Since I wasn't still sure of a place I shot a few emails and made a few calls to have a look at more apartments the other day. All three of them were in downtown, one on Prospect st., the other on S. Aurora and the third near the State Theater on W State St. Unfortunately all three were free only during the afternoon, around three, and none were willing to show around after 4:30. So I again set foot in the blazing sun.
It took me about 30 minutes to reach my first destination on Prospect st. Again, the sun was shining brightly and it was hard to look ahead without squinting. As I walked all the way down East Ave and then crossed Collegetown I again came across the digital signboard that read "100 deg F". I made a quick stop at subway, took a bite of sandwich and refreshed myself with some cold water before covering the last few inches. The house that I looked at was pretty spacious and was at a good location with commons just a few blocks away but then again the thought of going to college all the way was dreading, especially after listening to people talking about the horrific winters. Nevertheless, sooner or later, I had to take a place since I had been staying at my friend's place for almost a week and was still living from a suitcase so there was no option but to find the right balance between the cost and comfort from the available options.
I then headed off to the next destination, next to State Theater. Now this was right in the middle of Commons and had quite a bit of life around it. I was impressed with the location and the proximity to everyday needs. But when I went two floors up to have a look at the apartment I was disappointed. Actually, that day there was a smell of something burnt that was lurking in the hallway and the air in the apartment smelled stale. The top floor was really hot and the entire place seemed abandoned and plundered. I guess my opinion would have changed had someone been living there but, with such a spacious but empty apartment, I couldn't conjure a healthy image of living there.
Both these places were about $1750/3BR but the second one included utilities. I was so drained with such a long walk in the heat that I didn't have the energy to go look at the third apartment. I went straight to starbucks and sat for a while with a lemonade before I could cool off. On my way back I got a call from the apartment I was awaiting that there could be a possibility for me to move over since the landlord wasn't showing much interest in the other party. I spoke with the landlord and things seemed to be on track. There were a few issues around payment of security but I could manage all that and, in the end, we decided to sign the lease.
So we decided to meet on Sunday, 24th, to sign the lease. I was still a bit apprehensive because throughout the morning I couldn't get through the landlord to confirm the time but it was all ok when he called back. We decided to meet at about 8 pm in the apartment just so that I could have a look at it again and ensure that things were in order. That day the apartment wasn't as appealing since the tenants had moved quite a bit of their stuff and the ACs were also off. It was then that the landlord told me that the past week has been unusual for Ithaca as it has never gone beyond 90-95 deg F. This was also confirmed by my friend who, I was surprised, hadn't bought an AC even after living here for four years. So I guess this is just a temporary phase and soon its all going to transition to "white"!
We finally signed the lease and I am going to shift into my apartment the coming Monday. Btw, it was a coincidence that I found a college senior on the way and it was a delight to know that he was living in the house right opposite. In fact, in my very own house, the ground floor was occupied by my batch mate which was another surprise. It felt secure to know that there are known people living around and that there would be company.
Now, I'm keeping an eye on mails that advertise "moving sales". I can't wait to get my apartment, and my room, in shape!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Apartment hunting: part 1
I'd open this post with a good news... any guesses? Well, I signed the deal and will be moving into my own apartment on 1st of August :D I left the previous post on just the first day of search and I think I should detail out the events of the week to give you guys a better perspective of how tough (or easy) apartment hunting can be.
So, I opened my bank account and, with all the research and work I had done to find the right bank, I feel I achieved a big feat. I took all the information that my folks back home would need to deposit into my bank account and that includes the SWIFT code that is not normally required in domestic wire transfers. It was an easy process. My parents had some amount transferred and it took a couple of days for it to show up in my account as available balance.
Now let me take you through the ordeal of apartment hunting. Tuesday, 19th July, was pretty hot and especially with the body ache that I was going through it was kind of unbearable. But, it was less unbearable than sitting at home in the heat and so I took off. I don't exactly remember the options I had listed but I had all the contacts of the appropriate houses that were advertised on craigslist and I used to keep refreshing the page every now and then to be the first one to apply to a $400/3BR ad!
