The problem with living in an apartment you love in every respect except its location (and maybe its rent) is that in order to move to a better location, you have to give up something you’ve already got. I feel like if I move, I’m either going to have to live with a stranger, or live on a crappy street, or live in a smaller, uglier space, or all three.

I almost wish I didn’t live in such a great place now, so that I wouldn’t have to give something up. That sounds weird.

Damn this government salary.

If a tornado would just lift my apartment, carry it across the Hudson River, and gently set it down in either the West Village or brownstone Brooklyn, I’d be as happy as a clam.

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a gentle tornado.

Maybe whatever I’m giving up is just temporary, and some day I’ll have a higher salary and can live in an apartment as charming as the one I have now, and in a great location.

Or maybe I’ll just keep looking.