Free Time

Since moving here to New Hampshire, I am finding myself with plenty of free time and also with much more freedom to get around than I enjoyed in NYC, having a car and all. I'm child-free, don't have a lot of obligations outside of work, and so I've been thinking about what I can do with some of my free time. I've thought of going to school at night, various possible volunteering opportunities, leasing or buying a horse, and even getting a part-time job. I tend to wallow around on the weekends, the first half of the weekend may be a bit justified as I'm usually tired from crappy and not enough sleep during the week (hopefully my sleep quality will start to get better once I have my new bed), but the rest of it is usually pure laziness. Easy enough to justify when there is torrential rain outside (as has been the case for the past month or so), but this rain has to end sometime.

So, I've been thinking about it and I've come to the conclusion that I should be doing something I enjoy and also something that is completely different from my job (because otherwise, what's the point?) So I think I'd like to find some kind of volunteer opportunity working with animals. Even if it's just walking dogs for a local animal shelter, or brushing horses for an equine rescue or something.

With that decision, I sent in a volunteer application for this place today. We'll see if they get back to me.

A Good Week Afterall

Despite my physical complaints, I actually ended up having a good week at work. Things are a bit crazy & stressful at the moment while the project I'm working on is going through a bit of a reorg. The project management is being shifted over to our client side, and I'm trying to get used to the transition and the new project manager in place who I now have to work with. He's a very nice guy and very enthusiastic and approachable, but I don't think he's quite gotten it just yet (as I wrote about previously). I don't think he's grasped the various priorities and scope of the project. I think he also has a too casual attitude about some of the work and the meetings we have on a regular basis. Every time I talk to him he is spouting new and grandiose ideas about all these bells & whistles-type stuff we can do, while I am right now concerned about getting the actual meaningful content and necessary core functionality out to the users. Bells & whistles are great, but there needs to be a natural progression for this stuff and I don't think this guy is really getting that. He also has this habit of dragging me away from my work willy nilly to run over to his desk to help him debug something that he's working on, or to teach him how to do something with the BI tool. It's fine, but it seems to be happening every day now and can be distracting to my own work when I have to drop everything and go sit with him for an hour or so.

All of this sounds annoying and the makings for maybe a bad week at work, but this past week I got the impression from the head guy in the client space that he really appreciates my efforts and that my role is valued there. New PM is apparently going to be on vacation all of this week. One of the problems is, there is an important meeting/presentation that is happening on Thursday. New PM had put together this Power Point document outlining all the various areas of the project and a bunch of other information that is going to be presented to this mucky-muck trader guy who is supposed to be at the Big Meeting. When I found out that New PM was not going to be present for the meeting, I asked him who was meant to do the presentation in his absence (I had put together a bunch of slides with screen shots to represent some of the reporting I've done, but this is only one piece of the thing). So he says, "R" will be doing it ("R" is the head of the tech group on the client side and New PM's boss). So, on Friday I went into "R's" office and asked him how I could help him for the meeting for next week. He looked blankly at me for a moment and then said, "I thought we were just doing a demo?" I said, "well, New PM put together a whole presentation, so I think his intentions were more involved than that". "R" then communicated to me that he was upset that New PM had just announced at the last minute that he was taking a vacation for a week and basically dropping the ball on a lot of stuff. It is particularly bad timing as we're still in this transitional period and the Desk (for whom this project is for) is also in a transition (the new head trader guy who is supposed to be seeing our stuff for the first time in our Big Meeting). We also talked briefly about some of things the New PM is proposing for the project that are positioned to take everything completely off track. "R" thanked me for being proactive about the meeting and my assistance to him and asked me to take care of a few things for him.

I also had a meeting on Friday with my head end user, the trader who is driving all of the requests and requirements of the project. I was able to show him the new module that I am working on for him and he seemed pretty happy with it. We spent some time brain storming on how we could exploit the functionality possibilities to make it the most useful tool for them and I came away with a very clear plan of action for this coming week.