Before heading off to the engineering quad where I normally used to sit, I covered ISSO and wrapped up all the formalities that an international student had to undergo. I then went to Gannett and inquired about SHIP since I had purchased student insurance from a private company (ICICI Lombard). They directed me to the SHIP office that's in collegetown, a 5-10 minute walk from Gannett, but in the heat along with cramped legs it seemed much more. I feel that, more than me, it'd have been annoying for others since I couldn't exert much force to ensure a smooth landing on a downward slope and I always ended up stomping my foot that was creating regularly spaced sound beats. At the SHIP office I got the information about filing for an appeal to waive the SHIP. It basically had to cover the six criteria and the form had to be submitted before Sep 7th, I think. During this time I would be required to pay for SHIP which will get refunded if my appeal is accepted.
So ya I then came to the engineering quad and took a comfortable space on one of the tables, shielded from the wrath of the sun. It was over 90 deg. F and cold drinks, ice teas and lemonades were seen in everybody's hands. I then jotted down the contacts of quite a few places and it used to take a long time in getting in touch with the right person, speaking about the apartment and then scheduling a meeting to have a look. I, then, eventually planned on having a look at all the apartments on Thursday. It was kind of difficult to make a choice between the areas because the North Campus is at an equal altitude but farther from the engineering quad than places further down collegetown that were located after a descent but closer. So do I chose more time and less effort or less time and more effort? But I decided to atleast make a note of all the places so I could cover them all at once while I was in the area.
So it was Thursday and I had my first appointment at 5 pm down E State St. It was 105 deg F that day and, I needn't say, it was sweltering hot. As I got out of my place I felt like going back and taking a shower again but I had to muster the strength to brave the heat because it was all for a longer term peace of mind. Although there were people walking the streets that day most of them had umbrellas while others were dodging for shade! Walking down inclines of about 30 deg for hours is sure to burn a ton of calories and that would have been the day for people wanting to do so. I took my first stop at the place down E State St. and had a look at a $1850/3BR apartment. As I had seen from the pictures it seemed to be an excellent place. Neat, clean, well ventilated, aesthetic and modern. But it seemed too far from my department and also more expensive than what I, along with others, had budgeted.
I then went up E State St to have a look at another $1750/3BR that was right next to Commons. I could actually feel my throat drying up and sweat dripping all across my forehead and face and patches of my shirt getting soaked in it. It was really terrible. The first thing that I did as soon as I reached Commons was get an ice cold lemonade. I then crossed the bridge to get to another place. The agent showed me around the apartment that wasn't yet ready. He gave me all the information and I saw how cool the place was and how well equipped the kitchen was the most important deal buster was that it was available only by the end of August.
The third apartment was the one I had associated my hopes with. It was a $1200/3BR with one of the rooms being large enough to accommodate two. Sounded perfect. When I went to have a look, it was pretty cool, as in temperature wise and a great respite from the heat outside. The tenants had maintained it pretty well and it looked really beautiful with small decorative objects showcased throughout the apartment. I would not go into the details but it met our expectations and except for being a bit further down Collegetown, where I would have ideally wanted to reside, suited our needs. I didn't commit then but contemplated the pros and cons of the apartment before contacting back after about an hour. There seemed to have been other people who had shown interest before me and who were given preference so I was still without a place.
Coming back home I discussed the situation with my friend. It was pretty easy for him since he had simply replied to a post in the Cornell community which was looking for two people in a house of six. That made me realize had I been looking for an apartment on my own I would have probably found one by now. There are always people posting for room mates when one of theirs leaves for some reason or the other. And for students who arrive late into the semester, it probably is the best option since most of the reasonable apartments/houses get taken by then.
So, by the end of Thursday I was still in a state of limbo. I wish I had made an offer on the spot. Not that I couldn't look at other houses but the heat and the climb and descent make it exponentially tough.
