today i decided to make the best of the beautiful day and extended weekend. i did what i'm sure millions of americans did today to kick off the summer season...i went to the beach. long beach, ny.

the beach was ridiculously crowded, but i found room for a spot where i could lay my blanket and bag down. i applied my sunscreen, put on my sunglasses and put my headphones in my ears. i soaked up the sun for about three hours. i couldn't think of any better way to have spent the day today.

on my way home, when we got to the jamaica stop of the LIRR, there was a "situation". you know that law about train employees being treated the same as police officers? well, today i witnessed first hand that they mean it. i had just woken up from a nap when i saw the asst train conductor yelling at some guy. he didn't look homeless. but the conductor continued to yell at the man and told him to "pay up the $8 bucks and that he wasn't gonna get a free ride". and to "shut his drunken mouth". before i know it, the conductor is shoving the guy out of the train and there's a semi-fight. another MTA employee comes running down the platform to help. when i was walking down the escalator at that station, two more MTA employees were running up to control the situation. all of this cause a guy didn't pay his fare. well, that and he got a little rough with the conductor.

tonight, i stepped outside for about 10 minutes and it started raining cats & dogs outside. which for whatever reason reminded me that i want to see that movie an inconvenient truth.

so today, i witnessed: the beautiful beaches of ny state, some drunken man get in a crapload of trouble, mother nature being pretty pissed off and letting it pour down rain across the nyc area.