Okay, when I started this blog I assumed that if anyone was going to read it, it would be my wife...and maybe a friend or two. It has come to my attention that other people who may not know me may be following this. So, I'll give a brief rundown of my life:
Born in Honolulu, Hawai'i to a Taiwanese mother and Scots-Irish father who was serving his country in the Air Force at the time and stationed at Hickam AFB. I moved a lot as a kid. From Hawai'i to Maine, to Nebraska, to Germany, to Texas where my father retired from the Air Force and moved home to North Carolina. I ended up in Charlotte when I was about 15. I went to college at UNC-Wilmington and then went back to Charlotte. I met my wife, we bought a house, we got married and about a month ago, we moved to NYC!
I've visited NYC on many occasions, but none of those vacations could have prepared me for living here!
Now that you have a bit of knowledge about me, we'll fast-forward to moving day. I rented a 16' box truck and packed to its' ass with all of our belongings. When I say it was packed to the ass, I mean it! There was about enough room left to toss in all of Lebron James' championship rings!
We spent our last night in Charlotte with my in-laws and woke up at 4 o'clock on the morning of May 14th and began our trip to our future home at 5:30am. Considering I was in a 16' box truck and could only drive about 65 mph (for the sake of gas mileage) and my wife, Amanda, was driving our car with our two dogs aboard, we made decent time. We arrived at our Brooklyn apartment at 7pm.
Now, let me also say a few things about the drive.
One, the New Jersey Turnpike is boring as hell! Also, I'm not sure who came up with the "logo" for the New Jersey Turnpike, but it looks about as professional as a high school freshman with aspirations of drawing stick figures for a living. If you've never seen it, check it out here: http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=new+jersey+turnpike&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1440&bih=749
Two, when traveling with a cat, a half of a feline dose of Valium is not enough to shut them up. Getting them to take the second half is impossible...I don't know why. I've had Valium before...I would have taken the second half.
Three, there is absolutely NOTHING express about the Staten Island Expressway...NOTHING!! I even went to Jersey yesterday and returned on the SIE and it was just as congested as it was when I moved up here.
Four, if you can, drive in the center lane. Lanes will end with absolutely no notice.
Five, the Verrazano Bridge is narrow. VERY narrow. My wife was driving our Toyota Yaris and was scared of how narrow the lanes were...I was in a 16' box truck. And people were still passing me!
Six, you can't talk on your cell phone in NYC. As I crossed into Brooklyn over the Verrazano, my broker called to meet me at my new apartment. As we were working out details, I was waved down by NYC's finest. As I was pulling over, one of them yelled to the other, "He can't hear you! He's on his cell phone!" I pulled over and got off the phone. I rolled down my window as the officer approached and the conversation went something like this:
Officer: "Where are you coming from?"
Me: "Charlotte, North Carolina."
Officer: "They don't have cell phone laws in North Carolina?"
Me: "Nope!"
Officer, realizing his point was lost: "Well you can't talk on your cell phone and operate a vehicle in New York City. If you had a New York City license, that would be two points on your license."
Me: "Okay."
I was then asked to step out of the truck and open the back. It was explained to me that New York was on high alert and had to stop all trucks entering the city and search them. Welcome to New York!
I think that's about all for the actual drive up. I'll be back soon to explain our move in.
By the way, if this is boring and you have no interest in hearing about the actual move, let me know and I'll skip it and move on.
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