So I've been in Lowell nearly 6 months and life is finally returning to something like normal. Is it the new normal? The move ended up being tough because I was out of town two weekends in a row prior to the move and sure enough the night before I found myself up at 4 in the morning giving up on packing the kitchen. I ended up finishing the move the following weekend. But at least with what did get moved, the movers were great. They even came in under the estimate. I was worried about them having to deal with the stairs at the new place, but it wasn't a problem at all.
What ate up my summer was getting the place into liveable condition. Though everything was brand new, the floor was coated in some kind of weird rusty dust. It was drywall dust, but there were other things in it. Sweeping did virtually nothing. Vacuuming was laughable. The only thing that worked was scrub-scrub-scrubbing. I didn't have a shopvac so I just mopped it all up with big sponges. Had I not already moved in I would have stripped it with an acid wash. Because while the paint I used did adhere, it came up very easily with any little scuff. Over time it hardened a bit so it doesn't scrape up as easily as it did back in July. I went this way because I didn't want to deal with the dust any longer. It had to have been unhealthy. I'm planning to redo it maybe next year with a different kind of paint that will make it smoother. I totally miss being able to slide around in my socks like i could at the last place. I wish I knew how they did their floors. It might have been polished epoxy resin.
As I neared finishing the floor, my bed arrived. I'll go into detail about that in another blog post, but all I'll say right now is it was a major undertaking. It was expensive and scary, but it's awesome! Then there was the painting of the walls, the 2 attempts at getting the bathroom color right, the mural in the kitchen and most recently part 1 of a mural for the hallway. And so many other projects to come!
Somewhere in all of this I am slowly finding time to make artwork again and I've been opening up for open studios. It's funny to have been so distracted by the apartment thing since making art is the reason I'm here. At the same time I am reminded that about 10 years ago I briefly thought about going to school for either interior design or architecture. I figured since I couldn't find work as an information architect, why not be a real architect. 'Course now I know a lot of them struggle in various ways too. I'm still pretty obsessed with it. But I can still learn enough about all this stuff without going to school. It's the great thing about these modern times.
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Leaving Lynn
So, as I hinted in the last post, I am indeed moving! I am moving to Lowell! When my noisy neighbors get to me, I find myself doing searches on craigslist and google. At some point in January just before I headed to Dublin, I came across the Western Avenue Lofts project. Essentially there is an incredibly successful complex of artist studios in Lowell called Western Avenue Studios and they decided to take over another building and carve out 50 live/work spaces. It is open to artists only and there are no income restrictions. Perfect for me!
But on top of that, the apartments will be delivered fairly raw with a minimal kitchen and bathroom. The walls come only primed, so residents get to paint and do pretty much whatever they want to the place. And not only do they allow us to go crazy inside, but they also want us to decorate the hallway outside of the apartment. When you walk the halls of the studio buildings you get a sense of the individual identities of the artists and they want to continue that.
The apartments are still under construction, but I've been able to make a couple of visits and see the progress they're making. I totally can't wait to move in! I've already been very obsessed with how I will decorate and arrange things. I'm essentially doubling the amount of space I have. Also I will be participating in the monthly open studios so that will force me to do two things: keep the place clean and stay productive with my artwork. I've been slacking off the past few months, partly due to the new gig and partly due to the mild winter. Last year's snow storms totally kept me at my work table. This year, not so much. But I've got big plans and finally I will have the space to execute them, not to mention a supportive and thriving artists community. I feel so incredibly lucky to have found this place and to honor that I'll be working harder than ever!
But on top of that, the apartments will be delivered fairly raw with a minimal kitchen and bathroom. The walls come only primed, so residents get to paint and do pretty much whatever they want to the place. And not only do they allow us to go crazy inside, but they also want us to decorate the hallway outside of the apartment. When you walk the halls of the studio buildings you get a sense of the individual identities of the artists and they want to continue that.
The apartments are still under construction, but I've been able to make a couple of visits and see the progress they're making. I totally can't wait to move in! I've already been very obsessed with how I will decorate and arrange things. I'm essentially doubling the amount of space I have. Also I will be participating in the monthly open studios so that will force me to do two things: keep the place clean and stay productive with my artwork. I've been slacking off the past few months, partly due to the new gig and partly due to the mild winter. Last year's snow storms totally kept me at my work table. This year, not so much. But I've got big plans and finally I will have the space to execute them, not to mention a supportive and thriving artists community. I feel so incredibly lucky to have found this place and to honor that I'll be working harder than ever!
Thursday, December 8, 2011
i'm still here!
things got busy so i haven't posted in a long, long while. i started a new job a few weeks ago with Sapient and so far it has been really great. It's a large company (even bigger than the last), but doesn't really feel like it at all. I spend about half of my time working offsite at my client's office so it's a little hard not really having a home, but I'm getting used to it. i just have to remember where I am going in the morning when i get off the train...
so, it'll probably be a couple more years before I move to the west coast. it still is calling me. at minimum, i am hoping to move to a new apartment next spring. finding the right one at the right price is the hard part. everything that strikes my fancy (and there aren't every many that do) is rather expensive. i'm not exactly sure why so much real estate in boston is so expensive regardless of quality or location. at least in nyc there was a correlation so while it certainly isn't affordable, it's generally clear when you know how much you can spend, you can figure out where can you spend it. boston real estate, i still can not figure out.
so, it'll probably be a couple more years before I move to the west coast. it still is calling me. at minimum, i am hoping to move to a new apartment next spring. finding the right one at the right price is the hard part. everything that strikes my fancy (and there aren't every many that do) is rather expensive. i'm not exactly sure why so much real estate in boston is so expensive regardless of quality or location. at least in nyc there was a correlation so while it certainly isn't affordable, it's generally clear when you know how much you can spend, you can figure out where can you spend it. boston real estate, i still can not figure out.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
a mini-high line in lynn?
This is a view from my window
I've always thought it would be neat to seed-bomb this little patch of grass that runs along the train tracks from Lynn Station to Silsbee St. It already has some wildflowers growing in the parts that get mowed. People wouldn't be able to walk around there as the tracks are still very active, but it would certainly add some much needed charm to the place.
