Once You Go Brown…

I seem to be in this nasty habit of posting once every…4-5 months or so. Hopefully, this will mark the slow demise of that.

Today was the second to last day of a co-worker of mine. Though people always leave jobs at some point or another, this one has been hitting me particularly hard. He sat next to me for nearly a year, and now he’s leaving. He and his manager had a particularly sour relationship, and I feel like this was so preventable. What if the employee just said something to another Partner? What if the manager offered more coaching on performance?

The issue here can be summed up in one word: communication. As cliche as that sounds, it’s very true in this case. I don’t understand why people shy away from communication, especially when it can only help the situation. I guess people are afraid (heck, I’m not the best communicator), or unsure, or fed up, or uninterested. This manager could have easily created a performance plan for the employee, giving him clear direction on what to improve. Instead, no effort was even made. If the manager didn’t want the employee on his team, why didn’t he refer him to a different group?

Why didn’t the employee tell any other manager that this wasn’t working out? Why did he just leave without checking?

I guess I’m just venting because I hate to see good friends leave. You never expect people to stay at a job forever anymore, but it still sucks to see them go.

Well, I’m finally in. We just set up our wireless router, so I can finally get back to writing posts.

The apartment is absolutely amazing. I love the fact that there are no ants or other pests. Our kitchen is beautiful (though I never cook, so I guess it doesn’t really matter). The amenities are crazy - gym, valet services, huge lounge, 24-hour front desk person, roofdeck, and so much more. I’m also right next to the express subway, which is a big help. The only problem with it is the size - it’s not a very big place, though I suppose you have to sacrifice something. Overall, I’m very excited.

My roommate is great too - she and I are getting along really well. When you room with someone you’ve never met before, there is a lot of potential for craziness, since you have no idea about the other person. For a Craigslist meet-up, things are going great.

I still need to get a bedframe, a couch, dining table, and new sheets, but the apartment is nearly complete. I do miss my old digs in Morningside Heights (32 W. 105 forever!) and all the shenanigans associated therewith, but I’m very happy at this new place.

Over Labor Day Weekend, I went to Philly to visit Ritu and see her friend in a play. It was called After Guantanamo, a story about the lives of people in 1992 in Cuba. Though there weren’t that many people in the audience, the show was a lot of fun. After the play, we went to Irish Pub and had some drinks with some of the cast members.

On Labor Day itself, I went to Sleepy’s to buy a bed for my new apartment. I’ve been sleeping on a full size bed for the past two years, but I want to upgrade to a queen. I’m just about as tall as the full bed, so being able to spread out a little more on a queen will be nice. I bought a Sealy Posturepedic “Ultra Plush Pillowtop” mattress, which has a really soft top on the mattress. I always thought I was a firm mattress kind of a guy, but when I was trying out each one, the soft, pillowy mattress reigned supreme.

The buying process at mattress stores is intense. The prices are always negotiable – it’s like you’re buying a used car. I was haggling with the salesman, and I definitely felt like I was being taken advantage of at times. I had to hold fast to my asking price, and eventually he came down and met me halfway. Even after the sale, I felt really bad about spending so much money, but when you think about it, you ideally spend 1/3 of your life on a bed, so I might as well make it count. A $200 difference, when amortized over the life of the mattress, is really nothing.

I spent the rest of Monday lounging on Joe’s rooftop with a magazine, which was a great way to end the weekend.

Thursday (Aug 31) was part one of my first move in 2 years. I’ve never actually had to move before. In school, I would just move back home, which was really easy. I’ve never had to contend with furniture before, so that added a set of complications that I wanted to no part of.

I had two major problems to deal with. They both stemmed from the fact that my new lease was to start on September 7^th, but I had to be out of my old place on August 31^st. First, I needed a place to store my furniture, since in-city storage is too expensive. To the rescue came my old roommate Kenny, who let me store my stuff at his new place (since he was going to be on vacation for some time). His place is small though, and I needed a place to sleep as well. Joe, another good friend of mine, came through here and let me sleep at his place as long as I needed.

On moving day, Kenny and I barely slept, since we were packing all night. To make things worse, we didn’t eat anything that morning. We packed up the truck for a couple of hours, having to get really creative with the packing scheme. After that was done, we drove to Kenny’s place and had to double park the truck. Kenny has a 5^th floor walk-up, and that was a DISASTER. The stairs are really steep, and the five floors really get to you after a bit. I really thought I wasn’t going to make it. I was dying, and was losing energy with every step. Finally, four hours later, we finished putting everything upstairs.

Kenny went to drop off the truck, and then I went to Joe’s to drop off my bags that I’d need for the next two weeks. We met back at our place, and then had to do our final cleaning. Our apartment was in pretty decent shape, aside from the endless amounts of junk everywhere. Our other roommates left a lot of stuff, so we had to throw out a lot of stuff. Our fridge was easily the most disgusting thing in the house. Someone had spilled milk in the fridge, and it smelled TERRIBLE. I had to get on my hands and knees with heavy-duty cleaner, and that still took an hour to clean. Yuck.

I owe a lot to Kenny and Joe for coming through for me when I needed it most. Neither of them gained anything, other than my gratitude. It’s nice to know I have friends I can count on in the clutch.