So things are challenging, but I feel like I'm making valuable contributions and am pretty firmly entrenched in my position within the project. I've gotten comfortable with the various players and they with me. Of course everything can change in a heartbeat with one screw-up, but at least I don't feel quite as tenuous as I did for the first few months. It was hard coming from a position that I had been in for years & years to a brand new company, environment, business, project, etc. but my comfort level finally seems to be growing a bit.

Not Having a Good Week

First I throw my back out over the weekend and now I both feel a virus coming on (I'm achy and headachy and I have a sore throat) and also have lots of female-style crampiness in my hip area suddenly. And my back still hurts. I'm just generally a wreck.

Today I Spent $3,000 ...

ACK!!!

I bought ...

This bed

and

This mattress

of course I now have to wait for a few weeks before I can enjoy my new bed, but at least I can look forward to some decent sleep sometime in my near future.

Tuesday

Julia is doing the cereal diet. I am thinking of doing it too. As much for the convenience of not having to cook or figure out what to eat in the evening as for the diet aspect. Actually, I had cereal for dinner last night, so I guess it's on.

I still have a lot of pain in my lower back, but it's a little better. Sitting in one position all day at work isn't helping much however. I just ordered a new bed, now I have to go buy a mattress. I am finally, finally, finally going to have a brand new, just for me queen-size bed. After years & years of sleeping on this full-sized cast-off. Certainly my dismal bed situation hasn't been helping matters with my back!

It's Always Something

While standing and reaching for something on my coffee table this morning, I somehow managed to throw my back out and now I can hardly move! Can't believe this.

ARGH!

Julia said:

"So. Are you ever gonna blog again? Or are we going to have to start calling you MJ?

:o)
Julia "

I know I know I know. So I didn't even blog at all for the entire month of May. I just haven't really felt like it. There also hasn't been too much of anything very interesting to write about really. I haven't even read a blog in all this time. Sheesh!

So, what's new? Well, my apartment finally, finally, finally closed! That was a complete relief. I had visions of this dragging on and on indefinitely, but in the end everything ended up going very smoothly and painlessly. So this makes my move out of NYC complete and final. Although I have to say that it does feel weird to think of some stranger now living in "my" place. That first weekend in particular I kept wondering if the new owners were in the process of moving in or what. Anyway, it's over now. I'll probably always miss many of the people, but I can't say I'll ever particularly miss Queens.

Work at New Company has been coming along and I feel like I've made progress on my project. I've had some good and positive feedback, both from the customer and from my manager. And my principal end user has in the past couple of weeks expressed a certain degree of satisfaction that I didn't really feel was there for the project previously. So I think I've turned a corner here. There is still a lot of work to do and a lot of requests & requirements to fulfill and I'm still stressed and I worry constantly, but I don't feel quite as freaked out.

There have been some other reorgs on the project lately however, and I find myself virtually the last one from my team still a major part of it. I was a bit dismayed the other day to find myself the sole representative from my group in a meeting otherwise full of our customers. ACK! There is now also a new project manager representing the customer who I don't feel has quite yet grasped the scope or complexity or even the various priorities of the project. He keeps talking about alot of bells & whistle type stuff when we are still trying to get the content required and the basic functionality out to the users. So, I'm stressed. I actually feel more comfortable and confident in my specific role, but I am worried about how & when certain necessary steps are going to happen. At least I feel like I know my day-to-day role and I usually have a good sense of the importance and necessary priority of certain steps and can also usually see the "big" picture, so as long as I'm given the freedom that I have had thus far, my end should continue to progress. The customer also expressed that they want me on the project through the end of the year (previously I was meant to be on this specific assignment until about June or July) and also they hope they can use me to pitch in on some other concurrent reporting work in the department during this time as well. So, I would say these are all good things and if you asked my manager, he would say definitely so. Especially since apparently this is one of the more important customers for my group. It's definitely interesting from my point of view anyway.

I'm enjoying my apartment, it's relatively spacious and comfortable and quiet. I love having the little deck and after living in old and semi-decrepit (creaky hollow floors & all) NYC apartments, it's rather nice to live somewhere where everything is pretty new. And you gotta love central A/C. LOVE!

