General

I’m still standing

It’s almost ironic that I got a new computer and then fell off the interweb. Except after 4 months in New York I’m not sure i still remember what irony is anymore. We’ve had a string of visitors over the last couple months. My pancreas is taking a beating from all the eating and drinking.

Was hoping we’d get a break but Thanksgiving came and went and now it’s early December and we’re back in Sydney so very soon. Hoping work calms down and i get a chance to wind down before boarding the flight back. I’m back for less than two weeks after you take out the airtime and it’ll be a mad dash to try and catch up with people over an already busy christmas period.

Not a great deal to report at the moment. I started work in the midst of a shit storm, the missus has gotten her work permit finally but with the markets in turmoil things won’t be as easy on that front as we’d hoped. We’re loving our neck of Brooklyn though. It’s a wonderfull little area that’s neighbourly with a good deal of shops, restaurants and bars that you can lead a very cushy existance within a 5 block radius.

That’s all. I have to cook a meal for visitors.

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Fall update

It’s about 7 weeks since we got to NYC already? Managed to get over most of the hurdles that come with starting life in a new country. Starting to settle in and enjoying our neighbourhood. Painfully continuing to wait for Sam’s Employment Authorization (3-4 months to process…wtf?) before she gets to stop playing homemaker and go earn some greens.

The move into the apartment was painless. The removalists (is that the correct term for unpackers?) unloaded our container, unpacked most stuff and cleared out the boxes in a few hours. The biggest drama  was getting the larger of our couches over the patio from upstairs. We had a few casualties with the glass on a framed print smashed and another had a chunk taken out of it. Otherwise not too bad. Read more…

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Crooklyn

So we’re not going to be homeless after all. We signed the lease on a garden apartment in a brownstone in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. It’s a 40 minute commute to work, we’ve got a nice “high street” with decent looking shops, bars and restaurants. Yay! Even better we get this Labour Day long weekend to ourselves, check out a beach and try and assimilate.

Had to meet with our prospective landlords (who occupy the other 2/3 floors of the brownstone) last night. They seem nice enough, we weren’t sure what to expect and neither did they… so it kind of felt like being introduced to a friends parents. Kinda awkward and we just stayed polite and made some idle chit chat. I was expecting to get grilled about what i do and stuff like that, the whole situation was strange. Getting close to being localised. Now if only they’d rent out the flat we left in London which is a huge burden on our shoulders at the moment :(

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No fixed address

Over two weeks in NYC now and it doesn’t feel like we’re any closer to finding a place to live. Spent last weekend looking though it seems slow going possibly more so because we’re short of time and there doesn’t seem to be a huge number of suitable places available at the moment (we’ve been told Labour day and school going back…).

Getting a little anxious and tiring of high rise living. Don’t quite understand the process, what with so many real estate brokers in the ways it’s seeming more complicated than it should be. It’s been nice that most of the viewings have been undertaken on foot giving us another chance to wander round and have facts and things pointed out to us.

Social Security Numbers have been applied for though still to come. Bank account seems to have been setup though cards went AWOL, got cancelled and then mysteriously turned up today so of no use. Hoping to get paid soon, I believe my first will be by check (cheque for anyone outside the US) hopefully that actually gets to me.

Being so close to the office, we’ve used what would be my commute time to wander around Manhattan. We take off usually downtown and wander down side streets and stuff through Chelsea, Greenwich and East Village. It’s a chance to get out from my cubicle and air conditioning, gawp at dodgy fashion on the streets (so many short shorts) and take note of bars and restaurants we’d like to visit.

It’ll start feeling more like a move once our things are offloaded from the shipping container and into something we can call home for a while. In the meantime it’s back to wandering the streets.

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New York… Wk 1 by the senses

Sight – Litter. Thought London was a bit grotty, i take it back. Westminster council and the street cleaners I salute you. There are a few overworked cleaners about who need help. Fashion… too casual. I’ve been more affected by London than I’d thought. Shopping for trousers for work, the ‘modern’ or ‘slim’ fits were far too baggy. Jeans and flip flops are a uniform. Three quarter length pants far too popular, so damn fugly.

Sound - LOUD! everything is amplified. From our 19th floor apartment with all the windows shut the sound of sirens, car horns and trucks get me as does the constant hum of air conditioners. Musically, missing access to my records.

Taste - This week south east asian cuisine. Good cheap sushi oh how I’ve missed you so. Sparkling water has been surprisingly difficult to come across.

Smell – the pong of homeless people. Doesn’t matter where or when i walk there’s the constant lingering reminder of the socio-economic problems in the country. That and dodging them on the pavements and parks.

Touch – Damp, sticky and wet. It has been raining every afternoon, proper angry drops of water. Flash Flood and tornado warnings in the NY area today. Anti-Bacterial gels and wipes make common appearances. Can see the point but its making me (having spent over an hour wiping down my new desk and drawers) even paranoid about so much as shaking peoples hands and touching stuff.

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