The Mouse

A couple of years ago I had a mouse - a rodent, not a pet, someone coming out of the walls, and so I put down traps. Being soft of heart, I bought the no-harm type: a plastic box with a one-way lid. The idea is, the mouse crawls in, and he can't get out.

My boyfriend at the time kidded me about these.

"What are you going to do with a live mouse?"

"I don't know, set him free."

"Where," he asked. "Where?"

"The windowsill, maybe - no wait he'd crawl back in. Maybe the yard. Or over he fence, by the highway."

"A hawk will eat him."

That disturbed me. How could I be morally complicit in the life of another mammal? Never mind the fact that I do eat meat and am thus morally complicit in the industrialization of animal slaughter.

In any case, it wasn't an issue - until this week.

After I awoke, I made coffee and breakfast. While I started my morning routine, I heard a rustling, one that would not go away. At first I thought a mouse - a different mouse by now, since my scientist friend pointed out they only live about a year or so anyway - was in the trash, but then I realize the rustling was coming from underneath the wine shelves.

About where I have placed the trap - right in line with the flight pattern they (I must use plural now, given the updated life expectancy) use. Sure enough, there was a mouse in the trap, and he could not escape.

Now, what do I do?

I thought about releasing him on the windowsill. Too close. I settle on the yard. I was dressed and ready to leave anyway for my morning shop. I'd deposit him on the traffic island in the middle of the street in front of my building. But what to do with the trap?

My building super was out front. Pleased I had caught a mouse after two years of effort, I presented my find and asked what I should do with it.

"I'll take care of it," he said, and took the trap.

"Well, what are you going to do with it?"

"Oh, put it in the kom-pack-tor," he said in his Polish accent.

I was torn. There was a little more back and forth but what he said made sense. This was a rodent after all. And maybe he would survive, like Princess Leia and company in the bowels of the Death Star.

"Oh, OK. " I didn't want to carry the trap anyway, though my vision of a little mouse, roaming free on the exit ramp of the George Washington Bridge, was a little the worse for it.

Brown

So after a great deal of research, I decided on a new color for the doors.

Brown.

Ewww, she said. Brown, like something that comes out of our bodies, like mud, like dirt, like disgusting. But I picked a nice brown (Behr "Espresso Bean"), something cool and regal enough to take down the brilliant yellow and deep green that most of the door-facing rooms have.

Here is the original light blue - a sky blue, perhaps robins egg. It was OK, but made the overall scheme feel like something out of Dr. Seuss.

So, I wanted to do this right. I didn't go to the trouble of sanding, because the doors were actually in pretty good shape. However, I did remove them from their hinges - not always an easy task considering both I and the previous owner had painted over them.

I laid them out in my living room, using chairs as sawhorses, with plenty of plastic laid down.

Laid out for painting.

Here is a before and after, of the cubby closet.

And now, the bathoom and hallway closets.

At a distance, the front door.

So, I'm happy with these colors. I need to touch up certain spots, and I want to replace the fixtures - that has been the plan anyway, so I didn't worry about splashing pain on them. Having taken them off to paint, I now have confidence in being able to replace them.

Betty's Bath

I've taken the first step in what will be a gradual updating of Betty's bathroom: I painted the walls. They're now the same "Happy Camper" green as the bathroom. Despite this being St. Paddy's weekend, I chose the color a couple of months ago, replacing the boring plain white that was in there.

The bathroom has been a challenge for me, in part because I want to stay close to the mid-century period of the building, and I kinda hate mid-century colors and designs. Lafayette Gardens was built in 1951, making it technically postwar but not quite Jet Age. The result is lots of boxy shapes and bold colors. Thank God most photography was in black and white. If more of our family photos from that period were in color I'd probably be less enamored of it.

So, in this room, the first thing I wanted to do was replace that pink salmon wall tile. However, the tile is in good shape, and in the past three years it has come to seem acceptable, so I looked at the other colors I've used and realized the green in my bedroom sets it off nicely.

The shower curtain needs to be replaced, but seeing it in the photo here, I think that kind of pattern sparks the room a bit.

Other things I want to do: replace the sink (not pictured). I'm debating whether to get a pedestal sink or go with another wall-mount. I also want to replace the medicine cabinet with one a little bigger. Both are a challenge because they're narrow and next to the wall - there isn't a lot of room.

The floor tile is similarly acceptable, but there is a 1x1 patch I need to redo, and that will also required new concrete in the floor. I think a leak a long time ago wrecked it.

The easy stuff: shelves. I want shelves, to put toiletries and the like.

Snow Snow and more Snow

It melts. The air warms up to early spring temperatures. Ice breaks free on the river and floats down. Then it freezes again, and then more snow comes. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

I saw a documentary - rather, home movies narrated by the subject - of the Inwood area in the 1930s, shown up at Indian Road Cafe. The focus was on Tubby Hook and Inwood, demonstrating an active waterfront, and footage of the George Washington Bridge being built.

The film included footage of the Hudson, with massive chunks of ice flowing down - even large enough for men to paddle to in a canoe and climb out on, like some Gold Rush cartoon. Decades later, we see much the same.

Snowstorm

What's the difference between a blizzard and a snowstorm? I really want to know.

What I do know is that today, what is being called a winter storm, with lots of snow, is what I would call a blizzard. It's been falling all day. At times, I couldn't see 9th Avenue from my perch on the 20th floor, looking west, from halfway between 7th and 8th Avenue.

Looking west over Madison Square Garden

Predictably, a lot of people left work early. We have a lot of bridge and tunnel types, so they wanted to get an early start, expecting delays regardless. A lot of people are not coming in tomorrow.

When I got home, the snow was still blowing, and I got my first taste of it with the wind - where I work, I can make it from my floor to the subway without having to really go outside. It was blowing! Making my way down the hill was a little treacherous. The snow was definitely powder, bt compress to a granular skidding texture. Everyone crouch-walked down the hill.

At the bottom, on front of my building, a cab was on the median. This is also an exit/entrance to the George Washington Bridge. I took a picture before I realized the drive was still inside. He didn't like it. I realized later he probably thought I was reporting him or something.

I've seen several snowstorms in NYC - there was 1998, or was it 1999? 2001 was big, the first one where work was canceled. 2006 had another, I think. But this one, this one is setting records, even records set by its predecessors.

What's been weird lately is we'll get a bunch of snow, it will stick, it will thaw, the weather will get bizarrely warm, and then well do it all over again. This is the third major snow we've had lately, and while it's much bigger than the rest, I have to wonder how long it will last.

Home

With the new year, it's clear Betty has been a little neglected in the the third year of ownership.

Oh, I've kept her clean alright, and added some tchochkes here and there, but I haven't added or changed anything significant. This past year was a year for my hobbies, and the day job, and some travel.

This year though, I hope to make minor improvements ahead of the next big renovations. Painting the bathroom is one; I've decided to use the same dark green as the bedroom, but I need to re-finish parts of the walls first. I need to replace the light fixture in there as well - the one I have is too small to accommodate the CFL bulbs I have. While I'm at it, I may as well add some shelves too.

All that aside, I'll blog a bit more about simply living here. I still love the neighborhood, and my sense of home now encompasses that as well as Betty herself.

So, here's to a new year, and new projects, and more blogging about Betty, in NYC.