NY During uhhhh Covid

 For some reason, being in a new apt. has got me in the mood to just scribe more on my nice Chromebook that I´ve gotten chop cheese grease all over.

This one is about how I´ve seen the effects of Covid during my time in New York so far. The headlines are all right. It´s a nightmare (for some). I have a plethora of colleagues that have been given the ability to work from home, which is great. On the other hand, there are thousands of people who have been pushed to the margins because of this, and those who were already there are on the brink of poverty, it seems. 

Lines for food pantries are spanning 10, 15 blocks in Brooklyn. Relatively speaking, Brooklyn as a whole isn´t even one of the most hard hit areas. I may be wrong, but at least my zip code has been faring ¨well¨ in comparison to other areas that have higher density, aka the Bronx. That part of the city has years been hit hard by crime, car accident deaths, and affordable housing. Covid has made it a living nightmare. Although I typically don´t spend that much time up there (dude, it´s like an hour and a half to get to Pelham Park on the 6), enough news outlets have been able to showcase what is going on in borderline upstate NY. 

The Times  recently put out an article about undocumented workers who have been more or less forced to sell food on the streets because of their immigration/nationality status, which realistically does not create the kind of income that is needed to sustain a family. 

Bike delivery workers have become a vital part for the consumption of food with the least amount of contact, well, at least those who can afford it. Not to mention that even before this pandemic, these essential workers were getting stiffed on their tips, being denied PPE, bathroom services, you name it. For a lack of better words, it is unreal. That´s not what I really wanted to say. It´s crazy as fuck.

To end on a good note (as good as a note as I possibly can), Senate Republicans just brought a relief bill to Pelosi and the House Democrats that was constructed by McConnell and his team, which may mean the arrival of new stimulus checks sometime in the new year. 

Plus, the UK just started giving out the Pfizer Vaccine. I bought one share in it before it was even popular. (aka I bought the share last week.)

Im Walkin Hea´

 Here is a small update.

Word on the street is that my job may be getting the vaccine very soon...

How do I feel about that? Hm, not sure. Do I need it? Maybe. Do I deserve it? Um, subjective question. Will I take it? Odds are yes, but part of me wants to say no. Who knows! Because I sure as hell do not!

I have been slowly but surely getting better at my job, at least judging from what my mentors have told me. I even got a perfect audit the other day, which is, for a lack of better words, fire.

Winter is cold in New York, but then again winter is almost cold in every other state. I think that it´s time to buy that fake Moncler jacket from Chinatown that I have been talking about for the last few weeks...

This weekend I visited a small town in upstate-ish NY named Beacon, which automatically makes me think of bacon. That´s besides the point. It reminded me of Boone, NC. The Main Street shops were made all out of brick. Dinner on Saturday was the first time that I had feta on a burger, and I would do it again, but only if you asked me nicely!

SO...this vaccine again... what´s up with that? I mean, am I going to be a guinea pig for something that has yet to be tested on US citizens? It probably has and I have not surfed the internet waves long enough to find an article or succinct evidence that shows it. Should I become one of those essential oil stans and just drink a whole bottle of lavender? IDK MAN! THIS SHIT IS CRAZY. 

I also just bought a new pair of shoes from Marshalls. They are very ¨trendy¨ and I bought them from Marshalls in Long Island. Did I mention that they are from Marshalls and that they are Reebok, and that I got them from Marshalls for $30? My $30 shoes from Marshalls? I love them and they love me. Together. Forever. And forever means 2 months until I decide go and get another cool pair of Reebok from my beloved Marshalls......

MARSHALLS!

nyc type beat but in spanish

Hoy es el 15 de agosto, yo creo. Estoy esperando pa´ mi joyería que pedí hace una semana. Tal vez pienso que alguien está robandome de las paquetes que deben estar a mi hogar, pero es posible que todavia no hayan llegado.

