Free Big Trouble

One thing about living around here: you can get some pretty amazing stuff for free.

In this area, it's very common for folks to put out their unwanted items on the sidewalk: books, CDs / tapes, furniture, kitchen items, etc. are all fairly common. Makes sense when you think about it: no one has a car to haul their junk off to Goodwill. The most recent find? A copy of Dave Barry's Big Trouble, which I laughed my ass off during the first chapter. Prior to that we picked up a folding dish drying rack (practical!) and a little cabinet with shelf and door that fits nicely in our tiny bathroom (also practical!).

A lot of good freebies are also passed via word of mouth. Shortly after our arrival here, we were offered a new queen size bed from a friend, who had to move out of his apartment after continued bed bug issues. (We were told the mattress was purchased after the incidents. We turned it down at the time, due to our landlord situation.) Take a quick peak on Craigslist and you'll find all kinds of crazy goods for free here.

All very reminiscant of those good college finds - couches, chairs - that really helped round the place out.

Back to my book now.

4 Minutes Til Departure

One thing about working for a mail correspondence based company is that we're off work for all government holidays - if the post office can't serve, nor can we. Thus, I enjoyed a nice MLK day yesterday. With the snow falling outside, nothing seemed finer than an afternoon of gaming! Made the trip to my friend George's apartment in Bushwick to do just that, and after a few hours, got called back to fight off the invading army of cockroaches (separate post for that). So coming back, I decided to take the L line.

To the unfamiliar, the L line holds a certain distinction in that they really do their best to give updates with the times the next train will depart. Even gone as far as to install overhead countdown signs, much like the densha's in Japan. So right when I got to the platform last night, I heard the announcement:

"The next Manhattan bound L train will depart in 4 minutes."
I decided to time this.

Now, I didn't have my watch with me and didn't want to waste any time trying to figure it out on my cell phone. So I started counting. 1. 2. 3. 4....

I did my best to keep them as evenly numbered as possible. There's bound to be some error to it, but I was thinking, ok, I'm clock. Let's tick!

At somewhere during the 2 minute mark (I reset my counts at 60, so let's say it was the third time I hit 30), another announcement came stating that a Manhattan bound L train would soon be arriving and to stand back away from the edge of the platform.

Meanwhile, I kept on ticking. The fourth minute came, so I rolled back to 1. 2. 3. 4....
Around 18 or 19, I could see the lights of the train coming. Damn, I thought. Not bad.
At 43, the train passed me by, slamming its breaks.
By 48, it had come to a stop.
A second later at 49, the doors opened.
50 I started walking.
51 I stepped on board.
52 and I turned around.
55 and the classic "Stand clear of the closing doors, please."
58 and the doors started to closed.
59 doors closed, everything quiet.
00 and the breaks were released. We started moving.

And just like that, holy damn, everything was spot on. Again, there may have been some small human error involved, but damn. Not that I even wanted it to necessarily happen so tight like that. Maybe there's some weird human psychology coming into play here - but again, I tried to make that not an option. Or there was a telepathic robot driving it. I don't know. But it was wow.

But exactly at 4 minutes after the first announcement came, we were off, and the system worked.

Plane's Falling Out of the Sky

Today has been a different day altogether.

Today marks Reiko's first day of employment as a full-time temp in the city. This is good: she's been looking for a job now for a few months, and given the current economic situation, she took what she could get. Not a dream job, but something solid, and for the time being, that will do. Though, definitely a bit nervous for it, as she kept waking up throughout the night. You know, that feeling that you have in the back of your mind, "Can't be late... can't miss this..." and wakes you up way too much.

Today was a snowy morning. A nice white out on the way to work had traffic all sorts of backed up. The train wasn't too bad, perhaps a little bit less than usual. The second one crawled though, taking up the better part of two songs to move three miles. Just a nice steady pace, but not quick enough for everyone: I recall a lady shaking her head many times. No no no just not quick enough. But what can you do?

Today I found out the three-day expo I had purchased tickets to in April was canceled. Known as Flash on the Beach, this was an attempt to bring an established Flash conference from the UK to Miami, FL. However, due to the economic situation, the registered attendance was lower than the projected amounts to keep the boat afloat. And it sunk - at least I got a refund.

Today also had a New York moment: Flight 1549 from La Guardia to Charlotte ran into an unexpected flock of geese shortly after takeoff, forcing an emergency landing right into the icy Hudson River (which, I learned is west of where I am, not the East River... to the east!). They've just announced that all 148 + 5/6 crew survived the crash, which is amazing to say the least. Good thing for the river! But certainly a distraction at work, because for awhile all I could hear were non-stop sirens. Can't work when there's lots of sirens going on.

Tonight is band practice. Despite a frigid forecast, I'm wondering if this marks the return of normalcy. And if not, you'll hear about it here!

