So Long Census Friends!

I will really miss my new census friends and my burger king office! I'm hitting the road - I'll miss you - Keep Counting!

Take Me To The Place I Love!

Under the Gowanus Expressway is THE place to be in sweltering Brooklyn - It's weird that I'm the only one who's ever there. It's an especially pleasant path for Census taking - miles of uninterrupted shade and breezes from traffic and the East River. After a long hot day of certifying that Sunset Park apartments are vacant or don't exist, it's Heaven to drink tamarind juice on the rocks and take in all of 3rd avenue's wonders.

Outta Site!

Lucky for me there are still Non-Respondents left to find in Brooklyn because the High Rollers seem to have cashed their chips in - They must all be in Florida!

Homes Tour 3!

I couldn't resist documenting my ex-apartment while Censusing in Boro Park yesterday - even though It's not actually the 3rd stop on my homes tour.

The second floor balcony was all mine - what a dream! That tree in the front yard blooms late and is So pretty.

The landlady there - EDITH - was totally nuts, she didn't have a nice word to say - Makes me really appreciate my current, mind reading landlady JUDY who gave me a piece of cake yesterday when I was super hungry.

The Boro Park place was great big with ornate ceilings and walls - But it was so cold - Colder than my Sunset Park apartment with no heat!

I don't miss the neighborhood too much (except for the casserole restaurant that was right across the street), but it was a nice place to get paid to visit.

Sunset Park Secrets!

Great news - It seems like we Enumerators will get a few more days of work after all. Luckily, We'll continue to meet at the Burger King. The music at Burger King is GREAT - it's almost imPossible not to dance and sing along during meetings.

Added Bonus - if we get sick of the flame broiled smell we can walk a few streets down to 47th street. It's the best smelling street in sunset park!

Over and Out?

We enumerators have done such a good job counting people in Sunset Park, our job here might be done. It's been totally real.

If we're lucky we'll get to move to Borough Park, Brownsville or Canarsie. I've had such a nice time here though. Sunset Park is hard to beat.

Hot and Cold!

I Love enumerating! My buddy Hates it. Together, we like our job so so.

Conundrum!

The nicest Sunset Park resident came all the way down from the 3rd floor to give me this tiny Pepsi. How was he supposed to know that I have been Pepsi free since Jan 3, 2010?

I want it so much because it's a present, and it's delicious, and it's pony size and I'm thirsty! Should I undo 5 months of no sodas for this little treasure? I'm freaking out!

Good thing I have a buddy to calm me down today - A buddy who also loves pepsi.

Buddy System!

I Love enumerating Sunset Park! It's the best job ever - everyone is So nice. Today I even got a star studded review from my Boss who Observed me in the field. I've really polished my Census taking routine over the past few weeks. Mine is a solo act - meant to be performed on sunny afternoons.

Unfortunately, This morning, I have to go out with a buddy.

Oh well. Good thing my buddy is also really nice. I hope our enumerating styles are compatible - ie he doesn't walk too fast or too slow (mainly too fast). Maybe we'll find that Sunset Park is even prettier at sunrise!

Rain Check

I just got done Boating in the rain - Not so bad. A little choppy. Luckily, my balance is really good. Enumerating in the rain is much more complicated. I might lay low tomorrow and work extra hard on Thursday.

Yikes - I hope my big win in A.C. isn't making me lazy! Maybe I'll brave the storm so as not to make high rolling too bad of a habit!

Chips Ahoy!

I am missing two big dollar workdays to go to Atlantic City to celebrate my friend Sara's birthday. Hopefully, what I lose in Yachting and Census Dollars, I'll make up for in 3 Card Poker Dollars!

Caffeine!

The Vat of Ziti with Pesto I made for the High Rollers was so gigantic that I had to take a car service to the game - it wouldn't fit on the bus!

Unfortunately for me, Everyone was on Atkin's diets. The vat stands. The game played til morning though, so I made lots of money pouring coffee and diet pepsis.

