Well folks, it’s finalized. The checks have cleared and crunch time is nearing.
I’m talking about my impending move.
As my regular readers know, a few months ago I set out to find a home office. The trick to this was that the home office could not be in my home; you see, I live in a standard-issue New York City two-bedroom apartment. For those of you in other parts of the country, go to your pantry and imagine living there with a spouse, a child and a dog. That’s a New York City apartment.
So with a baby on the way (a son, Micah Spencer Fleischman, born April 16, 2007) and my wife on maternity leave for nine months, I realized that I did not want to be the absentee parent so common when I was growing up. The stars aligned because of the shift of my practice from standard consumer bankruptcy to a referral-based consumer bankruptcy litigation office. Now, with no clients coming to see me, I didn’t really NEED a physical office.
The problem was that I needed a home office without a home. In other words, I was looking to rent a room in a house – but not as a live-in person. Tricky, I thought.
I trolled the Internet, community blogs and message boards. No luck. Rats!
Then, on a goof, I posted a request onto a message board devoted to new parents in my area. Within a few hours I was contacted by David, a homeowner who lives 6 minutes from my home by subway. He had a room on the third floor of his house and had been renting it out to a commercial tenant as a “home office.” She was moving out, and he had a space. Was I interested?
You betcha! And after looking at the room and location, I signed on the line that is dotted (to quote one of my favorite movies of all time). Lease begins on June 15, so I’m starting to pack up my tall-building office and head for the tree-lined streets of Brooklyn.
What will I find when I get there, and will the move be easy? I’m not sure yet. It’s an odd situation, having a not-home office. I’ll keep everyone posted on my progress as I transition into the next phase of my career.
