On the last day of my spring vacation (on the evening before I was supposed to return to work), I slipped on some water in the hallway near the kitchen. I had slipped 2 times before. The first time, I thought leaving the mops there would stop the leaks. No. The second time, I thought putting newspapers down would soak up the water. Again, no.

I don’t know who I was madder at, me for slipping again, or the landlord for his, “oh, I didn’t know there was a leak” attitude. I called him the very next morning – I was worried that I would be bothering him if I called him at night. During the phone call, the landlord told me that he would handle the water problem. Two days later the water was back on the floor.

Today, the landlord knocked on my door asking about the rent, acting like nothing happened. At that time, I was not interested in talking (or thinking about) the water on the floor. And that leads to the next problem…I got sick.

I think it was either a serious cold or a minor flu. Since I didn’t have a runny nose, I am guessing flu. I think it started on Wednesday when I returned to my shoebox, I felt chilly. At the time, I thought I was cold because there was no heat. Now, as I am typing this I don’t remember what kept me awake (sweats or chills), I just know that I could not sleep. And the next morning, I was a mess. It took every ounce of strength I had to get out of bed, and about a 10 minute break for every action I did. On the train ride, I was minutes from passing out.

Luckily for me, the two wildest boys in the class were absent on Thursday which made the day fairly decent. Although, by the end of the school day I was so weak, I had to lie on the rug in the classroom. After about a 10 or 15 minute break (and a few left over school lunch peaches), I had strength for another half hour. In my shoebox, it was another night of chills and sweats, but the next morning -- I still had the throbbing headache, but I was feeling a little better. Unfortunately for me, the two wild ones decided to show up.

Today (Saturday) I spent the whole day in bed. After a couple of days of no appetite, and no taste buds, my appetite came back. For the last few days, I was too sick to do any cleaning, and my neighbors seemed to not notice. They were their same messy selves. I had to clean the bathroom. There were footprints and clumps of long hair all over the bathroom floor. I don’t mean to be sexist, but shouldn’t a woman be cleaner than 3 men. Once I was able to relax in the bathtub, I tackled the kitchen. My neighbors seemed to have something against an empty sink – There seems to always be dirty dishes there. Aside from the sink, someone made popcorn. And yes, they managed to make a greasy mess. How does someone make a mess with popcorn (other than the trail of dropped popcorn leading out of the kitchen)? Which is worst, someone leaving a trail of popcorn, or someone too blind to see the popcorn and steps on the fallen popcorn? My neighbor has a bad habit of making pots of over-cooked starchy foods, eats it once, then leaves it for weeks (till mold starts to grow). After spending about a half an hour cleaning the stovetop (and the greasy exhaust filter), I decided that I did not want to risk messing up the stove top. Although I had a taste for fried chicken, I decided to bake the chicken. Guess what? The young lady (I am assuming) left pile of something in the oven which started smoking when the oven started to heat up. I had to turn off the oven and clean the oven before I could bake my chicken.

My taste buds have not fully returned, but they returned enough.

Post Date Sunday, May 21, 2006 6:45pm

Final tally. Well, it is the end of the day, and the end of my vacation. Well, what did I accomplish. I cleaned my room. Vacuumed the floor. Organized my clothes. Wrote up a prelimary outline of my lessons for next week. I typed up my homework sheet for the students. Went the a nearby large office supply/ copy center. I copied all of my homework assigments (while I was there, I also stapled and labeled each set for the day of the week the assignment will be given.). Made dinner (canned soup, leftover [baked chicken], wheat toast, and Tang. I cut my own hair. Showered. Cleaned the bathroom (if I don't it usually won't get done).

Sorry for the sloppy writing. It is late. and tomorrow is a work day. Oh, my neigbor didn't ask to use my computer.

The final day. Today is the last day of my vacation. Unfortunately, since I spent all vacation doing basically watching TV, I now have to spend today (a rainy day) running around like a maniac trying to get ready for tomorrow's work day.