I still have a lot of unpacking to do here though. I sometimes sit here and just look helplessly at the boxes around the place and I don't even know where to start. It's also kind of a bummer not knowing where anything is. At least my kitchen stuff is all put away, but I have no idea where most of my Summer clothes are.

I also love the walking trail out the back door of my apartment. Lola & I have enjoyed some nice, long walks there over the past month. The ticks however are plentiful, so I've taken Lola to a local vet and gotten her vaccinations for Lyme Disease and a new heartworm medicine that also kills ticks. Luckily I've only found one tick on myself though.

RAIN!

We've had crazy rain here over the past few weeks! Complete insanity, real wrath of God stuff. First there was the eight days of consistent rain, culminating in the weekend of over 100 inches. There were many flooded out homes and businesses in this area as well as road closures all over. At one point I drove a route along the Merrimack River where you could see that the river had risen all the way to the bridge. People were all pulled over to the side of the road to view the swollen river and the houses across the way flooded completely over their first floors. Since that crazy weekend, there continues to be periods of rain (like today), much of it torrential (like last night).

Here is one of the things I like about living here: I kind of like thunderstorms, last night some big ones rolled into the area and I was able to enjoy standing on my little deck and watching the storm (the deck has roof with an overhang so I can stand there during the heaviest rain storm and not get at all wet). A part of my trail has been turned into a pond (not a puddle, but a complete pond of standing water) that doesn't look like it's going away anytime soon. There is a bit of a detour up onto a path along some RR tracks. Luckily you only have to cross that path for a few yards, otherwise I would be completely cut off from most of my wonderful trail.

So, things are quiet here in New Hampshire, but that's the way I like it these days. Quiet and serene with purposeful, interesting work to be done. I don't have much of a social life here, but then again, I hadn't really enjoyed much of a social life in NYC these past couple of years anyway, so I'm not really missing much in that regard.

Real Estate People are Unbelievable

At least sometimes. I decided to go to an open house that I knew about today since I had nothing better to do. I didn't think that I would have a serious interest in the condo, but I hadn't seen one in this particular complex yet, so I took the opportunity to take a look. Anyway, as I suspected, the condo isn't for me, it's rather small, too close to the highway and another busy road, the campus is a little cramped, etc. (but it was cheap!) Anyway, as I looked at the place, the realtor asked the typical questions, do I have kids, where do I work, etc. The realtor then went on to stress about how I didn't "need" any more space since it is just me. I love how these realtors love to tell you exactly what you need, while at the same time not really knowing anything at all about you. What does she know what I need or want? I mean, I could have lots of extended family and friends who plan to visit all the time, or maybe I have a couple of huge dogs, or a hobby the requires space, or I need a fully functioning home office, in addition to a guest bedroom or something. Sheesh!

My New Apartment

So, I'm really liking my new apartment. Even though it's basically the same layout as the corporate apartment that I was living in for 3+ months, it seems somehow nicer. It's in a building that is a little removed from the rest of the apartment complex, the people who live here seem a little more established, permanent, etc. It's on the top (3rd) floor so I get a ton of sunlight and it's nice to be able to sit out on the little deck and watch the world go by a bit. The Heritage Trail is literally out the back door, so that's an added bonus. The corporate apartment was on the first floor and right across the parking lot from the club house, so I tended not to open the blinds too much, and I never once opened the shade in the bedroom. It was a bit like living in a cave, which was okay for the dark Winter months. But now that the weather is turning nice, it's a pleasure to live in a light, airy place. Lola is enjoying it too, it took her a while to become comfortable with the deck, but now that she is, she likes to patrol the "neighborhood" by announcing her presence from the deck to other dogs who happen to pass by. Anyway, I like it here and, unlike every apartment I've ever lived in, in NYC (or environs), I never hear my neighbors and can thus feel comfortable that they're not really hearing me. There have been a few times that I've gone out into the hall and been amazed that my direct nextdoor neighbor is blaring their TV. I never would have known from inside my place. I am comfortable enough here that I've actually even hung pictures! Amazing. Seriously.

