News From the Trenches

This is how I often feel. This is no place for wimps.

I went to my storage unit yesterday to get some warmer clothes (1 bus, 2 subway trains & 2 hrs round trip). I feel akin to a WWII G.I. when I’m walking these mean streets hauling luggage.

Before embarking on this crazy adventure, I speculated on how my creaky old knees would hold up to lots of city walking. What I didn’t foresee was subway stairs down and back up. Stairs are the worst for my osteoarthritic knees, that’s for sure. I’ll be glad to be in my own apartment and free of luggage. I’ll buy a good carry bag for my laptop and stuff. This combo shoulder/back pack looks like a cool solution.

On the advice of good friend, I’m a hosteller for the first time in my life. I checked out of the HOJO and took a long subway ride to the historic Hostelling International New York building on Amsterdam Ave & 103rd St.

I’m checked in to a 6-bed male room and I’m now camped out in the lounge with my laptop. The furniture is quite interesting. The ‘couches’ are about a foot off the floor. This stuff is obviously made for young people, the main occupants of the room right now. The room is abuzz with young voices (mostly female). I may not be able to get up but it’s great for my knees, which are stretched out in front of me. My laptop battery is warming my aching legs. Maybe I’ll stay here all night. It’s a lot nicer than my room.

Yesterday I checked out a couple of apartment shares and met some nice people but have decided to look for a single occupancy studio. Stairs are one of the issues driving the decision. I can manage maybe one flight of stairs with railings but a ground floor or elevator apartment would be far better.

Who knows I may be living in Bay Ridge where we lived (age 5) before moving to Malverne, L.I. I’ve seen studios there on Craigslist that are within my budget.

Hey Heather, if you’ve got time I’d welcome your offer to help comb through Craigslist.

The plant lab story has really just begun rather than ending. Apparently the temporary storage in her science lab created some heartburn for Ebbets Field Middle school principal Margie Baker. Even though I now understand the reasons it’s unfortunate. She certainly did a good deed for me that I’ll long remember.

The complicating issues are that I am not certified by the NYC Board of Education to be in contact with city school children. Nor do I have any kind of agreement or contract with the D.O.E.

Principal Baker is working with her superintendent on getting the ‘mini-labs’ (individual plant racks) distributed to 9 other schools in their district. There is also a possibility of me becoming a “Learning Leader”. It would involve a background check and some classes. The program is designed for parents however, so we’ll see what happens. I would welcome doing whatever necessary to become a badge credentialed volunteer.

At present I’m not able to even get in to the lab and water the plants. I’ve spent some time with science teacher Sherlyne Gilles explaining about sub-irrigation, etc. She gets it of course but is now stuck with the job of watering the plants. I say ‘stuck’ because it was never my intention that anyone other than me would have the chore of watering all of the plants. It’s no problem, however, for a science teacher and students to maintain the plants contained in one ‘mini-lab’. Oh what a tangled web we weave.

This room which was becoming uncomfortably loud just emptied. It was not a cross section of world travelers. I realized they were all college age, asked and found out that the group was from Ryerson University in Toronto. They just left for their flight home. I know about Ryerson because of their green roof work. Toronto is a culturally rich city I’d like to visit one day. Pete Kaiser, a Malverne H.S. classmate, lives there.

Time to get something to eat.

BFN BB