Wednesday, July 4, 2007, 12:04 - General
Yesterday at work I got in at around 9:15 or so and after a couple hours received an email telling everyone in the New York office that they could leave at 2 to enjoy the 4th of July holiday. Cool. It didn't seem like my officemates were going to take advantage, but I felt as an intern I shouldn't feel pressure to work overtime and left around then.I took the metro then biked from the stop home where I met Lewis. I'd been planning on heading right out to Long Island to grab the missing middle beam for the bed at Ikea but Lewis talked me into leaving at 6 instead so as not to get hit so badly by rush hour traffic. So instead we spent a couple hours putting together the bookcases I'd bought to separate the rooms. They don't fill up the space sheer to the ceiling - there's maybe 18 inches of open air there still. We're thinking that blankets and some sort of boxes might be the best for soundproofing. If it doesn't actually work and we can hear each other too well still, I guess we'll have to move his room into the third room and figure out how to separate that one from the living room, but the cavity is wider and shorter so It'd require different materials. We also walked around the 'hood looking for stuff on which to prop the bookcases, as they're pretty tight with the walls but there's this baseboard that makes the space too narrow for them. Thus we taped down the would-be legs which we didn't install but that wasn't high enough so we found some old particle board shelves to lay down and that did the trick. I also sealed the edges with bits of cardboard. If we can just get the top holed up I think it'll be as good as any wall would be.
After that, Lewis left to go play ultimate and I did a little more work on my room before getting in his Probe to go back to Ikea. Rush hour traffic was still there to stop me though, and the bumper to bumper most of the way meant that it took me an hour to get there. I bought a bed sheet and some pillows, partially because I didn't feel right about making a trip just for a beam that I'd forgotten, but also cuz I needed them. The beam apparently isn't included in the bed price either, so that put me back another $10. Then I went over to Target (ugh) and bought some sleeveless shirts, black socks, and a power drill. I needed the latter to put together the bed (crappy Ikea screws) but the other things were half impulse buys, half things I've been wanting for a while. I then got out of there as quickly as I could as I simply cannot stand big suburban shopping centers. The drive back was more fluid and I was able to go 65 mph most of the way which was fun - I love hanging my arm out the window of a fast-moving car.
I then put the bed together and cleaned up my room, interleaving the two whenever the battery died in the power drill as I didn't have time to let it fully charge up. I crawled into bed at like half past 10 thinking I'd just try it out, but then I woke up with the lights on at nearly 12 and realized that it had been a long day indeed.
I heard that 3 people from Amsterdam are coming to visit - Jonathan, Olivia, and Andi. Qi-Qi is also planning on coming for around a month, but the exact dates are yet to be determined. Needless to say I can't wait. :)
This morning I finished up my room. I can't wait to get all my books back!
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( 3.1 / 57 )Tuesday, July 3, 2007, 12:57 - Blurbs
I just read this.[ add comment ] | permalink |
( 2.9 / 59 )Tuesday, July 3, 2007, 10:55 - General
Yesterday Lewis got back to New York after a week up north visiting his old roommate. He brought down this awesome full-size van with a trailer full of stuff and met me at 23rd street to pick up his keys. He'd been planning on meeting me on Canal, but was turned away at the entrance to the Holland Tunnel as the trailer wasn't allowed. Thus he had to go up to the Lincoln Tunnel instead. It worked out though, cuz I got to go to the Citibank right there on 23rd and 8th to deposit my paycheck.I left work at 5 so that we could make it to the U-Haul before they closed at 7 to return the trailer and then head up to Ikea to get me a bed and some sort of divider to separate Lewis's and my rooms. He informed me this morning that I was also snoring last night heh. Anyway, we drove out on the Long Island Expressway about 30 miles to the Ikea and spent far too long there. I hate shopping, but it seemed that Lewis hated it even more than me so that contributed to my hating it too. As per usual, things didn't go exactly according to plan (is that contradictory?), and when I went down to pick up the cheap full bed frame it was discovered to only come in twin. Thus I audibled and bought a different frame which was of course more expensive. I don't event want to list how much the bookcases and bed cost me, but it was a lot. We also had to wait forever for some of the pieces to come out of the stock room, but while doing that I got the brilliant idea to buy a big bag of buttery movie theater popcorn to eat. It was delicious.
