I hurt myself at the gym the other day. The exact moment is still fresh in my head. There I was, back flat against the weight bench, two 400-pound dumbbells poised above my head. Nickelback played through the speakers, angering me to the brink of insanity at the unfairness of life. My muscles twitched; sweat [...]
Tag Archives: Jackson Heights
Unemployment gets a man off the subway platform for a change
Friday, October 16, 2009
Life used to be so easy when I had a job. Okay, maybe that’s overstating it a little. Subway travel was easy, or at least buying a fare card was. Life was hard then too, just in a different, more financially enriching way. And subway travel was and is always an adventure, like the flume [...]
Jackson Heights lows – the recession comes to town
Thursday, February 26, 2009
My neighborhood – Jackson Heights – is more working class than many New York City neighborhoods, but more middle class than some others. It’s ethnically mixed but dominated by first and second generation immigrants from South America and India and other parts of Asia. Some significant portion of this group is undocumented, or they prefer [...]
The perfect day to be somewhere else
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
“There’s no place like home,” Dorothy once said, before becoming a drug-addicted gay icon. Maybe it’s because “home is where the heart is.” So does that mean if I try to go somewhere else, without my heart, I’ll die? It’s also true that “you can never go home,” unless you’re Bon Jovi. This presents an [...]
Want job security? Sell fruit in Manhattan
Thursday, January 29, 2009
The fruit guy has more job security than I ever did. I’ve been laid off and unemployed 4 times in 8 years, but he’s still selling fruit on the same corner.
The only job I’ll ever need, if I can get it…
Thursday, January 8, 2009
A jobless man discovers the perfect job and then realizes he might not be cut out for it.
Toy story: the recession edition
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Watching a toy store close from my bedroom window
Merry Christmas, and get the hell out of my way!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Pushy Christmas shoppers in Jackson Heights
Even in unemployment I can’t get away from the Empire State Building
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Story about how the Empire State Building seems to follow me
How long can they possibly work on my building?
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
The construction on my roof is driving me crazy.