Deep Freeze New York City Style

I'll be slogging off to the office tomorrow in my perpetual winter gear: parka, boots, gloves, bulky sweater, thick corduroys. This winter in the City has been relentless. It's either bitterly cold or it's snowing again.

I've had to cancel social get-togethers left and right, as well as minor events I'd hoped to cover for my blog. Today's high is 19 degrees Fahrenheit as opposed to the 17-degree high yesterday. Higher temps tomorrow but with more snow.

It's not that the snow has generally hit us so hard, despite a minor snowstorm or two, but it gets a little tiresome after awhile. It has been persistent. It's as I read on a Facebook post: like we're living in a snow globe that some jerk likes to shake up constantly.

Luckily, fingers crossed, the heat at home is on and keeping us sufficiently warm. However, last month, we had a Con Ed power outage. An underground cable caught fire, an emergency that brought police, firemen and the utilities company to the scene. It affected 25 buildings and ours was one of them. Con Ed workers would fix the problem daily, only to have the power go back out after a few hours. It was psychological torture.

During this time, however, I had some good brunches at Ommonia Cafe, two doors down. Their power was on. Their food is delicious and I love their La Dolce Vita Meets Star Trek/Barbarella '60s-styled decor as well.

At home, our heat and hot water gave out as the boiler is sparked by electricity. I took time off work because of this issue.  I mean, good hygiene in the mornings is a must when going out.

Con Ed resolved everything by bringing the wiring from underground, ran it along the street and protected it with metal planks. So far, so good.

I desperately try to get the social season underway. I've had to cancel going out with my friend, producer-promoter-entrepreneur (Icon in Queens) Nick Lion. I cancelled going up to visit my friends Tracey and Merv, in Connecticut, just after Christmas because I was ill. I've had the flu and two colds this winter! Tracey and Merv are scheduled to come down on Sunday. Our plan is to have brunch in Chinatown to celebrate Chinese New Year and finally exchange Christmas gifts. Snow is predicted Saturday through Sunday right now. Hoping that will change or we'll get off easy.

It's driving me mad! With less than three more weeks to go before I retire from my day job, I just want to make it through the dark woods of winter and into the fields of spring. Is that too much to ask?