"I AM GOING TO STAGE AN INTERVENTION FOR YOU!"

We were shocked (sort of) when our youngest daughter, Sandra, spoke those words to us. We felt fortunate that we were dealing only with a disembodied voice coming through the phone, and weren't in a room with her.

She was right! After only a little over one week, we were showing definite signs of enjoying this new life style. Proving once again, that you can teach old dogs new tricks. In reality, what is there not to like about being pampered? Since we were going to become "displaced people" for an extended period of time, better to do it at The Carlyle than at a Motel 6. A friend who knows people in high places, was positive he could arrange for a room (with bath) on the Concierge floor at Motel 6. The choice seemed obvious, but the room at the motel was not available for stays longer than two hours.

Wonder what one can accomplish in such a short period of time.

By the way, Sandra and our Granddaughter are coming to stay with us for a night. Perhaps after that she will realize that she will need to be included in the planned intervention.

Life here continues to roll along. It is a bit more difficult for Jane as she has this longing to return to our apartment as quickly as possible. I attribute this to her lacking the male genes necessary to hunker down and vegetate. In no time at all, I had found my favorite torn t-shirt, cracked open a Bud, grabbed some beef-jerky and planted myself in front of the flat screen TV.

Anyone who can envision my doing this must be smoking hemp!

Now for some good and bad news:
Good News: we spoke to our contractor yesterday and he informed us that he was running ahead of schedule.
Bad News: we spoke to our contractor yesterday and he informed us that he was running ahead of schedule.

Regardless of the way you view this news, it does look like we will be back home in two months and not three. This is good as it is difficult to adhere to a work schedule away from the "office." I have tried a remote link, but as luck would have it there were too many electrical interruptions causing me to lose contact. This was due to the electricians turning the "juice" on and off as they worked and not turning my host computer back on. It was yet another idea that did not work as advertised.

Despite this chaotic service, the spring issue of the newsletter will be sent in 7-10 days. I hope! Many thanks to Christina and Allison for their help. We think that you will like this issue and look forward to your comments.

Until next time,

Larry

Home Away From Home

This is just a peek at the grandeur of our "superior suite." What you can not see is the Living Room/Dining area, kitchen and powder room. All in all, this is "top of the line" living. Since we have been here about a week, we are settling into our new "digs" and upon the advice of some friends are seriously considering ways to slow down the construction underway at our apartment. Two months might be rushing things as there is a lot to be said in an environment where before you can ask for some "want" (not need), it is been anticipated and waiting for you to consume.

A far cry from the wonderful world of hunger and poverty.

As some of you know, I spent all of my working life in the Home Furnishings industry, and a great deal of that indentured servitude within the bedding industry. Therefor, I must comment on the king size bed we share. It might be the best night's sleep we have ever enjoyed. So much so that I had to find out the name of the manufacturer. To my great surprise, it is Sealy. The makers of the Sealy Posturepedic. I spent many years with that company, and can assure you that this product not only is better than their usual product, but beyond anything our R&D department was capable of conceiving. As a matter of fact, if they had devised a product of this nature none of the plants in the Sealy network could have produced it.

We have a morning ritual of having a cup of decaf and a bran muffin to share at Sicaffe, our favorite spot, located on Lexington Avenue near our home. So one morning, we got lazy and decided not to walk the seven blocks to Sicaffe and would have our usual mid-morning snack in the hotel. When presented with the check, I came close to cardiac arrest. The bill with tip was $31. We decided that we would enjoy our morning break elsewhere in the future.

For your enjoyment, view the various food choices and in particular the Room Service menu. This is a large file and may take time to download.

Before I close this post, thanks to all of you who wrote to express your interest in my continuing to update our Adventures At The Carlyle. Since we started publishing the KIDS newsletter, I got used to silence from our readers. I certainly was not prepared for compliments and support in this endeavor.

This blog (my first) came about at coffee one morning when Elsa, a friend who relocated from Iron Mountain, MI to NYC because she heard that the coffee was so good, casually told me I should start a blog about our Carlyle adventure. Her exact words were, "The Plaza had Eloise, The Carlyle has the Levines."

I never thought that The Carlyle would end up getting the short end of the stick.

More to come...

Breaking News:

REAL ESTATE VALUES ON 76th STREET PLUNGE TO ALL TIME LOW

The Levines Check into The Carlyle

Dear Reader, do you see a correlation between these two events?


Moving Day started with the overloading of our Volvo chariot for the five block trip to The Carlyle. It is hard to imagine the amount of "stuff' one needs when moving to temporary housing (although it is obscene to consider The Carlyle that way) and add to that the change in seasons. In other words, we moved with all the necessities of modern New York Life. This included (but was not limited to) computer, other electronic gear, clothes for any occasion and for severe weather, liposuction equipment, etc.


From the moment we and our baggage arrived at the hotel, it was apparent that "going first class" was going to be redefined. We were whisked into the arms of the doorman and his support staff. We have stayed at many premier properties in this country Europe and Asia, but we knew that we were about to encounter something really special.


If our first night was any indication, we might never want to return to life as we knew it! 


Everything you can imagine was at our disposal. Our pantry was filled with our favorite foods from the local Health Food store, dark chocolate candy, and fruit & nuts. Flat screen TVs, DVD players, wireless Internet service, and other goodies were scattered throughout our suite.  All this courtesy of The Carlyle. Our fairy Godmother, Alex, kept waving her magic wand and granting all of our wishes. There is a night time turn down service, but unfortunately it takes place after our bedtime. For those who know us, after 7pm we have already shut down for the night.


The most mind blowing moment was when we realized that our pillows were complete with our monogrammed initials. Proving that The Carlyle lives up to its reputation as the top hotel in New York, if not the world.


This post started on Sunday and carried through until Tuesday. We have become acclimated to this way of living. Many of you have said that we will never return to 72nd Street and our prior life. The truth of the matter is unless we can find a benefactor to support this life style, it will never happen.


Perhaps there is a market for a "call" Grandmother and Grandfather. Gads, I hope not as I have neither the energy or memory of what this life style entails.


More at a later time,


Larry

How did it come to pass that two not so young (to put it mildly) East Side residents come to spend 2-3 months in one of New York's most prestigious hotels and not pay one cent.


Well, that is not the absolute truth. While not paid by us directly, there was payment of another kind exacted.


While the fun part of our adventure commences on Sunday, March 13th, 2011, the back story set the stage.  Our journey actually started when one night we heard noise in our hallway. When I lost the battle of who gets out of bed to investigate, I realized I was walking through water. Despite what you might think, I am not capable of doing that feat.


Our neighbor in our co-op had a washer that was not installed properly and the pipes burst. The neighbor is an absentee owner and the unit was not occupied. The problem went unnoticed for who knows how long and finally the flood waters burst forth. The water flowed into our apartment and down 14 floors to the lobby.


Jane and I and other displaced residents were faced with a difficult decision:

• Stay in our apartment during construction. We would be supplied at no cost to us with wet suits and snorkels.
• or, move to a hotel of our choosing and all expenses would be paid by our insurance company.

I know you will  find this difficult to believe, but we opted for the hotel. The folks at The Carlyle could not have been more accommodating, and prior to checking in on Sunday, we already feel at home.

Once there, I will regale you with how two folks from 72nd Street can find happiness living in the lap of luxury. So far, it sure beats being homeless in a car or on the street.

You gotta love New York!