movin' on up

I moved on Saturday. To the east side. The Upper East Side. I never thought I was the "Upper East Side" type of person. In my mind the Upper East Side was boring and conservative and full of women who wear pearls to brunch.
In April I decided I to break my lease at my current apartment. Since moving in, life at Jerome had never been boring. The first morning we were there we experienced our first bout of cold water. Unfortunately, cold showers were not limited to this one morning. Rather we experienced a lack of hot water several days every month we were there. In the winter, the lack of hot water was coupled with a lack of heat. While we liked our apartment, we hated the building. There were also the three great floods, each resulting with crashing ceilings and damage to the apartment as well as our personal items.
Although we were the minority in our building and even our neighborhood, we never felt unsafe. However, as the year went by more and more loiterers began hanging out in the lobby of the building which happened to be right outside our door. The noise was often very disturbing. Not only did this group of teenagers feel the hallway was a good place to smoke cigarettes, play craps, and makeout with each other, a few felt the hallway was actually a toilet. The smell of urine reeked each time we stepped out of our door.
Many complaints were made to the super, the landlord and the city. We were never able to reach the first two and the third was merely to provide us with a paper trail of the problems.
So in April, as we experienced no hot water for the umpteenth time we finally decided to call it quits. My roommate was planning to move out of the city for the summer. I had the choice to stay and find someone to sublet or move. The choice was easy.
I wrote a letter to the landlord documenting the reasons we were breaking our lease and moving out. I was confident the landlord would allow us to break the lease. I included over 10 letters we received from the city documenting our complaints as well as photos of the ceiling cave-ins. I sent the letter via fax and certified mail. I was not surprised when I received a call a few days later saying we could break the lease. I was surprised when he offered to apply the security deposit to the last month rent and adjust the $700 we withheld from several months of rent (due to the no hot water situation) to a $0 balance.
Unlike the first time I looked for an apartment in NYC on my own, this time I decided to use a broker. When I saw the second apartment, I decided to take it. It is a studio apartment that was $5 under my maximum rent range. It is located a few stops from the 96 crosstown bus to take me to the Upper West Side for work. Given that most of my friends currently live on the East Side, I was eager to move closer to them.
The move took nearly 5 hours. I was glad I hired movers. Especially since I live on the 5th floor of a walk-up. The tip I planned to give them increased with each trip they took up the stairs. I was glad they were young guys, otherwise I thought one of them might have had a heart attack.
So far I like my new neighborhood. It is quiet, yet interesting. There are lots of restaurants within walking distance. I'm less than 1 block from the subway and the crosstown bus. I've decided the Upper East Side isn't at all boring.
And I'm enjoying my hot showers and supers who actually return calls.
This is a picture of the final crash in the bathroom that often lacked hot water at Jerome Apartments.

pomp and circumstance in the city

It's official. Today I graduated from an Ivy League school, receiving my Master's Degree from the #1 Graduate School of Education in the United States.
My parents came in town for the graduation festivities this past Saturday. My dad, a true Texan, said he had no desire to come to New York. So I told him I was planning to walk, and I wanted them there. For me, it was a great weekend. We had dinner at the Rainbow Room overlooking downtown Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty and even Staten Island and New Jersey. We saw a Broadway show. We went to the Natural History Museum. We went to a "Texas" bar. We celebrated my graduation by eating lunch at Tavern on the Green.
But the best part of the week, was having my mom and my dad in the audience at last night's convocation and this morning's graduation ceremony. Sure, it was hot and crowded. But I'm glad I decided to walk, and I'm glad they could be there.
I just wonder if I'm going to have to pursue my PhD so my dad comes back to New York to see me...
i am cam, MA

fearing the 1%

Exactly one month ago, I went to the doctor. As I was leaving, she said to me "Nothing personal, but I hope I don't talk to you for a year. I'll only call if there is something wrong with your test results."
She called me a two weeks later.
There are certain words you don't want your doctor saying to you. Words such as abnormal and biopsy, and anything ending with "oscopy" are among the many. That's why when my doctor called me and used such words, I freaked out a little. I heeded the assurances of friends and family that everything was going to be fine. They know others who've gotten such news, and it turned out fine. I was 99% sure they were right, and I would be fine. It was the 1% of doubt that scared the bejezus out of me.
I went to back to the doctor last Tuesday and had my "oscopy" to biopsy the abnormal cells. Then I waited for the news. During the next few days, I experienced a time of reflection. What if it was the 1%? Would I have to go through this alone? Sure, I've got my friends and family in Texas, but who would be that significant person to be there for me in the here and now?
On Friday, my doctor called me. I'm fine.