So, I opened my bank account and, with all the research and work I had done to find the right bank, I feel I achieved a big feat. I took all the information that my folks back home would need to deposit into my bank account and that includes the SWIFT code that is not normally required in domestic wire transfers. It was an easy process. My parents had some amount transferred and it took a couple of days for it to show up in my account as available balance.
Now let me take you through the ordeal of apartment hunting. Tuesday, 19th July, was pretty hot and especially with the body ache that I was going through it was kind of unbearable. But, it was less unbearable than sitting at home in the heat and so I took off. I don't exactly remember the options I had listed but I had all the contacts of the appropriate houses that were advertised on craigslist and I used to keep refreshing the page every now and then to be the first one to apply to a $400/3BR ad!
Before heading off to the engineering quad where I normally used to sit, I covered ISSO and wrapped up all the formalities that an international student had to undergo. I then went to Gannett and inquired about SHIP since I had purchased student insurance from a private company (ICICI Lombard). They directed me to the SHIP office that's in collegetown, a 5-10 minute walk from Gannett, but in the heat along with cramped legs it seemed much more. I feel that, more than me, it'd have been annoying for others since I couldn't exert much force to ensure a smooth landing on a downward slope and I always ended up stomping my foot that was creating regularly spaced sound beats. At the SHIP office I got the information about filing for an appeal to waive the SHIP. It basically had to cover the six criteria and the form had to be submitted before Sep 7th, I think. During this time I would be required to pay for SHIP which will get refunded if my appeal is accepted.
So ya I then came to the engineering quad and took a comfortable space on one of the tables, shielded from the wrath of the sun. It was over 90 deg. F and cold drinks, ice teas and lemonades were seen in everybody's hands. I then jotted down the contacts of quite a few places and it used to take a long time in getting in touch with the right person, speaking about the apartment and then scheduling a meeting to have a look. I, then, eventually planned on having a look at all the apartments on Thursday. It was kind of difficult to make a choice between the areas because the North Campus is at an equal altitude but farther from the engineering quad than places further down collegetown that were located after a descent but closer. So do I chose more time and less effort or less time and more effort? But I decided to atleast make a note of all the places so I could cover them all at once while I was in the area.
So it was Thursday and I had my first appointment at 5 pm down E State St. It was 105 deg F that day and, I needn't say, it was sweltering hot. As I got out of my place I felt like going back and taking a shower again but I had to muster the strength to brave the heat because it was all for a longer term peace of mind. Although there were people walking the streets that day most of them had umbrellas while others were dodging for shade! Walking down inclines of about 30 deg for hours is sure to burn a ton of calories and that would have been the day for people wanting to do so. I took my first stop at the place down E State St. and had a look at a $1850/3BR apartment. As I had seen from the pictures it seemed to be an excellent place. Neat, clean, well ventilated, aesthetic and modern. But it seemed too far from my department and also more expensive than what I, along with others, had budgeted.
I then went up E State St to have a look at another $1750/3BR that was right next to Commons. I could actually feel my throat drying up and sweat dripping all across my forehead and face and patches of my shirt getting soaked in it. It was really terrible. The first thing that I did as soon as I reached Commons was get an ice cold lemonade. I then crossed the bridge to get to another place. The agent showed me around the apartment that wasn't yet ready. He gave me all the information and I saw how cool the place was and how well equipped the kitchen was the most important deal buster was that it was available only by the end of August.
The third apartment was the one I had associated my hopes with. It was a $1200/3BR with one of the rooms being large enough to accommodate two. Sounded perfect. When I went to have a look, it was pretty cool, as in temperature wise and a great respite from the heat outside. The tenants had maintained it pretty well and it looked really beautiful with small decorative objects showcased throughout the apartment. I would not go into the details but it met our expectations and except for being a bit further down Collegetown, where I would have ideally wanted to reside, suited our needs. I didn't commit then but contemplated the pros and cons of the apartment before contacting back after about an hour. There seemed to have been other people who had shown interest before me and who were given preference so I was still without a place.