So how much did I accomplish yesterday. Not much. After about an hour answering an e-mail, I went to the post office. I went shopping (afterwards) to buy a few cans of "no salt" canned vegetables and a few cans of a health drink that was on sale. Not really the kinds of things to buy when it is raining out.

After visiting my foster father for a little while, I returned to my shoebox. I probably could have done one or two more things on my "to do list", but since it was cold and damp outside (and just plain cold inside my shoebox), I just stayed under my blanket and watched TV.

So, was writing that list of things to do a waste of time? No, not really. I think that if I had not written the list (and posted it), I probably would have just stayed in my shoebox watching TV.

Today I now have to do those things in order to be ready for tomorrow. I also have see if and when my neighbor (the young screamer) will be knocking on my door to ask if she can use my computer to do her homework. All vacation she has been telling about the homework assignment that she has to do that are due on Monday morning. About an hour after I got the landline telephone turned on, she asked if she could use my computer to connect to the internet to research and complete her homework assignments. She must have forgotten that I'd mentioned (several times) that I had a limited amount of internet time (10 hours per month). At the time I had to say no (which is a word I seem to not know how to use). Why? My computer (like my room) was a mess (a lot of junk all over the place). Usually, when I don't think someone will be looking, I am disorganized. But at the same time, I like things a certain way. When someone touches something of mine, I like it returned exactly to way it was given. Of course I would do the same. Unfortunately, people rarely do. If something is messy, they will return it even messier. Sorry, I am getting sidetracked.

Anyway, being the kind of person who does not know how to say no, I spent about an hour or so cleaning up my computer, then offered the young lady my computer to do her homework research. At the time she said cleaning her room was more important. I just so happened to know that the library was opened Saturday and Sunday. She said that she would go on both days to do her homework. Well, yesterday (Saturday), she stayed home giggling and laughing with her boyfriend. That leaves only today. Oh, did I forget to mention that she does not have a library card; she has never been inside the local library, however, she does know where it is. Also, the computers need to be reserved before you can use one. After the way she monoplized the kitchen (with me in it) on a couple of occasions, I know it would not be a good idea to let the young lady use my computer today, especially since I also waited to the last minute to do all the things I should have done days ago.

Morning wake up. This morning my neighbor’s boyfriend returned home around 6:00am. How do I know? His girlfriend (the screamer) started screaming and crying.

“Where were you? Why didn’t you call? I was worried about you.”

I found this tirade a little annoying considering the time, also considering last night (during our marathon [shared] cooking experience) she told me that her boyfriend would be coming home very late.

After the 3 or 4 minute “crying drama”, I then had to listen to the dutiful wife prepare her “husband’s” meal (along with the 3 or 4 times she let her room door slam close as she went back and forth to the microwave in the kitchen [sobbing along the way]). And of course the morning wake up would not be complete without the “hey kitty kitty! Hey kitty kitty!”call. I don’t think my neighbor will be too angry for too long; last night she told me that her boyfriend bought her a pair of sneakers (the day before yesterday), and that he would be buying her another pair of sneakers today so that they can have identical sneakers. Enough about my neighbors (oh, how I wish that were true).

Today my plan is to do about 20 minutes on my rowing machine. Take a shower. Clean up my room. Do a preliminary outline of my lessons for next week. Do a little shopping for the few things I couldn’t get at the store in this neighborhood. Drop off some macaroni salad for my foster father. Cut my hair. And finally take a bath.

By writing my plans out, hopefully, I will be able to accomplish most of the things on my to do list.

Oh, did I forget to mention that is suppose to rain (heavily) for today and tomorrow. Perfect weather for staying in bed and watching TV.

April 21, 2006

A quickly prepared meal (that was anything but). My vacation is rapidly coming to a close. Today I did not do anything that I planned to do. After watching several hours of television (mostly court programs), I went to a photo copy center to make a few copies. I had a week and a half to do my planning, but once again, I’ve let procrastination get the better of me. I now have Saturday and Sunday to do my lesson plans for next week.

