Have you ever gone skull hunting? Yes, skull hunting. Yes, in Manhattan. Yes, again, skull hunting at a flea market. That's how my day started out.

A quick Facebook message from my cousin Deb sent me back down to Hell's Kitchen in search of the beaver skull that I'd mentioned in my last post. She's a bit of an ornithological fanatic and, funny enough, a skull collector. I went back down to Hell's Kitchen, stopped by the tent where the desired beaver skull sat. I popped in, asked what he wanted and, using a bargaining trick, told him I might be back.

I walked a little further, dodging cameras set up by the Discovery Channel. If you're watching a show on DC in the next few months on flea markets, look for a tall, lanky kid with an "I (baseball) CLE" shirt on.

I happened upon a vintage road bike at one of the tents. I asked him what he wanted for it and he suggested $85, a truly reasonable offer considering the bike market here. "No, no." I shook my head. "I'm thinking more like $50, even then..." He considered it. He said we'd split the difference, so I walked away with a unisex (and it IS a unisex frame after researching the bike further... not a woman's!) 1970s Fuji road bike for $65. Not bad!

I stopped back at the beaver skull stop and made an offer. I danced around with numbers, suggested another price and he held fairly firm. I still talked him down though-- and that's what counts. (Deb, it'll be in the mail as soon as I get your address and a chance to mail it!)

I half-rode, half-walked the bike back to the New Yorker. The rear brakes were, optimistically, weak and then seat was, to put it nicely, un-sittable. So I dropped my find off in my room, walked over to K-Mart and bought a new seat and a bike lock.

It's really quite amazing what someone can do when they have limited resources. The ONLY tools I have with me are part of a multi-purpose skate tool that I use to adjust my longboard. Fortunately, the bolts on the bike that I needed to tighten for the rear brakes, remove the old seat, install the new one and raise the seat post were all on my multi-tool. In an hour or so, with a little wrenching and a handful of Lysol wipes to "wash" the grime off of it, I have a decent, lightweight bike that should get me wherever I need to go.

My room was starting to pile up with the week's dirty clothes, so I headed downstairs with two very full plastic bags of clothing and joined the EHS Laundry Party. The housing company that my lease is through would pay for your first load of laundry, so I occupied 2 dryers and 2 washers and washed away all of the subway crud, sweat and God-knows-what that I picked up over the past week.

While there, I got to know a few people and this made the laundry washing, drying and folding that much more tolerable. I met Nick and Emily, a really nice couple from Minnesota who I then went out to dinner with at Alpha, an Asian-fusion restaurant on 34th. A quick trip to K-Mart later, and I was back in my room for the night.

My iron is cooling down after steaming the wrinkles out of all of my "business casual" clothing that I'll need for the next week. Tomorrow is the big day, my big start at CBS News. I have to be uptown by 11 AM at the CBS studios for orientation and, to be blunt, I couldn't be more relaxed or confident about my day tomorrow.

A few things I've learned today:
1. Finding tools in NYC is difficult and often leads to improvisation.
2. It takes nearly a lifetime to iron 5 shirts, 4 pairs of pants and to tie a tie.
3. Kirstie Alley is in the building next to mine, doing a Dancing with the Stars knock-off deal. Or at least that's what the posters led me to believe.


Oh yeah! I took a few pictures of my "apartment" today while it was clean, including my view.