Unfortunately Jenn didn't like the loft on 22nd street as much as I did. The major complaint was bad feng shui (fair criticism). Also the entire lower floor was really a finished basement with little light. I was swayed by the no-brokerness of it all. Jenn was not. It would have been cool to have Soderbergh as a neighbor, we might have seen George more that way. Oh well. Next.

So today we saw lofts.

The best of the bunch was probably this one:

The views over Canal and Broadway are out of a movie, and the light is unbeatable. As for negatives this loft had a completely unfinished kitchen (which didn't scare us too much) and an unfixable (without lots of $$$) bathroom. Also the space was significantly smaller than the 2000 square feet advertised. Jenn ixnayed the project on the spot.

Trying to get into this loft was a prime example of how looking for places in Manhattan is a huge hassle. The loft was listed on craigslist as a no fee apartment, but only a few hours after it was posted the owner said she was so harassed by brokers that she didn't want to show it to individuals any more. So she recommended a broker. That broker, James, didn't actually have the keys so he had to find the proper person to co-broke. James tracked down someone at the agency which supposedly had the keys (a guy named Jan), but when we showed up Jan didn't actually have the keys to the front door, so we sat there waiting for 20 minutes for someone to exit. Nobody did so we left. Later James found out that another broker named Karen actually had the key to the front door. Karen had called us the day before about this place but we already had the appointment with James so we passed. Also Karen had been a bit shady about some other places she was pushing often stretching the truth or fudging on details. An hour earlier Karen had tried to show us another apartment which we had already seen (she had claimed it was an exclusive and this was the first time she was showing it). Anyway so when we showed up with Robert, and Karen was there it was all somewhat awkward. There has to be a better way. This is like bad hight school and I hate it.

Jenn liked another loft over on Howard (great windows) but I hated the way it was finished and the entire building was shaking due to an improperly secured AC unit.

Perhaps by the end of the day our standards were impossibly low, but we are excited about this place in Brooklyn:

No we're not joking. The place has a parking spot, a garden, and the owners will let us have a say in how it is finished. Also no brokers fee. We're meeting with the owner tomorrow to see if we can work out something that is cool with both of us.

I had forgotten how much I miss a good rainstorm.

I saw a loft on 22nd street I rather liked today. It's not perfect (what is?), but it did satisfy many of the boxes on our checklist. Also no broker's fee which would save us around 10K. The big issue is that it's on the ground floor and the windows to the outside are frosted. The lower floor is all underground with only a few skylights. So it might feel a bit enclosed or claustrophobic. But it's 2500 square feet. The appliances/kitchen are top notch and the ceilings on both levels are very high (about 20 feet upstairs). I could go for it. Jenn is less sure.

I also saw a house out in Brooklyn that would work. It was bigger 2800 square feet with 3 floors, but it took me almost an hour to get back to the East Side. Also it was still being finished. Although the owner promised it would all be done in 2 weeks, it looked more like 2 months to me... maybe more. The materials and workmanship was 2nd rate. Who uses soft yellow pine as flooring?

--

We had a nice dinner at the Park Avalon with Al and Josie who are both doctors. Josie who is only a week behind Jenn in her pregnancy was telling us some horror stories about C-sections. Apparently Al is regularly called in to fix mistakes made by residents in which bladders get sliced open. Their advice: if you must have a C-section demand that your OB or someone in the practice do the deed. The vast majority of the mistakes are made by residents.

I've been enjoying calling around and setting up apartment tours.
Some of the more amusing snippets from the day:
-------

Frankie: What's your name sir?

me: Raul.

Frankie: What kind of name is that?

me: Mexican

Frankie: I don't do Mexican, not even the food.

me: Well I'm Mexican-Irish if that helps.

Frankie: I don't like them either. [click.]

-------

Heidi: You'll have to call the super, Paul, to get in, but I warn you, he gets in fights with people.

me: What you mean?

Heidi: He's disturbed, you know, he gets in fights.

me: That's scary.

Heidi: You don't have to live with him, he's just the super... But when you see him make sure to speak gentle.

-------

me: I'm calling about the apartment on Duane.

Jim: Yeah, what else is new?

me: Would it be possible to see it?

Jim: Call me tomorrow.

It took me three final trips to get the last odds and ends into storage. Then I walked the empty house, took one last tour of the yard and closed the door.

I realized that I had renovated every single inch of surface in the house and that I was responsible for virtually every single fixture. It will be a long time until I have another place that is so uniquely tailored to my tastes... but it will happen eventually. It will just take time...

Our closing has been delayed a day. Some minor work we agreed to do before the house was turned over is being done today and until the workers release a certificate saying the job is done, no closing. All the houses I've bought and sold in California have always had some back and forth between buyer and seller so this is no big deal. The system here is fair to both sides and is basically a series of inspection/response/inspection/response. In my experience the speed and ease of closing a deal in LA depends mainly on the party thats need to move the most. So if you are a seller and you are dying to move you'll do whatever the buyer asks without fuss. But if you are a buyer who needs to move you'll forgo asking for the picayune in order to get in the door. If neither of you care, it's a negotiation, but LA being LA it's always mellow.

