The Adventures of A Lady in A City

Hello again, from my first official day being unemployed! I'm doing just fine - in fact much better than I have any right to be, for reasons I will reveal in a moment.

Yesterday was...complex. It was an incredibly busy day: we had six gentlemen come in for a meeting and they arrived just after I did - after calling to ask permission to come an hour early to meet and set up. I do very well as a receptionist, however, and got them all settled in with no problems. I wasn't sure until early afternoon whether or not I would be in tomorrow (today), but then my supervisor pulled me aside and gave me an envelope with a severance gift from the Grandboss, and mentioned that she had convinced him that it would be best to give it to me on my last day. Well then! This led to a dizzying few hours of cleaning and sorting, since even after coming in for a few hours on Saturday and working for over 12 hours on Monday, there was still more to be done to get everything in order for the temps who would help out in my stead. I was able to say my goodbyes and leave the office just after seven, still in shock that I would not return. It is a gorgeous building, a truly beautiful office, and I will miss it. (The building was used as the Oscorp Building in the Spider Man movies, and also in the Lipstick Mafia. And yes, that really is the office I just left, from the designer's website.)

The envelope contained, as I later discovered, a check for $5,000 from the Grandboss's own pocket. I am...still terribly in shock. Grandboss is wealthy enough to keep not one but two apartments in the luxury building at 500 Park, and yet this kind of generosity is very common for him. Such acts, and the quiet and polite way he treats everyone he meets, are in my experience what separates the truly wealthy from the simply rich. My old boss, who behaved like fat, spoiled toddler on the best of days and expected huge tips and fancy dinners to excuse him from common courtesy, was simply rich and his disgusting behavior is all the more evident for the example of my now sadly ex-Grandboss. He is the epitome of an English Gentleman, and it was truly and honor and pleasure knowing and working with him.

Then we had a good session of Ars Magica. Rob and Amy just got back from Edinburgh, and we had some really delicious Scottish beer (of a brand I now forget), and I got a very grumpy looking little bear in a tartan dress, which was just perfect for my character, who is a very grumpy little woman who turns into a bear, which usually tears her dresses but that's beside the point. They brought haggis back, which we were all far less enthused about, and no I did not have any. The smell was enough, thank you.

Today I slept until noon, had lunch with Rob and saw all the pictures of Edinburgh. Gorgeous! Back at home, I found that Blair had surprised me by hanging our new curtains in the kitchen, and I helped her with the ones in the living room, and also changed the ceiling light without falling and breaking my neck. (Note to self: ladder. Yes.) Would you like to see?

( Come on over to my house! )

And now Gus and Blair and I are heading to pub for dinner. Life is kind, and I am so blessed. Now to take some classes, one way or another, and keep becoming who I am meant to be.

First: Friends, bibliophiles, lend us your vocabularies! Put your encyclopoedic minds to good use by donating rice for correctly defining words!

Well so far 26 is a fine age to be. Had a quiet, pleasant get together with friends where we watched anime and had birthdaysagna. It is important to note that while blowing out candles on a large pan of lasagna is a lot of fun, sticking candles into a hot dish and then lighting them is a very silly way to illustrate the old "burning at both ends" saw. ;P

I'm very excited about kleenestar and maastrictian's gift, improv classes at the studio where they've been learning! I have not done improv in any serious way since college, but I used to have a dang good time at it. This is long-form, or Harold Style improv, which we only attempted once or twice, so hopefully I'll be able to whip out a learning curve steep enough that I can be in the same class with them. Regardless, it's gonna be fun!

The 'rents are coming up again this weekend with another truckload, this time full of things like artwork and lamps and other bric-a-brac that have accrued over the years with no place to go. I HAVE PLACE NOW! THEY GO THERE! Which of course means that NEXT weekend we should have a sweet housewarming party. I'll keep you posted.

And what a day it has been! Well, not as exciting as Saturday and Sunday perhaps, but that's pretty much the best part about it. I went this morning and turned in the keys and the final payment and thus am DONE with ye olde mushroomarium. I definitely want to thank everyone who came out to lend a hand, though. You are all absolutely wonderful, and I don't know what we'd have done without you.

I'll get around to a bigger update soon. I'm still quite tired from everything, to the point that I'm abandoning sentences halfway through. For now, know that I love my new apartment, and that once we're done tidying and setting up, it's going to be gorgeous.

Long live Floorplanner!

Friend of mine found a picture of the FUNNIEST jack-o-lantern, and I just had to. Fall fall it is, the weather is cooling and the sun is setting earlier. I've always had this thing where I'll be walking along and at some point, as I pass it, a streetlamp will turn off or short out or something as I go by. It's not a conscious decision to make this happen, but it's something that I've noticed happening since highschool. Guess it goes with the whole "unable to wear a watch" thing.

I have perfected the art of killing flies with lysol spray kitchen cleaner. I've set it to make a nice long beam of liquid and I have pinpoint accuracy. I'm sure they don't like the lysol, but I'm pretty sure that it simply makes them too wet to fly away for a moment, but whatever works. I killed 9 last night and two this morning, and with the state of the ceiling, there's only about 9,000 more to go. B| It has the added benefit of cleaning as well as killing, though! SNIPERS FOR HYGIENE.