So little time!

In an effort to have every job - I applied to New York City College of Technology. I am really interested in SCIENCE lately. Hopefully they will teach me how to read MINDS.

Until I am Accepted as a Scientist, I'll continue to count humans and take notes. I'll also look for other jobs that offer direct deposit.

Game on!

I worked a new, easy, more lucrative game in Midwood. All I had to do was put Ritz crackers on plates. No limit - Cha-ching!

Chicken!

I wanted to document this exciting chicken before I turn it into a salad for the Canarsie High Rollers.

I hope they LOVE it - (Or at least like it as a salad).

There's a rumor going around the Poker table re: a new game. I hope it's true- More poker, more players, more chickens -- more money!

I can see my job from here!

I LOVE my neighborhood office! I have been working around the clock, so it's GREAT that one of my jobs is practically on my front porch.

We census takers are having a great time meeting new friends and finding out how many people They LIVE With.

I have had only the warmest receptions - I drank homemade tamarind juice, held a baby, and listened to some great Sunset Park lore.

Brooklyn is FUN CITY!

2nd stop on my homes tour!

I get heart pangs every time I pass by my old 2 bedroom apartment with exposed brick in Hell's Kitchen. I paid $350/month - I had no idea what that meant back in the 90's.

Since then, I have become a connoisseur of Good Deals.

My current home has two showers in the bathroom and an entire backyard - what a deal! To make the most of my yard, I just bought a giant umbrella to cover my swinging outdoor couch. I also bought stilts!

Circles!

Team Census is so overwhelmed with non-respondents that it forgot to switch my status over to Trainee! This means another week long stint as Limbo Enumerator for me. I'm free to roam the office AND the streets - Everywhere I like!

Today on 46th Street!

Top Secret!

While enumerating Brooklyn yesterday, I came across this secret code at the New Utrecht stop off the N train.

Ain't she a beauty? I'm going to take it to my lab and do some serious analysis. Hopefully, I'll be able to crack the code. Maybe I'll find what lies beyond space and/or win the $122 mega million jackpot.

I won't my job quit if I win the lottery though. Strolling Brooklyn in the Springtime is the very best occupation!

Homes Tour 2!

I meant to make it to Midtown Manhattan today for the second stop on my homes tour.

But in these days of too many jobs and too little time, I was unable to venture so far West. Brooklyn wouldn't let me go!

Brooklyn is also making me play Scrabble instead of writing my script.

It is also making me eat tons of candy.

I love it here.

I'll Westward Ho to Manhattan next week!

Salad!

I won! The high rollers ate fruit salad like it was going out of style last night.

Rumor has it that the game is moving to a fancier establishment next week - a ground floor tournament room with chandeliers and no limits.

That's going to call for fancier salads!

Expo!

I have a new goal for 2011 - my own BOOTH at the NYC Bridal expo. The only thing I like more than an expo is a Booth. And last night I saw some real beauties.

Banners and pedestals, dresses and cakes - giant dioramas of my dreams! The booth I was working at starred feng shui boxes full of rocks and business cards and glass boxes full of beautiful green grass. So calming - everyone loved it!

I hope to incorporate live elements into my booth too - maybe flowers and definitely Dancers! Good thing I have a whole year to make up the moves - I want everyone to stop by my booth!

The Finger!

The theme of my employment strategy for this week has been -- OUTTA SIGHT! I’ve mainly been hiding in the supply closet – where I’ve stayed out of sight and in the money – unseen until someone needs a supply - then, voila - there I am in the right place at the right time!

This technique landed me a spot in a super fun, four-hour finger printing workshop. The very highest ups were learning how to take prints, and I got to join them just because I knew where the inkpads were!

Finger Printing isn’t as easy as it looks. Luckily, there are no stupid questions – only stupid fingers!

Homes Tour!

