a hole-digging company. We figured they were there because our next-door neighbour, whose driveway is attached to ours, was getting the cap fixed on her water pipe. Then they started sawing a big hole in our driveway. D. went out and asked them what they were doing, and the guy said "putting a cap on your water pipe", so D. told him that it was a mistake, ours has a cap already, it's the neighbour who requested this, and the guy says "There's no cap on your water pipe" while the guy with him is going at it with a jackhammer. Dave says "There is a cap, you just didn't see it". Then the jackhammer guy stops and says "Oh, there's a cap here", and the other guy turns to Dave and says "But it's all bent." Uh -- Well, yeah, cuz you were just attacking it with a jackhammer!
Too funny. My poor neighbour, who's 87, now has to request a new cover for her water pipe, because they put the wrong address on the work order! The upside is that we now have a new stainless-steel cap that is not the least bit bent.
Not to mention the fact that the neighbour told the city about the problem in mid-summer, and the guys only showed up today, on the messiest, snowiest day of the year.
Oy Vey.
# posted by becca : 8:10 AM