Been So Long

Since I've written. In the time since I last posted, I have moved everything out of my NY apartment, moved everything out of the corporate apartment and moved into a new apartment in my complex. I've also written 1,000s of lines of BI code, been to numerous meetings, watched a bunch of movies, picked about 4 or 5 ticks off the dog (and one off of myself), seen one tiny yellow frog (sitting on the glass back door apartment building entrance), had one dinner w/ Carolina & Janos in NYC (with a number of vodka/sodas), driven 100s of miles , missed one dinner with my cousins, had one big fight with my father (we're still not talking), bought one Bose iPod docking speaker thingie, stressed & fretted for endless hours over my work at New Company. I guess that's been my life lately in a nutshell.

I'm starting to enjoy the nice weather here in New Hampshire. In NYC, by now I would be starting to really dread the coming hot weather, but not so here. Of course, we'll see what the reality of a Summer in Southern New Hampshire is really like, but I'm optimistic so far.

You Know You're in New England on Opening Day

When you can walk down the hallways of New Company and see grown men wearing stoopid Red Sox baseball jerseys over their oxford button-downs. I mean, WTF??? Yeah, you're a fan. We get it. Sheesh!

A picture of my nephew during a recent ski race.

Funny

I think I mentioned before that the business side of the project that I'm working on at New Company had asked that I sit on the trading desk once in a while, in an effort to maintain ongoing communication and a working dialog between myself and the trader who is driving the requirements for the project. So, I've taken to sitting out there in the afternoons for a few hours. Anyway, today this guy who works on the floor (completely unrelated to my project) approached me, introduced himself, said that he has noticed that I had been working on the Floor lately and then asked if I was from "Compliance". It took me a beat, but I finally realized that the man thought I was a spy. Me!!! Anyway, I had to laugh and tell him that no, I was just working on a project with one of the traders. Now I have to wonder about how long this guy has been twisting in the wind thinking that I'm sitting behind him hovering over all the doings in the area.

Call Me a Freak

but I actually kind of like Mondays. It's the anticipation of a Monday that I can't take. The start of Monday morning can be a little rough, between going to bed insanely late on a Sunday (a habit I just can't seem to break) and that period of time when I first get in where I'm trying to remember what I was working on the Friday before and trying to get re-immersed. But once I hit my stride on a Monday, I actually kind of like it. I've had my time off, I've loafed plenty, watched movies, read, or done whatever. Work is almost a novelty again. I really like Monday nights however. Just having gotten through the day, made some progress on some stuff and feeling like I'm in the swing of whatever I'm working on. And there is also that relief factor. Once the Sunday Night Monday Dreads are over, the reality of a pretty good Monday feels great in comparison.

It was raining when I got home from work tonight, but I took Lola for a walk on the Heritage Trail anyway. We walked for about 45 minutes and had the whole trail to ourselves, it was pretty nice, even with the rain. Also nice and cool, but not cold. Perfect for walking (and running too, if I had been so inclined).

What a Moron

I am. Logged into my bank to check that I've remembered to pay certain bills and to check balances, etc. and I see that I've somehow managed to paid my mortgage twice this month. This is particularly helpful in a month where I am paying DOUBLE housing costs already! Sheesh!

Wow

So apparently that trail/access road/path that I found behind my new apartment building is no such thing afterall. Apparently it is part of the Heritage Trail! I guess the thing goes on for about two hundred miles or so. More than long enough for a long walk or run, I would think.

I took Lola for a walk on it this afternoon and it really was quite nice. We ran into a couple of other people out walking dogs and a couple of people running, but otherwise we had the whole trail to ourselves. We only went a couple of miles because the stupid socks I was wearing kept working their way down underneath the bottom of my feet. So irritating. I just don't know what I did with all the Thorlo Socks I used to own, but the socks currently at my disposal are just not going to cut it at all (they have to be demoted to gym-only socks, I think). Anyway, other than the discomfort and annoyance of having to constantly stop and yank my socks back up around my ankles, it was a very nice walk and one I hope to do often.

