Moving On Out

So this weekend I moved my load of crap into my new apartment. It's
amazing how much stuff I actually had in my diminutive room in the
Bronx - a whole full-size van's worth!

Saturday's circumstances were possibly the worst possible for moving
as we had gone to a nightclub the previous evening to watch a great
80's band called Tainted Love play. But their gig started at 11:00pm
and we had some pre-show refreshments to go along with Erika's first
Peruvian meal in New York at Pio Pio, which was awesome and cheap like
always. We got home after having a few more refreshments at about
3:00am and then had to wake up at 8:30 to pick up the Uhaul truck and
start moving. Not a good idea. I actually was woken up by my mobile
phone at 9:45 with the humorless voice of the Bronx Uhaul employee
asking me where I was. Obviously, I was on my way, of course ;o). So
picked up the Uhaul and then went to the apartment to start the
mobilization, with special thanks to David for his Hungarian
beastliness and help with moving.

After the move out and move in, I had to return the van to the Bronx
and then clean up my room in the Bronx and take a subway all the way
back to Astoria, all-in-all taking me about 2.5 hours. When I got
home, I found Erika passed out on our new bed, which happened to
arrive just as we pulled up earlier. We tried to do some organizing
and as starvation set in, we gave up and went out to dinner. We ate at
a family-owned spot called Sac's Place (Google it) down the street
from us that had seriously one of the best pizzas (coal-fired) I've
ever eaten. And the fresh spinach raviolis? For lack of a better
superlative, AMAZING! After poking into some stores and buying a few
groceries, we headed back to pass out after a long, gruesome day with
plenty more to do the next day.

Sunday, I discovered a great feature of my new apartment: free
high-speed wireless, courtesy of my negligent neighbors! This is
crucial and with it I was able to get my weekend fix of soccer with
the Milan derby and the Liverpool game while trying to somewhat
organize my apartment a little bit.

We had furniture shopping in mind for Sunday but we ended up doing
that while touring our new neighborhood. Some highlights:

1.) This area is full of Greeks, Slovaks, Czechs, Bosnians, and Arabs.
It quite a cultural mix and there a slew of Euro-trash clothing
stores, compared to the hip-hop clothing stores in the Bronx.
2.) We found a brand-new, high-quality gym with steam baths, saunas,
and a plethora of classes (including jiu jitsu AND capoeira classes
:-o :-o :-o !!!) right down the street from us that is only marginally
more than what I currently pay for my gym in the Bronx. Erika also met
a lady that works there that is Peruvian, as well. I plan on switching
in the near future.
3.) I found a random store that sold Rifle jeans, which I have been
looking for EVERYWHERE since I bought my first pair at Macy's a few
years back. They were only on sale for $40, as well. Erika let me buy
two pairs.
4.) I was able to negotiate a purchase of a very-nice end-table and
dresser for a full 25% off with free shipping included.
5.) Discovered the community feel of the place by purchasing a
succulent chicken and rice meal from the street vendor and when I
realized I was $2 short, he said "hey, money's not important, pay us
next time". Think that would ever happen in the Bronx or Manhattan?
Negative.
6.) Found several produce stores and bakeries in a near vicinity to
our apartment.
7.) Bought a ton of houseware items for our apartment at these
cluttered, dirt-cheap family owned convenience-store type places that
haven't been pushed out by rising rents (yet :o/ ).

So, all in all, we're very excited about our new apartment and
neighborhood and look forward to having new visitors again, since I
had NONE while I was living in the Bronx.

J. Riley, today I'll buy the new furniture, pick up some things I left
in the Bronx, and try to make it to a spin class at the new gym.
Tomorrow Ikea arrives with much more furniture that we need to
assemble. Wednesday Jeff is in town. Thursday, Roland and Csilla
arrive from Slovakia. Busy? Yea, a little.