Man
I am so glad that shit is over. Three things saved my ass:
1 - I have a car. I live in South Brooklyn (Windsor Terrace), so I drove to the base of the Manhattan Bridge, and walked up to work (34th and 5th). Three miles in car, five miles on foot. Then the reverse getting home. And by the way, walking was way faster than driving.
2. - I lived in Wisconsin for five years. I had been in -40F with a -80 windchill. Now that is some serious painful weather. Here in NYC it was between 26 and 38F, that's not too bad.
3. - Utilities - warm clothes (layered) and vodka. I bought a fleece thing that covered my head and neck completely. I got a huge down jacket. And on the way home from work, I bought those little bottles of vodka they sell on the airplane. That shit kept me nice and warm.
And as bad as that sucked, I still got to support the strikers. They have one of the hardest jobs in NYC. At least for other city workers, they see the light 40 hrs a week, they're above ground. But, those subway workers, they're deep down underground, breathing that filthy air, loud as shit, with all those rats all over the place. God bless em, they deserve the cash way more than a lot of other privileged douche bags I've met in this city...
But yeah, being able to chill, read books on the train again on the way to work, I am so glad this shit is over...