Coming back home I discussed the situation with my friend. It was pretty easy for him since he had simply replied to a post in the Cornell community which was looking for two people in a house of six. That made me realize had I been looking for an apartment on my own I would have probably found one by now. There are always people posting for room mates when one of theirs leaves for some reason or the other. And for students who arrive late into the semester, it probably is the best option since most of the reasonable apartments/houses get taken by then.
So, by the end of Thursday I was still in a state of limbo. I wish I had made an offer on the spot. Not that I couldn't look at other houses but the heat and the climb and descent make it exponentially tough.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Apartment and bank account
So the other day was my first at Cornell and it was then that it all dawned upon me. Life that I had left behind for four years came back flashing in my mind bringing with it some fond memories and some scary! I was excited to again begin studying, immersing myself in books, going to practical classes, discussing challenging financial problems and coding complex algorithms, yeah… I still am J But, along with that, I’m also excited to live graduate life, to interact with people from different backgrounds and upbringing, to learn from great intellectuals at Cornell, to explore different fields and to play sports. One and a half years seem awfully small to do all that but I am optimistic. I think everyone is which is what makes it all the more exciting and competitive. Every person, especially those coming for a professional masters degree, are looking to network, to make long lasting and worthy contacts, to build relationships and in that complex process they try to present themselves in the best manner and profile others based on their demeanor.
But let me not get into the psychology of human relationships. That’s an altogether different field and I’m sure there would be a department in Cornell that pertains to that too! So I took a shower and set off from my dorm to do the one thing that’s crucial for peace of mind, looking for a place to live. I hook up on craigslist and create a list of places that fit my budget and are at a comfortable distance from my department and are furnished and include utilities. There are a few trivial items that one needs to be careful about while looking out for apartments in Ithaca, and maybe in other places in US too, which I wasn’t aware about initially, such as:
· Utilities – Includes heat, water, electricity and cooking gas. Heat is a tricky part coz sometimes it just means heating of the water while the apartment heat is electricity driven so if you’re paying for electricity then you better clarify the source of the heat.
· Trash – There’s a big enough responsibility of managing trash here and it doesn’t cost much but still useful to clarify with the owner
· Snow – Come November and its going to be freaking freezing! You’d want your patios and sidewalks free of snow so either you shovel it on your own or hire someone else or the landlord pays for it.
· Cable and Internet – Some places come equipped with such connections and you just need to pay for the plan while in others you need to get a new connection. In some its included in the rent!
· Furniture – Most of the times the “furnished” only means a bed, dresser, desk and chair in each room and a couch and table in the living. Kitchens almost always come equipped with a fridge, stove with oven and a microwave. If you need anything else, you need to check with the landlord.
I then embark on the quest for my apartment but I also had another important agenda which was to open a bank account. I started from the place where I was staying, Thurston avenue in North Campus, and headed north. The GPS in my phone was guiding me well and I could find my way to the place I wanted to reach. The apartment was nice, 3BR and well furnished for $1500 but I wanted to explore further. Generally you’d be able to find good apartments for $500 per person but in peak times this can go to $650-$700. I moved on and I found it a bit hard to feel that I was on top of a hill where Cornell is supposed to be. It wasn’t until I went further along Wyckoff towards the north that it started to slope down which is when I realized the biggest shortfall of google maps, its inability to inform about gradients. Although the GPS conveniently showed a curved path where I had to take a left on Kline Rd it failed to depict the slope of the path and it took some effort to continue along the slope till I finally reached at N. Tioga and E. Lincoln. It was a great relief. Although I managed to descend the road, the entire act was, in effect, the same as crouching and squatting a hundred times and it wasn’t until the next morning that I realized the toll it had taken on my muscles, but more on that later!
So I keep following N. Tioga street all the way to the end to reach a place called The Commons. Bank of America was my final destination for the simple reason that it was one of the biggest bank in the US and it would convenient to transfer money to different locations. Fortunately, along the way, I came across a few apartments and I kept jotting down their information and a majority of them were about $500-550 per person. I was looking mainly at 3BR.
