Hey there, remember me? Been a while since I graced you all with an update, but that’s because I’ve just been that crazy with the living of life. When last you heard from your long-haired hippy freak, things were kind of on a down note. Well, since then the frown has turned upside down and everything has been coming up Andrew.
Might as well fill in the blanks for you. Shall we begin?
Thursday, April 22nd (The day of a thousand doubts)
I have to step back a bit here to set the scene. What was originally going to be a day to plan and prepare for my move to Hoboken was changed the night before when I was notified the apartment I was to rent had be rented from under my realtor by the owner. I decided not to rush my decision and take the majority of Thursday to hunt up some new prospects.
After a battery of searching through Craigslist and a host of many inferior realty sites, far too many phone calls and the beginnings of a migraine headache I finally set my itinerary for the day and made my way to meet the the gentleman who was to show me some of Fort Lee and Edgewater’s finest budget apartments.
Well, at least that’s what I thought. The realtor I met was quite a character, and everything about the whole experience seemed off. I had to meet him at a Burger King parking lot, which was a real great way to make a first impression, let me tell you. He also seemed to talk a mile a minute and had a somewhat more “interesting” background than I was expecting. It was less than two minutes into our drive to the first apartment that he started talking about his side business — sex tours to Costa Rica.
Yes, everything was screaming “dump this guy NOW”, but do you know just how hard it is to find decent housing in North Jersey? I decided to tough it out and see what he had to offer in the listings.
To his credit, the two apartments I saw were indeed beautiful. beautiful, spacious and well beyond my means. I kept pressing that price was an issue and he kept pushing near-$1,000 apartments. I dropped him back at his car and headed down to my original realtor’s office to see what else they had to offer.
I saw two apartment, one which I had originally seen my first visit and a newly renovated one in Union City that I initially agreed to rent. Thankfully a case of cold feet caught up with me and I instead took the night to think over my upcoming decision. This was a fairly big step for me and I wanted to make sure I didn’t make any off-the-cuff decision.
The drive home gave me a lot of time to think over all my options. By the time I reached Brick, it was down to either Weehawken or Union City. The final decision was still many hours away as I drifted into an uneasy sleep.
Friday, April 23rd (Beauties, Beats, Breakthroughs and Birthdays)
I awoke one year older than I had gone to sleep, feeling slightly more wise but still without an apartment decision in hand. It would be a rather rough beginning to my morning as I fought through Turnpike traffic and some of the worst driving I have ever seen on a New Jersey highway (and that, my friends, is really saying something!).
Throughout the day I heard from a lot of people, mostly via instant messenger. Some knew it was my birthday, some did not. I didn’t make any effort to go out of my way and pimp the event either — usually not my style. Good friends Don and Jon had work-related news to share (a new job and some ancient artifacts respectively). All of the conversing also gave me a chance to get some feedback from others who have been through more moves and apartment hunts than myself, which helped me from freaking out in my own decision making process.
Earlier in the week I had decided that I was going to see some live music in honor of my birthday — well, the e-mail that said Sound Tribe Sector 9 would be at B.B. Kings that night kind of helped me to decide that. My cousin Erin was nice enough to lend me her apartment in Weehawken that evening so I could crash after the show.
With the free time I had between leaving work and heading to the show I decided to make one last drive around my new potential neighborhoods. I came to realize that I would de well living at either address, but that I could be living quite comfortably and paying about $125 less a month in one place as compared to the other. That was the final vote cast — Weehawken beats Union City on the strength of cost. Now mind you, I’m no cheapskate, but neither am I Bill Gates and one and a quarter Franklins a month makes a big difference. I called the realtors office, informed them of my decision and took a gigantic sigh of relief.
Time to relax!
I hopped a bus to the Port Authority and walked over to B.B.’s. There was a DJ spinning some wickedly infectious beats and laying down some equally impressive rhymes over them. The floor in front of the stage was quite packed already and would no doubt be more packed by the time the main act hit the stage. I decided to mull around, get myself a few insanely overpriced drinks and see what developed.
While sipping my drink a group of three young women introduced themselves to me as Jade, Janie and Apollonia. Glad for the company, we stood around and talked of shows, festivals and other such recreational things. We also crashed one of the booths reserved for paying customers at the invite of one very angry Georgia peach and her friend — at least until someone from the staff kicked us out of it. But even that couldn’t bring down the good time I was having. The dour mood that had been hanging over my head when the day began was now nowhere to be found by the time Sound Tribe hit the stage.
Two sets of great movement inducing music were bestowed upon the audience, along with some things I’ve never seen in a band before. Like having a painter on the stage who works a canvas in time to the music while the band works the crowd. And the massive amounts of fresh flowers and crystals set up on stage next to all the percussion, PowerBooks and synthesizers. Yeah, wasn’t expecting any of that, but it added to the whole experience.
The show now over I said my goodbyes to my running mates for the evening, thanking them for a great time and heading back to crash on my cousin’s air mattress.
Saturday, April 24th (Sign on the dotted line, please)
I wandered into Brownstone Realty’s office sometime around 1 pm and began the process of throwing my John Hancock on whatever form needed them — carefully reading every line along the way. A few checks later and I had in my hands the keys to my very own apartment.
Quite a heady moment for yours truly, I must say.
For years and years I had been saying to anyone who would listen that I was some day going to move further north — wether that meant in New York itself or just adjacent to it I was never quite sure, but the notion was always there. I can even remember when the thought of me being an urban creature first popped into my head, sitting in Union Square on a warm spring night. And now it’s all becoming a reality.
Of course, there are still a lot of things to do first. I mean, just look at how empty it is!
Sunday, April 25th to Present (Crating, carrying and the farewell tour in full swing)
Since I signed my lease I’ve been running full steam in two completely separate directions. Half of me is up north doing things like switching utilities and buying microwaves, dishes, garbage cans and switching utilities while the other half is south packing and shipping my life in little 14″ square boxes. The halves meet only for work and to visit some people who I’ll probably see less of once my move is done. This coming Sunday will be the largest part of my move when things like my bookshelf and futon make their way north.
I’ve also been splitting my time sleeping at both places as my needs warrant, but I’ll go on record saying a sleeping bag is a poor substitute for my futon (which in and of itself can be a poor substitute for a bed on some nights, but that’s a whole ‘nother story).
Plans are already starting to populate my head for what I want to do with the walls. I plan on painting some kind of interesting mural on one of the walls — nothing as insane as I first envisioned mind you, but not your run-of-the-mill slathering of color either. Then there are the trips to Target and IKEA to finish furnishing the pad since I’m leaving some of my larger furniture pieces behind. The plan is to have everything moved in by May 15th and be done setting it all up by June 1st.
Of course, that schedule is all dependent on how many nights out on the town I decide to have. Temptations abound, y’know.
Tags: Personal