Finally got a chance to cook a real meal after a very long week and a half of providing legal support and jail support in Ferguson and St. Louis.
Want to help? Your donations literally pay for meals like this for folks doing legal and jail support. Check out nlg.org/ferguson
It's odd how much something like a dish drying rack can improve your quality of life. And how few of the Crap-O-Rama bodega style stores selling mass amounts of container ship garbage sell them.
This cost a grand total of $3. Sure, it requires a little picking through, but I love that I have a produce bodega around the corner that sells seconds for $1/bag.
With another post pending, since the grand total for the produce was under $6. Yes. Really. You just have to explore Manhattan a bit.
With a kitchen smaller than the average coat closet, turn out a three course meal. Yum.
Grabbed some perfect shit on my block to build a DIY standing desk for free!!! (Also grabbed some working power tools the other day from a trash pile, so I now have a circular saw here!)
First NYC vegan food porn? Where the hell are my priorities?!?
Well, with errands, groceries, and four to six hours of work. Phew.
Or, How I Paid $5 For A Hot Dog Flavored Pretzel...
Yesterday I went to the bank with the outgoing Executive Director (who I officially take over from as Interim Executive Director tomorrow!) and another office staff member. Afterwards, I wanted a big soft pretzel.
You may know the kind: all over the tourist-heavy areas of NYC, there are these hot dog and pretzel and pop stands taking up a lot of sidewalk real estate that is in critically short supply to begin with.
I have some hummus in the fridge at the office, so a big soft salt riddled piece of crap to dip in it, and a NYC semi-junk food classic at that, sounded great.
So I go order my pretzel with salt, stupidly thinking it'll cost $2.75-$3 like it does ALL OVER MANHATTAN.
But, no: here in the Financial District, after the pretzel is already in my grubby hands, and I fork over my ten dollar bill, the guy hands me five back.
SAY WHAAAAAAT?
But at that point, I had no graceful way to give it back. Transaction done, pretzel in hand, $5 gone, I'm a dope. And even if the guy would have refunded my money, the pretzel would have gone in the trash, which would severely grate on my (admittedly extreme) anti-waste anti-consumption principles.
But then I got back to the office, and the pretzel tasted like it had been dipped in hot dog/cherry soda flavored lip gloss. So it went into the trash anyway.
#lessonfuckinglearned
BTW, the photo isn't the pretzel stand in question. This guy sells them for $3...
My job is great. And very challenging. And I'm very happy, and very grateful, and very privileged, to be here, doing what I'm doing, right now. Even after midnight, headed home from work, on a crowded 4 train.
