29 September 2012
28 September 2012
I became a cab driver
Last night I rode in an NYC cab for the first time. I was going from mid-town around 96th Street up to Harlem around 135th Street. Around where the Apollo is located, around some really fancy, well-known restaurants.
I erased all of my visions of Taxicab Confessions from HBO and was ready to roll with it.
Unfortunately, the cab driver did not know how to get to where I was trying to go to.
I had to look up directions on Google Maps and be a real backseat-driver for him.
It was pretty ridiculous. His excuse was that he doesn't usually go uptown.
I kept thinking that he should really get around more.
Then I remembered an episode of Sex and the City (I know, I am all about HBO today) when the ladies were talking about how they don't leave their neighborhood and some of them had never been outside of their borough.
Then I figured it must really be true that some people in this city don't venture out of their little area even though transportation is so readily available, and the city is really not that big when you think about it that way.
BF works with someone who travels from PA every day to work. I have heard of people who do Connecticut, as well. Even Long Island is a journey.
Yet there, are people who don't leave their few blocks.
Amazing.
I erased all of my visions of Taxicab Confessions from HBO and was ready to roll with it.
Unfortunately, the cab driver did not know how to get to where I was trying to go to.
I had to look up directions on Google Maps and be a real backseat-driver for him.
It was pretty ridiculous. His excuse was that he doesn't usually go uptown.
I kept thinking that he should really get around more.
Then I remembered an episode of Sex and the City (I know, I am all about HBO today) when the ladies were talking about how they don't leave their neighborhood and some of them had never been outside of their borough.
Then I figured it must really be true that some people in this city don't venture out of their little area even though transportation is so readily available, and the city is really not that big when you think about it that way.
BF works with someone who travels from PA every day to work. I have heard of people who do Connecticut, as well. Even Long Island is a journey.
Yet there, are people who don't leave their few blocks.
Amazing.
26 September 2012
Not Quite Wordless Wednesday: Living Room
This is my living room.
Yes, I have been living here for a month and some days and still don't have living room furniture. We have basically been using the place as a studio - living in mainly the bedroom. I'm getting some more counter space for the kitchen today and will be more comfortable using that space after that happens - I even plan to cook my first meal in the apartment afterward.
Today, on our third day off of the year from Jewish holidays, I am going to go to Target to get some sort of organizer to put into the bedroom. Not sure how I will carry the item(s) back home on the subway and the walk to the crib - may have to get a cab if it is not too expensive.
I have the yoga mat for morning centering/sanity and for sitting when I am grading or planning for school - though, some of that, too happens in the bedroom (which I hate since I like it to just be for sleeping). I have my two teacher bags sitting neatly on the floor. I need to get a couch, but I'm not sure when that will happen due to money and me not being home for it to be delivered. I would like to get a desk, but that is not a necessity since I have never used one in places I have lived.
The television has been watched for a total of about two hours in the month and a week since I have been in NYC. Crazy since I used to be watching tv from the time I got home from work until the time I went to bed - at least 5-7 hours each day.
I am going to have the cable cut off and just keep the internet.
Yes, I have been living here for a month and some days and still don't have living room furniture. We have basically been using the place as a studio - living in mainly the bedroom. I'm getting some more counter space for the kitchen today and will be more comfortable using that space after that happens - I even plan to cook my first meal in the apartment afterward.
Today, on our third day off of the year from Jewish holidays, I am going to go to Target to get some sort of organizer to put into the bedroom. Not sure how I will carry the item(s) back home on the subway and the walk to the crib - may have to get a cab if it is not too expensive.
I have the yoga mat for morning centering/sanity and for sitting when I am grading or planning for school - though, some of that, too happens in the bedroom (which I hate since I like it to just be for sleeping). I have my two teacher bags sitting neatly on the floor. I need to get a couch, but I'm not sure when that will happen due to money and me not being home for it to be delivered. I would like to get a desk, but that is not a necessity since I have never used one in places I have lived.
The television has been watched for a total of about two hours in the month and a week since I have been in NYC. Crazy since I used to be watching tv from the time I got home from work until the time I went to bed - at least 5-7 hours each day.
I am going to have the cable cut off and just keep the internet.
24 September 2012
My luck and money are running out
Went to try and get payroll information squared away today. Again. Again, I was given information that contradicted what I had been told before.
At least they finally let me fill out some tax forms - a month after being hired.
I was not paid on the first pay day on the 15th, and the way it is looking, I may not get paid on the next pay day - the first.
The last time I had a check come in was May 22 when I received the lump sum payment for the rest of my summer. I am always good at budgeting that money and even have some money saved up by the time I start getting paid in the next school year.
I am very lucky that I had a substantial savings (well, at least for me) when this all began. I had enough to last my previous, typical life for close to a year.
I am unlucky that the savings has almost completely dwindled down to naught.
The image is from one account. The other account is a bit better, but still not what it used to be. And definitely not enough to last me more than another two months.
Flying back and forth to NYC dealing with issues that led to the move was expensive. Moving wasn't expensive, but rebuying some items I didn't ship was a little costly.
This move was not anticipated. The expenses I am dealing with were not anticipated.
Not getting paid until over a month into teaching was not anticipated.