Tomé el tren a Pelham Bay Park en The Bronx. Allá descubrí una playa, la naturaleza, y un casco. Mi novia me dijo anoche que sería bastante enojada si no lo comprara.

Hoy es la primera vez en un tiempo largo que he usado mi balcón. La temperatura es bastante buena, fresca. Si no sabía, diría que estamos en la primavera.

Cuando me desperté esta noche, busqué algunas publicaciones de unas de mis profesoras de VCU, Aspen Brinton. He pensando en eviandole una mensaje por correo electronico diciendo que todavia tengo un interés en aprendiendo más sobre los temas que estudiaba en universidad.

Dentro de las paginas que leí hoy, ella habla sobre lo que ético y educado. Toma vistas diferentes, cambiando entre Ghandi (quien vivía bajo el colonialismo de Inglaterra), Aung San Suu Kyi (quien vivía en un país qu fue gobernado por un gobierno autocrático), y una variedad de países en Europa Occidental (generalmente, estos países eran en contra del comunismo del USSR). Aunque no he terminado las escrituras, fue algo diferente que hice para empezar mi día.

diarios diarios

Hoy: el veintesiete de julio. Conducí por 7 horas anoche sin parar. Obviamente, pasé tiempo con mi novia. Diciendole adios nunca será fácil jamas. Nuesto futuro es brilliante. Estamos de acuerdo con las metas que ya habiamos hablado sobre para mejorar y preservar lo que ya tenemos entre nostros mismos. Acabo de llegar a una reunión que crearon mis jefes hoy. Todavia estoy cansado desde anoche. Me siento como si fuera que no exista. He comido bastante pizza para almuerzo en las ultimas semanas, y tengo 12 huevos a casa que no he tocado tampoco. Es imperativa que cocina más, el gasto de dinero me asusta.

Hoy: el veinteocho de julio. Leí un articulo desde el NYT que describió lo que está pasando en América Latina, y los metodos que personas han sido afectadas por el coronavirus están usando. Hay una química que fue usada muchisimia (trataría escribirla, pero no sé como deletrearla), e otros tratamientos que han llegado a la región. Me duele pensar sobre otra gente en otros partes del mundo que tiene que sufrir en esta pandemica. Hay comunidades que recientemente crecieron rapidamente que fallecieron más rapidos que se mejoraron en no más que 5 meses. Tambien, leí otro articulo de el NYT que explicó una situación de una mujer colómbiana que fue afectada por el coronavirus. Ella acabó hacer una vida comoda pa´ si misma y sus hijas por trabajando largo, duro días por la que pareciera como siempre, y el virus robó toda desde ella y su familia. Cada día, trataré de ser más gracioso, amable. Porque la vida no es prometida jamás. Solo estoy alegre estar vivo, y tener la capacidad de tener una casa para regresar despues de un día de trabajando.

Hoy: el veintenueve de julio. Todavia estoy entrenando, haciendo lo que yo hice hace una semana. Por la primera vez en hace un tiempo largo, he cocinado diariamente pa´ mis desayunos y almuerzos. Definativamente hice un punto de llevar mi almuerzo conmigo a mi trabajo. Tambien, encontré que prefiero escribir escritos cortitos como esto. Corto y dulce.

saturdays are for the.....chores?

Believe it or not, this was the first time in 2 weeks that I was at my apartment for the entire weekend. It fell in between a weird slew of events where 4th of July was one weekend and then the weekend after that I went home to visit.

Usually I like to think of Saturdays of the day where you go out with your friends and essentially throw all caution to the wind. This Saturday was different. Although I did get to hang with one of Midlo´s finest (ain´t it something that there is a handful of Midlothianites up here?), I got some other errands done that I usually don´t do until last minute due to precarious time management during the week.