My experiences in New York have been much more chaotic with multiple added layers of bureaucratic drivel often involving lawyers, co-op boards, city inspectors, extra taxes and fees, and so on. After you've bought an sold in New York a couple of times you become so hardened to the process that buying somewhere else is so easy as to feel wrong. The first time I bought in CA after having just experienced the process in Manhattan I was actually paranoid someone was trying to pull a fast one.

Anyway, it's almost done, I'm using the phones while they are still connected to do some last minute business...

Also I'm happy that many of the plants will have a good home with the Hacketts.

--

Well it almost killed me, but all 18,000 pounds of our stuff is in storage. Our 10x40 unit is full to the brim.

Now that it's over I'm back in the empty house and feeling sad. Gotta get out of here. Perhaps I will visit Bob Plummer LA framer extraordinaire to get a few final photos/paintings done. I've been pulling them as I packed. Bob is the best framer I've ever met. He KNOWS wood. Leave your email in the comments if you need his number. He's also a swell guy and better read than just about anyone you would ever meet.

In NYC Jenn is feeling sick (maybe I gave her my cold in Chicago), but she found a decent place in Clinton Hill. I'm eager to check it out.

Shots from the day:

So I've been up packing for the last 24 hours... The trucks arrive in about 2 hours to take everything to storage.

The plan:

Today: Stuff to storage.
Tomorrow: Close.
Thursday: Fly to NYC.
Next week or so: Secure a place by hook or by crook.
Then: Fly back to LA, supervise the move from storage to a truck.
Drive back.
Wait for stuff to arrive.

Jenn is trying to get me to dump the drive back portion and ship the car... we'll see.

This apartment was listed for 6500/month and was described as "bohemian".
The bathroom is in the middle of the room:

Well at least something can still make me laugh. The audacity!

It's hot. I'm sick to the point of feeling woozy... hundreds of boxes to pack before I sleep. Feeling grumpy.

1. Get Boxes from a box wholesaler. Boxes on the Move 1-800-BoxesON has been been a good one in LA. Note that there is a big quality difference in boxes (UHaul boxes for example tend to be fairly flimsy).

2. Get color coded labeled tape. Smart Move tape is what I've been using and I love it. You can buy it at U-Haul, but U-Hauls prices are high. Find it cheaper on line.

3. Use plastic bins for fragile stuff. If you can find a plastic bin wholesaler the cost of these is only a dollar or two more than a box. I use rubbermaid bins with latches. The great thing about the bins is that you can use them to store stuff in closets and under beds once you are all moved in. I packed all my dishes in pastic bins. Feels much safer than dish packs.

4. Label, label, label. I print mine out but I have a touch of OCD. I use a nice bold sans serif font ( http://www.typography.com/catalog/gotham/index.html ). Makes everything look organized even if it's not.

5. Put together an essentials bag... the stuff you will need while your stuff is in transition.

6. Pack early (I've failed on this one).

7. If you have something really really fragile or delicate, pack and move it yourself. You'll sleep better.

8. Be generous with packing material and pack all boxes to they are fairly tight with little give.

9. Use small boxes for heavy items like books.

10. Use big boxes for light things like linens.

11. Use small-bubble bubble wrap to prevent scratches. Use large-bubble bubble wrap to prevent breakage.
All of this is common sense, but it never helps to be reminded. I wish someone had reminded me.

Rob and Deb's wedding went off without a hitch...

My friends spent lots of time on the phone with their respective wives.

Happily I was with Jenn...

It was a nice weekend.

Now I'm back in LA. Back to business.

So I'm in Chicago for a wedding for the weekend. Just abandoned the moving project until Sunday... After one hour of sleep last night I slept most of the way here. I was served a single cracker. A single cracker? Who does that? It's almost more insulting to serve a single cracker than nothing at all.

Ok must to bed.

I was staring at the nails on the empty wall when it struck me that this must be how the expression "getting down to brass tacks" originated. But alas no: According to the "Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" by Robert Hendrickson:

There are no brass tacks, only brass-headed ones, used because they rust less easily. The American expression, which has been traced back only to 1903, though it may have been common before then, has several possible origins. Brass-headed tacks were used in upholstering chairs, especially at the foundations of the chairs, and in taking a chair apart to reupholster it from the bottom up, craftsmen might have said they were getting down to business, to the root of the matter, getting down to the brass tacks. There is no solid evidence for this theory, however, just as there is none for the country-store hypothesis. Merchants in country stores, it's said, hammered brass-headed tacks at intervals into their fabric department counters to indicate lengths of a yard, a half-yard and a quarter-yard. After a customer selected the cloth she wanted, the merchant would say, 'All right, now we'll get down to brass tacks - I'll measure it up for you.' This certainly was a practice in the country stores and a common one at about the same time the expression is first recorded."

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Have been listening to: Nina Simone, Tom Waits, Duke Ellington, Ike Turner, Linda Jones & April March.

Am feeling: feverish and vaguely clammy.

Have been dreaming about: Papaya King on 86th street & the grapefruit gelato on 2nd Street & Ave. A.

I want: to meet: Olivia.

I miss: my wife.

I should be: packing instead of blogging.

Is it crazy to consider a house in Norfolk or New Canaan? We could buy the place outright have loads of space (and money!) left over.

We both have been mulling this over. But it's hard to commit to the idea. Would we go stir crazy out there? Would we ever make it into the city? Things to ponder.