Finally I reached the BoA and had to wait for quite some time before someone attended me. My primary concern was that the account shouldn’t have any monthly fee and should have no minimum balance criteria, much like a student’s account. Along with that I didn’t want the account to have any fee associated with incoming transfers and outgoing as well. Something that I came to know recently was that wire transfers are the ones initiated from a branch with the help of a teller and thus carry a one time charge while online transfers are actually called electronic transfer or bill pay. Having had this clarified I finally opened my account in M&T Bank since it was the only one offering the student accounts (HSBC hadn’t started with the scheme yet and was going to sometime in August). The first accomplishment!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
On my way...
The start of this blog has been delayed so I'll take you back in time to where my journey took off from. It was this Sunday that I finally began my journey to Cornell. Till now the feeling of leaving my job and going back to school had not sunk in. Frankly, it didn't then either. But I was happy to let go of the comfortable corporate life to take up what really interested me. I was excited to embark on the next phase of my career that would really be a defining moment. I was going to begin life as a Graduate student in the Engineering department at Cornell where I would major in Financial Engineering.
It has been a long ride preparing for this time and I'm sure that when it begins time is just going to fly off. The day before I had to pack my luggage and arrange it in a manner so that I can sustain with opening just one bag, I had three. During the evening I had gone for a nice walk at Baltimore harbor. It was such a lively atmosphere with throngs of people swarming the entire place having food, singing, dancing, playing music or cheering for the street performers. Although I had thought of staying back at home to plan the coming week, it was a rejuvenating experience to take a stroll in the middle of so much action besides the sea!
Finally the day came and I stuffed all my bags in the car to leave for the bus stop. I was excited and apprehensive. Excited for the day long journey and apprehensive if it'd go as smoothly as planned and unfortunately I saw the first set back, jammed freeways. It was hard to believe so much traffic could exist on a Sunday but thankfully we had some time on my side and with some bypasses and short cuts, we managed to reach DC but the problem didn't end. Half the intersections were blocked due to God knows why and we were trying our best to recall the infinite crossings in the area and then applying different combinations to arrive at the shortest available path to our destination. With a turn every other second the GPS was also finding hard to coordinate and provide directions but finally we managed to reach our stop with a few minutes to spare. It was another task to carry the entire luggage till the boarding point and then stuff it inside the bus with enough room to spare for other's.
And so there was another momentary feeling of victory, when the bus started, to know that nothing could possibly go wrong now, at least nothing that could put me out of schedule to reach Cornell today. As we pulled out of the city and headed towards Baltimore I made a complete use of the time and spoke with my family back home, with my mom, dad, sister, aunts, uncles and friends. Time swept quite fast and it wasn't until a couple of hours into the ride that I realized we have reached almost midway in time but not so in space, there was quite a bit of traffic. I was also looking forward to meet a colleague of mine who had had a 4 month long stint in the Capital One US office and so I had left office before meeting him for the 'last' time. So around 4 pm when I was actually supposed to reach within the next 20 minutes, I did a quick recheck and google maps showed that I was not to be in NJ until the next hour and so I passed the information to him. Finally, after about 45 minutes, as predicted, I reached the greyhound bus terminal at Newark Penn Station in NJ. I was expecting my luggage to have been pushed behind and so I didn't scurry to get off the bus. Fortunately my colleague had found his way to the bus stop and was right behind me when I turned and there I had a big helping hand. I chatted with him for about an hour or so before my college friend came over and hurriedly put my luggage in the car and we zipped off after a quick round of goodbyes. This was to be the final leg of the journey.
