Results tagged “apartment living” from York City Limits

We had a bit of a scare in my apartment building last night.

I stopped in on my way to a city council meeting and thought I smelled something, possibly gas, in the stairwell. But I couldn't smell it in my apartment. As I headed out of the building, I began calling the other building residents to see if they smelled it, too.

One of my neighbors, upon arriving home, smelled it, too. He began calling residents. I went to the city council meeting, all the while hoping my building was still there when I came out. (I had made sure my neighbors would reach me during the meeting if I was really needed.)

My neighbor called the gas company, and someone arrived promptly and discovered that one resident (who was not home) had left two burners on with gas leaking out but no flame. The gas company employee stuck around to make sure the vapors made it out of the building.

Yet another example of why living in an apartment building connected to other buildings scares me a bit. I can be as obsessive as I want about making sure the stove is off, the toaster oven is unplugged, etc. But I can't control what the guy downstairs or next door does. And I've written too many stories about fires that start in one spot and then take out an entire city block.

I can't control anyone, but I can ask, via the blog, that everyone be careful. Please, check your smoke detectors. Be careful with things like gas appliances. And if you think something is wrong, call the authorities.

So, to update on my last post, I went out to pick up my packages and met the UPS driver.

I told him I was sorry for missing him twice, and he was great about it. He told me to leave him a note next time, and it's not a problem to swing by my office because it's on his route.

Awesome.

I didn't catch his name, but that is terrific customer service.

So, I ended up answering my own question about how to get packages delivered if you can't be home to get them -- talk to the city UPS driver because he is the best.

Last week, I was expecting a package from UPS.

We kept missing each other, mostly because they insist on delivering during times when I have to be a work. Sorry UPS delivery guy, it is not possible for me to sit around from 10:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. waiting for my mail.

Anyhow, I signed the back of the "missed you" post it note UPS leaves, indicating it was OK to put the packages inside the first of two doors on my apartment building. The UPS guy wasn't having it, so tonight I make a trip out to Willow Court to pick it up at the warehouse. (UPDATE: He didn't see my note. See above.)

I have a question for city residents who can't sit around all day waiting: How do you get your packages delivered?

Is there an easy way to accomplish this -- preferably one that does not require me driving out to the township to pick stuff up four days after it actually would have arrived had I been home to get it? (Again, see the update where I answer this question.)

If you love gardening (or have been inspired to start by our First Lady) but don't have a yard, here's some info on a community garden as written in a news brief by my co-worker Teresa Boeckel.

This community garden isn't located in the city, but not having a place to garden seems like a city issue to me so I am putting it up on this blog. Not to mention, in these times stretching a budget with healthful foods is an idea we all can rally around, no matter your zip code.

Garden plots can be rented at the Horn Farm Center for Agricultural Education, and food from a garden could help people save on grocery bills.
    A 20-foot by 20-foot plot is going for $25 this season. Gardeners can rent up to four additional plots for $15 each.
    The season runs from April 15 to Oct. 31. The deadline for registration and payment is March 31.
   Renters can receive the following benefits:
   The initial plowing of the plot in the spring.

•    Advice offered at Master Gardeners work sessions at The Gardens at John Rudy County Park, from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Mondays and 5:45 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. Thursdays.
•     Additional advice from Master Gardeners available for gardeners who come in or call the Penn State Cooperative Extension Office at 840-7408 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. weekdays.

    For more information or to register, call the Horn Farm at 757-6441.

(Photo is from a google search, and I thought it was funny. We don't have this much snow in York.)

This morning, when I woke up at 6 a.m., I heard cars driving through something that sounded suspiciously like snow.

I doubted it, because the last time we were foretasted snow we only got ice and flurries.

But when I looked out the window, there it was: fluffy white snow, the kind that's a breeze to sweep off the car. It kept coming, and continues to fall as I write this.

When I was walking to the car I noticed a few people out clearing sidewalks, which got me curious about the city's rules about snow removal. If you are curious too, click on the jump and keep reading.

My apartment has radiator heat. It is plenty warm, but I am still learning the quirks of the system.

First of all, I spent a while wondering why my neighbors were clanking on the pipes. Then I realized that's what radiators do. They make noise. (Not sure if I should admit that. Oh well.)

I've also noticed it gets crazy dry in the winter in my apartment. I bought a humidifier. Problem solved, and my plants seem happier.

It seems like a lot of city apartments have radiator heat. Growing up, we had a coal furnace. Between the two, I'd pick clanging over the chore of keeping a fire burning.

 

 

I drive past the under-construction apartments on the corner of North George and East North streets every day. And every day I have the same question.

Who in the world would buy the second-floor apartment facing the stadium?

The view from the apartment's giant floor-to-ceiling windows includes a billboard. I haven't been in the building, so maybe this picture of a huge glass of beer isn't the only thing you can see from inside the apartments.

More, including a picture of the view, after the jump.