I couldn’t tell if the deejay on the Peak this morning said “drenching rains” or “trenchant rains,” but either applies. MTA Service Advisory #1 landed in my email at 8:14 this morning, right around when one puts one’s Blackberry in one’s bag to prepare to step onto the 8:16.

“There are currently delays on all Hudson, Harlem and New Haven line trains,” it read, “because of storm-caused flooding problems in the Bronx and lower Westchester county…All trains operating toward Grand Central Terminal are subject to 30 minute delays.”

Everything seemed normal until we slowed in Hartsdale, then stopped, then picked up a gaggle of irritated Hartsdale types. The same thing happened moments later in Scarsdale, and the train got cheek-to-cheek jammed.

One Scarsdaler spied a coworker or neighbor across the train.

“That’s what you get for trying to get to work early!” he jibed.

“That’s what you get for wearing a suit like that!” the other jibed back. (His sparring mate wore a cheesy wrinkled seersucker jacket.)

Eventually, the Scarsdale “humor” subsided, and we trekked toward the flooded Bronx, with Fordham the exact hot spot. A lady in the aisle ate a bagel and dropped poppy seeds on my Journal.

Truth be told, the delays weren’t as bad as predicted, and certainly not 30 minutes. We stopped for a few minutes near Fordham, but otherwise held a steady pace into Manhattan, and pulled in 14 minutes after our scheduled time (technically “late,” even by MTA standards).

In fact, the worst part of the commute awaited. The platform to enter Grand Central was jammed, and I had to resort to walking through an empty train to the end of the platform, risking the doors shutting on us for an inadvertent joyride to, say, Stamford. The steps down to the 6 train were jammed too, as was the subway platform, the turnstiles at 28th Street (Emergency Door locked, nice), and the revolving doors under the Met Life building.

Then, the fun part–stepping into a downpour so heavy that we had to call on the emergency backup cheenos in the bottom desk drawer.

Surprise surprise, things were worse on the New Haven Line (soon to be rebranded the Beleagured New Haven Line). Texts Mamaroneck’s own G. Francis, “hey my train stopped in bronx. conductor announced ‘high water condition’ and signal probs ahead,” followed by, “‘not totally blocked but rest of trip will be ‘arduous.’”

Which I think means the same thing as ‘trenchant.’

Well our fearless leader Malone5a has put out a call for all noreaster-themed commuter stories and as I’m a resident of storm-addled Mamaroneck he’s looking for me to come up with something.

Having not gone into the office the day after the storm I don’t have a storm-related commuting story exactly, but I guess showing a picture of the reason I didn’t make it in counts.

See the lake these rescue guys are launching their boat into in this shot? See the stop sign behind it? Well I usually make a right at that sign as I walk to the station…and as you might guess there’s usually not a lake there.

Actually you gotta hand it to Metro-North. As I took this photo Sunday night I noticed a train roaring by on the elevated tracks a block away. I don’t know if it was on time, but it was going faster than the rescue boat.

Special bonus for the truly desperate: A shot I took of Governor Spitzer walking past the Mamaroneck station the next day. Hey you can see where I usually stand!!