I drove the Big Truck! All by myself!

[ellenkushner]

...Well, to be fair, Delia drove the Big Truck all by herself, too. But I'm the one who took it in through Manhattan. We just got home. We got all our finds out except the large heavy ones, which Hired Hands are coming to bring in tomorrow morning. We then set off together to find a place to park a 12-foot truck on the streets of NYC. I figured I might have to go all the way up to Grant's Tomb, where there's usually parking on Riverside, but if anyone snaps your cheesy padlock and breaks into your truck, no one can hear you scream . . . . We left our building, rounded the corner, and found a huge space on our sidestreet. Delia was talking me into the spot, but then a big car rounded the corner and a guy asked if we'd like him to do it. We would, indeed. It was masterful to watch. The wheels were about, oh, 1/8" from the curb. He says he used to drive a tractor trailer, and is a doorman from down the street. Gosh, our doorman could never have parked it. But he is an erudite Bulgarian, and probably never drove even a tractor. Maybe I should have given the driver a tip (one of the curses of Manhattan is never really knowing when, or how much) - but I did shake his hand.

Comments

[p-zeitgeist.livejournal.com]

Good to see that your hunting and gathering has come to a successful conclusion! I've been thinking of you, off in the Yellow Truck, and hoping you'd made it home and found a good parking place.

I'm still liking my haircut, too -- for a wonder, not even a twinge of ohmigodwhathaveIdone is bubbling to the surface of my brain. I can only hope the same is true of you.

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

Oh, yay! Glad you saw this right away. It was a pretty painless trip, really. Kinda fun being on the dread 95 as a Big Mutha rather than a scared little car....(I hate that road)...

I **love** my haircut!!! And yours, too. (And, yeah, you do look like that icon)

[p-zeitgeist.livejournal.com]

(And, yeah, you do look like that icon)

Don't I? It's almost frightening, actually. I shall have to start tying the long part back with silk ribbons; happily for me, I have rather a lot of material for them.

[ktempest.livejournal.com]

yay, you're home! Do you have time this weekend for a visit and tea?

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

Why, yes! Would you like to come and watch/ help us polish furniture and put away china in gorgeous new bookcases tom'w afternoon?

[ktempest.livejournal.com]

I shall call you! for my schedule is very wibbly today, but I would certainly like to.

[scbutler.livejournal.com]

Driving the big truck is never fun in the big city.

[cammykitty.livejournal.com]

*g* Didn't even know that was possible.

[shrewreader.livejournal.com]

Well, if he's a doorman from down the street -- you can wander by and say 'hey, thanks!' again -- and tip at Xmas. Or Thanksgiving, or Columbus day. Hey, Fridays work as an excuse.

(also, mawrtyrly note -- you've seen about Hannah Upp '07, yes?)

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

Thanks for letting me know about Hannah. Wishing & hoping.

It would help if I knew *which* building he was in . . . and if I had better facial recognition at the best of times, let alone in the middle of the night after a grueling drive. I'm afraid his reward will just be karmic. (And, well, he's kinda famous on LJ now, right...?)

[movingfinger.livejournal.com]

Driving Big Truck is fun. As for parking---your sidestreets are sloped, aren't they---yikes! Parking has to be approached in a meditative frame of mind.

And... Big Truck... um, how much stuff was there?

I don't think the context called for tipping the helpful man---he was bailing out a couple of dames in trouble, one citizen to another. shrewreader's suggestion of a tip (or gift card or flowers) at Thanksgiving sounds right---he's not YOUR doorman, but it would be thoughtful of you and I am sure unexpected by him. (My choice would be a vase or arrangement of flowers just before Thanksgiving, though in NY maybe a thank-you card with a certificate to someplace local to eat would be preferred?)

[ckd]

Driving a 12-foot truck in Manhattan? Brave woman. I'm not sure I'd even try driving a Mini there, and I live in Cambridge. (Of course, I don't drive in the Boston area either when I can at all help it.)

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

I actually prefer driving in NYC to driving in Boston.

I know. Big surprise to me, too.

Fortunately, both times I drove it the streets were pretty clear. Btu the sweet thing about driving a huge truck is, you just go forward. You don't mess around. You don't change lanes. And you know if you do something weird, everyone will get out of your way, because you're BIGGER than them.

Sweet story!

[stephan-laurent.livejournal.com]

What a sweet story. Only in NYC can this happen... this guy should pop up as a character (maybe "parking" a reticent horse?) in one of yours or Delia's next book.

Re: Sweet story!

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

Sweet idea!