I know it's been a long time since I have written. Life has been generally busy here and in my down time, I've been rather tired and not inclined to sit and blog about my day.

Anyway, work is going generally pretty well, I think. This was a particularly good week as I feel I've made a lot of progress on some stuff, and have gotten some things figured out. It makes me feel encouraged anyway. I'm hoping the rest of my team will feel the same way, once we come down to meeting about the progress of the work.

Dealing with the formality of the organization continues to be a source of frustration. There are so many elements and layers at New Company to getting stuff sorted out (that in my old job wouldn't have been a big part of my job). For instance, every time we upgrade our reporting software to a new release, there are big security implications that I am somehow expected to know how to negotiate. The security area is managed by a completely different department and getting myself and users access every time there is a change has become a bit of a nightmare. It's just one of those administrative complications that will probably end up being not such a big deal once I get it figured out, but in the meantime, it's got me crazy. At Old Company, this sort of thing would have been resolved by my walking over to the office of whomever handled this sort of thing (which would probably be right around the corner from my desk), explaining my problem and having it fixed, figured out, whatever. Another source of frustration is the shifting roles of people in the various areas of my project. When I started, we had a tech project manager who was a very pro-active liaison between all the various areas (the business, the production tech group, the security people, my team, etc.) she has since been promoted into a new role with the business and the guy who has replaced her, while very nice and approachable, has not been very much help at all. To the point where I've had to take over some of the roles that the former PM used to provide (for instance the security thing). I think all-in-all, it represents an actual opportunity for me (and I view it as such), but it does add some stress and frustration on to my day. But all of this is the sort of thing that comes with starting in a new company and so is part of the adjustment process.

I am now actually looking forward to moving into the new apartment. With the weather starting to turn nice, I think I will enjoy sitting out on my little deck and since the new apartment is on the top floor, I think I will find this even more pleasurable there. Additionally, there is a little playground outside of the apartment that I'm in now and with the nicer weather, the kids are starting to crawl out of the woodwork and play there. And anyone who knows me knows that I really don't enjoy the sound of screaming kids. So, having my sliding door open and enjoy the nice fresh air, but have to listen to the screamers? or keep it closed? hmmmm, looking forward to that new place. I'm also looking forward to having my own furniture and stuff with me finally (thinking I should cave and buy a new, queen-sized, bed though). I am not looking forward to having to pay double housing costs however. Freaking, #&%@, slow-ass, useless co-op bastards! ARGH! Anyway.

After work one evening I took Lola for a walk around the area, since the weather was so gorgeous. We wandered down by the apartment building that we're moving to and discovered this great path/access road whatever. It's packed grass & dirt, runs along the river and looks like it goes for quite a ways. I think this will be a nice option for long walks now that Winter seems to be on the wane.

Anyway, so things are coming along here in NH. I need to seriously start thinking about finding a permanent living solution, but at least I'll have my own apartment shortly. I also have to start calling the various utility companies to arrange electricity, cable, etc. btw, anyone have any opinions of cable (Comcast) vs. DirecTV?

I guess I'm not going to be homeless afterall...

In the last couple of weeks I've been stressing out because I knew that my stay in the corporate apartment was meant to be a limited one and that my time here was quickly running out. As suspected, my NYC apartment doesn't appear to be closing with any speed (big surprise) and I haven't really found a condo that I've fallen in love with anyway. So given all of the above, I decided to give in and take an apartment in the complex where I'm currently living for a six-month lease. It's going to really, really SUCK paying two housing costs at once, and it is because of that reason that I opted for just a one-bedroom (sorry Julia!). Besides, I don't want to be running around buying furniture for a temporary place anyway. So, it's a relief to have at least this one issue resolved, even if it is only a temporary solution. Plus, I can always renew my lease there, if it came to it. Now I have to figure out the logistics of getting my stuff packed up and delivered up to New Hampshire next month. Kind of hard to deal with all this stuff (not to mention all of my father's estate trust financials and crapola) while trying to also work a full-time, busy job!

ARGH!!!!