After making my copies, I went food shopping. I bought about 4 or 5 bags of groceries. I wanted to buy enough to last most of the month. Also, since my macaroni & cheese was so well received, I decided to make macaroni salad. My plan was to bake some chicken, and while the chicken was baking, I would divide up the various meats I bought and put them into single servings bags. Once frozen, I only need to defrost the single servings to cook (single servings meaning enough to last me for a couple of days). It is cheaper to buy meat in bulk (or family size), and divide it into smaller portions. By the time I finished dividing up the meat; I could then cook the rice, and make the macaroni salad, all this while the chicken was baking (anyway, that was the plan).

So, is there a point to this rambling?

The chicken was baking, the rice was making, and everything was going according to plan (that is, until my neighbor came into the kitchen). My neighbor (the screamer) came into the kitchen while I was cooking. I told her that I would be finished in a half an hour (30 minutes). She said, “oh, no rush”. But then, she starts preparing lasagna. Originally, she said that she only needed one pot to boil the pasta. I let her get the pot, but before I knew it, she was in full cooking mode. I purposefully stood and watch her hoping she would get the message. After about 10 minutes (of me , she said something to the affect of “oh, I didn’t know you were waiting for me. You should have said something”.

Although the conversation was very nice, I would have preferred to have the kitchen all to myself. I could have finished in 30 minutes. Unfortunately, sharing the kitchen added another 2 hours to the time I was planning to spend in the kitchen.

I attached a photo of my finished product. For dinner, I made bake chicken, yellow rice, macaroni salad, and kale. The orange drink in the photo is Tang. After I post this blog entry, I will go into the kitchen to wash my dishes.

My computer is acting up. I was not able to upload the photo. I will try again at another time.

I'm connected. I am now writing this brief blog entry from my shoebox. The telephone company rep stopped by today to turn on the phone. I now have access to the internet. I am currently using one of the free internet service providers. This company alllows 10 free hours per month access to the internet. I will probably upgrade at another time. It is late. I just wanted to briefly say hello.

April 19, 2006

Not a good morning start. While I am at the internet café, I thought that I would briefly write about my morning.

About 4 o’ clock in the morning my neighbors returned home. How did I know? They were arguing. Were they loud enough for me to hear? Yes! So, am I able to give an example of what they were shouting about at 4 in the morning? Sure!

"Those are my skittles (candy). Give them to me!"

I got so annoyed. I had to do my reminder (that other people live here) walk (to the bathroom). Once they heard me, the argument stop. My other neighbor either pretends he doesn't hear them (his room is next to theirs), or he cranks up his music to drown out the screaming and yelling. Sorry, sidetracked.

About 10 minutes later the young lady came out of her room calling out to the stray cat that she has adopted, “Hey kitty kitty!”. She turned on the hallway light which is like turning on a light in my room. Due to the crappy way my door was installed -- an inch at the top and the bottom of the door brings all that light into my room.

Later in the morning, I thought I waited enough for everyone to use the bathroom before I took my shower. However, I did not wait long enough. No sooner was I in the shower and soaped up, the water turned ice cold.

Later, my neighbor’s daughter also took the time to try and chat with me.

Her: :“So Mr. Coffee man making your morning coffee?
Me: No, it’s green tea.
Her: Oh, I love green tea! I drink green tea too. ...Is that oatmeal?
Me: Yes, would you like some?
Her: No, I already ate breakfast.

Am I becoming an old geezer for not wanting to talk to a 9 year old girl?

Leaving this blog entry now would make (I think) a good entry in terms of maintaining a consistent tone. But, if I am to be honest, I have to admit that my day (despite not doing much other than watching TV) was an okay day. I did manage to use my rowing machine and finally noticed that I am finally starting to lose some weight(which amazes me considering how much junkfood I eat [see previous blog entry that mentioned my dinner]). The weather was also very nice. After I post this entry, I will stop by the post office (to send off a long over due thank you souvenir), then I will drop off some of my macaroni & cheese for my foster father and his lady friend. His lady friend helped me with some suggestions for making the dish. The directions on the box seemed a little strange. 5 cups of milk for a half a box of macaroni.