Today we are gonna see about getting the keys to the new homestead, and I will take pictures. :D

ETA: Well we can't get the keys until Monday. :(

So. Nice little slip in my mailbox last night informing me that "papers have been sent" and "filed in court" and that said papers are "asking this court to evict you from your residence" and that if I haven't seen these papers yet I should totally go get them.¹ And some stuff. I assume that it is the landlord that is making this request and not the actual papers, as papers are not self-aware and cannot themselves ask anything of anyone.

Which explains what that OTHER slip from two days ago about mail I need to pick up from the post office is about. Because of COURSE I am not there to sign for certified mail during business ours you tits, I have a job.²

So of course I knew that this would be coming, but of course there was also that part of me that really REALLY hoped that the four months of noncontact would continue, and we could all walk away from this without any mess. Oh silly me.

I've gotten the contact info of a good tenant lawyer from a friend and have sent him an email.

It's just...we've had no eviction notices posted. Nothing. No calls, just this court thing out of the blue. Most people I talk to who have had a situation anything like this got notices on their door but no court order of any kind. It doesn't add up. Maybe he's trying to scare or bully me, but if so, why actually take me to court? I mean...unless there's an eviction notice in the mail (I have some waiting at the post office, I must remember), according to the State Attourney General, the judge can dismiss the case based on improper service. I mean, he's CLEARLY in violation of the Warranty of Habitability and Duty to Repair as stated in the NYC Tenant's Bill of Rights.

I just... what is this man doing?

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1. Please note that this does NOT mean that I have been evicted. Just that the process has been begun. Why he's doing this in September when the lease is up in November anyway, I'm not really sure. And FOUR MONTHS after we stopped paying. I mean...honestly. Arg.

2. Which also explains why I have not picked up said mail.

Helloooo my many lovelies. My but it has been a busy weekend. I took Friday off to go look at apartments. This is a good thing, since the epidemic of CEILING FALL DOWN has spread to the KITCHEN as well, and there's a nice hole there, too. Because heaven forbid we become so inured to the state of decay in the bathroom that our teeth do not grind whenever we walk into the apartment.

ANYWAY. The agent was nice, and it will all be worth it if we get the apartment that we applied for. It's about a five minute walk from the one we're in now, so we can keep the things about the neighborhood which we like (a good pub is a great comfort), while upgrading to a much pleasanter and significantly better-kept building. I should find out soon what the story is.

Saturday was devoted to running preludes for the Changeling game I've started. I have...never run a game before, so I'm keeping things fairly small while I sort this whole "roll initiative" business out. I'm proud to say that I pulled it off, though, and I was complimented by everyone, including kleenestar and maastrictian, which is sortof like painting Rembrant's portrait and having him tell you that he thinks it's really top-notch. Sunday I did Joe's prelude, and this is the guy who got me into roleplaying when I was but a wee Abby in highschool, so once again doing my best for him was crucial.

And so despite a feeling of being woefully underprepared, all went well. Hello there, self-confidence! I'm really enjoying laying the groundwork for the larger plot that I'm building, (AND OH SUCH PLOT DO I HAVE!) and I do love world- and character-building. I just need to get the game mechanics down and my sense of pacing together. We'll see how a group session works.

Arg, I want news on the apartment, arg!

Ahahaha, oh my friends. My friends, there are no words. I can only show you this delight to which I returned home this evening.

First I noticed this:

"What is it?" I wondered, as, no doubt, do you. "Is it a nut? Is it a big fat beetle butt? What can it be?"

AND THEN I NOTICED THIS:

Oh YES, my friends. Those are EXACTLY what they look like, growing, completely of their own volition, OUT OF MY THRICE-BLESSED WALL.

I laugh. I laugh for two reasons. First, mushrooms are cute and I like them. Two, THERE IS NO WAY. NO WAY AT ALL. THAT THE LANDLORD CAN CONCEIVABLY WORM HIS WAY OUT OF THIS. I have mushrooms growing out of my wall.

EDIT!
That first mushroom?
It grew in the two hours it took us to pub.

So. My apartment has been inspected, at least (though it would have been SUPER NICE if they'd called me first so we could move things around to show them better) and...we'll see what happens from there. At least it's progress.

Hmm. What else is new? My friend had surgery last week, and is now all full of holes. He's fine though, the whole thing seems to have been a success. I have reconfirmed that hospitals are creepy places that require a different mindset to be in. It's a strange, subdued sort of warzone; doctors and patients against illnesses, families against fear and despair, and everyone battling paperwork. I am very thankful that once the enemy was properly identified, this was a straightforward, successful campaign.

Quick update: Life good, weather gorgeous. I've taken to walking from Columbus Circle to work, rather than going down and taking the E. Because the E at rush hour requires a quality of zen-like calm that I am fully capable of, but which no one (sane or otherwise) would seek out if there was a better option.

Purpose of post: Last time I posted about the apartment, it was bugs. Happily, those are all gone, praise your diety of choice. THIS time I'm posting about a problem that has been ongoing since moving into the place - the pipes in the bathroom.

( Raindrops keep fallin' on my head... )

So yes. This will be a fun telephone conversation.