Backtracking

Day 6:

I don't like to backtrack. No one I know does. Who wants to cover the same ground more than once? I do my best to refrain from it, but in some instances it's unavoidable.

This is one of those instances.

So back we go. It was, my previous post notwithstanding, a major event, one that defies a quick run-through. As a result, I may break it down into several entries if I find myself running on or remembering small details. I do like details, so consider yourself forewarned. 

Here we go.

I am a hipster detective, I told the truth earlier. The office I walked into was the headquarters of Bushwick Industrial Zoning Commission. It is a small cinderblock room, devoid of almost anything, save a desk, a few plastic chairs and my boss. When I walked in the conversation went something like this:

My boss: "What color is the sign on the outer door?"

Me: "A fugly yellow-green."

My boss: "The job's yours."

Me: "Great. What is it?"

What it is involves is finding apartments that have been set up in industrial or commercial buildings. Illegal apartments that have sprouted up in one of Brooklyn's designated industrial zones. These apartments have long been part of New York City and apparently there has been a just as long a battle to keep industrial zones industrial only by people like my boss. I personally think he's fighting a losing battle, people in this city kill for real estate and in the long run I don't think that a dinosaur like heavy or light industry can hold out against the crush of humanity.

So I'm supposed to find these illegal apartments, get as much info about them as possible, and get that information back to him. But what I found was a dead kid.

The Hipster.

A New Start

Day 2

I'm the hero of this story.

By page seventeen, I should have a decision to make. By page fifty-five my world should tilt on its axis and by page eighty-five I should hit my low point. But this is real life in New York City and I live month to month, so I can only move forward, because there is nothing for me to fall back upon.

What I'm trying to say is that I got a new job.

I was lucky to get it, my timing was just so. I heard the job open up before anything else, that is I heard the yelling from outside. When my predecessor stormed out the door, I walked in. Five minutes later, I was the new guy. From some of the stuff I heard from outside, my boss might not be the best, but right now work is what I need. Any work. And this is something a little different, definitely different than where I came from or what I plan to do in the future.

I'm a little hesitant to tell you about it because you might want to do it too and it wouldn't be hard for you to dig around a bit and figure out who my boss is and maybe give him a call to see if he needs anyone else. And maybe you would be better at it than I am and he would get rid of me. And that would not be cool.

However, I started this blog to tell you about my life in the downturn and I'll stick to that, so here goes:

I'm a hipster detective.