of bbqs and bikes

a couple of weeks ago we invited some friends over for a bbq at chateau folchang (f thought it would be funny to combine our last names).

as the bbq was underway, we got a knock on the door. at the door was a man too old for our crowd. turns out he is the landlord of the building.

landlord: hi i am the landlord.
fede: ok
landlord: are you having a bbq outside? you are not supposed to be out on the roof.
fede: ok
landlord: it is illegal to have an open flame on the roof.
fede: ok
landlord: please make sure you get rid of the fire and no hanging out on the roof.
fede: ok. sorry we will take care of it.

by taking care of it, fede meant that we would continue bbqing our food and hope mr landlord leaves. so we took care of it.

another knock comes about 30 mins later.

landlord: i see the flame is still going (he can see the fumes i guess)
me: oh yes, we are just cooking everything up quickly and we will bring it in after
landlord makes a face and says: make sure
me: yes don't worry- we will.

and we continued grilling til evening.

a few days later we got in the mail a letter from the management office.

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RE: Roof

Dear Tenant(s);

We have been informed that you have been using the roof for personal entertainment. We are writing to inform you that the roof is off-limits to personal use. No Barbequing or hanging out is allowed on the roof at any time. It is a Fire Hazard and a violation of your lease. If you have any bottles or garbage of any kind on the roof, please be kind enough to clean up after yourself.

If you have any questions or concerns please call your Management company at the number above.
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we had also been locking our bikes on the first floor next to the stair-railings (the tenant from 1st floor apt also does the same) and one day we come home to find that a sign has been stuck onto the wall above our bikes:

All bikes that are left for more than 24hours will be deemed abandoned and removed.


it seemed like the management company was going on a personal tirade against us but hey, we ride our bikes everyday so technically the bikes are never left for more than 24 hours anyway. (of course, this is before our bikes got stolen that fateful night we went to watch indy jones.)

the sign was taken down after a few weeks (while we were in italy and the caribbean we stored our bikes in the apt) so now that we have replacement bikes (exactly the same ones as before), we are locking them back where they belong!

not worth a bad movie

last night we went to see indiana jones. i fell asleep in the middle of a fight scene because it was so ridiculous anyway. it was a terrible movie and i only went because fede put me on a guilt trip saying he had watched so many bad flicks with me so i should put myself through a blockbuster for him.

the only problem is that we biked there, but had to walk back.

yes- the bikes were STOLEN. BOTH. we parked them right outside a pizza shop where it was well-lit and all along the block there were at least 20 other bikes locked to other poles or racks. i guess our screamed "nice and quite new!" so they fcking bastards came along and clipped our cable chains and nicely made away with nearly $1400 worth in bike.

they were definitely professional bike thieves these guys. they must have seen us walk into the theater and wouldn't be out for the next 2 hours. it was right on 2nd ave and there was non-stop foot traffic so these guys must have been pretty darn smooth. now our poor bikes are probably somewhere in brooklyn or queens getting traded away.

we will probably buy replacement bikes but this time we will get huge-ass kryptonite chains (i read that the weakness is in the padlock) + 2 other locks. i also want to get a bike alarm or maybe install some kind of thief crocodile that snaps at anyone who gets near the bike.