It rained on Thursday and Friday. I did not go for a run, nor yet go to the gym, but did walk down to the post office to mail the envelope to Marc J. Bern LLP. The exterminators and Chris were back in at midday Thursday, and I told them a rat had been trying to gnaw through the wall between the radiator and the electrical plug. Somebody looked at the door to the heating pipe, SW corner of living room, behind Moki’s desk, opened it and resealed it. More recently, as in around 2am Sunday morning (early yesterday) there was a rat scratching and gnawing there. Haven’t heard them anywhere else.
Dishwasher not reattached yet. I’m washing up by hand, a few at a time.
Friday I wanted to watch My Favorite Year for some reason. Saw it mentioned on social media. Rented it and watched it twice over the next two days. Early Saturday morning I found myself painting the pantry and bits of the kitchen with the Brandied Crimson semi-gloss. All those bare plaster chips annoyed me.
F train to Prospect Park at around 3:30 yesterday (Sunday the 14th). It was late, got to Bartel-Pritchard Square around 4:25. In the park at 4:30, clocked in on Deputy. Followed the familiar paths and roads down the hill to Center Drive—familiar enough even in the darkness, with a few streetlights overhead—where orange vests and a truck were collecting. Walked almost all the way to East Drive when I ran into a little blond girl, and we found we were both lost, looking for the Festival area. On the map I thought the Festival area was north of Center Drive, but this was an orientation problem, with a close-up map turned 90º. It was south of Center Drive. I helped a little to unload one of the trucks. By 5:30 we were setting up tents. With the wet cold ground my feet were soon suffering, though nothing like February in Central Park. There were Hot Hands in one of our plastic crates. I took out of couple of packages and stuck warmers into my sneakers.
I was on Bib duty, and in place by 7am. Very complicated duty, this. There’s a funny little app you access through the nruns site. You scan the runner’s QR code (or, failing that, enter a string for the name), see that the person is indeed registered, then take out a bib number for whichever race (both 5k and 10M today) and scan the QR code on that. If all goes well, and three-quarters of the time that was the case, you can just hand the bib number over to the runner with a smile. I expect there are still bugs in the system. I came across a sheaf of bib numbers that were out of sequence. They had apparently been canceled or reregistered, and when I scanned them on the app I got somebody else’s name. Eventually I was told simply to reassign the number, but it all seemed flaky to me. Was somewhat annoyed at the oriental woman who was chivvying us about.
At Bibs until 9:30, then we broke the tents and tables down, and I was put on bag-check-retrieval duty, and then finally handed out apples for an hour or two. Then took down more tents and carried some really heavy stuff from the Solutions zone to a truck parked 150m away on Center Drive.
It was getting warm. Took off the Patagonia jacket, put it in the Turkey Trot half-knapsack. I’ve decided that wearing that Turkey Trot thing is pinching a nerve in my left shoulder, however I wear it. Next time I carry a plain old spike bag. Do I have one without any branding?
Took a cinnamon-raisin bagel and a couple of apples while I was working those tables. The Turkey Trot was getting a little heavy. Some of us were told we could vamoose at 12:30, though our shift ended at 2pm. To add time I decided to exit via East Drive, reversing my entrance when I’d come here for the Turkey Trot races and the Al Goldstein summer series 5k. That somehow would lead to the Q train.* I missed the path turnoff (think I should have turned at the carousel) and ended up across from the Botanical Gardens and down the road from the library. Very bushed, with painful feet. Sat down on a bench by the Parkway and found some things I could toss out (water bottle; blue delineator tape). Took the Hot Hands out of my sneakers. Clocked out of the shift (had a hard time finding the button).
Instead of checking Google Maps and heading down to the Q train, I went on past the library, past Grand Army Plaza, and finally found an IRT station with the 2 and 3 express trains. Took one to 14th St. I was a bit confused and thought I could switch to the BMT at 14th St., but this was 14th and 7th Ave., not Union Square. I followed the signs to the F train, a block away underground, but the stairway was blocked. Back to the IRT and on to 42nd St. where I changed to the R. Emerged in bright sunlight at Carnegie Hall, with no sunglasses. Had I lost them? (Fortunately, no.) Went home, dumped my weary load, went out to the Chinawoman’s for another half-pint. (I’d had one on Saturday night to help sleep.)
The sciatica, or whatever it is in the hips, is still around occasionally. I keep the shillelagh nearby.
I don”t have another big race to work for two weeks, though a couple of small related shifts before the Brooklyn HM. In May I have back-to-back days on Gov Is. I should be quite wrecked by that if I don’t get into perfect shape in the meantime.
Missed Mass, said novena to St J before midnight.
Pain in far-left top incisor. The one Dr. Choe the nasty Chinese periodontist said I was losing, along with half my other upper teeth. I may have a trial appt with some Russian Jewess over on E 63rd on the 22nd. This is from responding to a FB ad, so who knows? I am looking for second opinions.
Have a piece on Dwight Macdonald half-finished. Must polish off the redo of W Robertson and send it in today. Also remember invoice for this and the Brasillach. Then the DM piece and the other Birchers book. Then maybe something on The Truth Seeker.
Postscript: The hand-delivered letter from Jeffries Morris, taken to me in the rain that Friday (the 12th) is actually dated the 14th, Sunday. It’s still sitting there on the desk. I am being told that I am eligible for lease renewal, which doesn’t actually come up for a year and a half. How I’m going to find the $25,000 or whatever in back rent is the only question. Get job, get real job.
*The Q train is way farther south, south of where Center Drive meets East Drive, and the proper path leads toward Well House Road.
