dannystewart99

The holidays have arrived, so naturally anxiety and stress are higher than normal. Even above good tidings.

Everything at work just feels like its tighter because myself, teammates, clients, and more are on tighter schedules because time-off is becoming a standard for all over the next few weeks.

Considering this work week is only a 3.5 day sprint for me, I must reference Kingdom Hearts:

So I’m running around trying to get a bunch of shit done while also trying to take some time to enjoy the moments I’m getting with friends. However, no good time ever came unearned.

So, I’m heading into work this morning on Chicago’s famous “L” trains. Since the 1893 World’s Fair, these trains have been how millions of Chicagoans commute to work, home, or the airport on a daily basis.

It’s no different for me. Except this morning, I truly felt like the CTA and the transportation gods were pulling a fast one on me.

So I got on my usual train this morning on my in-office days. It’s an easy three-stop trip before I transfer to another line. It normally only takes me about 25-30 minutes to commute to work, with an expected couple minutes of delays every so often. It’s not unlike CTA lines to run behind, but this morning felt different.

As I waited for my usual transfer, there was a delay in my train. It was only a few minutes so instead of crossing the tracks on the overhead bridge, I decided to stick on the normal side.

I waited longer and longer. I watched as the line that I should’ve transferred to had three trains come and go before my normal transfer came. I also noticed that two runs of my morning trains also passed by, meaning, I could’ve gotten an extra half hour of sleep.

But I didn’t want an extra half hour of sleep, I needed to be up and at ’em this week with all of the shit flying around.

So my normal transfer line came up as “Due” on both the Ventra app and the platform TVs that display the train schedule. Then it disappeared after a few minutes, saying then that the next line coming for that train wasn’t for another 20 minutes.

So it was at that point I walked over the skybridge and decided to take the other line. It would take more stops around the Loop but at that point, I had already lost 20 minutes.

As life would have it, as soon as I got over to the other side, my normal transfer line came to the other platform I just waited 20 minutes on.

*cue Curb Your Enthusiasm music*

While this felt like a Larry David moment for sure, it was exactly like that episode of Spongebob where he’s down in Rock Bottom and can’t catch a bus to Bikini Bottom. Every time he turns his head, a bus comes and goes.

I don’t need this right now. I didn’t need it CTA. The worst part too was the line I ended up having to take was also running 5 minutes behind, so my whole day was messed up before 8AM.

Beginning your day like this is an unnecessary irritant that just got to me this morning. It was also cold, not too cold, but cold enough where if you spend about 25 unnecessary minutes waiting for your usual train, it’ll get you the sniffles.

Here’s to hoping I survive the holiday season without another morning like this.

And yeah, I guess it could be worse. At least I didn’t rip my pants:

You’ll be the first to know if my pants rip on an L train any time soon.

I hope your holiday season doesn’t get bogged down by ripped pants or oddly timed train schedules!

~DS

(Feel free to play the below soundtrack piece while you read)

To loop, right click on the video and hit “Loop” because it might play through before you’re done reading

Chicago saw its first snowfall of the winter season on Sunday. With temperatures continuing to drop and the frigid wind chill from Lake Michigan set to make even your bones shiver, we’re nearing the comfy inside/scary outside season.

With winter brings along the feel good holidays and the new year. I can’t believe how fast it feels like time is moving. Come May of next year, I’ll be out of college for 5 years and then my damn 10 year high school reunion will come a year after that.

No need to get existential now, anyway. Like I said in my last blog, I am still just really happy with my life right now and I don’t need to remind myself that my 50th birthday will soon follow my 10-year reunion, and then retirement next and adult diapers, soon thereafter.

But what I did want to talk about is how when it’s cold out, it’s the perfect time to find good books, video games, TV series, or movies and attack the backlog of things you wanted to read, watch, or play and finally get after them.

Last winter, I played God of War: Ragnarok (which has all the winter vibes a video game can possibly have) and finished Better Call Saul, which may have even topped Breaking Bad as a television experience.

This winter, I’m already off to a great start with a fresh reread of JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit behind me and a revisiting of the Fellowship of the Ring well underway.

For my gaming backlog this winter, I’d like to give Cyberpunk 2077 another try since its new DLC, the Phantom Liberty expansion, has been praised for revitalizing a game that was considered one of the worst release disasters in the history of video games back almost three years to this day in 2020.

Back when it was released, I was going through a pretty rough spot. Knowing how much I’ve grown since then only shows that Cyberpunk’s revitalization was possible. I’ve also since watched the anime, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, on Netflix and that was a gut wrenchingly awesome show that made me even more excited to dip back into that world.

Check out this clip and then the whole show

I will also get around to replaying Final Fantasy VII: Remake because its sequel, FFVII: Rebirth, is releasing in February (not this year like I was hoping, but close to it) and I want to be fresh on that.

But the reason this blog is titled “Winter is Here” and my inspiration for wanting to write about getting to my backlog is because I’ve just begun my first rewatch of Game of Thrones since it concluded in 2019.

Everybody knows just how poorly written and rushed the end of the show was. And even though House of the Dragon (the Thrones prequel telling the story of the Targaryen dynasty) is awesome so far one season in, there was nothing quite like Thrones Sunday for nearly a decade.

We waited on the edge of our seats through 13 final episodes between Seasons 7 and 8, waiting for the next great thing to happen like it did in the first 6 (Some would say 4) seasons.

But it never did. And all we have to remember it by is a lonely coffee cup:

I haven’t distanced myself from the series completely though since it has ended. Regardless of how the series ended, Ramin Djawadi never wavered as the composer for the series. The score remained magnificent until the end and one song is still one I listen to nearly every day.

The best part of “The Long Night” Battle of Winterfell episode

The above song “The Night King” is absolutely magnificent. It’s intense, sad, and chaotic all at the same time. It’s also about 8.5 minutes long which I’ve discovered is the perfect amount of time to shower. That’s why I listen to it almost every day.

There are certain beats throughout the song where I know when to go from brushing my teeth (yes, I brush my teeth in the shower) to shampooing to body washing to face scrubbing and rinsing off. It’s a quick shower and if you know what time it is when you jump in, you know you’re coming out 8.5 minutes later without feeling rushed.

I head into this rewatch with steadfast intent, with more than Djawadi’s soundtrack to look forward to. As it is Winter, I’m looking forward to revisiting some scenes and episodes that I haven’t been able to bring myself to watch in years.

The Battle of Blackwater, the Red Wedding, the Purple Wedding, Ygritte (the real Queen of the Show), Oberyn Martell before he was rescuing Baby Yoda or guiding Ellie, Jaime Lannister’s redemption arc before it sucks ass at the end.

All of it.

So, now that you know what I’m up to this winter, go enjoy yours. Get into that large backlog before new shows, movies, video games, books, and more take up all your precious time.

And if the Night King is as easily killable as he was in “The Long Night,” we have nothing to fear about this winter other than freezing our asses off.

My blog has ended.

(I’ll leave you with this since I can’t not say this whenever the show’s intro plays:)

~DS

Author: dannystewart99

The CTA and the transportation gods were out to get me this morning

Winter Is Here