I'm Not Dead
But I am sore. I climbed my new apartment steps maybe twenty times today while unpacking my car. I found a parking spot right in front of the door. My observation was that parking on that street was not a nightmare. Three spots seemed open at any given time from the moment I arrived.

The apartment's bigger than I remembered. It's long, compared to my present apartment, which is wide. I have room in the dining area to extend my antique dining table with plenty of room to get around it. Past that, the living room will hold all my present furniture without a problem. There are also plenty of outlets for electric stuff. And there is plenty of light. Each room has a ceiling fixture. That's odd to point out, but in this present NJ garden apartment, the living room has to be lit by the stairs and bathroom "alcove".

The two front windows in the NY apartment look out on the street and they start about a foot from the floor. I measured them for venetian blinds. They are 6' tall, 2'7.24" wide and have sills that are about a foot deep. Those will be my favorite seats in the house. Literally can sit in the window and just love up on NYC. I noticed that at least two people are in their windows across the street looking out at any given time. When I get a camera, or just buy film for the ones I already have, I'll download some pics (somehow) and show you how cool the east and west views are from the street.

I met a white guy while getting my copy of the lease who was moving out from another apartment to live closer to his brother in Queens. (He was one of many white folks I've seen strolling around during my forays). I asked him how he liked living in Harlem. Dude said he had really liked it, Said it was easy to get to midtown from there. He emphasized that he had a one-bedroom apartment all to himself, which according to stories and accounts from my NYC buds, is a commodity. Most folks room with someone else since the rent is regularly high in NYC. But not in MY apartment! And not in his. Mind you, he was a friendly sort to begin with. He was singing a merry club music beat while he waited to square something away with one of the managers, so I felt like I could approach him. A good attitude probably made it a good experience for him. (Note to self).

I took the 3 train from it's station stop today into midtown. When it comes from the stop, it has to come outside before it goes back underground. In that moment, you clearly see Yankee Stadium. It was then a 25 minute ride to Penn Station. It will be an hour ride to Hamilton via express train. 1.5 hour commute to work--not bad. I went to get my cable/internet service from Time/Warner, which always seemed like some distant mogul company.

I saw a poster in a window for Cyndi Lauper's comeback album. She looked good!

It's bedtime now and every bit of me is ready.

Me at 12/31/2003 12:13:00 AM

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