Yesterday - on my lunch break from Census Taking - I decided to start my NYC homes tour.

Fort Greene Brooklyn is BEAUTIFUL (and super close to the Census Office). This was my first NYC residence- back in the 90's!

It was so nice to wake up to choirs singing!

Psych!

The Census called me in for important info gathering at the last minute today. My enumerating colleague and I walked all over downtown Brooklyn.

There was so much to see - Brooklyn's tallest building; historic houses that were moved on flatbeds to make room for Metrotech; an Underground Railroad site on Duffield Street...

It's the best job ever, and suddenly, there's work for the rest of the week! Hopefully my script will be even better now that I don't have to worry about money. Lucky for me, I can count humans in my sleep.

Thank Goodness!

Thank goodness there was no Census work to be done today, and that my Poker Game got rained out, and that there is no other work on the horizon because really - who has time? Script Frenzy is starting on Thursday, and I only have a ghost of a story - a mist!

I spent the day outlining and character building, but I need all day tomorrow too. Fortunately, nobody is knocking down my door to work for the rest of the week, so...

My script better be good!
http://www.scriptfrenzy.org/eng/whatisscriptfrenzy

Hot Hot Hot!

Walking in the rain in Dumbo was great even though I left my green slicker at home in favor of a more sophisticated trench coat (which turned out to be kind of absorbent).

My enumerating colleague and I ducked into Jacques Torres Chocolates for Hot Cocoa after handing out some important forms.

Probably the last hot cocoa of the season (heat wave's comin') which made it even better!

I'm Totally Qualified

to be a professional bedwarmer!

http://blogs.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/2010/02/would-you-like-us-to-send-in-human-bed.html

I have tons of experience sleeping and getting up - I'd be a shoe in! There are so many on the job perks - I especially like the All-In-One Sleeper Suit!

But for today I'm back to Census taking.

Post Sleepiness!

I graduated from my studies, and now I'm back in the real world again.

http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/excessive-sleepiness-10/emotions-cognitive?ecd=wnl_slw_031810

I hope I don't have any long lasting side effects from all the not sleeping. Today will be the first day back working on the Yachts! I need to be safe and seaworthy.

Glorious!

Sugar Plums!

Today we get to eat whatever we want as soon as we're done with the bubble tests!

My sleep colleague and I are fantasizing about how we'll spend our $30 worth of real world food. We are hungry, and we want it all - Red Lobsters, Kentucky Fried Chickens, Tacos: Happy, San Loco and Bell...

My very first stop though has to be the deli to get a delicious giant burnt coffee - Voom!

Scientific Method!

It's not so much the sleep deprivation - it's more the not being able to eat A Lot of Stuff when I'm awake that's Jamaican me crazy.

The good news is - I am learning to have much better eating habits, and I've lost another pound!

I think the scientists had an opposite hypothesis: the More I sleep, the more weight I'm supposed to lose. Maybe they didn't expect me to take a gym class called Hip Hop Hell!

Better take it to a peer review!

FUN!

No sleep? No problem - where FUN is concerned. I dominated the other subjects at Scrabble today. Next stop - Lunch - which is another really fun part of the day at the lab.

Study This!

No wonder!

I got lots and lots of sleep last night. Good thing because there are so many people at the Clinic this time around - and so much to do! I am in a five person Monopoly Game that is so fun.

We are already on hour 5 of it because we keep having to take breaks for eating, urine tests, spitting tests, yoga classes, and laps around the lab. I'm happy that I can check Learn To Play Monopoly off of my To Do List.

Now that I know how to play Monopoly, I bet I will be better at real life Money Making - Just like Scrabble helps me with real life wording, and Badminton works my real life racketeering skills.

I will probably lose at Monopoly today, but I packed my Birdie and my Scrabble Board. So tomorrow - Game Over, Guinea Pigs.

Greetings, Earthlings!

Since I've been sworn to secrecy about my work place duties, I'll stick to the unsensitive Census issue of work place attire.