Until next time… Oh, I almost forgot. Tomorrow the telephone company will be setting up a phone line for me in my shoe box. That means I will have internet connection at home. And since I bought the unlimited calling plan, I will probably have a certain neighbor visiting me more frequently. Lucky me.

April 18, 2006

Not much to write about. I stayed in bed (watching TV) for most of the day. I finally baked the macaroni & cheese (see the attached photo). I seemed to have had the floor to myself. Both of my neighbors were out for most of the day. It was a nice quiet day today. The weather was also very nice today. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy it like I should have. I only went out to buy a cheese grater and milk for the macaroni & cheese.

My neighbor (the guy with his visiting daughter) returned around 10pm. Any problems? Again, you must be a new reader. About 5 minutes after returning, the guy went into the kitchen, and his daughter followed him into the kitchen (locking his room door). At first I really did not want to get involved, but I ended up getting involved. The guy was planning to either pick the lock, or break down the door. He was already in a bad mood because apparently his daughter at some point in the day was crawling on the floor in the subway station. No, I am not making this up. He was also annoyed that she was spending too much time chasing the stray cat (and not paying attention). Sorry, I am getting sidetracked.

Since I’d been in a similar situation (I didn’t tell him that), I offered to help. I thought that since my door was so cheaply constructed, that his door would be the same. Surprised, surprise, it was not. After trying to push and pick his lock, his door did not budge. Some people have all the luck. I volunteered to call the building owner on my cell phone(my neighbor doesn't have a phone). The owner said that he would be over in a few minutes. While the guy went to wait out front, his daughter went into the kitchen to cook. When the owner arrived, the guy was nowhere to be found. The owner was pretending that he has to do an incredible search in his bag of keys. Since the guy wasn’t there, the owner seems (to me to be stalling) going on and on about how he might not have the key. I went into the kitchen to suggest to the daughter that she stand by her father’s room door to offer assistance if needed. Actually, I thought if the daughter was there, that would be enough for the owner to do his “oh, I found the key. Wow, that was lucky. Isn’t it great that the landlord has a spare key to all of the rooms.”

Would you believe the girl tells me to wait a minute (while she is seasoning the meat her father was about to cook). I don’t know why, I just got incredibly annoyed with the girl. I told her she needed to stop what she was doing and go stand next to her father’s door while the owner was trying to help her father and her. I tried to keep my tone polite, but I don’t think I was successful. About 3 or 4 minutes later, my neighbor returned. And less than a minute later, the owner did his “oh, I found the key. Man, you are one lucky dude.
What a surprised!!!

April 17, 2006

Well, it has been a while. Part of the reason for the infrequent entries is that while I am living in the Bronx, the internet café I’ve been using is located in Manhattan. I hope to change that by getting an internet connection. Originally, I refused to get a landline phone. Since I had a cell phone, I did not see the benefit of paying about 20 or 30 dollars in phone fees and taxes when I really wouldn’t be using the phone. But having an internet connection at home might be worth the cost of paying for a landline phone. So today I went to the public library to look through the phone book to find out about getting a phone. By the time I finished in the library, it was too late to call the local phone company, so I’ll do it tomorrow. Other than that, how is my adventure in the shoebox going?

Yesterday while sleeping in the afternoon (I am currently on vacation), my neighbor banged on my door to show me the visitors in the hallway. When I got to the hallway, I found about 50 or 60 winged insects crawling up the wall (another 20 or 30 were crawling all over the bathroom). I thought the insects were termites, but the building owner informed me that the insects were ants not termites. And, it was normal for ants to come out at this time of year. His suggestion? Just sweep them into the hallway with a broom and prevent them from getting into my room. He said that he would stop by later, but he never did. While I was complaining to one of my neighbors (the young lady who screams a lot), she told me a little bit about conditions in the building before I moved in (broken pipes, mice, rats etc…). The young lady was very nice. It amazes me that someone who seems so nice can cuss the way she does when she is in her room with her boyfriend. Oh, she has finally stopped calling the guy she is living with her “husband”. Although, today, the guy referred to her as his wife…strange. She also gave me a little bit of a tour around the building (and described a few of the previous tenants). I attached a few photos of my (shared) living areas.

