The Move Part 2: Apartment Shotgun

Last week I called Colin (a friend from work who's a 2 year resident of Carroll Gardens) to ask him a little bit about his neighborhood. I told him I was thinking of moving there, but I didn't know the first thing about Brooklyn, so I was curious: Is it expensive? What trains stop there? Should I rip holes in my plaid shirt and buy Chuck Ts? (Forgive my ignorance. I thought all of Brooklyn was Bedford Ave.)

Before answering my questions he responded, "Cool. I'm actually looking for a new apartment too." He's staying in Carroll Gardens, but looking to trade up. Where most people would have taken that as "good for him" news, I took it as ground staking. I took it as competition.

I was reminded of senior year in high school, when my friend Fernando would fart, just to distract me a split second before reaching the car. Then he'd yell "SHOTGUN!" I got nausea and he got the front seat. Colin served 2 years in Carroll Gardens and has earned apartment dibs. Unlike Fernando before him, he really does deserve shotgun. "This is my neighborhood and I saw the 1br. floor through with private garden first" kind of shotgun.

With "Advantage–Colin" on the scoreboard, I was not only desperately looking for an apartment, I was desperately looking for a way to "one-up" him. I remembered hearing about an RSS reader, a computer application where after you input multiple searches, it automatically checks them all for you. So while Colin and the other fools were repeatedly typing the same apartment searches on Craigslist, NY Times and the Village Voice (you have to retype these searches every 20 minutes on each different web site in order to see what's new), I was watching my computer do it for me. No matter how well he knows the neighborhood, I now kinda know it, or at least who's leaving it and what their apartment is going for– better.

"Advantage–Brian"

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I've since told Colin about the software. Watching him juggle the three web site search was more painful than watching him steal my apartment. In the spirit of good competition, may the best homeless man win.

Comments

[jimmie stone]

Remember the "last to laugh..." phrase. But from the inside, the process was very fricking funny.

[mimster]

Competition is a good thing. And at the end we found a kickass place so who cares...I mean...na na na boo boo.