Catastrophe averted

Tall Skinny — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 22:04:21 +0000

…so i’ve been to 30 countries around the world but had never been to NYC, until yesterday. The worst snow storm to hit the east coast is hammering Washington D.C. and Baltimore but I go on ahead and book my flight. I arrive to LaGuardia before 10am on a beautiful sunny day. Jump into a cab and jabber my instructions to the West Village. I basically had to mime the directions to they guy, common english does not apply. The cabbie thinks he understands and we are off in some direction. I’m trying to act like I know where I’m going so this guy doesn’t take me for a ride. I think if you want to be able to drive as fast as you want, forget street racing and become a NYC cab driver. Jesus Christ! That Crown Vic was red-lining every gear on the freeway topping out around 80. I felt like I was in a chase scene from C.H.I.P.S. We hit some uneven pavement at a the cross streets and my backpack hit the ceiling. Regardless I made it to my destination unscathed. I went to meet my oldest friend who has been a resident in the City for 3 years now. She lives in on the 3rd floor of a walkup in the West Village. We toured the city and saw the sights. My first day in NYC – great. My second didn’t start off so well. This next bit tells you and anyone who saw the events to follow that I am not from the City. I awake, take my shower, pack up my bag and decide to make a bit of breakfast before venturing out into the snow storm. Well its a bit hot in the room. I should open the window. I remove the pole that stops the window from moving (which obviously means don’t move me) and lift UP on the window. ZIIIIIIPPPP, WHOOSH, BANG…..OH SHIT! Thats the sounds ringing out from the 3rd story window as the A/C unit falls from the window frame. It was not plugged into the wall so there was no stalling what was happening. In my head I’m thinking ‘Please God No!’ Luckily my reflexes on this particular day were lightning fast. I caught the end of the cord a split second before it was out of sight. I’ll say Frigidaire knows how to assemble a sturdy A/C window unit, cause I was able to pull that puppy back up from a drop of 8 feet. As I’m pulling it back up to the apartment I’m about to go into cardiac arrest considering my heart is beating so fast. I wonder did the unit break the window of the apartment below and did anyone see this happen. I scan the courtyard quickly, there is no sign of movement. My knuckles look like a rubbed them over a cheese grader, I must have banged them on the brick when the cord caught somewhere below the window ledge. I reinstall the unit, press the window down hard, close the blinds and am quiet listening for any movement from below. Note to self, ALWAYS push DOWN on the window, never UP.

Everything's Gonna Be OK » Tall Skinny

Catastrophe averted