Accidents

No, it didn't involve the Nikon and no, nor did it harm the 50" television, the 22" computer monitor or any of the other fancy gadgetry which we've collected along the way. But sure enough, Sunday night while I was fooling around with substituting chicken in a Thai crabcake recipe (it bombed badly) Craig glanced up from his post on the couch and said, "What is that sound?" (I'm paraphrasing) to which I listened and heard water streaming - not just streaming but really pouring quickly in river-fashion, and we both quickly discovered that one wall, followed by a second and a close third, were being cascaded with water from the ceiling! Oh, to rent! We learned that the residents' shower from the 4th floor apartment had "broken" - bear in mind, we're on the 2nd floor, so an apartment separates us and the 4th floor unit - and water, as a co-worker put it, does what it wants. So Sunday night in between shaping really bad chicken cakes we ran around sopping up water. The wall in the bathroom near the window was gushing so badly that once I opened the window, the river actually did a couple of turns and headed out of the opening and down the exterior wall of the apartment building. The impact hit us the hardest in our bathroom (obviously, as all units above and below us are the same layout as ours). Our doorframe to the bathroom swelled, making it impossible to completely close the bathroom door. Days have passed and our superintendent has since doctored it by shaving down the doorframe, but we very narrowly escaped the situation unscathed. And what a happy coincidence that we're moving in a month and a half...but really, in two whole years, we've never suffered as many problems as we have very recently, in very compressed amounts of time. Losses of hot water due to a boiler problem in the building, time after time in the span of a couple of weeks, then this unforeseen flood...hopefully we've seen the worst. I want to leave this apartment with nothing but fond memorable first-NYC apartment stories to cherish! Frankly, we could not have asked for a better first-NYC place. This apartment has treated us well.*Now moving on to things that scare me more: the economy. I just phoned in my last payment to one of the dinosaur-sized cards I've been financially lugging about for an embarrassing amount of time, and to rejoice, I called another much-smaller card and canceled it with the intent of paying it in full next month. That will put me down to only three bills a month - two smaller cards and my student loan. The two smaller cards should be put to rest before September sees the light of my face. At that point, when I can scan over my debt and only see a student loan, life will be so, so, so good. But back to the economy fear: I'm nervous. How long can my financial liberty last? Things do not sound good across the country. Gas prices are approaching $4 a gallon, if they haven't reached that in some cities already (today I nearly bowed down to worship my MTA card at its fixed rate per month!) Food is not reasonably priced right now. People in this country have children that need to eat and from what I hear, parents are sacrificing eating to feed their kids. Meanwhile, Myanmar and China have been hit badly, so they need us and anyone who can help. Have these things been happening my whole life and I've just been oblivious? I'm not an activist anymore - not that I was ever fully one, but I approached wanting to support activism when I was younger - but something really must change. People must change their habits and ways. Governments must reach out. I'm speaking from lack of knowledge but what I know is that when a mother deletes her breakfast from her day so that her daughter can have an extra few dollars to eat lunch, optimism isn't ours. It's been on my mind a lot lately, because I think to my own family and their futures, and I think to Craig's family and theirs. I wonder what a future can hold while so much is in jeopardy right now? And worst: I'm afraid to have children. I don't want to be. Fear is not a part of the equation I ever factored in. I want to want to have children and to feel that they will be safe and protected. Right now, I don't know that I can.*We're awaiting our Indian food delivery and we need an hour or so to unwind from some work stress. I am so blessed right now. I'm completely, wholly blessed. I wish some of what I have on the rest of my country because I'm almost too content for what's happening now...