I got really pumped up last year about giving up hobo couture in favor of blazers. I tried to recapture that same verve this go around, but really I feel like an ALIEN in these office get ups.

My Canarsie Wear is much cuter, and I can hardly WAIT to get back into those yellow scrubs!

Yesterday was a little better because I wore Holiday Tolerated green socks and an ascot, but today it'll be business as casual - I mean - business as Snoozual.

Mum!

I signed another oath to defend the Constitution and to keep my mouth shut re: the US Census today. So, I can't say nothing.

But - I will say that Part 1 of Day 1 of paid training was great! Me in a room full of like minded new friends ready to count the humans in Brooklyn - F.U.N!

But then I was singled out and separated from the group. It turns out They all got Office jobs, but I'll be out on the Streets of Brooklyn again.

I was bummed until I realized I am one of a three person enumerating dream team - we'll be unstoppable!

Khakis!

I just finished ironing every pair of SLACKS that I own. My first day of paid training! I want to look great (in ALL of my pants). I am so excited to meet my new Census Colleagues!!

After relearning how to be a Census Taker, I will run to canarsie and do the old switcharoo from business attire to kitchen chic. It turns out that I have even more cute Aprons than I have Slacks. It has been a great day of costume inventory - so many possibilities!

I made a ton of green good luck cookies for the high rollers. And if they don't like them, I'll share them with all of my new Census Taking Friends. Everyone wins!

not like hot cakes!

I made the most delicious brownies of my career today. 2 sticks of butter in there and hardly any flour - they defied gravity and reason. Too good to be true.

The high rollers barely touched em - "Honey, you didn't cook em long enough."

But I did.

Lady Luckily, I still raked it in. I'll get em next time - No One can resist personalized sugar cookies!

Kitchen Girl!

My boss called to tell me that the game is starting later tonight. He also apologized for one of the players who always gets her own Diet Coke. He said, "I keep telling her, don't get sodas yourself, tell the Kitchen Girl to get em."

Kitchen Girl!! I've achieved super hero status!

I am totally in charge - it turns out, I don't have to make hot dogs, I can make whatever. Plus - the sky's the limit re: budget!!!

I'm going to lure them in slow, get them to trust me: tonight - peanut butter brownies and baked ziti.

Once I've got them eating out of the palm of my hand, I'll introduce spinach smoothies and carrot shakes. They'll eat healthier, live longer and play more poker which means more money for me!!!

Fruit Gems!

The 24/hr fruit and vegetable market in Sunset Park is too good to be true. What deals! My health will never be better.

I got so much delicious produce - I wanted to share the wealth with the Poker Players in Canarsie. One lady asked, "What do I look like - a rabbit?"

The only vegetable I could sell was sauerkraut - and the only fruits anyone would eat were fruit gems.

I'm not done with this experiment though. Stay tuned for health!

Freedom Count Down!

It's so nice out - I have got to make the most of these last days of freedom before my day job starts to get better acquainted with more excellent features of my neighborhood.

Today - 24/hr fruit stand! http://www.yelp.com/map/rossman-fruit-and-vegetable-district-brooklyn

Tomorrow - Taco cart! http://www.yelp.com/map/taco-cart-brooklyn

I bet the people whose houses I visit will feel more comfortable coughing up personal info if I can talk knowledgeably about local fruits and tacos!

So much to survey!

Today I am going to go shopping for some smart census taking shoes. There is a lot of ground to cover, and I want to be able to run fast from dogs.

I am pretty sure I will only get to work in my own neighborhood like last year, But there are many debates as to how far my neighborhood, the beautiful Sunset Park, reaches. Park Slope, Bay Ridge and Greenwood Heights all fight over it.

I'll take them all on- (especially the fine folks of Greenwood http://www.green-wood.com/index.php/gwc ) Because it's the best place in Brooklyn, and I want to get max use out of my new shoes!