The Long Day.

Unnerving.

It was 6am. And I was in a dead sleep. I was supposed to have been at Victory Oval, to do a 4 mile tempo practice run, but instead, all I was practicing was the last letter of the alphabet at Mattress Rectangle. Just as well too, because when I got up, there was already rain, and it looked like it was only going to get worse.

And I was right.

I left the house at 7:40am to a downpour that made me grateful for taking my golf-sized umbrella (what is a golf-sized umbrella you say? It’s a real large umbrella capable of easily covering two bodies from getting wet).

The car ride was an adventure.

Only bested by last month’s 2 hour drive home, for which there were literally trees in the middle of Grand Central Parkway, from the massive wind and rain storm, today’s drive would prove incredibly challenging as well.

I tuned into NewsRadio WCBS 880, to hear about the weather. Instead I got a story about an Unidentified Falling Object in New Jersey. A piece of metal and concrete fell from the sky and through a neighbors roof. The FAA stated their were no planes in the area, and there were no construction companies or tall buildings within miles of the house. Apparently, the item shot downward with such impact, that it bore a hole through the roof of this home in New Jersey. It continued, through the 2nd floor, landing onto the living room below. Fortunately, no one was home at the time. The item is being tested for contamination in case it came from outer space.

Meanwhile, the rain was coming down so hard, that traffic literally stopped. I called the office, where my boss had to leave because his basement was taking on water. Quarterly hour reports were flooding in on my cellphone (no pun intended) from my co-workers urging me to turn around and go back home. But I didn’t listen. At least not right away.
Company Man. Hoo Hah. Whatever.

It was now nearly 2 hours into my drive to work. I had gone exactly 10 miles. I decided to get off the Northern State Park(ing Lot)way, because I was going nowhere.

I tried to take side roads in Nassau County, and wound up getting lost for a short while, amidst the deluge of water and unhappy motorists. They too were seeking alternate routes.

While I was lost I kept thinking to myself, “Not only am I going nowhere, but now I
am going nowhere, in the middle of nowhere.” Frustrated, I see a Citibank up ahead. "Yes! What a few extra minutes anyway to deposit my disbursement check.", I thought.

The parking lot was about 5 inches deep of rain. It was so bad, that I actually rolled up my pant legs, and had to take off my shoes and socks to walk to the bank. Result? Lights on and nobody home. I made a Lewis and Clark expedition for nothing. Is there no one at work today, except for my co-workers?” I thought to myself.

After getting back in my Honda Civic canoe, I continued along I.U. Willets road at .00005 miles per hour. I had travelled 12 miles in two hours and forty minutes. But that still did not stop me from going to work.

I called the office again.

This time, my co-worker tells me that our senior manager’s rental (because his regular car had been demolished by a truck just a few days earlier) and another worker, had their car almost completely submerged in water. There was over a foot of water inside the car, and both cars had to get towed. It had rained 5 inches in the last hour.

I finally got the message. It was time to go home. It only took me 1 hour and 50 minutes
To get back home. Umm. Let’s see. 4 hours 30 minutes to go 24 miles. My Marathon times were better!!! (rain excluded, thank you).

I worked from home, using the 42” inch plasma as my monitor. I worked from my bed to rest my legs, but what I really needed was a nap from the stress of what had previously happened.

I didn’t get it.

Instead I got all kinds of crazy problems at my job that I had to deal with.
All dealt, All taken care of, but by the time I was done. Ileana was home and it was 6pm.
I turn on the news to see about the storm, when suddenly they talked about a massive explosion near Times Square. The video on TV was absolutely ridiculous:


Ileana was too tired to go to the gym. But I am committed, you see.
Regardless of how strange this day had been, the morale of this blog, is that if you want something really bad, that no matter how difficult or challenging the situation, you do not waver. You do follow your dreams. And if you keep your eye on your dreams, and do everything you can to stay on course. Your dreams will become a reality.

Wake up, Alex. Your dream is not over yet…..