Strangely, below all this is a series of retail spaces. I've been racking my brain trying to figure out what kinds of businesses would this property suit. What would tolerate trains loudly rumbling over them every couple of hours? One space is some kind of weird commercial parking lot. There's no signage, so it's hard to tell what's really going on. If the train noise could be tolerated, there could be a really neat indoor/outdoor casual restaurant. Just as long as it's not yet another 99 cent store.
Either way, Lynn just needs more beauty and throwing some wildflower seeds up there would go a long way.
Strangely, below all this is a series of retail spaces. I've been racking my brain trying to figure out what kinds of businesses would this property suit. What would tolerate trains loudly rumbling over them every couple of hours? One space is some kind of weird commercial parking lot. There's no signage, so it's hard to tell what's really going on. If the train noise could be tolerated, there could be a really neat indoor/outdoor casual restaurant. Just as long as it's not yet another 99 cent store.
Either way, Lynn just needs more beauty and throwing some wildflower seeds up there would go a long way.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
art class
I don't know what brought back this memory. In elementary school, I loved going to art class. It was a large room. I don't recall it having windows. I remember there were big tables covered in paper and arranged in a big U. In the back were shelves where supplies and in-progress projects were stored.
I remember a little girl getting mad at me because I noticed that she drew eyes as half circles. I thought that was a neat idea so I copied it.
I remember transforming a dish soap bottle into a woman. I must have made the head out of paper maché.
Classes were weekly. I don't remember going to them after the 3rd grade for some reason. We did art activities in our regular classrooms, I guess. I didn't take another art class until senior year of high school. I wish I hadn't waited so long.
And now I pay for the occasional art class. In a way, art class is all about finding new things to bring into practice. Practice is something I wish I did daily, but there is also work. Sadly I've never been that good at balance. Balance is never static anyway. Watch a tightrope walker and note how she never stops stops moving.
Just keep doing. Keep moving. Never retire.
I remember a little girl getting mad at me because I noticed that she drew eyes as half circles. I thought that was a neat idea so I copied it.
I remember transforming a dish soap bottle into a woman. I must have made the head out of paper maché.
Classes were weekly. I don't remember going to them after the 3rd grade for some reason. We did art activities in our regular classrooms, I guess. I didn't take another art class until senior year of high school. I wish I hadn't waited so long.
And now I pay for the occasional art class. In a way, art class is all about finding new things to bring into practice. Practice is something I wish I did daily, but there is also work. Sadly I've never been that good at balance. Balance is never static anyway. Watch a tightrope walker and note how she never stops stops moving.
Just keep doing. Keep moving. Never retire.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Mile High City
There are times when I feel a little tug in my heart. I think it's the universe telling me it's time to visit the west coast. I've been wanting to visit Portland, OR forever. I may have a trip to CA in June or otherwise, maybe I can make it over in the fall. It's funny because I just got back from a conference in Denver, CO. Denver was surprising. I had no idea what sorts of people lived there or what the food was like.
Last year the conference was in Phoenix and visually the two cities look similar - high rises downtown, nice wide, clean, solidly gridded streets, surrounded by mountains on the periphery. The one thing Phoenix didn't seem to have was people. I would see folks headed to the baseball stadium in the afternoon and at Starbucks in the morning and that was pretty much it. The streets seemed strangely desolate, especially in the evening. I thought it might make a nice set for a superhero comic book. Others thought it suitable for a zombie movie. Denver, however, was teeming with people day and night particularly on the 16th St. mall which had a handy free bus. I don't particularly like crowds, but I recognize how important they can be to a city.
Foodwise, the chefs of Denver are masters of comfort food. First of all there was macaroni & cheese and coleslaw everywhere. I had lunch at a diner near the hotel twice because it was so good. I want to go back and see how well they do pancakes. I have a feeling they would be awesome. Boon arranged a microbrew walking tour. I don't really drink beer all that often, but there were a couple that I actually liked (and one whose name I thought was a little too similar to a certain serial killer's nickname). I'm still laughing from when Katey was asked what her favorite beer was, she answered "Vodka!"
The best meal was at Euclid Hall, and actually it was the best meal I've had in a while. I had the chicken and sourdough waffles along with some grilled vegetables. Everything was perfectly cooked. Leah, who was sitting next to me, was kind enough to let me have a bite of her boudin. So amazing! I totally have to go back there.
I would say the only thing I didn't like about Denver was the dry air. I know some people had issues with the altitude, but I didn't really feel it. My skin, though, was not happy at all. I've never seen it so cracked and flaky, even in the hot Texas sun. I'm glad I'd brought some hand cream, but I really needed other reinforcements.
Besides the food, the other interesting part of Denver was outside of downtown. A small group of us made a bit of a pilgrimage to Plastic Chapel which is a nice little toy store. I'm not sure what the neighborhood was, but it reminded me of The Drag or South Lamar in Austin. Unfortunately it was raining (and then snowing) so we didn't really explore, but this is an area that totally warrants going back with a camera.
So a good trip westward and I'm looking forward to going even farther.
Last year the conference was in Phoenix and visually the two cities look similar - high rises downtown, nice wide, clean, solidly gridded streets, surrounded by mountains on the periphery. The one thing Phoenix didn't seem to have was people. I would see folks headed to the baseball stadium in the afternoon and at Starbucks in the morning and that was pretty much it. The streets seemed strangely desolate, especially in the evening. I thought it might make a nice set for a superhero comic book. Others thought it suitable for a zombie movie. Denver, however, was teeming with people day and night particularly on the 16th St. mall which had a handy free bus. I don't particularly like crowds, but I recognize how important they can be to a city.
Foodwise, the chefs of Denver are masters of comfort food. First of all there was macaroni & cheese and coleslaw everywhere. I had lunch at a diner near the hotel twice because it was so good. I want to go back and see how well they do pancakes. I have a feeling they would be awesome. Boon arranged a microbrew walking tour. I don't really drink beer all that often, but there were a couple that I actually liked (and one whose name I thought was a little too similar to a certain serial killer's nickname). I'm still laughing from when Katey was asked what her favorite beer was, she answered "Vodka!"
The best meal was at Euclid Hall, and actually it was the best meal I've had in a while. I had the chicken and sourdough waffles along with some grilled vegetables. Everything was perfectly cooked. Leah, who was sitting next to me, was kind enough to let me have a bite of her boudin. So amazing! I totally have to go back there.
