29 August 1996 
 
And so -- here I am -- in the big city.  Situated in a very convenient  
part of the Village: across the street from the math building, a block  
from Broadway, a block from Soho, a block from the gym.  The whole world  
is a block away from my door. 
 
The saga of moving in could be a very good basis for a sitcom episode.   
Sunday, Ma, John, and I drove into the city with very little problem  
other than turning the wrong way down a 4-lane one-way street (Broadway,  
I think).  The traffic isn't that bad on Sundays.  Upon entering my new  
apartment, I was hit by the wafting scent of spoiled food.  Even though  
I was pleasantly surprised by the size of the apartment, I noticed that  
the previous resident had not exactly moved out: she left her  
checkbooks, bills, drivers license, atm card, and a whole bunch of junk.   
Luckily, I was going to my aunt's that night, and I was promised that  
she would clean out the rest of her junk. 
 
Little did I know that this would be the beginning of the saga. 
 
For the past four days, I've been trying to get the phone company to  
acknowledge the existence of my line and let me pay them.  It started on  
Monday, when my roommate Nyree, a botany student, tried to get through  
to NYNEX on a pay phone.  She got disconnected while trying to order new  
service.  When she returned, she plugged in the phone and discovered the  
line worked.  Next it was my turn to try my hand.  I call NYNEX.  They  
tell me a way to find out the number of the line (dial 958.  that's a  
new one to me).  When I call back, they tell me the line belongs to NYU  
and I have to talk to them.  I called NYU, they said that NYNEX controls  
that line.  NYNEX then said there was no line in the room I was calling  
from.  That's funny, I thought, I'm calling from this room.  I went to  
the housing people and said this previous person was getting charged for  
our phone calls for nothing is in our names & the phone works just fine  
for us.  This previous person comes in and claims she can't get the line  
disconnected. 
 
Oh really?  That's too bad.  Because you're paying for all our calls.   
Here I was, money in hand, willing to pay a connection fee for them to  
just enter a few lines into a computer.  And no one was wanting to  
take it from me.  I heard New York was weird, but I never guessed how  
unAmerican it could be.... 
 
Anyway, NYNEX is coming in on Sept. 4 and everything should be  
okee-pokey by then.  I really have no more energy to talk about  
everything else I've been doing right now; I know this story has been  
_so_ interesting to all.  I want to make me some oven toast.