I worked for a health care company and was recently transferred to the New York City branch.

I was working in a quiet office in Longview, Washington, tucked into a cozy building complex next to a golf course for the last five years.

To me, New York City seemed, well, infinitely vast.

The company helped me find a place to live, which unfortunately needed to be within a close

proximity to the office. The best I could afford was a small apartment in a shady part of

town at the edges of Queens.

I quickly got used to shrieking trains throwing tremors to the floorboards,

transient people screaming nonsense at the sides of buildings, dogs barking in the distance, etc.

That's really just the tip of the crap-smelling iceberg, but I think you get the picture.

My name is Reese.

I've been adjusting to my new life in Queens and, despite my constant complaining, it

could definitely be worse.

I've got running water, the electricity works mostly, and the plumbing is functional.

I've heard horror stories about utilities in the big apple, so I'll take it where I can get it.

One thing I learn quickly about New York City is that this is truly the city that never sleeps.

I mean that literally.

I've grown accustomed to strange noises throughout the night to the point that I've basically

blocked them out unless it's shots fired in the immediate vicinity.

Unfortunately, this also means that anything not bolted down is likely to grow legs during the night. I have had my mail stolen a couple of times in the first month and two package which were delivered to the apartment lobby despite having key card controlled entry in building, mysteriously never made it into my hands.

As your average American that relies way too much on Amazon for delivery of numerous poultry material items, I made the switch to Amazon Lockard

delivery.

This proved to be much more effective in protecting my packages from the prying little

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