So, okay, I know a neon sign saying "LEAVE NEWARK, YOU IDIOT!" when I see one.
...fine, I manifestly don't, having missed the first dozen or so, but then the FBI visit wasn't so much a neon sign as a giant Broadway production number. I pay more attention to those.
The upshot is that no sooner did the feds leave my apartment than I was on Craigslist, frantically checking the apartment listings. And finding... huh. Finding the first apartment I'd checked out in Jersey City, back at the start of all this, or at least one in the same building. Still at the high end of my price range, still laid out inconveniently, but now looking pretty darn good.
But if I'd learned anything in the past few months -- aside from "don't move to Newark" -- it was that I couldn't be trusted in such matters. I waited impatiently until Shabbos ended, called my brother and My Sister The Graphic Designer, filled them in, and arranged to have them come by the next day to look at the potential new place.
...I wrote the above back in February, and never did get around to finishing the entry. Long story short, they came over on Sunday evening, we checked the place out, and we all in agreement that I ought to move there. When I'd looked at the apartment (or possibly the one directly downstairs, I forget) in the summer, it was just starting to be painted; now it was done, and looking much better. And it had plenty of windows, with a view of the Empire State Building. And it wasn't in Newark. Granted, it was smaller than the place in Newark and a flight higher, but did I mention that it wasn't in Newark?
I moved there on January 1st. The new place is so much better. There are lots of shops within walking distance; the PATH train is just a ten-minute walk away, giving me easy access to Manhattan; and my mail isn't being stolen anymore.
Yes, stolen. It turns out that my lack of mail was not actually the fault of the Newark postal service, or at least not exclusively, unless it was an inside job. I found this out for certain when I got a scan of a substantial check from one of my clients that had been cashed, but not by me. (One could easily tell that I wasn't the one who endorsed it because the signature on it actually resembled my name. My signature has devolved over the years into nothing more than a squiggle and a slash.)
But now I get my mail. And I did end up getting the entire security deposit back on my old place, so that worked out, too.
On an administrative note, I tried to close comments on the older entries, so spammers would stop posting things there, and now the comments don't show up on the site at all. They're still in the database, but I have no idea how to get them to reappear below the entries in question. Ah, Movable Type.
(I'm also not sure whether comments will be open on this entry once I post it. I guess we'll find out together.)
Anyway, that about wraps up last December's business, so I can start Holidailies this year with a clear conscience.
Posted by Shmuel at December 6, 2011 1:33 PMAnd comments are open, as it turns out. Huzzah!
Posted by: Shmuel at December 6, 2011 1:34 PM