I would say the only thing I didn't like about Denver was the dry air. I know some people had issues with the altitude, but I didn't really feel it. My skin, though, was not happy at all. I've never seen it so cracked and flaky, even in the hot Texas sun. I'm glad I'd brought some hand cream, but I really needed other reinforcements.
Besides the food, the other interesting part of Denver was outside of downtown. A small group of us made a bit of a pilgrimage to Plastic Chapel which is a nice little toy store. I'm not sure what the neighborhood was, but it reminded me of The Drag or South Lamar in Austin. Unfortunately it was raining (and then snowing) so we didn't really explore, but this is an area that totally warrants going back with a camera.
So a good trip westward and I'm looking forward to going even farther.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
2 Quick Airport Bathroom Stories (not dirty!)
I flew to Philadelphia (on my way to some other state) last week and I can't remember which terminal we were in, but the women's bathroom near the baggage claim had gobs and gobs of free tampons!
I was in another bathroom before I flew back and there was an opaque glass wall receiving the full brunt of the late afternoon sun. It was so warm, but the glow was nice.
Yay Philly!
I was in another bathroom before I flew back and there was an opaque glass wall receiving the full brunt of the late afternoon sun. It was so warm, but the glow was nice.
Yay Philly!
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Monday, February 28, 2011
Funny, I was walking on the train platform to come home when this woman started talking to me and I realized I saw her when I was looking at an apartment recently (as chronicled in this recent post). She asked if I'd decided to take the apartment and I said no, it was too small. She mentioned that she heard what I'd said about my current place being noisy and she said hers was too. She actually owns her place but was thinking about moving back to her home state. She didn't want to say anything bad about the place in front of the realtor. It's a shame though, 'cause she seemed like she'd be a nice neighbor. I should have asked how big her place was.
I'm still undecided about what to do or where to look. I keep hearing good things about East Boston. There are a couple of places there that interest me, but I wish they were all a couple of hundred dollars less expensive. Lowell would be perfect if it weren't so far away...
I'm still undecided about what to do or where to look. I keep hearing good things about East Boston. There are a couple of places there that interest me, but I wish they were all a couple of hundred dollars less expensive. Lowell would be perfect if it weren't so far away...
Friday, February 25, 2011
changing seasons
Every day that I take the train to work I take a photo from the platform with my mobile phone. I always wonder if the people who see me do this wonder what the heck I'm doing.
Monday, February 21, 2011
customer service
I was going to write a customer service post mostly about the art of effective cashiering on my other blog, but I have a more pressing situation on a related topic here. When I moved into this apartment 2 and a half years ago I took a glance at the lights dangling from the 12 foot ceilings and asked how to I get my lightbulbs changed? Thinking am I going to have to buy a ladder? Fortunately, I was told that the building management would take care of it and the couple of times that I needed bulbs changed, they took care of it. Flashforward to today and 5 or six bulbs are out in the kitchen plus a couple of others. So I called the office and asked to get the bulbs changed. "Okay," the girl answered and started to hang up. "Wait," I stopped her. "Don't you want to know which ones need to be changed?" She giggled nervously and supposedly wrote down the information. She said she'd put in a work order. 2 days later, I come home from work and find this hanging from my doorknob:
I am immediately livid. If I indeed needed to provide my own bulbs, why didn't the girl on the phone say anything? I can't reach the lights, so I had no way of finding out on my own what kind of bulbs they are. So I called the next day and when I explained the situation (she seemed to not recall me calling 2 days before) and she says "Okay, hold on" and suddenly I'm taking to someone's voice mail and I haven't been called back. I called later in the day but I guess the office was closed. They aren't open on Saturdays. I guess that would be too convenient.
It's just so damn impressive how every single simple thing I ever ask for from these people is a total ordeal. Getting the screeching smoke detector battery changed took 4 phone calls, one of which she claimed that they didn't have permission to enter the apartment. Hint: permission is written into the lease.
So here's the thing: if you're going to be in a customer service position, then you have to proactively provide customer service. If you can not do that, you are just causing more problems and pain for people. Here is how this could have been executed properly: If residents are now required to provide their own light bulbs, how about issuing a notice that says residents are required to provide their own light bulbs and here is the kind you should get and here is where you can find them. I don't think it takes very much critical thinking skill to do this, but maybe I'm wrong.
Maybe I just need to get a ladder.
Is there a "how many mayo group employees does it take to screw in a lightbulb" joke in this?
I am immediately livid. If I indeed needed to provide my own bulbs, why didn't the girl on the phone say anything? I can't reach the lights, so I had no way of finding out on my own what kind of bulbs they are. So I called the next day and when I explained the situation (she seemed to not recall me calling 2 days before) and she says "Okay, hold on" and suddenly I'm taking to someone's voice mail and I haven't been called back. I called later in the day but I guess the office was closed. They aren't open on Saturdays. I guess that would be too convenient.
It's just so damn impressive how every single simple thing I ever ask for from these people is a total ordeal. Getting the screeching smoke detector battery changed took 4 phone calls, one of which she claimed that they didn't have permission to enter the apartment. Hint: permission is written into the lease.
So here's the thing: if you're going to be in a customer service position, then you have to proactively provide customer service. If you can not do that, you are just causing more problems and pain for people. Here is how this could have been executed properly: If residents are now required to provide their own light bulbs, how about issuing a notice that says residents are required to provide their own light bulbs and here is the kind you should get and here is where you can find them. I don't think it takes very much critical thinking skill to do this, but maybe I'm wrong.
Maybe I just need to get a ladder.
Is there a "how many mayo group employees does it take to screw in a lightbulb" joke in this?
Why I don't Drive
Since I was a little kid, I've rebelled against any situation where I've been told "You have to..." Instead of learning to drive in high school, I learned to sew. I took art history and art classes. Every day after school I walked 3 miles to the place where I worked and took dance classes. And it was fine. I figured cars were really expensive and I was moving to nyc anyway, so why bother?
In nyc, a car would have been a burden, something that needed to be moved for alternate side of the street parking or stored for a not-small fortune at a garage. I would be stuck in traffic, broken into or worse, hurt in an accident.