So, I'm sitting here at work and it's pretty quiet because a lot of people have gone home and there is this ASSHAT a couple of aisles away on the floor popping & snapping his damn GUM. So RUDE!!! I hate people.

Alright. So it's been freaking forever since I've written. Okay so, sue me. Sheesh.

Anyway, things have been busy and clipping along here in New Hampshire. Lets see what's new.

I drove down to NYC last weekend to pick up some more stuff, tie up some odds & ends and to see some friends. It was the longest drive thus far in my new car and it went relatively uneventfully. I actually enjoyed the drive, to be honest. I really love to drive and can't believe I'd gone so many years without even having a license (no less a car). Driving on a bit of a trip is also made more pleasant by that wonderful invention that is the iPod. I'm not much of an audio-phile, but even I can't imagine my life without this thing. Work, driving, whatever, it sure makes life just a little bit more pleasant. Everyone should have one.

Anyway. Ditzy move #1: As mentioned before, until the past couple of months, I hadn't driven or even had a license in years. I grew up and did most of my driving in NJ (when I last possessed a license) where they have this strange law that self-service gas stations are illegal (it's weird, but it's NJ). Anyway, I haven't done a ton of gas pumping over the years, so I'm a bit clueless. Since I've gotten my car, I've been using this Mobil station up the road and so I've gotten used to that. On my trip down to NYC I stopped at another type of station (a Shell, I think). Anyway, I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to use the stupid pump. So there I stood like an idiot while the station attendant squawked at me over this loudspeaker. Of course, since I couldn't understand what she was saying through that thing, I kept having to go back inside to hear what she was trying to tell me. Sheesh. Well, I figured it out eventually and managed to get the Hell out of Connecticut.

Let me right now advise anyone who ever plans to drive to NYC to, at all costs, avoid driving in Queens. Seriously. It is the weirdest place and the most frustrating driving experience imaginable. First of all, if you live on (for the sake of argument) "123 Drive", there will also be a 123 Street and a 123 Avenue and a 123 Road, and so on. And all of these various 123-whatever incarnations are not necessarily right next to each other. And then, good luck trying to get from point A to point B. I got off the highway and ended up going down one road in the direction opposite where I needed to go, and every turn I made only had an option to turn me in a direction even further from the way I needed to be going. I ended up driving down these narrow, confusing streets screaming at the top of my lungs inside my car, "I HATE this fucking place!!!!" SHEESH!

Ditzy move #2: So we finally manage to get turned around and end up parked outside my apartment. I grab all of the bags I have in the front seat, my iPod, Lola's leash, etc. and get out of the car. I realize that I should probably be a little closer to the curb and so I get back in the car to move it a little closer when I realize that I don't have my keys. WTF???!!! So I look everywhere, on the floor, in between the seats, in all the bags, under the floor mat, on the street outside the car. No keys anywhere. Luckily, I have a spare with me and move the car accordingly, but the missing keys at this point are a complete mystery. I bring the dog and all my stuff inside and then go back outside to look again for them, to no avail. I continue to search for them all weekend and don't find them until we are ready to leave on Monday morning, when I am laying Lola's blanket across the back seat and leaning over to tuck it around the seat, I see the keys lying under the passenger front seat. Sheesh.

So, within about 5 minutes (literally) of being back in my apartment in Kew Gardens, I was treated to the sounds of: 1) LIRR trains rushing through the neighborhood 2) a car alarm 3) some assHAT driving past with that loud heavy, pumping noise of the hip-hop de jour blasting out of his car speakers (probably what set off afore-mentioned car alarm) 4) the obnoxious neighborhood punks screaming and yelling (as per usual) out on the street. Just a normal afternoon in the Queens neighborhood, but two months of living in NH had desensitized me to it all. Wasn't really missing life in NYC at all in that moment.