I was a bit let down by the fact that I didn't have a camera and so couldn't take pictures but it wouldn't have mattered as I would have come to know in the next few hours, yes, it became quite dark. But, nevertheless the first pictures of approaching Cornell, however bright they were, would be pinned down in my memory. Just as we were on the cusp of reaching Ithaca I could feel the fresh air of the mountains, the energy in the wind and the serenity in the lake! Although I was a bit taken aback when my phone couldn't catch the T Mobil signal but it regained life when we reached Ithaca. My friend drove around Collegetown, the happening place right next to Campus, and the noise and giggles, even at that hour, were high enough to bring back memories of the internship days! All of us were quite tired, especially him since he had been traveling for the past 3 days up and around NYC so we then hit his home. I put all my stuff in the house and we headed for a round of the place where he showed me the malls, my department and the campus in general before we hit the bed.
So this was my first day, actually night, at Cornell.
It has been a long ride preparing for this time and I'm sure that when it begins time is just going to fly off. The day before I had to pack my luggage and arrange it in a manner so that I can sustain with opening just one bag, I had three. During the evening I had gone for a nice walk at Baltimore harbor. It was such a lively atmosphere with throngs of people swarming the entire place having food, singing, dancing, playing music or cheering for the street performers. Although I had thought of staying back at home to plan the coming week, it was a rejuvenating experience to take a stroll in the middle of so much action besides the sea!
Finally the day came and I stuffed all my bags in the car to leave for the bus stop. I was excited and apprehensive. Excited for the day long journey and apprehensive if it'd go as smoothly as planned and unfortunately I saw the first set back, jammed freeways. It was hard to believe so much traffic could exist on a Sunday but thankfully we had some time on my side and with some bypasses and short cuts, we managed to reach DC but the problem didn't end. Half the intersections were blocked due to God knows why and we were trying our best to recall the infinite crossings in the area and then applying different combinations to arrive at the shortest available path to our destination. With a turn every other second the GPS was also finding hard to coordinate and provide directions but finally we managed to reach our stop with a few minutes to spare. It was another task to carry the entire luggage till the boarding point and then stuff it inside the bus with enough room to spare for other's.
And so there was another momentary feeling of victory, when the bus started, to know that nothing could possibly go wrong now, at least nothing that could put me out of schedule to reach Cornell today. As we pulled out of the city and headed towards Baltimore I made a complete use of the time and spoke with my family back home, with my mom, dad, sister, aunts, uncles and friends. Time swept quite fast and it wasn't until a couple of hours into the ride that I realized we have reached almost midway in time but not so in space, there was quite a bit of traffic. I was also looking forward to meet a colleague of mine who had had a 4 month long stint in the Capital One US office and so I had left office before meeting him for the 'last' time. So around 4 pm when I was actually supposed to reach within the next 20 minutes, I did a quick recheck and google maps showed that I was not to be in NJ until the next hour and so I passed the information to him. Finally, after about 45 minutes, as predicted, I reached the greyhound bus terminal at Newark Penn Station in NJ. I was expecting my luggage to have been pushed behind and so I didn't scurry to get off the bus. Fortunately my colleague had found his way to the bus stop and was right behind me when I turned and there I had a big helping hand. I chatted with him for about an hour or so before my college friend came over and hurriedly put my luggage in the car and we zipped off after a quick round of goodbyes. This was to be the final leg of the journey.
I was a bit let down by the fact that I didn't have a camera and so couldn't take pictures but it wouldn't have mattered as I would have come to know in the next few hours, yes, it became quite dark. But, nevertheless the first pictures of approaching Cornell, however bright they were, would be pinned down in my memory. Just as we were on the cusp of reaching Ithaca I could feel the fresh air of the mountains, the energy in the wind and the serenity in the lake! Although I was a bit taken aback when my phone couldn't catch the T Mobil signal but it regained life when we reached Ithaca. My friend drove around Collegetown, the happening place right next to Campus, and the noise and giggles, even at that hour, were high enough to bring back memories of the internship days! All of us were quite tired, especially him since he had been traveling for the past 3 days up and around NYC so we then hit his home. I put all my stuff in the house and we headed for a round of the place where he showed me the malls, my department and the campus in general before we hit the bed.
So this was my first day, actually night, at Cornell.
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