First thing was getting up mad early to bike to Lower Manhattan. I helped a lady and her kid the other day there fix the bearing on the kid´s penny board, and decided to skate around a little after that. At first, I realized that I was right next to the NYSE. I had just bought a share of some stupid company on Robinhood the day before, so that was funny (more or less). The view from the pier was nice, and I told myself that I needed to go back this weekend while the temp was not deathly hot like it has been today already. The J train was under maintenance the whole week, and it would have required me to take a bus (which I still have to figure out). The GPS said it would take the same amount of time to get there by bike, so I hit the audible play call button and went along with it. Getting there I crossed the Manhattan Bridge, went through Chinatown, and Downtown Brooklyn all for the first time. Solid move on my end.

I even did my laundry. This doesn´t seem like a big deal, but I never do my laundry on the weekends, specifically on a Saturday. Then I went to the grocery store. Then I went to get an oil change. Then I went to the skatepark. Then I linked up with some usual suspects. All on Saturday. I, I am unstoppable.

Today calls for a tire rotation and cleaning my bathroom. Domesticated? Maybe.

I still got it / todavia lo tengo

I bought a new board today. And some new wheels. I was riding fresh coming down DeKalb towards the avenue.

New trucks and bearings were waiting at my apartment, and it was only right that I set up my board as soon as I stepped through my bedroom door. I thought to myself whether I wanted to hit Maria Hernandez, or go to TF West (TF West, right?). The latter enticed me more and I boarded the J with 10 seconds to spare before it took off from the platform.

I had a feeling that I had not tightened the bolts to my trucks enough, but still went on my little escapade. La Abiceleste on my back, and a old pair of Nikes that I bought from Marshalls last November. I go for a back tail on the baby box, and BOOM. My wheel pops off, which means the bolt is also off. The next 30 minutes are spent walking around, trying to figure out where such a small yet important piece to my board went. Nearly giving up, I find it behind a bench and continue my session.

Two dudes sat next to me as I took a break from skating once I had found my bolt. They were speaking Spanish and I instantly picked up on it. As they left, I left them with a ¨Que se vayan bien¨, and we instantly had a 3 minute convo about how Messi may never win a World Cup because of how shit his team is. That was one of the first times I was able to use my Spanish out of the context of ordering food over the counter, or speaking to my stepmother. I was confident, in that I usually do not decide to do such a thing.

In short, I still got it.

driving down the jersey tnpk

The Jersey Turnpike is, for a lack of better words, everything that you expect it to be and not to be, all at the same time.

I have had the pleasure (ergo, sarcasm) of taking this route to drive down south and back for the last few months on numerous occasions. The smell is constant, the speeding drivers never seem to slow down, and me driving in the slow lane at exactly 65 MPH is less than a threat to society.

Driving to DC and back on a regular weekend takes about 8-10 hours round trip. I always feel like the way back up is easier than the way down. I keep my car parked in Hempstead so that I will not have to deal with the daily parking craziness that exists all over the city. Close enough to where I have easy access to it. Me and BL decided last minute to meet half way in Cap City at, like, 7PM Friday and ended up linking around 3 in the morning and not getting to bed until 6 the next morning. The bags in my eyes from 2016 are slowly but surely making a comeback.

BL and Larry´s weekend getaway, if you will. A trip to the river and biking/blading through the city was nice, topping it off with our fancy wine ($8 bottle of Vinho Verde) to end the night. Waking up next to her never gets old, and saying goodbye typically never gets easier.

Well, what´s new? My job is a job. No complaints, or anything overly exciting to share. Being one of the youngest people at the workplace is definitely different. The typical office jargon revolves around topics that I have no interest in, and I am perfectly fine with that. Even better, I am essentially invisible at work at the moment. We´re so swamped with backlogged work that me and the other like 4 people who have started at the same time as me are just sitting in the training room, simply existing. Ain´t no complaints (shoutout Metro Boomin).

I´ve been in the city for almost a month now and I am starting to get the swings, and by that I mean I am finally starting to walk a little bit faster than usual. I can get on the train to work without using my phone for directions, found the local park, and got a bike to cruise around when I have not-shit else to do.

I´m going alright, very alright.