Anyway, I had a very nice weekend seeing people. Paul & Luminita at their apartment on Friday night. Ken & Ellen for Wings & Beer at Blondies on Saturday afternoon. Cathy & Jerry w/ Lola's friend Jake came down to visit me late Sunday afternoon and then Carolina & Janos's for dinner and Sopranos on Sunday night. Michelle was also there and I was lucky to be in town when our friend Krupski was visiting, a NYC stop in between his many travels all over the world (trying to figure out where he is ultimately going to call home). It was great to see everyone, but it also felt weird to be there. Especially to sleep in my bed, sit on my couch, reside in my apartment. I almost felt like I would be getting up on Monday morning and taking the LIRR into Old Company again. Just a weird, limbo feeling, I really can't describe it, but I didn't like the feeling much. I'm a tiny bit sad about selling my apartment, but I think I will be relieved and feel a lot better, once I've closed and everything is finally moved out.

Ditzy move #3: Last Tuesday night Lola was bugging me to go out. Usually in the evening when this happens, she just needs a quick pee, so I've lately been in the habit of just running her out the back door of the apartment building, without bothering with a leash, etc. She'll run into the field, pee and run back in. On this night I grabbed the keys off the table, went out into the hall with the dog and the door to the apartment closed behind me before I realized that I was holding the keys to my NYC apartment in my hands. Doh! Of course the door locked behind me and I stood there with a dog with no leash, wearing floppy, threadbare, old sweats and this enormous sweatshirt thingie (and no bra, of course) and no way to get back into my apartment. In the middle of New Hampshire (in the middle of Winter) where I don't really know anyone. So after standing in the middle of the hallway freaking out for a couple of minutes, I rang my neighbor's doorbell. It took a while, but the poor guy finally came to the door in shorts, tee-shirt and bare feet. I apologized and explained my situation (and the fact that he had the misfortune of being my closest neighbor) and then we tried to figure out what to do. He looked around for some kind of apartment management number and then I had the idea to check the yellow pages. I called the number listed for the apartment complex, there was an answering service and they said they had to page someone and had to have a number where to get back to me. My neighbor was nice enough to give them his phone number -- all of this was happening while Lola is running willy-nilly in and out of this guy's apartment (she just can't resist an open door). So Lola and I then went out to the vestibule of the apartment building to wait for someone to show. For two hours. In that course of time we got to see a lot of people coming and going, most of whom Lola enjoyed greeting. Lola was also lucky enough during this time to encounter a friendly beagle who was very happy to chase her around for a bit. Anyway, after I had completely given up all hope of getting back into my apartment that night, the guy finally showed and let me in. He had to take my license to make a photocopy and told me a number of times that I would be charged for this (well, what options did I have at that point???) I wonder if he expected a tip? I considered giving him one, but on the other hand, I did sit there for hours waiting. Anyway, it all could have been worse, I could have locked myself out when taking the dog out for the last pee of the night at 11 or later. Now that would have been a disaster. Sheesh. Anyway, I was desperately happy to get back into my place at that point. I promptly filed the NYC keys away in a drawer and set up my door so that it can't lock behind me again.

Last week I had the opportunity to sit with the traders on the trading desk here at New Company and listen in to the buying & selling & stuff. It was pretty interesting and a glimpse into a world that I had previously had little access to. The traders I am dealing with for my project have now requested that I be given an actual desk on the trading floor to give us all better access to each other. I think this will generally be a good thing for the project, but it also means that I have THREE desks here at New Company. Talk about not knowing whether I'm coming or going.

I've looked at a number of condo townhouses over the past couple of months, and thus far, nothing has really bowled me over. My search up until this point has been somewhat lackadaisical because I know that my apartment closing is still going to take a while, but just now I am beginning to feel a bit more of an urgency. I saw a couple yesterday in a complex that I admire, yet none of these could I really imagine myself living in. This is just such a hard and important decision and I really feel pretty clueless about it all. I have no experience in real estate matters, so I'm finding it a bit overwhelming. I think I'm going to look into getting a six month lease on a rental in the meantime, so I can relax a bit and not worry about being homeless at least. It's going to be stressful paying two housings costs for a while (NYC + NH) but there's really nothing I can do about that other than hope that the closing happens soon.

Well, that's all I can think of for the moment. I'm sure I've missed something, so I will chime in, when it comes to me.