We pondered the possibility of going grocery shopping while we were out there because it would likely be cheaper than in the City but when we didn't see any supermarkets we decided it wasn't worth trying to find one and went home to start putting together stuff and organizing all the crap he'd brought down. However, the assembly didn't go very smoothly as 1. I was using a flat head screwdriver to try and force very tight philips screws into the wood and 2. I'd forgotten to grab the metal middle support beam which is necessary to hold up the wooden slats that support the mattress. Thus I just threw my mattress on the floor between the mostly-built frame and slept in disgust knowing that I'd have to go back there the next day. Ugh. I can't wait until things are situated, but I think I must sound like a broken record by now with respect to that.
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( 2.8 / 34 )Monday, July 2, 2007, 10:57 - General
Oh, and I got an 8.5 on my coding theory paper and Ronald suggested I try to publish it in the Theory of Computing Journal. Pretty cool.[ 1 comment ] ( 38 views ) | permalink |
( 2.8 / 36 )Monday, July 2, 2007, 10:13 - General
Sunday morning I gathered the remaining stuff I had over at Dupont St and biked as best I could with the full load (I'd stupidly forgotten to leave myself a backpack so I was carrying all the stuff including my blanket while on a bike) over to the new place. The ride, aside from the load, was pleasant and quick. I spent a little bit in the new place basking in its emptiness and then decided to go for a walk. My plan was to look out for street furniture on the way to the bike store to pick up some bike locks and a bike helmet, but I didn't get more than 5 houses down before I stumbled upon a huge pile of stuff some people who'd just moved had thrown out. The key piece was a big white hideaway bed couch which was in decent shape. It was way too heavy for me to move myself so I took the cushions to prevent anyone else from taking it and asked passersby whether they'd help me move it. One guy said he couldn't lift anything, and another guy laughed and said directly "I don't feel like doing that" which I thought was pretty cool. I mean, at least he didn't lie about it. Then this nice ex-Puerto Rican (lots of them in NY) helped me move it. His name is Chris and when I offered him a beer for his troubles (it was really heavy) he told me he couldn't drink as he was in the halfway house. We chatted a bit longer and he was quite nice, and then I went off toward the bike store. There I blew $100 on locks and a helmet (maybe the U.S. isn't as cheap as I thought?) and then picked up some food at the grocery store.I called the landlord about the 2-year lease and he said he'd come by in the next days with a 1-year lease for me which is good. Lewis called me after I sat down to work on my thesis for a while and told me that he wouldn't actually be arriving that day after all, as first he was worried about the weight in his van being too much for the shocks so had rented a trailer, and then after loading that up noticed that the wiring wasn't giving power to the trailer's lights. Thus he had to wait until Monday morning to have that fixed before he could leave, and thus I didn't have any microwave or pots or plates or silverware, so I was stuck eating bagels that night. Whatever, at least I had a couch to sleep on. I spent the evening talking to Qi-Qi on Skype and working on my thesis coding before going to bed early. This morning I was going to take a shower but couldn't get the shower to come on (only the bath spigot) so I didn't. I guess I'll bring that up to the landlord when he comes by with the new lease. I also biked over to the Graham L stop which took less than 10 minutes and was nice. However somehow the train was way more packed than it ever was when I caught it at the following stop during that last month so I couldn't read. Maybe it was just that I'd gotten there so early? When I arrived I sent off some letters including an overnight $3000 deposit to Associated Bank in MN. I'm no longer broke!