My trip home was a much needed break from the trials and tribulations of New York. On Sunday, I hung out with Justin at his house - it was the first time in two years I saw him, and the first time I’ve seen him since he got back from Japan. On Monday, I went to Korean BBQ with Jiro and Justin - it was the first time I saw Jiro in a while too. The BBQ place was the former Denny’s that got closed down for drug-dealing. And they say the Eastside is a suburb…

Tuesday I went to dinner (hot pot) with Jiro, Jack, Alex, and Sophia (Jack’s wife). I hadn’t seen Jack in six years, and we didn’t tell him that I was coming that night. When he opened the door, he didn’t even recognize me. That’s a sign that we haven’t seen each other in WAY too long. On Wednesday, I went to lunch withh my sister, and then Azteca with the family for dinner. Azteca is always a great place - the salsa is unparalleled in my book.

Friday was a relaxing day with the family. We watched Madagascar and ate dinner at home. On Saturday, I went to a comedy show with Justin at Comedy Underground. We were the only non-white people in the audience, and the featured comic called us out on it. After all, Seattle is a pretty white place. Sunday was a Mariners game with great seats behind the place. They won behind the pitching of Cha-Seung Baek, and was a great cap to my trip.

As I was leaving, I realized just how much I miss the area. New York is great and all, but I don’t need all the things that makes New York great. New York has great nightlife, restaurants, and cultural events, but I’m not a big partier. I’m really a suburban guy at heart, and I know I’ll end up moving back home. It’s just a question of when.

I’m finally back after nearly 9 months of not being home. I miss the Seattle area a lot, since there’s so much history here. I’m close to my family, I have a lot of friends here, and it’s a great city and area.

The weather here is absolutely perfect, and everything is so familiar and fun. I know that it’s not always good to be comfortable and complacement, but I really have a lot of fun when I’m back, and I can escape from the grind of East Coast life.

I think I’ll move back here at some point in my life, because I love it here so much. New York is great, but it’s not the city for me. I could never raise a family there - it’s too hectic and not very family-friendly. Only two things are really preventing me from moving back here:

1) Most of my friends still live on the East Coast

2) The best job prospects for my field are still over there.

More on both of those later.

In preparation for the move at the end of the month, I went to Commerce Bank to change all my coins for cash. They are one of the few banks that changed coins for free, so I gave it a shot. I had saved up about a year and a half’s worth of coins, and figured I had about $100 or so.

After exchanging them however, I had WAY more than I expected. A whopping $215 later, I was in shock. I never realized that saving a few coins each day for 500 days could get you that much, but I suppose that makes sense.

My advice: save your coins!!

I spent the 4th of July this year out in NJ - Weehawken to be exact. My friend lives right on the river, so we had a chance to see the fireworks over Manhattan island. It was definitely worth it - much less crowded in NJ, and there was even enough room to barbeque. I even met a German girl - we spent the night talking in German, though I haven’t spoken it for about a year.

It’s amazing how much rents change as soon as you leave Manhattan proper. In Weehawken, my friend has a massive house with great rooms for about 2/3 of what I pay now. The commute isn’t even that bad - about 15-20 mins by bus into the Port Authority. Once you enter Manhattan, the rents skyrocket. It’s really unbelieveable.

The economist in me knows it makes perfect sense - people are willing to pay that much money to live in the “heart of it all”, so let the market work its magic. But is being in the heart of it all worth it, especially if there are options that close? I wonder sometimes why I live in Manhattan proper, and to be quite honest, I’m not sure. The commute isn’t any better, time-wise. It is much cheaper to live outside of it (living in Brooklyn can even save some money too). It’s not a prestige thing for me either - I know it is for some people.

The only things that I can think of are that:

1) Because most of my friends live here, it’s easier to go places on a whim

2) Because I work late, I don’t want to commute back to Jersey nightly

I guess those are good reasons for now, but it does give some food for thought (as you can tell, real estate is a hot topic in my life right now).

In other news, I  joined a book club recently. I haven’t been able to read much lately, mostly because of work. Work really takes the energy out of me. So, I figure it’s a good way to get some structure to my reading and meet some cool people in the process.

Our first book is by Markus Zusak - it’s called The Book Thief. It’s set in Nazi Germany and is about the book burning (and quest for reading) during that time. It seems like it’ll be a good title, as it fits in well with my German experience.

I’ll re-post once I finish it - if it’s good, I’ll recommend it wholeheartedly.

Well, after two years at my spacious house on Central Park, it’s time to move. I can’t find three more people who want to live this far up, so some other friends and I have been looking around.

The New York real estate market is intense. My current place is $1,025 per month, which is pretty good by NY standards. It’s almost guaranteed to go up from here, which is a shame. Dealing with brokers is also a pain - they charge pretty intense fees because they have all the listings. Going at it without one can be a big hassle, since half the places aren’t listed publicly.

We’re getting some good leads, but the idea of shelling out upwards of $1,400 a month is mind-boggling. I think I just have to adjust my mental scale. For anyone reading, how much do you all pay in rent (especially if you live in another city/state)? I’m curious to see how different the market is.