This is going to be long, I can just feel it.
So, the first big news is that I finally ditched the roommate factor. After nearly 5 years of living with different roommates, I dropped the whole concept like an ugly baby. I am now the proud renter of a one bedroom apartment. I can't say that I enjoy paying out the nose for it, but it's pretty nice, I'll admit. It's on the border between Beaverton and Aloha, so I'm even further from Portland, but still only ~5 minutes from work. It's an okay balance. I do miss SE PDX, though. A lot.
But I always got the idea that I wasn't nearly cool enough for that area.
But getting into my swank bachelor pad (which will be referenced as 'the cockpit' from here on out) was a fucking ordeal in itself. I'll give you the condensed version:
I alotted myself a month to find a place. Beaverton is nothing but stripmalls and apartments -- so no worry, right? Wrong, bitch.
I did my homework on the internets, reading reviews, plotting drivetimes, etc. I'm making some real good bread, so I divided that I was going to live in some place that wasn't a total crap-shack (for the first time since I moved out of my parent's house!). So, I made a short-list of places that I would like to live in. I would call them on my coffee break and visit them on my lunch break. I'd pick up applications. I'd act like an upstanding individual. I'd fill out the applications and go to return them only to find that they'd already been rented. Within HOURS.
I soon found out that nicer, one-bedroom apartments are hard to come by. Lots of the places didn't have them. Or they smelled like smoke. Or there was no assigned parking. Or there were no washer / dryers. Or something. I must have looked at 15 different places.
Finally, I found one that suited me. I put in my application, sweet-talked the nice middle-aged obese woman. I'm a charming motherfucker. She takes my application fee and submits my shit for a background check. I have 10 days to get approved and get moved. Very unlike me, I put all my eggs in this basket -- I don't apply anywhere else.
So, these background checks usually take 48 hours. After 72 hours, I call. No word from the screening agency. I call the agency, they are waiting on my old fuckwad Corvallis landlord. I call him. Leave three messages. Finally get a hold of him and plead with him to call. He does. 24 hours passes. 5 days left. No word from the screener. I call them again, they need my current landlord's number.
Now, this poses a problem. I didn't have a current landlord. I was staying with a friend for the previous two months. I wasn't on the lease (thank god too, since that house was FUCKED). I tell them this, but they still need to call him. Takes me a day to get his contact info (see also: fuckup roommates). Three days pass, he doesn't call (why would he -- he has NO CLUE who I am).
Finally, I call up the apartment and BEG them. Since I'm so charming, she lets me slide in. Two days to spare.
Now, this next part is an interactive activity to simulate those two days:
1 -- take everything you own and put it in a box.
2 -- take that box, walk up a flight of stairs and put it in your car.
3 -- repeat 1-2 whole bunch.
4 -- drive your car across town.
5 -- grab a box and walk up three flights of stairs
6 -- repeat 5 a bunch.
7 -- repeat 1-6 a bunch
8 -- unpack all those boxes.
My back still hurts. Lugging my bed and desk and shit solo sucked. I wish I had better friends in the area, but there are few to be had.
So, that's the end of that chapter. I'm setted in. I still don't have a couch or anything, but I went to the dollar store and dropped like $35 bones on cleaning supplies and other knic-knackery (280 straws for $1!). Good shit.
But, beyond that, not much new. I've been spending lots and lots of time working on the mixtapecollective.org redesign. I've never done so much hardcore JavaScript in my life.
Work is going swimmingly. They're starting to overload me with work and give me some pretty crazy tasks / projects to take on. I'm in charge of a committee to drive some change around the internal network structure. It's pretty daunting. There are about 15 people contributing, who are all seasoned vets -- I'm still green as fuck, so I'm having to work for any sort of credibility. I'm also working on like 5-6 projects at any given time. Sure makes the time go by quick. Dig it.
I went to a glorious Holiday party thrown by SarahC. Our bearded friend Andrew was there. I drank a few beers and talked to some interesting characters. I had a wonderful time. I have an office party on Friday that I'm super stoked about -- I can't wait to find out who the office drunk is.
Kim has been coming to visit pretty regularly, which is a nice thing. I like spending time with her. We're pretty much an amazing duo -- we have a blast where ever we go. The Dollar Store was amazing.
But, she totally impressed me (even more than usual). For the past 6 or 7 years, I've been trying to track down a Model M keyboard. It's probably the nerdiest thing ever, but if you've ever touched one, you'd know. It's built like a fucking tank. It's really big. It doesn't have a 'windows' key. Instead of plastic, it uses springs on the keys. It makes a click when you press a key down. It makes a click when you release a key. It sounds like glorious machine-gun fire.
Anyway, out of the blue, my girlfriend brings me one. I told her a long-long-long time ago that I wanted one. She found one at a thrift store for $2. I've seen good ones go for upwards up $80-100 bucks before.
What a rad girl. I feel like a nerd, but it sounds glorious as I type this.
Well, that's about it. Moving, work and keyboards. I love you all.
elephant foetus!
SHUT THE HELL UP!!!!
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