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( 3 / 36 )Sunday, July 1, 2007, 09:34 - General
Yesterday I finally went down to the broker's office to sign the lease and pay the security deposit + first month's rent. My first paycheck as well as my moving expenses reimbursement arrived (I guess it only takes 1 day to mail something between burroughs) so I was excited that maybe my financial woes were over. I got them around 2 and noticed that there was a Citibank branch on Manhattan Ave open until 3 on Saturdays, so my hope was that I could run down there, deposit the checks, and get them to write cashier's checks for me in the amount of the deposit and rent. However, that plan was foiled due to the branch having computer problems and I was instantly put into a bad mood. It was hot, I had to move all the stuff, and now I had this stupid check in my hand that was worthless to me since I had to pay like $2700 immediately. I decided the best way to deal with it was to write a check for the amount drawn on my Minnesota account and send the payroll check in for deposit via overnight mail on Monday morning. It's only $16 to get it there overnight, and that should be ample time to cover any potential overdrafting. What a headache though.So I got the keys but the broker said he'd made out the "wrong leases" for me and this pair of girls who were moving into another place. He told me the landlord would come by this evening to fill out the lease with me. It just gave me a bad feeling - the continued unprofessionalism of the broker kept giving me the feeling that he was somehow ripping me off, like he was going to take the money and run without ever actually giving me a lease. I swallowed that as best I could and walked back to Dupont St. (a half hour walk at least) and packed all the stuff and loaded it into Lewis's car. Finding a parking spot and maneuvering the one-way streets was a pain, but I did it. Once I arrived I noticed that the door to the back room in the apartment was 1) unlocked and 2) only locks via keys (there's no latch) and 3) none of the keys I had been given fit into it. Thus I had no way of securing my stuff, and as I don't have a bed there yet I really didn't want to have to stay there that night. I thus called the broker and waited there for over 2 hours bumming around on Lewis's laptop for something to do until the landlord showed up to both sign a lease (yay) and install a new lock. He did both, but now today I noticed that the lease is for a 2 year term! I was asked "we can give you up to two years, how long do you want" and I said "one year" and he said "ok". What the hell. Now I have to bother him again, cuz I'm expecting to move into the City next year. :)
I'm waiting today for Lewis to arrive from Pennsylvania with all his stuff. He was going to bring a couch for me to sleep on temporarily, but apparently he's worried about weight in his van so he's ditching that. I just hope he gets here soon enough that we can go to Ikea to buy a bed or I'm going to be sleeping on the floor for a couple days.
Oh, and I put up a few pics of the new place but they're not that good. Hopefully I'll get some more pics (with me in them :)) soon.
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( 2.8 / 39 )Friday, June 29, 2007, 18:39 - General
I got my social security card in the mail at Google the other day so I went to the DMV this morning to hand in my Wisconsin driver's license for a New York one. It only took an hour of waiting and photo taking and form filling and $45. The price was a bit steep compared to the Midwest, but then I guess I'm not in the Midwest anymore so that's fine with me.Matt came to Google today for lunch so that I could use my second visitor allotment (I get two per month). We ate upstairs, checked out the view from the terrace, played a couple games of guitar hero. Good times, though I don't think I like the game much. Games like that or DDR (which I admittedly never played) just don't appeal.
I got paid today! The check is en route in the mail which sucks, but whatever. Somewhere, there's money waiting for me in a little envelope and that's a Good Thing (tm).
I move tomorrow too. Lewis left his car (which I've been moving from side to side on the street to avoid tickets - they sure clean the streets often here) so I can even use that. Exciting. I won't have a bed there at first so I don't know what I'll do about sleeping until Lewis brings down the van and we can go to Ikea. There's one in Long Island which is equidistant (wrt time - equidurationary?) and avoids toll fees so we'll likely hit that up instead of the one in Newark. Too bad there aren't any disc golf courses on Long Island though.
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( 2.9 / 32 )Thursday, June 28, 2007, 14:40 - General
Petter just sent me this. Heh. Pretty much sums up how I feel about top 40 crap.[ 1 comment ] ( 34 views ) | permalink |
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