Well, it might actually BE Sunday now, but I'm still "on" Saturday. This is significant, because exactly 10 years ago yesterday, I started work in New York City. August 10th was the day I actually flew to New York, and I had a week to find an apartment, before I started on Monday the 17th of August, 1992.
Man, that was a long time ago. I remember I packed two suitcases, and moved to New York. I had some stuff shipped later, but for the most part, those two suitcases was it. I'd say I was starting over, but I never really had anything of my own before then, except a waterbed that wouldn't have fit in my first apartment without being sawed in half.
My first apartment was a teeny little hole, in the Washington Residence Hotel. The address was 23 Lexington, Apt 633, at the corner of Lex and 23rd Street. I miss the area, Gramercy Park, though not the 130 square feet of space I lived in for the first year. It was cheap, at $400 a month. My bed, a futon that turns into a couch, took up the whole room when it was folded out. My windows looked into the windows of the homeless shelter across the air shaft that was my "view". The elevators got stuck between floors so often I stared walking up and down 6 flights if I was in a hurry. The insane old lady next door collected trash. And I mean trash. Cans and bottles, old clothes, a muffler one day, rotting food. A little fragrant, and I could walk across the room on the roaches toward the end of my stay.
That lasted a year. After that, I moved into the apartment I live in now. It is 800 feet. A much or comfortable amount of space. Astoria Queens, a nice enough place to live. Very residential, in a urban kind of way. I've been here almost 9 years now. I haven't learned more than 4 or 5 restaurants in a all the time. I go into The City -- what New Yorkers who live in the "outer boroughs" call Manhattan -- for most of my social life and fun.
I still sleep on the futon I had in that first place. It is still really comfortable, 10 years later. Nothing else from that time is still in use, though I have the computer I used back then. It probably still works, and probably still has OS/2 on it.
I lived in Des Moines longer that I've lived here, but I've lived in this apartment longer than I've lived in any other housing. By more than twice as long, too. When I was little, one of the things that was a huge part of my world view was the fact that we never lived in any place for more than 3 years. That was until I was 12 or so. I'm not sure why that was always a big deal, but it was.
So, 10 years. There's something to reflect on. I've seen whole neighborhoods change, because that happens here. Only the most stable of businesses survive for long. There aren't very many of them. I've seen buildings go up, and I've seen them torn down to be replaced with "progress". I've seen mayors Dinkins, Guliani, and now Bloomberg. I've seen the World Trade Center attacked twice, once a bomb in the basement, and then on the fateful day in September last year. I worked over Penn Station in front of Madison Square Garden, the trendy "TriBeCa" neighborhood, and deepest Midtown. I've learned the subway. Walked most of Central Park. Seen the museums. Watched shows on Broadway. "Done" lunch. I've had my people call your people. I've embraced cell phones. Been in relationships with two fabulous women.
I have this dream of moving away, and having a house, a yard, trees, grass, a dog or two. I wonder if I'll ever actually do it. I sometimes forget how much I enjoy my life. And that my life really is here.
At least for now.
On a different note, there is also the ongoing story of RiverSoft. But I'm to tired to update it. Suffice it to say, many people let go in London last week. And many people probably going to be let go this week in the US. I think I'm safe, but I no longer want to be.
Posted by Wookie at August 18, 2002 12:00 AM