22 April 2011
392
R. Linda:
I went downtown today with two of me co-workers to see a portion of the Big Dig that had been fixed up. You know the tunnels have been leaking for a number of years and the original workmanship had been shoddy and the materials below standard, so of course the finished products sprung leaks. At a cost to the city to fix these leaks, the work crews have been steadily plugging the leaks like the Dutch boy with his finger in the dike gusher.
Now the last time we went down to the tunnels they had just started to spring leaks and you would think it no biggy for us to have a quiet and uneventful trip to these leaky spots. Well, no that wasn't the case. I had won a bet with another co-worker that the Lakers would win over the Celtics and I was right. The payoff was she had to bake me chocolate chip cookies if the Lakers won more games than the Celtics and they did.
So the morning I was to go down to the leaky spots she had come over with a large Ziploc bag of chocolate chip cookies. I hadn't had breakfast and I thought I'd munch on them before we left. Now the two co-workers accompanying me were two cronies who liked to give me a hard time. They mock me accent and story ideas (all in good fun) but sometimes it just crosses the line. So as soon as they saw the cookies that I was going to offer to them, they started laughing and joking that they saw me "Mom baked Sonny Boy some cookies." They were asking me if me "Mommy" always makes me cookies and finally, I told them I was going to offer them some, but since they were being so annoying, I decided not to.
So an hour later they come over to get me and we go to leave and one of them says, "Are you bringing the cookies?"
"No," I said, "because I didn't want to get cookie crumbs in me newly cleaned car."
We got to one of the leakiest of the tunnels and were given hardhats. We were taken to see the places where the water was pouring out. We were talking about the leaky tunnels and the patch jobs on some of them with a construction foreman who showed us around. Why it took three of us to do this, I have a clue and it has to do with eyesight of all things. Seems it can all be blamed on a cataract. Kathy (our assignment editor) had assigned first one of us, then another and finally me, to the same story because she had a cataract in one eye and could barely see. So she didn't know she did this and when one of us went to complain, she was so flustered, he figured the hell with it. So we all ended up going and asking basically the same questions, getting the same answers and knowing that one of us had to outwrite the other two to get any story credit. Sigh.
So on the way back, we took the tubes to the parking lot where I left me car. We were literally wedged in with people like sardines in a can and the train started moving slowly then came to a stop. Seemed there was an accident of a car being on the tracks further up the line and this delayed us. So we were in the tunnel, as I say wedged in for a bit of a stay, standing up. So Allen says, "Gee, be nice to have had some cookies to tide us over."
And Joe agrees and they are both looking at me.
"I didn't bring them because I didn't want crumbs in me clean car," I said for the twentieth time.
"No, you just don't want to share your cookies with us," Allen said.
Well, we were stuck for an hour and ten minutes and all I heard about was those freaking cookies. And they got other passengers to give me a hard time over me freaking cookies! Finally, we got moving and to the station three hours late. After a long walk to the car, we set off again, now on the highway and instantly hit bumper-to-bumper rush hour traffic and the two of them were sitting there complaining again about me not sharing the cookies.
"Probably wouldn't even leave us the crumbs," Joe said.
I tell ya, I was feeling very guilty but they were driving me up a pole over the cookies and I wasn't sure I wanted to share them after a day of digs.
When we got back, the cookies were forgotten and off we went to compete for the story. Joe got it. I think because he was the first one finished and Kathy thought he was the only one assigned so . . .
Anyway, today Cruella is looking at the "follow-up story list" and wants to know why three of us were assigned the same story. I explained Kathy's problem and basically threw up me hands like what can ya do? Ya just can't get good help anymore, yeah I threw her under the bus. Well, news was slow today and instead of us all sitting around Cruella decided we three should go and followup.
I had some time before we were to go, so I went to the vending machine and bought six bags of Chips Ahoy chocolate chip cookies, borrowed a Tupperware container from Maureen and emptied the cookies into the container and merrily went off to meet Joe and Allen at the car.
"I brought you both a little something so I don't have to listen to either of ya to the tunnels and back." And I handed over the container. Well, R. Linda, they were so grateful, they gave me the story and they ate the cookies. Cruella was happy, they were happy, and I was laughing that the two of them couldn't tell the difference between homemade and store-bought chocolate chip cookies AND I got the credit. Now that's a triumph!
