High above the city streets, eight floors to be exact, I'm sitting in a hotel room, just steps from Chinatown. Last night's snow storm of monstrous (apparently) proportions has resulted in my flight's cancellation, and therefore, an extension of my stay in Philadelphia. When the snow began to fall yesterday afternoon, I was driving here. After arriving, and circling around the one-way streets several times before finding the parking ramp, MH and I went out to dinner. We walked a couple city blocks before finding the Hard Rock Cafe. A chain restaurant, but one that neither of us had been to before. While we ate, the snowfall intensified, but the atmosphere inside was warm and full of great music that we both knew.
After dinner, we trekked out again, and I had my first experience of hailing a cab. The driver spoke broken English, and apparently was not impressed that we wanted to go to Manayunk. MH made out the phrase "it's slippery up there." I didn't pick up on that. We laughed to ourselves during the ride. He pointed out a few sights to me as the cab drove north through the city to Manayunk. He didn't know exactly where we were going, and ended up dropping us off a couple blocks from where we wanted to be - that being Grape Street. The band iKe was playing, and the guys of Jealousy Curve were supposed to be there.
MH was freezing; I could feel his hand shaking in mine from the cold. When we finally found the place, I sarcastically commented that this place was "the place to be," as it was absolutely silent with no people outside milling about. We walked around to the main entrance, and found the doors to be locked. I made a phone call to no avail, and within a few minutes, we were in another cab, and headed back to the hotel. Still when we arrived, the streets were just slushy, with barely any accumulation. All that would change overnight.
In the morning, the snow had accumulated, probably a foot or so on the rooftop of the parking garage next to the hotel. I knew from a phone call made yesterday that the morning flight from Philadelphia to Milwaukee had already been canceled. Now it was just a matter of waiting to find out if my flight, the evening one, would also be canceled due to the weather.
Sure enough, by about 3:30 this afternoon, my phone rang. A call from a 215 area code number that I did not recognize had a caller on the other end who politely informed me that I had been re-booked on the flight tomorrow morning. So, I'll watch TV, eat delivered pizza from a local place, and relax. I'll hopefully make it home tomorrow afternoon, and be reunited with Izzy.
It's the end of my third trip in so many months to Pennsylvania. The mission this time was to find a place to live. Even though I'm still three months out from the end of my educational career (finally!), the last six weeks of my rotations are in the surgery area. I know from hearing the tales of my classmates that those rotations leave little time for oneself. I did not want to have to worry about where I would live during those six weeks. I want only to do the rotations, walk my dog, and wait for spring to push out this cold winter weather.
The first couple places that the realtor showed me left me unimpressed, and slightly depressed, about the possibilities of finding a rental that I could live in for a year or two. There were very few places that she could show me. Most did not allow pets. And as I love Izzy and Elly to bits, there's no way I would give them up. After getting a coffee at my new favorite coffee place, I went back to the hotel, and pulled up the website for the local paper.
There were two ads that sounded promising. I called them both. And later that night, I visited them both, too. The first one seemed absolutely perfect. It is an old house, on the Isle of Que, but inside, there were many, many renovations that made it perfect for me. Two large front rooms, with a gas fireplace, a large kitchen, a small "mud" room with a half-bathroom, and upstairs, three bedrooms, all facing the Susquehanna River. I wanted to make sure this was a good idea, so I slept on it overnight.
The next day, both the realtor and the office manager of the hospital agreed I should act on this place. The votes of confidence really eased my mind. Standing in the living room of the house, I called the landlord, and agreed to rent the place. A few hours later, she called back to confirm. And now, I have an address in Pennsylvania.
With only eight weeks of rotations left, I'm really anxious to finish and start my new life. I'm very excited about other possibilities that are on the horizon, too. Despite the snow and the canceled flight home, I'm still probably the happiest vet student around!
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