New York
June 21, 2008
New York, what a town!
We haven’t even been here a week and I’m already exhausted. It is so cool to be able to get whatever you want whenever you want it; milk, ice cream, root beer, good beer, chicken wings, bagels, the list just goes on and on.
I’ll start at the beginning. We arrived on Sunday night around seven. We had sent a $350 deposit to a woman in midtown so that we could stay at her place. I found her on Craig’s list. It looked and sounded great. Anyway, we cabbed it from JFK, arriving at the apartment on 34th street around eight. We were all tired and hungry.
It is a two bedroom place on the eleventh floor. The first thing I notice is how badly the carpet needs to be replaced. A good cleaning would be a start, but what it really yearns for is to be torn up and thrown in the dumpster. As we walk in, I start to notice all the stuff piled everywhere. The woman shows us to the master bedroom, all the while explaining her life story and how it is she comes to be sleeping in her living room and renting her rooms out to perfect strangers. It is a sad tale, although in the end I could care less; I just want somewhere to put down my bags. There is a private bath in the master bedroom, but there is nowhere to put anything down and all of the drawers have been taped shut as they too are full to bursting. The only window is covered with a thick black curtain and blocked off with a giant mirror on top of a dresser. Carrie starts to cry.
In the meantime, our host is telling me that I still owe her $500. She will take it in cash and she will take it now. I suggest that perhaps she could wait until tomorrow when it is light out and the banks are actually open; she says no. So off we go into the dark Manhattan night to find a cash machine on a corner somewhere and withdraw $500. She did agree to move us across the hall to the spare room where the window is not blocked and we have nice view of the East River, the drawers are empty, and there is room to set down our bags. We slept well that night, waking early and inviting the little dog in to play; he promptly peed on our bed. Things can only get better after that.
We have had great visits with old friends and relatives, although my former employer refused to allow me into the school. We shopped and ate and rode the subway and replaced the glasses that Zman lost in the Gran Sabana. We even had a date last night while the little man stayed at his uncle’s house. Today we rent a car and head off upstate for fun and adventure camping style.
I’ll keep you posted.
MJR
New York, what a town!
We haven’t even been here a week and I’m already exhausted. It is so cool to be able to get whatever you want whenever you want it; milk, ice cream, root beer, good beer, chicken wings, bagels, the list just goes on and on.
I’ll start at the beginning. We arrived on Sunday night around seven. We had sent a $350 deposit to a woman in midtown so that we could stay at her place. I found her on Craig’s list. It looked and sounded great. Anyway, we cabbed it from JFK, arriving at the apartment on 34th street around eight. We were all tired and hungry.
It is a two bedroom place on the eleventh floor. The first thing I notice is how badly the carpet needs to be replaced. A good cleaning would be a start, but what it really yearns for is to be torn up and thrown in the dumpster. As we walk in, I start to notice all the stuff piled everywhere. The woman shows us to the master bedroom, all the while explaining her life story and how it is she comes to be sleeping in her living room and renting her rooms out to perfect strangers. It is a sad tale, although in the end I could care less; I just want somewhere to put down my bags. There is a private bath in the master bedroom, but there is nowhere to put anything down and all of the drawers have been taped shut as they too are full to bursting. The only window is covered with a thick black curtain and blocked off with a giant mirror on top of a dresser. Carrie starts to cry.
In the meantime, our host is telling me that I still owe her $500. She will take it in cash and she will take it now. I suggest that perhaps she could wait until tomorrow when it is light out and the banks are actually open; she says no. So off we go into the dark Manhattan night to find a cash machine on a corner somewhere and withdraw $500. She did agree to move us across the hall to the spare room where the window is not blocked and we have nice view of the East River, the drawers are empty, and there is room to set down our bags. We slept well that night, waking early and inviting the little dog in to play; he promptly peed on our bed. Things can only get better after that.
We have had great visits with old friends and relatives, although my former employer refused to allow me into the school. We shopped and ate and rode the subway and replaced the glasses that Zman lost in the Gran Sabana. We even had a date last night while the little man stayed at his uncle’s house. Today we rent a car and head off upstate for fun and adventure camping style.
I’ll keep you posted.
MJR
posted by Bronx to Timbuktu at 4:48 PM
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