Grocery Shopping

Woke up yesterday to a near empty fridge. Not a bad thing, we had deliberately held off on buying anything, using up what we had before getting the new. And it was time to stock up again.

Fortunately, we didn't have anything big planned for the day, and with a winter storm weather forecast on the way, we decided to do a bit more of a piecemeal operation. In the end, we went to 6 different vendors to get the goods, spread across Brooklyn and Manhattan. Here's the breakdown:

Farmer's Market at Grand Army Plaza:
Every Saturday, there's a farmer's market held not too far from our place. Though the vendors are less in the winter, there was still maybe a dozen different booths yesterday. Good place to stock up on veggies and fruits. Stopped by another vendor for a panini / pizza bread snack

Met Foods:
The local neighborhood grocery market. More veggies, bread, juice, fresh turkey, etc.

The Meat Shop (as previously reported):
Reiko calls it "Palumbo's", just like the magic meat shop of West Middlesex, PA. Here, fresh country ham, Polish noodles, and garlic kielbasa. I still think they're making fun of my requests, but I don't understand their language so whatever.

JAS Mart:
Japanese store. Yesterday, we stopped in for a bag of nori (seaweed) and salt potato chips, better than it may sound.

Chinatown:
Enoki and shiitake mushrooms from one place, lotus root and thin-sliced beef from another.

Local Bodega:
Beer, bought by the bottle. They tried to rip me off too, charging me a dollar more than what was written on the bottles. Gotta watch your back in these places.

Altogther, it took maybe 4 hours for the trip, including coming back to the house in the middle for lunch. Not something we can do every weekend, but great when we can!

Surviving the Elements

One thing about not having a car, it's back to walking around everywhere. And when it's cold and raining outside, you bundle up and get to where you're going at lightspeed.

Last night, I had to take back a game to the video store. From the train stop, the store was a good mile away. And pouring outside, the coldest possible rain. And so I ran, sprinting through the streets of Lower East Side. Kind of fun walking into the store after that, soaking wet and frozen: I looked like crap I suppose, but my heart rate was pounding.

New Year's eve was also no walk in the park, unless that park is the instafreezer. Cold cold winds made for quite a nice of "kya~~!" from Reiko. But the point is, you have a choice to either go out and enjoy the evening, or stay at home wondering what it would have been like. Being the adventerous type, I said go for it. Plus! Puts a serious challenge into the night that you'll never forget.

Fat Ass Squirrels & Birds

All things considered, our neighborhood seems to be pretty normal for the area. Sure, the rent prices are above and beyond anything I've paid before, but I can look beyond that. And as we need to walk a bit to get around, I've noticed that most folks around here are in better physical shape than the Midwest. Obese folks are few and far between. All in all, everything seems to be on par with what we expected for living in Brooklyn.

Except the weight of the animals around here: they are downright overweight and obese.

We should know. Our landlord seems to enjoy contributing to this facet as we often find large piles of food outside for the local animals to prey upon. Yesterday morning, we looked out the window to find a huge (at least 4 servings worth) of rice, just piled outback. Sure enough, the squirrels had gathered 'round to feast upon it. These squirrels are every bit three times larger than anything I've ever seen. Most squirrels are either living off of nuts or dying in trees this time of year. Ours waddle around to viking meals of free piles of human food.

The birds are no better. I've never seen so many fat birds around here. They are seriously round. I'm convinced they must have issues flying any kind of long distance. Not like they need to fly, as it seems like the free handouts are all around. Fatbirds.

Will be interesting to see how the winter plays out, and the effects it has on their bellies. Maybe they need sweatbands!

Year In Review 2008

Happy New Year 2009! Hope yours was a warm one... we trekked through some seriously cold weather to get to our party. Face numbing! But a good party, complete with decorate-your-own-cookie. The funny part was that we had no working tele for the ball drop, and by the time somebody figured out they could amplify the the antenna with their own body, it was 2009. A collective "yay~" ensued.

In between all this, I put together a year in review clip for 2008. Here's the description I put up for it:

"2008 shall forever be remembered as a turning point for me. From taking a sabbatical from work to go to Japan, to getting married, to moving to the Big Apple, 2008 was nothing short of thrills. Fortunately! Most of it got documented... in video. Here for the first time is a collection of said videos which appear in no particular chronological order. "

It's one of the longer videos I've put together but was a lot of fun to make. The background tune is "Paris (Aeroplane Remix)" by Friendly Fires [ft. Au Revoir Simone], found on Pitchfork's Top 100 tracks for 2008. (Though, the original is quite horrid!)

Here's the video:
Year In Review 2008 (via Youtube)

And in other reflective news, today marks my 6 month anniversary of getting married! Boy did that go by quick.

Cheers!