Piglet in a serviced apartment ...

... it rained and it rained and it rained... I am starting to get concerned as I now live on a very small island (compared to Britain and Australia anyway), and the rain is not stopping. Where is all the water going?? It is dark outside and very very wet. However, always look on the bright side, it is NY after all!
Yesterday my apartment was cleaned for the first time. This will now be a fortnightly event. And can I say that I have never had a cleaner before. I have always sniggered quietly (and not so quietly depending on the relationship) at people who have cleaners. How hard is it to clean up after yourself and do a once a week half hour around the kitchen and bathroom, with a bit of hoovering thrown in? However Carol (for that was her name), did a sparkling job. She changed the bed, refreshed the linens in the cupboard, dusted, polished, wiped and shined... One weird thing though is that she also rearranged the dirty crockery and cutlery I had in the not quite half full dishwasher, and put it on. Not sure why that was necessary but anyway... I now know how Carol thinks my dishwasher should be stacked. Of course the hard thing with the US is that everything is so BIG. The fridge could stock provisions for a rugby team, the oven would easily take two turkeys, and the dishwasher is industrial sized. Even if I put all the crockery into the dishwasher at once, it would not fill it!
However, determined not to be spoilt by this new convenience, I headed out into the rain this morning with the intention of catching the subway to work for the first time. usually I walk the 20 blocks to and from work. The issue with the subway is it is either 7 blocks north or 3 blocks south. So I headed south, down the stairs, and noticed I was on the downtown/brooklyn side of the street. Ooops, I re-emerged and headed over the other side of the street (gallantly pretending I had intended to do this), when an empty taxi (gold when it is raining), pulled up next to me. What could I do but jump in?? My chariot swept me off to work in cocooned comfort (I happily ignored the broken armrest, smell of wet dog and dirty floor of course)...
On other updates, I have found the controls for the airconditioning (cunningly disguised in the grille on top), have bought a straightener (no more fuzzies), but have still not found a clothes dryer/airer. This is getting desperate. I may have to buy new underwear soon if this carries on - more shopping, what a hardship!