As I typed this, I just realized that I should have taken more photos of the building, but I wasn’t thinking at the time. Mainly, I took a photo of the hot water tank. I was shocked when I saw it. Although I should not have been shocked, the size of the tank explains why the water turns cold after about 10 minutes. The tank is 40 gallons in size. That tank supplies hot water to the entire 3 floor building. On my floor there are 4 people. The young lady told me that there were 10 people on the second floor, and a family living on the 3rd floor. Oh, I almost forgot…that tank also supplies (I think) the steam for all of the radiators in the building. Maybe I should rename this blog “ the ghetto life”. Need more?



Today, I was planning to make some baked macaroni & cheese. I went into the kitchen to check the stove availability (I also included a photo of the kitchen), the young lady was already in the process of making lasagna. I told myself that she would probably be finished when I returned from shopping. I returned from shopping. No sooner was I in my shoebox, there was a knock on the door. A girl was at the door. I immediately recognized her from a photo that I’d seen. She was the daughter of my other neighbor, the 40 year old guy who asked me to write him a reference letter after meeting me a couple of times within a few weeks (check a previous blog entry). Although the girl (about 9 years old [I think]) was a very nice young girl, I was a little annoyed how casual she was with me (an adult she had never met until that moment). This situation eerily reminds me of my encounter with my foster father’s lady friend’s son’s daughter (see a previous blog entry).

Sorry, I got sidetrack. Back to the present…

When she knocked on my door, my automatic reply was come in. Am I wrong to find it strange for a 9 year old girl to knock on a stranger’s door to come in and start looking around, complimenting me on how my room was arranged. She visually examined my shelves, my table, then she left. That was it. Am I being old-fashion to be annoyed by the above visit by the 9 year old girl?

Is that all? Ha! You must be a new reader to this blog.

Moments later, I went into the kitchen to ask my neighbor (the young lady) how she prepares bake macaroni & cheese. Would you believe the 9 year old girl actual stood in between myself and the other “adult” offering her suggestions on how to make macaroni & cheese. She just butted in like she was an adult. I immediately thought about when I was that age. I would never, never have interrupted an adult conversation. I am not sure which is more upsetting, the behavior of the 9 year old girl, or my old geezerly attitude. I sound like one of those gray-haired old men complaining about the olden days. Oh well…

On my way out, the father was on the stoop waiting for his friends (I guess). Moments later, the father and his 2 or 3 friends are having a loud conversation on the stoop, and the 9 year old girl was chasing the stray cat (my other neighbor seems to have adopted) back and forth, and I was saying to myself, “so this is life in the ghetto”. There were a couple of other examples, but I drop those. I think this entry is long enough.

P.S. – So how did my baked macaroni & cheese come out? I never got to it. After neighbor #1 finished her lasagna, neighbor #2 took over the kitchen (with daughter). I got into the kitchen about 10pm, by then, I was not hungry. While I was waiting for the kitchen I ate a half a bag of Doritos, and a couple of oatmeal cookies. I’ll cook the mac and cheese tomorrow.

April 2, 2006

Well, I finally did it! It took much longer than I thought it would. What? I finally made onigiri (rice balls). In a previous entry, I’d mentioned that I went to a Japanese food store here in New York. I bought Japanese rice and onigiri seasoning. I will attach a photo of my finished work. The directions were written in Japanese, so I had to do some guessing. It turns out, that 1 cup of rice only makes about 3 rice balls. I’ll take one rice ball with me to school each day. It will be good (I hope) to not have run to the corner junk food store, when I want a snack (or lunch) during my work day. Sorry, it is late, so I have to keep this entry short. I had a 4 day weekend! Since Thursday and Friday were teacher professional development there were no students in schools, so no need for a substitute teacher. I was happy to have those two days, but I know when payday comes, I won’t be happy. I will have lost 2 days pay. Also, the week after next is the start of spring vacation, so I will be out of work (vacation!?!) for about a week and a half. Since I’ve returned to the US, I noticed that there are more vacations.

Well, it is late. Until next time…