Moving to New York

It surprised even myself, but a 16 hour drive in one day really wasn't that bad. Yeah, Illinois and Indiana are miserable states to drive through, but then things could only go up from there, and they did. After passing Cleveland, Ohio was very pretty, and while the Pennsylvania turnpike may be the road from hell, I-80 was quite nice. The mountains were beautiful, and there was virtually no traffic whatsoever. Made it in one day, and felt like a champion.

I think one of the biggest differences between Wisconsin and New York is transportation. Say goodbye to your vehicle. I've honestly used the Jeep (not including for moving purposes) twice since I've been here. Once to drive to RI, and once to drive to a grocery store. That's it. Once you take a train into the city, you can walk to take the subway virtually anywhere. It's really fantastic actually. People don't use a car because it isn't economical to do so. Parking in the city is a giant pain and usually costs 20 bucks or more per day just to park, that doesn't include the tolling of the bridge or the tunnel to get into the city in the first place. (Just so everyone is aware, it's currently $8.00 to go over the George Washington Bridge. No joke) It's actually pretty amazing how all the public transit works together so well. Subway, trains, busses, ferrys, everything works in sync the majority of the time. Obviously if there is terrible weather or mechanical problems certain things will slow down, but that's the case with any method of transportation. While there are drivers here, I have to think that transportation here is far more efficient than most places on earth. Trains to and from my stop in Newark are usually full, and they run on electricity. It works because everyone uses them, and everyone uses them because they are cheaper than the alternatives. Economics at its finest.

When I first got here I was staying in Montclair, NJ at Laura's grandma's place. Noone lived there anymore and the house was waiting to go on the market, so I had the house to myself for the most part. Montclair was an interesting place. It's only around 5 miles away from Newark, one of the less beautiful places in New Jersey, but Montclair was lush and beautiful. For my Milwaukee friends, think of it as Brookfield, except the North side is much closer. While Newark may not be the happiest place on earth, I've noticed some of its quirks already. I live very close to downtown Newark, which resembles Milwaukee quite a bit in terms of size and number of buildings. I'm looking forward to exploring downtown as there are museums and other fun things to be done down there. No matter what, living on my own for the first time in my apartment is a very rewarding feeling already. Never would have guessed it'd be in Newark, NJ, but that's half the fun of it. I'm going places I never thought I would, and I'm excited to see where that is going to take my next.

One thing I was told is that when you're a New Yorker, you stop looking up at the buildings. I still do.

Well, that was deep. Here's a random connection. Cost of living. Everything is more expensive out here. I was expecting that, but certain products are a bit more random than others. For example, being from Wisconsin I love cheese. I believe that cheese makes just about any food better. Cheese is very expensive here, and there is very little selection. Think two small shelves instead of a whole section in your grocer's freezer isle. The weirdest part though is the different prices between different cheeses. American cheese is still the cheapest, which is no surprise because its terrible. Mild cheddar comes in second, with a relatively low price between $3-4 for a small brick. But then jump over to sharp cheddar, which doubles in price to around $7 for that same size brick. I love sharp cheddar cheese, but not at that price. Shredded cheese is more expensive as well. The value packs that are near 6-7 cups go for around 12 bucks. Compared to 7 or 8 at home. It hurts. I love cheese.

No matter what, the hardest part about moving to New York and working at Madame Tussauds, which is open 365 days a year and busiest on weekends, is the fact that I'm on a train right now heading into the city instead of watching the Packer game. I need to go to a bar just to get the Packers here, but I'll only have that opportunity a handful of times this season anyway. So remember Wisconsinites, to tweet about the games often so I can live through you until January.

More later on New York and roller coasters.