Champ the Wonder Dog

Today was our bed bug inspection. This has become routine in New York over the last few years and is a good thing. The inspection was supposed to have taken place before we moved in but that didn’t happen. If it had I would have missed meeting Champ and seeing him in action. Champ is a Beagle-Pointer mix and has been trained and certified to sniff out bed bugs and their eggs. He is much faster and more accurate than human inspectors. He and his partner, Danny, were here less than five minutes and we got the all clear as did the other apartments being inspected today.

It was very interesting to see the two at work. Champ had been at work for a few hours before arriving here and was having a little trouble staying on course. The command for him to get set to start was, “Get to work”. Then he would put his nose down the floor and sniff away. The command to keep him on track was, “Find the beast, find the beast”. So I was staying still and quiet off to the side while this chant was repeated a hundred times.

Once Champ was finished he just plopped on the floor exhausted. After Champ had his rest and posed for a couple of photos he was off to another apartment. See more about Champ HERE.

There Is No Santa

….at least until November 26th.

Macy’s is probably not on most people’s must see list when they visit New York but I found it very interesting. Most of us know exactly where it is in Manhattan, 34th Street and Broadway. It is just one avenue west of the Empire State Building so it is very easy to incorporate into your tour schedule. It takes up a full block and nine full floors. The sign outside boasts that it is the largest store in the world. I don’t know about that but it is a lot of store.

Inside and out you see the results of multiple remodels that makes the store look like any Macy’s anywhere in the country. What is different here are the odd spots that have escaped dozens of renovations over the years. One thing that really stands out is the old totally wooden escalators. I had no idea such a thing existed. Another is the large bank of elevators . On a Saturday you can see people standing six or eight deep impatiently waiting for a door to open pinning their hopes on the one they are standing in front of will be next. They watch the lighted numbers as they go up and down as if it were a horse race and then their hopes are dashed as it suddenly stalls two floors away. Four doors over an elevator opens and the whole group rushes over knowing that only a fraction will be able to fit in the compartment. This goes on and on all day. Fortunately we were tipped off to an express elevator that is located off to a corner of the store far from the madding crowd.

Also hard to miss is the Santa Claus booth. Of course it is empty for eleven months of the year but it is maintained year round since the store is more associated with Christmas than any other. A sign next to it tells a bit of the story including the fact that eighty percent of “Miracle On 34th Street” was actually filmed inside the store. I also found out that the Thanksgiving Day Parade route was changed just last year and now goes down Seventh Avenue right outside our apartment windows!

Our view of Seventh Avenue:

There is more to see in the area around Macy’s. Right outside the front doors is Herald Square which has been blocked to car traffic and is now a pedestrian mall area. There is a proposal to convert 34th Street into a pedestrian mall from Seventh Avenue to Sixth Avenue, from Macy's to the Empire State Building. Also 34th Street has tons of shopping and will really take you back to the days when downtown department store shopping thrived in every city. Most of the stores and storefronts have changed to names familiar today like Old Navy but the footprints are still the same and it doesn’t take much imagination to see how it once was.

Updates

I have been too busy to post much this week. I am sure everyone wants to know about the strike and the story probably didn't make the Kansas City Star. You loyal readers may remember that the strike was set to start at midnight on Tuesday. A deal was struck at the very last minute and the strike was averted and we no longer have to worry about getting our deliveries interrupted by picket lines.

Tuesday evening the strike possibility was still looming during the eleven o'clock news and it was the one of the lead off stories. They showed a reporter in front of the hotel where the talks were taking place. It was the Sheraton New York. This hotel is right outside our window. We went over to look down on the street and sure enough there were a half dozen vans with satellite dishes parked right in front of the hotel. We tried our best to stay up to see the results but we just couldn't make it. We kept nodding off like we waiting on election nights' returns. We had to wait until the morning for the news.

So the deliveries are still coming. More groceries, another couple of boxes from Bed Bath and Beyond, a case of wine.

You may remember my buddy, Isaac, the owner/operator of the little Italian restaurant from an earlier post, his part is towards the end of the post. I was tooling past his place the other day and I thought I would get a picture of his store front for a visual aid. Well, he noticed somebody out there and he had to investigate. He popped out of the door with a disturbed look on his face until he saw it was me. Then he smiled and gave me a warm handshake and being the ham that he is he promptly gave me this pose. So now you can see for yourself.

Isaac showing off his antipasto window display.

D Day In Manhattan

D for delivery.