Then, 15 years later, I moved to Texas. After a while when I'd finally gotten my career back on track, I started thinking seriously about getting a car. I had this sort of itinerant freelancer thing going on and it seemed like the only way to make it really work is if I had a car to commute between Austin and Dallas. While the bus system in Austin was fine (and so, so cheap!), I wasn't sure about that in Dallas. So I actually started taking driving lessons. I was a nervous wreck the entire time and completely amazed that I passed the test and got my license. I began looking at possible finding a car. Still very expensive compared to my $10 monthly bus pass. Used cars scared the hell out of me. Gas prices scared the hell out of me. I continued to take the bus and put aside cash while I imagined the routes I could take that would keep me off of MoPac. Then my company (I was full time at that point) moved downtown. My 2 hour commute turned into 15 minutes on the express bus. Parking in the building was something like $150 per month. I decided I'd rather pay off my credit cards and other debts. I could just keep taking the bus.
And now here I am back on the east coast, still carless and happily so. Sure a car can get you from one place to another, but in the face of alternatives, this is a better solution for me. And I understand that some people need a car to get to places that aren't served by public transportation or whatever, but I think most people have fallen for the dream where you just *have* to have a car. They don't even try to not have one. But I figure if you have to have one, then you have to accept the burdens as well. You have to pay the variable price of gas, pay outrageous prices to store it, move it when it snows, be stuck in traffic here in cities that were never designed for or adapted for car traffic.
Sure I can't just randomly head out to Ikea and it takes forever to get to the mall and the MBTA is pretty much the worst transportation system I've ever had to deal with, but I get to where I need to go (eventually) and I'm happy with my choice.
So I ask people why they drive and get varying answers, but I wonder how many of them have considered just not doing it? I'm going to be carless for as long as I can be. We'll see what happens the next time I move to another part of the country.
In nyc, a car would have been a burden, something that needed to be moved for alternate side of the street parking or stored for a not-small fortune at a garage. I would be stuck in traffic, broken into or worse, hurt in an accident.
Then, 15 years later, I moved to Texas. After a while when I'd finally gotten my career back on track, I started thinking seriously about getting a car. I had this sort of itinerant freelancer thing going on and it seemed like the only way to make it really work is if I had a car to commute between Austin and Dallas. While the bus system in Austin was fine (and so, so cheap!), I wasn't sure about that in Dallas. So I actually started taking driving lessons. I was a nervous wreck the entire time and completely amazed that I passed the test and got my license. I began looking at possible finding a car. Still very expensive compared to my $10 monthly bus pass. Used cars scared the hell out of me. Gas prices scared the hell out of me. I continued to take the bus and put aside cash while I imagined the routes I could take that would keep me off of MoPac. Then my company (I was full time at that point) moved downtown. My 2 hour commute turned into 15 minutes on the express bus. Parking in the building was something like $150 per month. I decided I'd rather pay off my credit cards and other debts. I could just keep taking the bus.
And now here I am back on the east coast, still carless and happily so. Sure a car can get you from one place to another, but in the face of alternatives, this is a better solution for me. And I understand that some people need a car to get to places that aren't served by public transportation or whatever, but I think most people have fallen for the dream where you just *have* to have a car. They don't even try to not have one. But I figure if you have to have one, then you have to accept the burdens as well. You have to pay the variable price of gas, pay outrageous prices to store it, move it when it snows, be stuck in traffic here in cities that were never designed for or adapted for car traffic.
Sure I can't just randomly head out to Ikea and it takes forever to get to the mall and the MBTA is pretty much the worst transportation system I've ever had to deal with, but I get to where I need to go (eventually) and I'm happy with my choice.
So I ask people why they drive and get varying answers, but I wonder how many of them have considered just not doing it? I'm going to be carless for as long as I can be. We'll see what happens the next time I move to another part of the country.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
error
I received a scary, threatening note from my landlord the other day saying that my rent was late that that I had 14 days to "vacate" or something. I knew immediately that it was a mistake as the check had already cleared, but for a second it gave me a flashback to times when bills didn't get paid quite so promptly. But even then, I'd never received a letter like this. I mean, who even "proposes" eviction if the rent is only a week late? How about I propose evicting them the next time they ignore one of my noise complaints? I sent them a letter with a copy of the canceled check. Then I followed up with a phone call.
Calling this office is always a crap shoot. It rarely results in action. Last year, it took 4 phone calls to get the battery in my smoke detector changed. In the meantime I had to endure its extremely loud random screeching (no one has come up with a better way of telling you to change the battery yet???). So I called the office and asked for the person who wrote the letter. Immediately I could hear a bit of nervousness in the receptionist's voice: "What company are you calling from?" "I'm a resident of MV24, " I replied. "I'm following up on the letter he slid under my door yesterday." Then she asked me which apartment and something else that I don't remember than then suddenly put me on hold mid-sentence.
Another voice popped on the line, "Hello?" "Uh, I was talking to someone and she just put me on hold all of the sudden." I later learned I was speaking to the assistant property manager. Or maybe she was the assistant *to* the property manager? I told her what was up with the rent and then she seemed to be doing her best to not acknowledge that she had received the letter (note to self: send it certified next time).
As she spoke I was hearing music so I said something about it since it was hard to hear her over it. "Oh, that's just the computer," she answered and continued talking with the music. Dude! I'm just thinking back to a time where I would have been really embarrassed and turned the music down never to have it on again while talking on the phone, but that's just me. Maybe the next conference call I have I'll crank up some tunes to entertain my clients. Finally she acknowledged the mistake and I requested written confirmation that I did not owe for the month and she offered to email it which basically was proof that she did indeed have the letter. Dude! Why play dumb? If she'd actually been smart and proactive, she would have called me the moment she received the letter and verified that an error had been made.
I actually did look at another apartment last weekend. It was too small and the timing was a bit too early, but it was very tempting. Though I do have to question the meaning of the phrase "top of the line". This wasn't quite what I would call top of the line. The first thing that kind of bugged me before I even saw the apartment was the size of the gap between the bottom of the doors and the floor as we walked down the hallway. Details people! There are probably lots of reasons that the gaps were there, but there are no excuses to leave it that way.
