I'm back

I think I already used that title before, but whatever.

I finally finished moving on Sunday and am officially done with that shit-hole apartment for good. Well, they still need to send me my security deposit...I hope there's no BS with that.

One side effect of the move is that I was without my home computer for the past week. I moved into the new place a week ago, but my computer and desk were still at the apartment since we ran out of time last Sunday with the trailer I rented. I do have a laptop, but I didn't really use it since I pretty much hate laptops in general.

I've been meaning to cut down on my internet time for a while and thought it would be a good experiment to go without for a week. Ok, going without isn't really accurate - I could still do some limited surfing at work and I have an iphone. But I honestly felt like a junky in withdrawal the first couple of days without the trusty desktop.

I'm not sure how long it will last, but my first two days with a functional PC in the house are going well. I've reduced my online time quite a bit and don't feel compelled to sit in front of my computer for hours on end when I get home anymore.

It's all a matter of priority now and I plan on keeping this blog near the top of that list, so regular posts should be on their way again. :)

Friday

I couldn't think of a creative title, so you get the day of the week. :)

It's been one of those weeks from hell, if it wasn't obvious from some of my recent posts. Between flooding and moving, I also have some friends in town for the Creating Change conference. Oh yeah, my internet also went out for most of the day yesterday. Poor me...

I suppose I should clarify that the friends in town part wasn't hell. I've actually had a really nice time hanging out with Bil and Jerame again, it just came during a really grueling week.

I'm way behind on getting moved...I thought I'd have most of the small things that don't require a U-Haul out of here this week. With all of the apartment drama over the past couple of days, I think things are even more disorganized than they were at the beginning of the week.

I have the truck reserved for Sunday so I hope to be staying in the new place that night. Brilliant me didn't realize that there's some game called the Super Bowl that day, so moving help from friends has been pretty hard to come by. If you're in Denver and don't care about watching the game and would like to help me move, let me know.

Hot water

Have I mentioned lately just how much I hate the apartment I'm living in? I woke up this morning to find that I had NO hot water. Not that it ran out really quick, there just wasn't any when I turned on the shower.

It was really cold here yesterday and last night so I think my central heater has used up all of my hot water. I'm not positive on this one, but I believe the heater uses hot water from the water heater to heat the place. Anyhow, since my apartment doesn't seem to have any insulation, it's been on constantly for the past 24 hours.

Either that or the hot water heater just died. Whatever...I'm just glad I'm leaving in here in less than a week.

Movin' on up

I signed a new lease today on a house that's a bit closer to work than the apartment I'm in now. I put a deposit down on it back in the middle of December on the condition that they fix and clean up a bunch of things. The house had a lot of potential, but it was a wreck when I looked at it. Honestly, I couldn't believe they were showing a house in this condition to potential renters.

I was originally supposed to finalize everything and get the keys this past Monday after I returned from Cancun. I went by to do the walk-through and make sure they'd done everything they had agreed to, only to find that the place was still basically a wreck. They'd done a couple of the more major things, but that was it. The guy from the management company who was doing the walk-through with me said that the owner had told him that everything had been done. I think he was as disappointed in the situation as I was and told me he wouldn't blame me if I walked away from the deal.

I'd told him that I'd have to think about it and that I'd call him later. That bought me some time to do some quick searching online to see what else was out there right now. Even with the shape the place was in, it was still the best deal I could find for a house in that location with similar amenities. I called him back and told him that I could give the owners until Friday to finish what they'd originally agreed to do over a month ago. We spoke again later that day and he said the owner was also upset that everything wasn't done - he lives out of state and was told everything was good to go by whoever he has here - and would have everything finished by Wednesday.

When we did the walk-through today, all of the major problems had been fixed but the place still wasn't in the best shape. I told them I'd finish up with any cleaning/painting that needed to be done and took the keys. I really hope I'm not making a mistake with this place...so far the landlord's aren't exactly making me feel all that confident.

Renting a place is always a crap shoot, so I'll just hope for the best. At least with a house, I don't have to worry too much about the living habits of my neighbors. I'm *really* looking forward to that. It's funny - I lived in an apartment before I bought my previous house and after that apartment experience, vowed I would never share a wall/ceiling/floor with someone else again.

By the time I left that house, I had decided that I hated doing yard work and shoveling snow and an apartment seemed like a welcome relief. Plus, I'd have all the community stuff like a pool and exercise room. Of course, I never ended up using either.

So, here I am in a house again. Will I be pining for an apartment in another couple of years? Maybe I can find some neighborhood kid to come over and mow my lawn and shovel my driveway and break this vicious cycle where the grass is always greener somewhere else.