Queens Command

I'm not sure if I'm the only one who feels this way, but I hate searching for apartments. I mean, HATE. HAAAAATE. (hate.) It's such a hassle, and I can never understand why people posting their apartments don't include basic details of space, features or even photos. It's 2010, people. Everyone has either a digital camera or a cell phone, or knows someone who has either.

It wouldn't be so bad except that my parents have their spoons in the soup, too, and their idea of a decent apartment often conflicts with my own. This is often complicated by the fact that they used to live in NYC, and my dad commonly makes proclamations about how well he knows the area. (Mind, the last time they lived there, it was the late 1970's.) They have ideas on convenience and comfort, I have ideas on proximity to civilization (aka Manhattan), and unfortunately the market just is not cooperating.

On top of it all, I have been doing the apartment scramble for a long time now. 4th year for me meant moving almost every month to a different location and hospital, and I pretty much lived off of Craigslist and the sublet listings. For the most part, things worked out really well. I generally had proximity to hospital, proximity to life (or something like it), and proximity to home. For my hospital, it seems like Queens is the best option, and I had a number of good tips on neighborhoods that are slightly less chic but still do the job.

I actually had narrowed things down to a few decent apartments, and my dad and I drove out yesterday to check out a few. The one I liked the best was one that was newly renovated in a nice neighborhood, but was a bit far and lacking in street parking for my dad's taste. Nevertheless, I insisted that he see it because it was miles better than any of the apartments I had been able to schedule in the closer neighborhoods. Also, I had seen this apartment and another similar one and gotten a shady vibe from the second place's owners, and so felt confident that this place was The One True Place. Alas, it was not meant to be, as the owner turned out to be EVEN MORE SHADY, trying to nickel and dime us even to the last second, and questioning all of my credentials while offering none of her own. (For example, I showed her a copy of my hospital contract, my driver's license, my passport and my impeccable credit report. She still insisted that she couldn't be sure that I was reliable, or that I had verified employment, and asked my dad to sign a document ensuring he'd financially back me.)

The long and short of it was that it did NOT work out, and we wound up making a hasty exit with some tastefully chosen words for her lack of professional demeanor. Of course, it's better that I found this out now than later, etc etc, but I was just so disappointed that the whole business was THISCLOSE to being done and now I had to start from scratch. Of course, I do still have lots of time before July and blah blah blah, but I have to say that I am just so tired of living with uncertainty. I should be able to handle not yet knowing where I will be living 6 weeks in advance, but after moving all the time and worrying about the match all year long, I just need a break.

.... anybody know of a nice apt in a house in Queens I could stay in?? I don't do drugs!!