I feel like there's a tremendous amount of laziness in the Boston real estate market. I'm always astounded, when I look through Craigslist, by photographs of rental apartments that are a mess. I guess no one could be bothered to clean the place before taking photos. It makes me wonder if they are really joke postings. If the landlord is at all have trouble renting out the place, that may be a good reason why.
Calling this office is always a crap shoot. It rarely results in action. Last year, it took 4 phone calls to get the battery in my smoke detector changed. In the meantime I had to endure its extremely loud random screeching (no one has come up with a better way of telling you to change the battery yet???). So I called the office and asked for the person who wrote the letter. Immediately I could hear a bit of nervousness in the receptionist's voice: "What company are you calling from?" "I'm a resident of MV24, " I replied. "I'm following up on the letter he slid under my door yesterday." Then she asked me which apartment and something else that I don't remember than then suddenly put me on hold mid-sentence.
Another voice popped on the line, "Hello?" "Uh, I was talking to someone and she just put me on hold all of the sudden." I later learned I was speaking to the assistant property manager. Or maybe she was the assistant *to* the property manager? I told her what was up with the rent and then she seemed to be doing her best to not acknowledge that she had received the letter (note to self: send it certified next time).
As she spoke I was hearing music so I said something about it since it was hard to hear her over it. "Oh, that's just the computer," she answered and continued talking with the music. Dude! I'm just thinking back to a time where I would have been really embarrassed and turned the music down never to have it on again while talking on the phone, but that's just me. Maybe the next conference call I have I'll crank up some tunes to entertain my clients. Finally she acknowledged the mistake and I requested written confirmation that I did not owe for the month and she offered to email it which basically was proof that she did indeed have the letter. Dude! Why play dumb? If she'd actually been smart and proactive, she would have called me the moment she received the letter and verified that an error had been made.
I actually did look at another apartment last weekend. It was too small and the timing was a bit too early, but it was very tempting. Though I do have to question the meaning of the phrase "top of the line". This wasn't quite what I would call top of the line. The first thing that kind of bugged me before I even saw the apartment was the size of the gap between the bottom of the doors and the floor as we walked down the hallway. Details people! There are probably lots of reasons that the gaps were there, but there are no excuses to leave it that way.
I feel like there's a tremendous amount of laziness in the Boston real estate market. I'm always astounded, when I look through Craigslist, by photographs of rental apartments that are a mess. I guess no one could be bothered to clean the place before taking photos. It makes me wonder if they are really joke postings. If the landlord is at all have trouble renting out the place, that may be a good reason why.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
nyc quickie
I unexpectedly had to go to nyc for work on Thursday. Unfortunately I didn't even have time to hang out or anything. I at minimum had planned to swing by Muji to get some replacement fountain pen ink cartridges, but I didn't have time. With a little more notice I might have planned to stay the weekend. The funny thing was realizing I hadn't taken a taxi to or from the airport in so many years. I usually take public transport or the NY Airport Service bus. It's much less expensive.
My meeting was at the World Financial Center and I got a glimpse of the apartment complex where I used to live. I was saying it had been 10 years since I lived there and I had to correct myself when I realized it had been nearly 20 years. Suddenly I feel so old! My life was kind of a mess back then. I somehow just barely scraped by in everything I did. Now i just think very differently about things. My sense of "value" and "cost" and "enough" are way different. I still have expensive tastes, but I don't act on them as impulsively as I used to. I paid off my largest student loan last year and don't have a tremendous amount of remaining debt to pay off.
2011 is the year of saving aggressively. Actually I have a 5 year plan which should put me in a very good position, but like all plans, it assumes that certain things will not change and I have a feeling that *everything* could change. After all, 5 years is a long time. But for now, this is what I'm doing. The goal is to save $100,000. Some of it will be my emergency fund. Some of it will be to buy or build a home. The strategy is to put a ton of my income aside in savings and then assuming everything is on track, put a chunk of that into investments every 6 months. What I'm going to invest in, I haven't even thought through yet, but I'm looking forward to it!
My meeting was at the World Financial Center and I got a glimpse of the apartment complex where I used to live. I was saying it had been 10 years since I lived there and I had to correct myself when I realized it had been nearly 20 years. Suddenly I feel so old! My life was kind of a mess back then. I somehow just barely scraped by in everything I did. Now i just think very differently about things. My sense of "value" and "cost" and "enough" are way different. I still have expensive tastes, but I don't act on them as impulsively as I used to. I paid off my largest student loan last year and don't have a tremendous amount of remaining debt to pay off.
2011 is the year of saving aggressively. Actually I have a 5 year plan which should put me in a very good position, but like all plans, it assumes that certain things will not change and I have a feeling that *everything* could change. After all, 5 years is a long time. But for now, this is what I'm doing. The goal is to save $100,000. Some of it will be my emergency fund. Some of it will be to buy or build a home. The strategy is to put a ton of my income aside in savings and then assuming everything is on track, put a chunk of that into investments every 6 months. What I'm going to invest in, I haven't even thought through yet, but I'm looking forward to it!
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Architects and Beer
There's a reality TV show for everything, right? We've got chefs, fashion designers, personal trainers, hair stylists, and even "normal" people. But what about architects? Why aren't there any shows about them?
I guess the first problem is most things that architects design can't be designed, much less built in a day. Buildings are large, complex things. The second problem is architects are really teams of people. I know there are plenty that work alone, but it always takes more than one person to get something built (unless you are Dick Proenneke apparently).
I have held the job title of Information Architect in the past. I mostly work with physically intangible things (e.g. websites and applications), but it still takes a small army to build what I design (with the exception of the very small things I do for myself).
But here's something interesting I came across yesterday: A Duane Reade drugstore in Williamsburg Brooklyn is selling beer. And not just boring beer that you can get anywhere, but hard-to-find beers that even I'm willing to drink, like Chimay. This didn't happen because the residents of Williamsburg asked for it. It happened because Duane Reade looked at who lived there, what they were interested in, what they had available to them and where there was a gap.
This is important, because this is the foundation of good user experience design (the general uber name for information architecture, interaction design, etc). And I believe that before anyone, including myself, runs around saying the city of Lynn needs this and the city of Lynn needs that, we need to stop and ask "who lives here?"
