Miss me?

All of March.....

Yes, I dissed you guys for all of March and damn near all of April.

I am sorry.
In that time, I moved--and that took quite the adjustment for me. I am also getting a ringside seat into what it is to maintain a Rent Stabilized apartment in NYC. What a clusterf-ck this is...




These landlords are no joke--and they will not fix what's broken--so FYI it pays to know how to solve certain problems yourself--both legally and by way of repairs.

While I understand the value of a dollar and get that someone needs to get paid--the skyrocketing cost of living in NYC is doing a number on a lot of people. What is now considered affordable is simply out of line for some everyday people. While they do their very best to keep up, the fact remains, there is a real sense of fear that always underlines their concept of home.

I know because I've felt it before.

Subsidized housing (and I am including everyone--from the Projects to the Mitchell-Lama) is an amazing gift for many people and should be appreciated. Apart from the re-certification process, you are pretty much good--unless of course the Feds take their money away--which is not impossible--unlikely--but not impossible.

But Lord help you if you are Rent Control or Rent Stablized.

You see, I've realized that this status, especially in Manhattan, is a gift and a curse like no other. The one-two punch of landlord persecution and lack of apartment maintenance in many cases, is ridiculous. After time it can actually make a person begin to think that they are doing something wrong by living somewhere for a long period of time.

As if YOU had that audacity to think that housing laws set up to protect residents, could even remotely apply to you--let alone directly. I mean, how could you think that you would be able to stay in such a good neighborhood--you...you mere peasant. (that last part was for dramatic effect)


On the flip side, even if your position is like "Eff-that, I don't care how many times I have to go to court!" It is still a tricky, tricky mind game my friends.

So as you can see, this has been occupying my mind--and it sucks to see someone close to be go through that.

Changing gears now...

I have also been spending entirely too much money on exercise initiatives, all in the name of

                                                   "The Great Bikini Challenge of 2013"

I vow that if at some point I succeed in my mission to expose my midsection to the masses (something I have not done since 2002)  I will shamelessly post pictures on this blog--which is the closest I'll ever come to public nudity--so it's totally a big deal.

So in a nutshell--this is what I've been doing for the last 45 or so days. What about you?

xo.
Lalo