Gabe
Copyright © 2011 All rights reserved
R. Linda:
I went downtown today with two of me co-workers to see a portion of the Big Dig that had been fixed up. You know the tunnels have been leaking for a number of years and the original workmanship had been shoddy and the materials below standard, so of course the finished products sprung leaks. At a cost to the city to fix these leaks, the work crews have been steadily plugging the leaks like the Dutch boy with his finger in the dike gusher.
Now the last time we went down to the tunnels they had just started to spring leaks and you would think it no biggy for us to have a quiet and uneventful trip to these leaky spots. Well, no that wasn't the case. I had won a bet with another co-worker that the Lakers would win over the Celtics and I was right. The payoff was she had to bake me chocolate chip cookies if the Lakers won more games than the Celtics and they did.
So the morning I was to go down to the leaky spots she had come over with a large Ziploc bag of chocolate chip cookies. I hadn't had breakfast and I thought I'd munch on them before we left. Now the two co-workers accompanying me were two cronies who liked to give me a hard time. They mock me accent and story ideas (all in good fun) but sometimes it just crosses the line. So as soon as they saw the cookies that I was going to offer to them, they started laughing and joking that they saw me "Mom baked Sonny Boy some cookies." They were asking me if me "Mommy" always makes me cookies and finally, I told them I was going to offer them some, but since they were being so annoying, I decided not to.
So an hour later they come over to get me and we go to leave and one of them says, "Are you bringing the cookies?"
"No," I said, "because I didn't want to get cookie crumbs in me newly cleaned car."
We got to one of the leakiest of the tunnels and were given hardhats. We were taken to see the places where the water was pouring out. We were talking about the leaky tunnels and the patch jobs on some of them with a construction foreman who showed us around. Why it took three of us to do this, I have a clue and it has to do with eyesight of all things. Seems it can all be blamed on a cataract. Kathy (our assignment editor) had assigned first one of us, then another and finally me, to the same story because she had a cataract in one eye and could barely see. So she didn't know she did this and when one of us went to complain, she was so flustered, he figured the hell with it. So we all ended up going and asking basically the same questions, getting the same answers and knowing that one of us had to outwrite the other two to get any story credit. Sigh.
So on the way back, we took the tubes to the parking lot where I left me car. We were literally wedged in with people like sardines in a can and the train started moving slowly then came to a stop. Seemed there was an accident of a car being on the tracks further up the line and this delayed us. So we were in the tunnel, as I say wedged in for a bit of a stay, standing up. So Allen says, "Gee, be nice to have had some cookies to tide us over."
And Joe agrees and they are both looking at me.
"I didn't bring them because I didn't want crumbs in me clean car," I said for the twentieth time.
"No, you just don't want to share your cookies with us," Allen said.
Well, we were stuck for an hour and ten minutes and all I heard about was those freaking cookies. And they got other passengers to give me a hard time over me freaking cookies! Finally, we got moving and to the station three hours late. After a long walk to the car, we set off again, now on the highway and instantly hit bumper-to-bumper rush hour traffic and the two of them were sitting there complaining again about me not sharing the cookies.
"Probably wouldn't even leave us the crumbs," Joe said.
I tell ya, I was feeling very guilty but they were driving me up a pole over the cookies and I wasn't sure I wanted to share them after a day of digs.
When we got back, the cookies were forgotten and off we went to compete for the story. Joe got it. I think because he was the first one finished and Kathy thought he was the only one assigned so . . .
Anyway, today Cruella is looking at the "follow-up story list" and wants to know why three of us were assigned the same story. I explained Kathy's problem and basically threw up me hands like what can ya do? Ya just can't get good help anymore, yeah I threw her under the bus. Well, news was slow today and instead of us all sitting around Cruella decided we three should go and followup.
I had some time before we were to go, so I went to the vending machine and bought six bags of Chips Ahoy chocolate chip cookies, borrowed a Tupperware container from Maureen and emptied the cookies into the container and merrily went off to meet Joe and Allen at the car.
"I brought you both a little something so I don't have to listen to either of ya to the tunnels and back." And I handed over the container. Well, R. Linda, they were so grateful, they gave me the story and they ate the cookies. Cruella was happy, they were happy, and I was laughing that the two of them couldn't tell the difference between homemade and store-bought chocolate chip cookies AND I got the credit. Now that's a triumph!
Gabe
Copyright © 2011 All rights reserved