So I get to the gym. And as I turn into the parking lot there are people everywhere. About a thousand (no lie). They are all staring at the building. What is going on? And why is their a swarm of cars leaving?

Heck, I parked anyway, and got out. With the gym bag in my right hand, cellphone in my left, I walked towards the entrance. On the way, I asked someone why was everyone outside. “The fire alarm went off twice.”

“Great”, I thought. Now I will be waiting here until dark. “When will I run?”

I was beginning to think, that maybe I could just run around the parking lot. “Nah. Too many cars and people”. Just then, two fire trucks came. What a ruckus all of this was.

After about 30 minutes of seeing that there was no fire. (Gee, what a revelation) we all went inside. I immediately went to the treadmill, did my 4 miles (2 in tempo mode) and got the hell out of there so that I could get my 8+ hours of sleep.

I must have gotten home in about 11 minutes. That’s 12 miles in 11 minutes. Door to door, parking spot to parking spot. And in Queens, New York, that is nothing short of a miracle. Came upstairs, went to bed. Long day finally over. Or was it?

The next morning (today) I wake up to find myself a few ounces lighter. Except it was not on the scale. In taking a look in my gym bag, I could not find my cellphone anywhere. My Blackberry of all things, was missing. My “Crack”berry has been my second right arm for some time now. On the edge of freaking out, I contacted LA Fitness, but the dumb morons don’t even have access to the safe until the manager comes in at 9am. I go ahead and do my run anyway, and I’m running a bit faster than normal from being so angry at myself this morning. On the way back, I check everywhere in the car, under the seats, between things, but nothing. It was gone. A feeling of dread.

My fate was sealed when I finally called (after 9) and spoke to the manager, who said there was nothing in the safe. Immediately, I contacted T-Mobile, and had my service suspended for 2 months. I figured that by the time I had served my sentence, that I should have the extra money to replace the phone.

I go ahead and send this email to everyone, acknowledging my stupidity, because when you have been on Earth for 42 years, you learn that the best way to admit you screwed up, is to do it irrefutably and immediately.

Here was my email:
Dear All,

I lost my cell phone last night. Due to the cost to replacing the phone, I have decided to suspend my service until I can afford to replace it. The cell phone costs me $150 dollars, so by suspending my service for 2 months, I should have enough to pay for a new one.
I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Love,
Alex

Of course, we all know that in my family, you are not going to go to far without some kind of response….
Here was my dad’s response.

DEAR ALL:

I JUST REALIZED I LEFT MY HEAD AT LAST NIGHT'S RESTAURANT. I HOPE THE WAITRESS DID NOT TAKE IT AS A TIP. BECAUSE MY HEAD COST ME $149, I WILL WALK WITHOUT A HEAD FOR 2 MONTH IN ORDER TO OFFSET THE EXPENSE FOR A NEW ONE BY SEPTEMBER.
LOVE YOU ALL
HEADLESS.

I have to admit, it was funny as hell. But the icing on the cake was that he sent me this seconds later:

He called it “My Masterpiece” and boasted about how he did it with just his mouse, and with his right foot over the clicker, while wearing a blindfold, suspended upside down in mid-air, etc etc, etc…

Overall very funny, but I was still in agony over my gadget loss.

Entering the denial stage, I second-guess the gym manager, and step into the gym on my way home, but nothing doing. No phone.

I go home. Defeated. Dee FEET ed.

Back in the house. I go and pick up all of my worldly belongings, which were in the gym bag up until, and in a fit of anger, I held the bag upsidedown to let all of its contents fall all over the floor, earlier this morning

I picked up my left foot (no. not the movie with Daniel Day Lewis), I mean my left sneaker.

And there it was. MY CELLPHONE!!!!! YES!!!!! I AM THE BEST! (private joke).

Funny thing was that it wasn’t even the sneaker that I wore, yet it was there amidst the junk.

Morale of the Story: Never give up hope. ( I shall remember that for my next race ).