I should note that I lived in Williamsburg for a few months almost 20 years ago, long before the hipsters arrived. There were Polish, Puerto Rican, Hasidic Jews and a handful of artists living there. There were few places to eat out. If you wanted a Sunday Times, you had to get up early to grab 1 of 3 issues that the newsstand had. No one would come out and visit. But the rent was cheap and it was a quick train ride into Manhattan. By the time I left, the secret was out and now it's a haven. The artists were priced out long ago. The Poles have been moving to Queens. You can't find a home that is not "luxury" and now Duane Reade sells beer.
Maybe there should be a reality tv show about gentrification...
I guess the first problem is most things that architects design can't be designed, much less built in a day. Buildings are large, complex things. The second problem is architects are really teams of people. I know there are plenty that work alone, but it always takes more than one person to get something built (unless you are Dick Proenneke apparently).
I have held the job title of Information Architect in the past. I mostly work with physically intangible things (e.g. websites and applications), but it still takes a small army to build what I design (with the exception of the very small things I do for myself).
But here's something interesting I came across yesterday: A Duane Reade drugstore in Williamsburg Brooklyn is selling beer. And not just boring beer that you can get anywhere, but hard-to-find beers that even I'm willing to drink, like Chimay. This didn't happen because the residents of Williamsburg asked for it. It happened because Duane Reade looked at who lived there, what they were interested in, what they had available to them and where there was a gap.
This is important, because this is the foundation of good user experience design (the general uber name for information architecture, interaction design, etc). And I believe that before anyone, including myself, runs around saying the city of Lynn needs this and the city of Lynn needs that, we need to stop and ask "who lives here?"
I should note that I lived in Williamsburg for a few months almost 20 years ago, long before the hipsters arrived. There were Polish, Puerto Rican, Hasidic Jews and a handful of artists living there. There were few places to eat out. If you wanted a Sunday Times, you had to get up early to grab 1 of 3 issues that the newsstand had. No one would come out and visit. But the rent was cheap and it was a quick train ride into Manhattan. By the time I left, the secret was out and now it's a haven. The artists were priced out long ago. The Poles have been moving to Queens. You can't find a home that is not "luxury" and now Duane Reade sells beer.
Maybe there should be a reality tv show about gentrification...
Friday, January 7, 2011
Shhhh
Winding down for the evening. About to jump in bed with a book. I crave an evening where I come home and I don't hear my neighbors. I dream of a parallel universe where I only know of my neighbors as people who live in the building and not the woman from upstairs whose bed bangs on the floor and who was waiting in the lobby for her drugs to be delivered very early one morning (I had an early flight) or the guy from downstairs who hasn't improved his bass playing skills despite the hours and hours and hours he sort of practices and makes my walls and furniture vibrate.
If I were more of a writer, perhaps this would be good source material for a novel. The thing that amazes me about all this is for all the years I've lived in apartments, this is the first time that I've had such a horrible noise problem. The exception is the last apartment I had in Brooklyn where the super of the building felt it was okay to have his band perform, complete with cowbell, all night Saturday nights. I called 311 several times. I don't know if they did anything with the information. I remember coming home one night and hearing loud music from 2 blocks away thinking I'd hate to live in the noisy building on the block, only to discover I did live in the noisy building on the block.
Of course part of the source of the noise is the poor construction practices of whoever hung the drywall and the total lack of insulation between the floors. Yes, loft living means the apartments are in a somewhat raw state, but at these prices... I wonder what the situation would have been if these had been sold as condos after all? Certainly such lame workmanship would be grounds for some sort of lawsuit.
Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of comparable options for rent in Lynn. If I move, I'd have to live in another town and most likely pay more money. And the idea of doing that, I find completely offensive.
If I were more of a writer, perhaps this would be good source material for a novel. The thing that amazes me about all this is for all the years I've lived in apartments, this is the first time that I've had such a horrible noise problem. The exception is the last apartment I had in Brooklyn where the super of the building felt it was okay to have his band perform, complete with cowbell, all night Saturday nights. I called 311 several times. I don't know if they did anything with the information. I remember coming home one night and hearing loud music from 2 blocks away thinking I'd hate to live in the noisy building on the block, only to discover I did live in the noisy building on the block.
Of course part of the source of the noise is the poor construction practices of whoever hung the drywall and the total lack of insulation between the floors. Yes, loft living means the apartments are in a somewhat raw state, but at these prices... I wonder what the situation would have been if these had been sold as condos after all? Certainly such lame workmanship would be grounds for some sort of lawsuit.
Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of comparable options for rent in Lynn. If I move, I'd have to live in another town and most likely pay more money. And the idea of doing that, I find completely offensive.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Why Not
I have these periods of real estate obsession. I think it's leftover from my nyc days when i was continuously afflicted with envy of other people's apartments. It doesn't matter how nice or how good a deal your apartment is, there's always someone with an even better place. Lately I'm obsessed with the Macallen Building in South Boston and also with the handful of mid-century modern homes in Lexington and Lincoln, MA. Actually, the homes in Lexington and Lincoln were the among the first mid-century modern homes built in the country. Strangely, now there are so few modern homes in and around Boston at all which makes acquiring these homes very, very expensive.
I want to live in a modern home. Most of the homes in this region are definitely not modern. The ones I have found are waaaaaaay out of the realm of possibility for my financial resources. So I'm forced to settle for places maybe I don't like so much and just dream.
As I've started exploring options for my next home and even briefly considered buying, I began to wonder what would happen if I built a modern home in the middle of some neighborhood steeped in Victorian, Cape Cod and Triple-deckers? What if I just decided to buy a house around here, tear it down and build something modern in its place? And then what if a few others decided to do the same knowing that the city of Lynn was friendly to a variety of architectural styles?
There has been much discussion about how can Lynn revitalize itself and in my view this is the way: through modern and improved design of residential housing. I think efforts in new housing have to come first- before street-level businesses will come. Go to the website of any major chain store and look in the franchising information section and you will see that companies are very specific about the population and per-capita income of areas they are willing to do business in. It makes sense. It's easy to get caught up in chicken and eggs discussions about how to revitalize a city, but in the case of Lynn, it has to come from real estate first, and that's a tough place to be in. Let's face it, people aren't exactly beating down the doors to move to Lynn and the real estate market is still a mess. But the right design approach can attract specific kinds of people to the area. For all its flaws, that's how I ended up at MV24. It was mostly the right design for my lifestyle and price range. (Unfortunately, this building has an assortment of problems that may ultimately force me to move which I've detailed in another post).
