Wow!
They did it.   And in record time! 

Granted, the record was for the "Longest Time Taken to Repair",  but the trains and escalators are back on schedule and up and running respectively.  The inconveniences were not inconsiderable, and the relief is welcome, but somehow (as a blogger, certainly) I think I'm gonna miss having such dependable griping targets--though finding worthy substitutes shouldn't be too much trouble.

"They made a mistake!" 

...was the cry from Ellen with a mixture of glee and gloat as she burst out the door to find me in the backyard last Sunday where I was struggling with a recalcitrant chain saw.  The clue for 37-D was Fitting Punishment and there was no question that the answer was Just Desserts.  But, that was one letter too long and making it singular didn't work with the rest of the grid, so we had to assume spelling error!  Finally!  
The first NY Times cruciverbal blunder. 

Couldn't wait to read the mea culpa from Will Shortz and  Rex Parker's deconstruction on Monday...but then...

..as Bill Butler discovered and wrote about on his site: http://www.nytcrossword.com

...The phrase "just deserts" describes something which is deserved, and in today's usage that can be something good or bad. The expression has been around a long time, and back in the 14th century it only applied to something bad. I guess the idea is that someone doing something unacceptable got his "just deserts", the dry and barren expanses fitting to the deed. Over time, the pronunciation of "deserts" changed, with the emphasis on the second syllable, like our word "desserts". The correct phrase is still spelled "just deserts", but it is pronounced "just desserts". As a result, many believe that the phrase is in fact spelled "just desserts", meaning is one is getting what one deserves, sweet endings to one's meals, as it were. But no, one is getting a dry and arid expanse that sounds like something sweet to eat. The correct spelling is "just deserts" and the correct pronunciation is "just desserts".

Okay, thanks Bill.  But one day, someday, somehow, they are gonna screw-up, and we'll be there to catch em. 

A disaster of purely personal proportions.  

I keep a file called "Drift Draft".  It's notes and images and all kinds of stuff from which I create my posts.  A week or so ago, I was editing some things and inadvertently deleted everything.  And I didn't even know I did it until the next day when I went to open it and saw it was empty.  Before panic set in, I called our I.T. guy at work with the hope (and expectation) that I could make a quick recovery.  I was wrong.  It's gone.  All gone.  Oh well, I guess I'll be posting a little less often now that my inventory has gone up in virtual smoke.
So until I replenish the stockroom, I suggest you check out, if you haven't already: http://www.aldaily.com  

There's always something good to read there.  And the menu of links on the left is high in  volume and rich in substance.