Yesterday’s adventure was with fingerprinting. I had to get fingerprinted for my job with the Census. It was in a strange place, the Opera House Hotel in the Bronx. Like many intra-outer-borough commutes it involves going towards Manhattan on one subway line and away from Manhattan on another. That always feels annoying even though I went just one stop on the second train, the 2. My appointment was from 4:02 – 4:06. They are on a tight schedule. I mapped out the trip on Google Maps and planned on getting there at 3:50. That plan was busted as soon as I got to the 4 train and saw I had a 10-minute wait. Somebody had been struck by a train at Astor Place and that caused massive delays. I just checked; the man died. Nobody knows why he was on the tracks. Imagine how traumatic that was for the train operator. He can see the person on the tracks and knows there is nothing he can do to stop the train.
I was worried that I’d miss my appointment. I got lucky. My train came earlier than predicted and I made a good connection to the 2. I arrived at the meeting room where my appointment was exactly on time. Ended up not being a big deal at all. They were fingerprinting two people when I arrived. They asked me when my appointment was for and then asked me to take a seat. While I was waiting two other people came, the 4:08 and 4:16 appointments. They were told the same thing I was.
The poor people taking the fingerprints. They have to say exactly the same thing to every person. I heard them say it all to the people there before me but to be sure they have to tell me too. When it’s your turn you have to be prepared with your ID and the bar code in the email with the appointment. I screwed up twice. I meant to hand over my social security card and driver’s license; Somehow I found myself handing over my debit card not my license. I thought I was being helpful by opening the PDF with the bar code, but no they needed to see it in the email. They were very nice about it.
They don’t use the old fashion ink on your fingers for fingerprints, now it’s an optical scanner. It’s a little finicky, you have to place your fingers just right for them all to show. You do four fingers at a time and then both thumbs separately. After they get satisfactory prints they start over and do it again. I assume this is some sort of precaution.
When I was finished I told them that I expected them to be efficient because of the 4-minute appointment, and they were. The person that did mine smiled. I made her feel good and she made me feel good.
I saw there was an Aldi just a few blocks away, so I went shopping when I was done. I had to learn how it was organized. I went primarily for eggs and hot dogs, but I’ll always look around for other things. This time I saw something I have never seen at Aldi before, cheese curds! Why is that exciting? It’s an essential ingredient for poutine, aka the food of the Canadian gods. I just have to find gravy now. Aldi didn’t have any. I did buy beef broth to make my own but I’m not quite sure what’s involved. I talked to Lori late that night and she said I could get it at other supermarkets. Once I do, look out. I won’t just make poutine; I’ll make grits ala poutine. You mix the gravy and curds right in with the grits. It’s delicious. My mission today, should I choose to accept it, is to buy gravy and make poutine for dinner. I probably should show some self-control and wait on that. I also bought chicken wings and boneless ribs and they will go bad if I don’t eat them. It is just so hard to put off poutine.
Wise Madness 