More Learning

Today was probably the most unproductive day of my existence. Yesterday I was talking on Facebook about which James Bond was the best and worst, because someone used a Bond reference to call something "the George Lazenby" of it's kind. Well, today was the George Lazenby of my days. I was up at 7 and out the door to go move the car. After over an hour of driving around, I found a spot, but it wouldn't be legal to park there for another 45 minutes because of street sweepers. In New York, the street cleaning and trash pick up are scheduled, and parking is prohibited on each street at certain times to make sanitation more efficient. "Oh well," thought I, "I have all the time in the world today. I'll just chill here until it's legal and then leave the car here". 40 minutes went by, and I was actually getting my stuff together to leave the car, when the street sweeper came through. I moved my car, went around the block to park again, and every parking spot on the entire street - which had only a moment ago been half-empty - was now full. I gave up, payed $30 to park the car in the garage next to our apartment for the rest of the day, and found a cheap garage in the Bronx. This garage is a half-hour subway ride away now, but it's not like we were using the car, so it's fine.

It's worth noting that the garage next door to our building charges $720/month for their parking spots, and there would be an extra charge because our Envoy is "over-sized". Not sure I would ever make car payments for that much, let alone a parking spot!

We're still figuring out this express train/local train thing. We now know what the difference is, but we have yet to figure out when each one runs. Apparently the 4 and 5 trains that run right by our apartment are express, while the 6 train is only express on weekends and during rush hour. We also live right by the N-Q-R and the F train. The F is simple, and the 4-5-6 we seem to have figured out, from the Bronx, through Manhattan and then into Brooklyn. The N-Q-R, which takes us to Times Square and everything fun and full of artificial light, is not so easy to tame. But progress is being made.

The whole day went around getting the car up to the Bronx and then getting us back down. It was almost 4 by the time we got back home after dealing with the garage, and I have yet to unpack a single box today. I did make dinner though - a mediterranean turkey breast! I found my beloved tajine pot and it felt good to cook again. Our block is starting to become homey. The Duane Reade (the local version of Walgreens, actually owned by Walgreens) and Hot and Crusty (it's a pizza shop, but also the best and strongest coffee in Manhattan) on one end of our block, the produce stand (the guy gives me free cherries) and Baker Street Pub on the other. The Queensboro Bridge is visible from our apartment, and it's beautiful, sitting over the East River.

On a bright note, our old apartment in Lynchburg was rented! Because we ended our lease there early, we were looking at either paying $1200 to buyout, or continuing to pay rent until someone else came along. We decided to gamble on the second option, since apartments in Lynchburg go so quickly over the summer. Apparently it was a good choice! God was very gracious to us, given that we could have been paying $615 a month through September.

I know I should unpack, but right now I just feel guilty about having such a messy home. I want to wallow in my guilt with nutella frozen yogurt and something with Drew Barrymore in it. And I think I will. Except that my DVDs are buried somewhere in the landslide of cardboard.