I have to look on the bright side and hope that the money starts coming in in the next few weeks.
At least they finally let me fill out some tax forms - a month after being hired.
I was not paid on the first pay day on the 15th, and the way it is looking, I may not get paid on the next pay day - the first.
The last time I had a check come in was May 22 when I received the lump sum payment for the rest of my summer. I am always good at budgeting that money and even have some money saved up by the time I start getting paid in the next school year.
I am very lucky that I had a substantial savings (well, at least for me) when this all began. I had enough to last my previous, typical life for close to a year.
 |
| This is what I saw today when I opened one of my savings accounts. Life should definitely be more than this. |
The image is from one account. The other account is a bit better, but still not what it used to be. And definitely not enough to last me more than another two months.
Flying back and forth to NYC dealing with issues that led to the move was expensive. Moving wasn't expensive, but rebuying some items I didn't ship was a little costly.
This move was not anticipated. The expenses I am dealing with were not anticipated.
Not getting paid until over a month into teaching was not anticipated.
I have to look on the bright side and hope that the money starts coming in in the next few weeks.
22 September 2012
20 September 2012
Why am I not shocked?
I took this picture early last week.
I walked by this pile of trash two days in a row before I had to stop and take a picture of it on the third morning on the way to work.
Same pile.
Sitting there for three days.
Getting bigger and bigger.
Stinkier and stinkier.
In a different area of the city, there was one day the trash was picked up (after sitting there for days) when there were so many flies still floating in the air that it was almost like walking through a spider web trying to get past the former trash pile area.
I really don't understand the old-school way of getting trash picked up in the city.
I know New Yorkers think they are the shit and all, but, this is ridiculous. I think they think it is normal to have trashed bags piled on the side of the road. It is all over the city - rich areas and poorer areas.
Perhaps they have never heard of trash cans and dumpsters.
I would not want to grab these nasty, rat-invested bags if I was a trash man. I would demand the city to find some way to get bins or dumpsters or something that is more conducive to cleanliness.
In Da Lou, if you put your trash can out before sundown the day before they pick it up or leave it out for more than an evening after they pick up your can and empty it into a dumpster, you are cited and may eventually have to pay a fine.
Here, trash on the streets is so common that I was shocked when I came across a piece of sidewalk not ridden with old, hardened, black pieces of used gum. (I often wonder if they are still pink or white underneath all of the street scum.) I often wonder what color yellow the subway platforms really would be if they were power washed.
I wonder if those Febreeze commercials with the blindfolded people would work if they sprayed in some of the super stinky (think urine, body odor, funk, stale air, feces, and any other thing that smells really bad) areas of subway walkways and standing areas. I wish I could just not breathe during my walk from the 2/3 trains to the L at 14th Street. In the afternoon, I am going to start getting off at Union Square and walking the couple blocks up to the 14th Street entrance for the 2/3 since I will be able to breathe slightly cleaner air in the open.
There are many things I like about NYC, but the trash situation is on my hate list.
Yesterday, I saw an article that said that New York was the dirtiest city in the country.
If you have ever been in NYC three days ahead of trash pickup day, I am not sure why anyone should be shocked.
 |
| Three-day old pile of trash on the sidewalk |
I walked by this pile of trash two days in a row before I had to stop and take a picture of it on the third morning on the way to work.
Same pile.
Sitting there for three days.
Getting bigger and bigger.
Stinkier and stinkier.
In a different area of the city, there was one day the trash was picked up (after sitting there for days) when there were so many flies still floating in the air that it was almost like walking through a spider web trying to get past the former trash pile area.
I really don't understand the old-school way of getting trash picked up in the city.
I know New Yorkers think they are the shit and all, but, this is ridiculous. I think they think it is normal to have trashed bags piled on the side of the road. It is all over the city - rich areas and poorer areas.
Perhaps they have never heard of trash cans and dumpsters.
I would not want to grab these nasty, rat-invested bags if I was a trash man. I would demand the city to find some way to get bins or dumpsters or something that is more conducive to cleanliness.
In Da Lou, if you put your trash can out before sundown the day before they pick it up or leave it out for more than an evening after they pick up your can and empty it into a dumpster, you are cited and may eventually have to pay a fine.
Here, trash on the streets is so common that I was shocked when I came across a piece of sidewalk not ridden with old, hardened, black pieces of used gum. (I often wonder if they are still pink or white underneath all of the street scum.) I often wonder what color yellow the subway platforms really would be if they were power washed.
I wonder if those Febreeze commercials with the blindfolded people would work if they sprayed in some of the super stinky (think urine, body odor, funk, stale air, feces, and any other thing that smells really bad) areas of subway walkways and standing areas. I wish I could just not breathe during my walk from the 2/3 trains to the L at 14th Street. In the afternoon, I am going to start getting off at Union Square and walking the couple blocks up to the 14th Street entrance for the 2/3 since I will be able to breathe slightly cleaner air in the open.
There are many things I like about NYC, but the trash situation is on my hate list.
Yesterday, I saw an article that said that New York was the dirtiest city in the country.
If you have ever been in NYC three days ahead of trash pickup day, I am not sure why anyone should be shocked.
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