Happy Valentine's Day - How Scott Got to Work Last Nite! - Narrow miss for Rich Fleisher

I said goodbye to Scott last nite as he trudged thru the snow in the backyard on the way to the SEPTA train station on Davisville Road.

I was quite concerned about him.

Here's his report:

I walked thru the wind-driven rain and my right side was soaked. I waited AN EXTRA HOUR for the Train, which finally came.

At the Elkins Park Station, the conductor said, "This is the last train of the night. The El is shut down, as are the buses and trolley lines."

If true, this would mean that Scott wouldn't be able to get to work. He's a mechanic on the El.

He gets to work via the Warminster Regional Rail Line, gets off at Market Street East, and then hops on the El, for 25 minutes, which takes him to The Carhouse in Upper Darby, a two-minute walk.

Scott used the conductor's cellphone, while the train was stopped, and called his boss.

"Everything is running," said his boss.



He was only 25 minutes late. He got out of his wet clothes and changed into dry work clothes he keeps in his locker.


This morning there was a multi-vehicle crash on the PA Turnpike. Look at all the snow and slush on the road.

Is that a Herr's potato chip truck in the distance?

Spoke to Ada, who said her husband Rich, was spared in the chain-reaction, the first of the vehicles who had NO CONTACT with another vehicle.

A police officer slapped that sign - NC - on his car and he was the only one getting off at the ramp.

He was on his way to work at Lower Bucks Hospital.

Read about the crash, between Willow Grove and Bensalem here.  

Turnpike authorities decided to lift the 45 mph speed limit at 6 am since crews were constantly out plowing and they thought the icy roads would be safe. Sun glare was brutal. Vehicles did not maintain safe following distance during the 100-car-pileup which began at 8 am.

A bit of color for you, Dear Reader.

 My amaryllis is doing great, as is my ole poinsettia

 Made split pea suit with Yellow Split Peas, instead of Green.

 Was telling Ada I turned my back on the soup for a second and when I turned around it was FOAMING at the mouth of the pot, as beans and peas are wont to do. I grabbed the utensil above and scooped out the foam.

I got this foam-catcher from my friend Helene before she moved to Rydal Park. Talked to her while eating my delicious salad for lunch. Her nephew Gerry is taking her out for dinner for Valentine's Day around five today.

 Got my nails done before the storm b/c they were peeling off, probly from cracking open pistachios and peanuts.

 My sister Donna, who'll move in with me in May, stored some beautiful area rugs on my screened-in back porch. They got all covered with snow. Brot em in, vacuumed them, and the dragon one, as I call it, is in my living room.

 This rug, which Donna couldn't remember, is in my bedroom so my always-wearing-sox feet won't get cold when hopping in and out of bed.

What a treat it is watching NETFLIX. The trick, tho, is you've gotta watch good movies. As I've said, most of the movies I wanna watch, are not on there.

Somehow I discovered an exciting 7-episode crime fiction called TOP OF THE LAKE. It stars Elisabeth Moss, currently starring in Madmen. Also, the great Holly Hunter, who appears in long blond hair and has some wonderful lines.

The show is a 2013 mini-series and the casting is brilliant. 

The Times hated the ending, which ran by so fast it was hard to understand. It was also extremely out of character for the Detective Sergeant.

Holly Hunter


This young teenage girl was missing. She was pregnant. Was she dead or alive?

I also watched a wonderful film A PERSONAL AFFAIR, a British movie starring Leo Genn, Gene Tierney, and a marvelous cast of mostly now dead people from 1953. Glynis Johns, however, who I've always loved, is still alive at 90.



WE CAN'T WAIT TO WATCH the second season of House of Cards, premiering today on Netflix.



Scott came over to wish me a Happy Valentine's Day.

We always go out to dinner.

"Scott," I said. "Maybe we can go out tonite. The roads are fine."

You see, I am jonesing to get out of the house. But I don't wanna drive.

"Ruth," he said. "I'll be too beat. I still have to lift."

This morning I was unaccountably exhausted, possibly b/c I read in bed and always fall asleep.

Am reading

Fascinating account of writers and drinking. The author, Olivia Laing, comes from an alcoholic home.

Also reading


a fascinating but terribly-detailed memoir, which he wants to do, for his historic presence at Secretary of Defense through the Bush and part of the Obama presidencies.

I slept for a couple of hours, telling everyone I met, "There's something wrong with me. I can't wake up."


This rose is for you, Dear Reader, on the occasion of St Valentine's Day. Smells delicious, don't it?

My friend Da Na Singchai who I knew when I worked at Cal-Ink in San Francisco sent it to 'undisclosed recipients' yesterday.

I told her "Too bad your old boss - A R Goggins - can't see your flowers. Goggins was passed over for advancement. Would report to work for a couple of hours, do nothing and then go home.