End of hiatus

Remember Project 365?
It's been on hold for the past two months. I'm coming back in July! A picture a day, I promise.

Eight

"Get a place with character," she says. "You don't want to be surrounded by rowdy college students," she says. "Stop being so snooty," she says. "Cookie-cutter apartment complexes are boring," she says.

Yeah, well. I should have told her to shut up. Except the she is me, and I thought I knew what I was talking about. The truth is I am snooty. I'm a stickler for curb appeal. I thought I could suppress the snob in me, and I kind of did. My new place is very rustic. I don't hate it, but it's starting to get to me. I'm starting to miss the little amenities I'd have in a nicer place.

You want to know what finally pushed me over the edge? Take a guess. The deer? Nope, I think they are so cute. The super dark nights? Nope, I either stay in or run for the door. The lack of an enjoyable yard? Nope, I can always go to a park or to campus. Here's what it was: I walked out of my door this morning and there was a tarantula on the front porch. Thankfully it was dead; I think the neighbors or their cat killed it. Rustic I think I can live with, but tarantulas are just a little too rustic.

I'm stuck here for another 11 months. If I don't see another one in that time (please, oh please), then I may reconsider moving. Otherwise, I'm outta here at the first opportunity.

You know you live in a small, country town when ...

... there is a family of deer and some sort of wild fowl grazing at the end of your street.

(I'll try to snap some pictures soon.)

The new job

My first two weeks have gone pretty well. It's a lot to learn and there seem to be at least 3 meetings every week. I have lots of reading and I had to meet with my supervisor and have her remove some things from my training plan to give me more unstructured time.

Speaking of my supervisor, I think she is going to be good to work for. She's very accomodating, she's sharp and knows her cataloging stuff, and she's quick with the praise.

My underlings (heehee) remind me how much I enjoyed working solitarily. Well, they're both really nice, so I shouldn't sound so mean, but MAN can they talk! Both of them are big-time chatterboxes. That's going to take some getting used to.

I've started cataloging some, 9 books so far, and that part I like the best.

No sleep till Brooklyn

I've made some pretty good headway on the unpacking front. But I've also been letting myself slack off a bit. So tonight is going to be the final push. I'm staying up all night until every room is presentable. I don't want to have to do too much on Sunday -- just rest up for The First Day.

I'm at the coffee shop right now. Once I'm done here, I'm going to go across the street to the grocery store for some Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream (that's going to be my reward), then it's home for the unpacking and straightening. No sleep till I'm done!

P.S. Have I mentioned moving sucks? No? Well, it does.

Route to work

I walked the route to work today. According to Mapquest it's between 1 and 1½ miles. The walk isn't bad at all. It took me 25 minutes door-to-door. There is one big hill near the end, but I made it okay.

The problem is the humidity right now. By the time I got there, I was pretty sweaty. I don't think I'd be able to go to work like that. I could take some toiletries and clean up once I got there.

Biking will be a better option, I think, because it will be faster. I'll be saving up for a bike.

The new place

At first I was kind of ticked, but after reading Lass's two posts about having to clean her new place, I don't feel so bad.

My place was presentable, but not clean like I'm used to when I've moved in to apartment complexes. I guess this is what happens when the landlord doesn't have a make-ready team on staff.

I had to vacuum out the cabinets and drawers in the kitchen. There are left over tiling supplies in the bathroom cabinet. The bathtub had muddy footprints in it. There is a layer of dust on the floors throughout the place; I think I'm going to use up all 12 of the Swiffer Wet cloths I bought yesterday. The refrigerator has old crumbs in it, and the stove and oven aren't clean. I hope this means he (the landlord) isn't going to expect immaculateness from me upon move out.

All moved in

I'm here! Move-out day wasn't bad. One of the movers was hitting on me which kind of got on my nerves, but once my mom got there, he cooled it.

Move-in day was the pits. I'll spare you the gory details, but here's the broad strokes. The driver was alone. Yep, he attempted to move all my things by himself. He got help from a random dude who was working a couple of doors down. My bed frame got mangled. The bed itself got wet which seriously damaged the wood. The couch got wet, but it dried unstained, thankfully.

In case you're wondering, the name of the company was A-1 Movers, Transfer & Storage. They are an agent of Bekins, a well-known national van line which gave me undeserved confidence in them. DO NOT USE THEM!! I get the feeling large, corporate moves might be okay, but I wouldn't take a chance.

I'm going to be filing a claim for damages and writing letters of complaint to all who will listen.

Bittersweet finale

I went to the old watering hole for the last time last night. I haven't been there in months. My Tuesday night habit has long fallen by the wayside.

Guess what I discovered when I looked at the menu. The queso is gone. Completely gone. My beloved queso, subject of previous posts, is gone.

I say it's bittersweet because on one hand it would have been nice to have it one last time and I had been looking forward to it all week, but on the other hand at least this way I won't be in San Marcos pining for it. It's gone. Gone, gone, gone.

Did I mention the queso is gone?