The V train is not only unreliable, its also really bootleg.

Today I had my first job interviews at Talbots. First though I had to go to the post office and pick up a package there. I walked in the freezing rain to the Post Office on Church St and had to wait in line outside fifteen minutes for the doors to open. Once inside I learned why some postal employees might lose their mind working there. At home the mail man is just another friendly face in town. There isn't usually a line and there's not a lot of fuss either. The postal workers in Brooklyn are behind inch thick bullet proof glass. Once the line got to come inside we got into one of those ropey amusement park corral type lines and waited for the little light and doorbell sound to let us know it was our turn. I was fifth or sixth in line and the lady who was third went to one of the windows and proceeded to cause trouble. Whatever she wanted to do the postal worker wasn't going to let her do it her way so she got on her cell phone and loudly bitched for probably 20 minutes about the poor lady and the entire US Postal Service. Anytime the postal lady tried to stand up for herself and let the woman know that she was doing things the easiest way available to her the woman on the phone would loudly tell her to step off because she was having a private phone conversation. Real nice. Thanks for making everybody's morning a little more pleasant.

I finally got up to my window and picked up my brand new rolling old lady cart from mom!! Thanks so much! Now we can transport our laundry and groceries around the neighborhood a little more easily. Mom also included a really ugly but totally useful plaid old lady cart liner! We're gonna look awesome and our panties won't fall out on the way back from the laundromat or get wet if its raining. Hooray!

After that I came back here and got ready for the interview. I was showered, dressed and made up with plenty of time to leave the apartment with an hour and a half leeway to get to Madison Avenue. I caught the train from here to Herald Square, which I must say is the subway station with the best buskers I've seen. This morning I was treated to a fat Asian man singing Ave Maria on the main floor and a happy man playing steel drums down on my platform. I waited there for the V train.

And I waited.

And I waited.

Six F trains passed by but not a single V train. I was getting really antsy and soon 11:30 turned to 12 and 12 turned to 12:30. I checked the map and the platform signs several times and knew I had to take the V train to get to the 5th Avenue station. When the seventh F train came at 12:45 I was panicking a bit. I ran up to the street and hailed my very first taxi. I'm so glad I had grabbed cash on my way out the door. From the taxi I called Talbots and let them know I was going to be late. I can't believe I was late to a job interview. I'm never late, especially to work, and especially to an interview. I had waited to long for the stupid V train that never came and now it was already 1. I decided to stay calm and if anything it was a sort of sign that it just might not be meant to be. My taxi driver kindly raced me through the streets dodging between cars and other taxis just as you'd expect from a down to the wire New York taxi scene. I got there at 1:06.

The interview went fine I guess. This is the flagship store and its six floors high. I would be expected to work weekends and the pay isn't ideal. I did ok on my interview questions and got leveled up to a second interview there and then. That went about the same and they said they'd call me in about a week for a third interview or send me a regrets letter. We'll see I guess. I'm not on fire about it at this point. The clothes are really nice and the hours are ok too, except for the weekend part.

Tonight though, I'm going to my first New York rock show. Laura DeWitt is taking me to see MIKA who sings Grace Kelly. It should be really fun and I'm excited. Laura comes home tomorrow! Then I'll have a roommate again and I'll think about what to do about a job later.

Finally, another sign that I live here: got our first gas bill today! And the lease. Besides the obvious, this means I can get a library card!