Sunday, August 18, 2013

August 18, 2013

Some things about Rockaway haven't changed....
And other things have changed significantly...
There are far fewer services here now there were 10 months ago. Both Key Foods are gone, the burn area at Rockaway Beach Blvd is now a cleared, empty lot, and most of the Boardwalk west of Arverne is no more. The commute is still long, and rents are still cheap by NYC standards (although higher than what I was paying pre-Sandy). But it is weird how in the last 9 months I went from NYC to Colorado Springs to Austin to Eureka Springs to the NYC shelter system and ended up back in Rockaway and back at a low paying delivery job.

Saturday, August 10, 2013

August 10, 2013

The nearly 10 month Sandy relocation nightmare that started in late October is finally over. I am now living within 10 feet of where I used to live before that storm changed everything. If I didn't have a doctor's appointment in 1 hour and a lot of stuff left to move from storage and the shelter, I'd be enjoying the backyard beach right now. More to come when I have an extended time to write, since I have lost possessions, clothes, and my mind. The Austin move back in February turned into a 3 month stay at the Salvation Army shelter there. I was lucky- there are maybe 10-15 homeless people in Austin for each availble shelter bed there. I then got a church-sponsored bus ticket to NW Arkansas in late May, where I stayed near my Aunt Debbie who I hadn't seen in 15 years. And then on returning to NYC, I spent 2 months in the shelter system (mostly in Jamaica) and got 2 jobs after being unemployed for 9 months. As of this morning, I moved back to the building that as recently as December was still uninhabitable due to no heat or boiler.