Before I moved to Lynn, I lived in Austin, TX. Austin has a variety of older bungalow style homes, McMansions, ranch style, split level, cookie cutter gated communities - just about everything you'd expect in the suburbs. There are also mid-rise, high rise and lofts (new construction) and a significant number of modern homes in a variety of price ranges, many of which have been designed by local architects. There's even a subdivision of very colorful modern homes called Agave that with the downturn probably hasn't performed as well as its developers might have hoped, but it got built and people are living there!
View Larger Map
My point is, if you want new people, you have to build something new (and new can be recycled when done smartly). It will take time. It will be painful for some people and if enough risks are taken it will be awesome.
I want to live in a modern home. Most of the homes in this region are definitely not modern. The ones I have found are waaaaaaay out of the realm of possibility for my financial resources. So I'm forced to settle for places maybe I don't like so much and just dream.
As I've started exploring options for my next home and even briefly considered buying, I began to wonder what would happen if I built a modern home in the middle of some neighborhood steeped in Victorian, Cape Cod and Triple-deckers? What if I just decided to buy a house around here, tear it down and build something modern in its place? And then what if a few others decided to do the same knowing that the city of Lynn was friendly to a variety of architectural styles?
There has been much discussion about how can Lynn revitalize itself and in my view this is the way: through modern and improved design of residential housing. I think efforts in new housing have to come first- before street-level businesses will come. Go to the website of any major chain store and look in the franchising information section and you will see that companies are very specific about the population and per-capita income of areas they are willing to do business in. It makes sense. It's easy to get caught up in chicken and eggs discussions about how to revitalize a city, but in the case of Lynn, it has to come from real estate first, and that's a tough place to be in. Let's face it, people aren't exactly beating down the doors to move to Lynn and the real estate market is still a mess. But the right design approach can attract specific kinds of people to the area. For all its flaws, that's how I ended up at MV24. It was mostly the right design for my lifestyle and price range. (Unfortunately, this building has an assortment of problems that may ultimately force me to move which I've detailed in another post).
Before I moved to Lynn, I lived in Austin, TX. Austin has a variety of older bungalow style homes, McMansions, ranch style, split level, cookie cutter gated communities - just about everything you'd expect in the suburbs. There are also mid-rise, high rise and lofts (new construction) and a significant number of modern homes in a variety of price ranges, many of which have been designed by local architects. There's even a subdivision of very colorful modern homes called Agave that with the downturn probably hasn't performed as well as its developers might have hoped, but it got built and people are living there!
View Larger Map
My point is, if you want new people, you have to build something new (and new can be recycled when done smartly). It will take time. It will be painful for some people and if enough risks are taken it will be awesome.
Friday, December 31, 2010
My Grandmother
(it appears that i started writing this post several months ago, but never published. here it is now!)
My grandmother is near the end of her life and every time I have a dream about her, I wake up wondering if today is the day. She has impressively outlived pretty much all of her family members including one of her children.
Last night I got this book in the mail.
And then, of course, I had a dream about her. I was at her house with my mom (something that actually took place back in January) puttering around. At some point I remember taking a bunch of slices of watercolor paper and putting them in my suitcase (no idea). Then we were going to church in a taxi, except I had to sit outside in the back-maybe it was a pickup truck?
On my last visit back in January, I took a walk around the neighborhood and realized how close the church actually was to my grandmother's place and wondered why we almost always took the church van there rather than walked. The van never went directly there even though we were so close so it always felt so far away.
So in this dream as we arrived, there was this Japanese guy in traditional farmer clothes who at first I thought was attending the church, but he was actually there to tend the garden. We went inside and my grandmother went to sit with the other deacons or whatever they're called in the right section. I was still distracted by the gardener, but then went inside to sit next to my grandmother in the middle section. Later I realized she somehow became 2 separate people. Either that or I was actually sitting with my mother. Who knows?
For some reason I got up and went to see the gardener. He was leaving. I can't remember if I talked to him or not. I returned back to the church and a couple of people got up for me to return to my seat. Then I woke up.
So it was my typical huh? dream. One of the amusing things that happened on a trip a few years ago was how people thought I was my mother. I didn't think I looked that much like my mother. I know I do kind of sound like her, much to my annoyance. Who wants to sound like anyone else?
My grandmother is near the end of her life and every time I have a dream about her, I wake up wondering if today is the day. She has impressively outlived pretty much all of her family members including one of her children.
Last night I got this book in the mail.
And then, of course, I had a dream about her. I was at her house with my mom (something that actually took place back in January) puttering around. At some point I remember taking a bunch of slices of watercolor paper and putting them in my suitcase (no idea). Then we were going to church in a taxi, except I had to sit outside in the back-maybe it was a pickup truck?
On my last visit back in January, I took a walk around the neighborhood and realized how close the church actually was to my grandmother's place and wondered why we almost always took the church van there rather than walked. The van never went directly there even though we were so close so it always felt so far away.
So in this dream as we arrived, there was this Japanese guy in traditional farmer clothes who at first I thought was attending the church, but he was actually there to tend the garden. We went inside and my grandmother went to sit with the other deacons or whatever they're called in the right section. I was still distracted by the gardener, but then went inside to sit next to my grandmother in the middle section. Later I realized she somehow became 2 separate people. Either that or I was actually sitting with my mother. Who knows?
For some reason I got up and went to see the gardener. He was leaving. I can't remember if I talked to him or not. I returned back to the church and a couple of people got up for me to return to my seat. Then I woke up.
So it was my typical huh? dream. One of the amusing things that happened on a trip a few years ago was how people thought I was my mother. I didn't think I looked that much like my mother. I know I do kind of sound like her, much to my annoyance. Who wants to sound like anyone else?
food i hated 15 years ago, but now love
(it appears that i started writing this post several months ago, but never published. here it is now!)
beets
asparagus
chopped liver
cauliflower
peas
beets
asparagus
chopped liver
cauliflower
peas
Sunday, December 19, 2010
my apartment conflict
The current state of my neighbor situation is making me want to move. The bed above me gets quite the "workout" at all hours and sometimes makes me wonder if it's going to come crashing through the ceiling. I've asked this neighbor to put something under the bed like maybe a few layers of carpeting, but I guess I can consider myself ignored.