This week we took delivery of our purchases from the week before. We had shopping sprees at IKEA, Macy’s, Bed Bath And Beyond, and a few things from Best Buy. All this had to funneled through the service elevator at our apartment which had been readied with padding for the day’s events, along with a $1,000 damage deposit.

Monday morning Toni was at the apartment waiting for the deliveries to begin while I worked still at the hotel. The hourly updates were fine at first. Best Buy and Macy’s were straightforward drop offs. IKEA was more complex as the items were large and required assembly. As the debris started to clear and the items took shape Toni came to realize there was no mattress. It turned out that the one we picked out did not get ordered. Panic. She called me to see about getting one delivered the next day. This call came at 3:00 PM. A quick search turned up a half dozen places offering exactly that service. Unbelievable. In about an hour I had lined up just the mattress we wanted at a good price with free overnight delivery.

On Tuesday we were both at the apartment to get ready for the cable installer, TV, phone, and internet. I quickly unpacked and assembled the TV while Toni got the phone plugged in to start charging. Meanwhile the mattress arrived and was put in place as promised. The cable guy was busy spreading his spaghetti of wires around. The TV was on but without sound, he got the phone up and finally the internet. He then told us the TV was bad and seeing our disbelief gave us a quick demonstration. Great. So Toni scrambled around to find the receipt and got Best Buy on the phone. She got off the phone and told me to box it back up. They came over in an hour to pick it up and another hour later they were back with a new one.


So now that we had the necessities it was decided we were not going to go back to the hotel tonight. Bed, TV, internet, but no food. I had found a great site that gives you all kinds of search options for Manhattan restaurants. So I find 500 in our neighborhood, 200 with free delivery, 13 with Mexican. We picked one based on four stars and one dollar sign, scoped the menu quickly and made the call. Less than 15 minutes later we were eating.

We still needed food for the morning. Again we are on the phone with a grocery store at 8:00 PM. Toni only ordered a few things and asked if there was a minimum order for delivery and the guy said they will do a six pack of Coke if that is all we want. A half hour later a kid is at our door with four bags in hand, Toni signed the ticket and we are good.



It is almost as if you can wish for anything you want and it will magically appear.

Doorman Strike Looms

When we signed our lease we arranged to start it April 20th in order to have some overlap with our hotel stay and make the transition simpler. However, a few days later we learned that the Doorman's union had voted to strike at midnight April 20th! What are the odds we would pick this date? This strike may sound sort of frivolous and of little consequence but if no settlement is made and they do follow through with a walkout the delivery men will not cross the picket lines.

As you may recall we had plans to order all new furnishings from IKEA and Macy's, all to be delivered after we take possession of the apartment. So, Toni got on the phone and tracked down the leasing agent, Frank (with the last name no one can pronounce) and got permission to have access to the apartment early. She only had to make arrangements with the head concierge, Luis. Everytime we ask about anything at all we are told to go through Luis. But when she called Luis she found that he was on vacation all this week. Luckily she got the name of the super and he gave us the okay to do the deliveries on Monday the 19th. Disaster averted.

Just another example of everyday things in New York that never come up in Kansas City.

Carrie Rodriguez

Tuesday evening we went to a nice venue in the Village called Joe's Pub. It is a small 160 seat room that is a work of art. It is known for its great acoustics and for booking a very eclectic mix of acts from artists early in their careers, Amy Winehouse's first US appearance, as well as many past masters, Dion, Lesley Gore. The setting was more like a private party in a swanky cabaret.

I had managed to secure complimentary tickets from Carrie Rodriguez's manager. This show was significant as her new CD, Love And Circumstance, was released that day and is considered to be a potential breakthrough album for her. She is far from a household name but she is very well known in some circles especially in her native Austin. Carrie most recently has been opening shows for Lucinda Williams and her music is in the same genre. This is her third solo studio album following four studio albums with Chip Taylor. Some of her lyrics tackle some dark topics and this was partly explained at the show when she talked of her father giving her a Leonard Cohen cassette for her ninth birthday.

Visitor One

We had our first visitor from Kansas City this week. My cousin, Brent Boydston, was here on business. He has a great job, he had to go to two Yankees games. We got to hook up for a leisurely breakfast. We were feeling brave and planned on a Mexican breakfast at an untried hole in the wall. We were right at the door but chickened out at the last minute and opted for Hot & Crusty backtracking a half block. It is one of those places where you order at the counter and have a really large menu on the wall behind that warrants several minutes but we both ordered quickly not wanting to recreate a scene from Seinfeld.