The neighbor below me has gotten an electric bass and apparently the only way to practice is to turn it all the way up so that my furniture vibrates. The neighbor to the left has a pair of bulldogs. When they fight, it feels as if the entire building is shaking. He snores rather loudly and seems content to allow the door to slam. The problem with slamming to door, aside from being extremely loud, is that the walls shake so that every other door on the floor rattles and my pictures hang crooked. The other night he put in a movie and cranked the tv up loud. I had to knock on his door 3 times to get him to turn it down (granted not very much). Somehow he seemed surprised.
The neighbor on the other side also likes to watch movies and play video games rather loudly, but sometimes really early in the morning. That is until one morning I was really fed up and banged on the wall screaming. He hasn't done it that loudly since.
But really? Is that was it takes to get people to behave civilly? I have to bang on the walls and scream? It just doesn't make sense. It should be obvious upon moving in that since the floors are concrete and the ceilings are high, noise will reverberate all over the place. Secondly, there's no escaping the fact that the walls are thin. I don't think I have especially good hearing, but I can hear pretty much anything my neighbors do. I know what part of the apartment they are in and what they are having for dinner if it's particularly smelly. The crazy woman who mistreated her dog who lived to the right of me for a year made a tomato sauce so strong I resorted to hanging plastic over the area that seemed to be exposed to prevent the smell from coming through for fear it would take up residence in my clothing. Plus she smoked.
But to me it's obvious that if you are a person who makes noise, perhaps it's better to live in a house rather than an apartment. If you are in a situation with shared walls, perhaps you should keep the volume down a bit. That if you are down the hallway and can hear noise from your apartment, perhaps you are disturbing your neighbors. That if you like to listen to music loudly, wear a pair of headphones. It's hard to me to understand how other people don't see it that way. That it's just ok to be as loud as you want any time you want regardless what the lease says.
So, I've started looking around for another place. My needs are a little bit particular, but I don't thing they're particularly luxurious:
1) commute to boston less than half an hour, or few stops
2) at least 600 square feet, preferably a loft
3) little to no carpeting, preferably concrete or wood
4) a decent amount of daylight
5) appliances made in the last decade
6) demonstrably quiet. I will even ask the person showing the apartment to go to the floor above and walk around to prove how quiet it is.
7) if on the commuter rail, then must be equal or less to what i'm paying now. If on the T then add $200 to what I'm paying now
8) a grocery store needs to be within walking distance
9) a park or beach or walking trail somewhat nearby
Every apartment that I've come across that seems suitable costs about twice what I'm paying now. I just can't spend that much and still consider myself a responsible person.
I've considered Lowell, but the commute could drive me insane and every time I need to fly really early in the morning (which is most cases), it could potentially be a very expensive ordeal to get to the airport.
One solution I've considered is bribing my neighbors to move out. It doesn't guarantee that the next person who moves in would be any quieter though. But it could be potentially less expensive than moving.
So how do you deal with your unreasonably noisy neighbors?
The neighbor below me has gotten an electric bass and apparently the only way to practice is to turn it all the way up so that my furniture vibrates. The neighbor to the left has a pair of bulldogs. When they fight, it feels as if the entire building is shaking. He snores rather loudly and seems content to allow the door to slam. The problem with slamming to door, aside from being extremely loud, is that the walls shake so that every other door on the floor rattles and my pictures hang crooked. The other night he put in a movie and cranked the tv up loud. I had to knock on his door 3 times to get him to turn it down (granted not very much). Somehow he seemed surprised.
The neighbor on the other side also likes to watch movies and play video games rather loudly, but sometimes really early in the morning. That is until one morning I was really fed up and banged on the wall screaming. He hasn't done it that loudly since.
But really? Is that was it takes to get people to behave civilly? I have to bang on the walls and scream? It just doesn't make sense. It should be obvious upon moving in that since the floors are concrete and the ceilings are high, noise will reverberate all over the place. Secondly, there's no escaping the fact that the walls are thin. I don't think I have especially good hearing, but I can hear pretty much anything my neighbors do. I know what part of the apartment they are in and what they are having for dinner if it's particularly smelly. The crazy woman who mistreated her dog who lived to the right of me for a year made a tomato sauce so strong I resorted to hanging plastic over the area that seemed to be exposed to prevent the smell from coming through for fear it would take up residence in my clothing. Plus she smoked.
But to me it's obvious that if you are a person who makes noise, perhaps it's better to live in a house rather than an apartment. If you are in a situation with shared walls, perhaps you should keep the volume down a bit. That if you are down the hallway and can hear noise from your apartment, perhaps you are disturbing your neighbors. That if you like to listen to music loudly, wear a pair of headphones. It's hard to me to understand how other people don't see it that way. That it's just ok to be as loud as you want any time you want regardless what the lease says.
So, I've started looking around for another place. My needs are a little bit particular, but I don't thing they're particularly luxurious:
1) commute to boston less than half an hour, or few stops
2) at least 600 square feet, preferably a loft
3) little to no carpeting, preferably concrete or wood
4) a decent amount of daylight
5) appliances made in the last decade
6) demonstrably quiet. I will even ask the person showing the apartment to go to the floor above and walk around to prove how quiet it is.
7) if on the commuter rail, then must be equal or less to what i'm paying now. If on the T then add $200 to what I'm paying now
8) a grocery store needs to be within walking distance
9) a park or beach or walking trail somewhat nearby
Every apartment that I've come across that seems suitable costs about twice what I'm paying now. I just can't spend that much and still consider myself a responsible person.
I've considered Lowell, but the commute could drive me insane and every time I need to fly really early in the morning (which is most cases), it could potentially be a very expensive ordeal to get to the airport.
One solution I've considered is bribing my neighbors to move out. It doesn't guarantee that the next person who moves in would be any quieter though. But it could be potentially less expensive than moving.
So how do you deal with your unreasonably noisy neighbors?
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