Tag Archives: apartment

… And, We're Back.

I know, I know– I never really left.

Michelle and I are now settling in to our new apartment in Sun Prairie.  It’s nice here.  So far we like it.  It’ll probably be even better after we dig out from under all the boxes.  Big thanks have to go out to all the peeps that pitched in last weekend, because we definitely couldn’t have done it without them.  It would have taken us 2 days easily, and we might not have even fit in the trucks we rented; props have to go to Lisser and J. Hill for the mad packing skillz.

At this point, I am having a hard time figuring out where to start with unpacking.  We have so much to dig through, you can’t really *put* anything anywhere.  What would be ideal is a second apartment next door that could have been used as a staging area.  We could then open boxes, unpack them, and immediately put things away in the place they should go in the real apartment.  Is that too much to ask?

Michelle said that when the cable guy came over today, he asked, “So did you guys just move from a REALLY big house?”

Anyway, there’s plenty to do, but I’m glad that we’re back online and in contact with the outside world while at home.  The site will be going down over the weekend for a while as my old internet service gets shut off and the server gets moved to its new home.  Because of this, I will post the Drama Jocks’ sportscast in a different location (there will be a redirect).  I better get done with this blog, though, and start helping Michelle with boxes…

Into the Home Stretch

Michelle and I are moving this upcoming weekend.  I have made it pretty clear to everybody that, giving my brutal moving schedule of the last several years, I feel like I have no karma left when it comes to requesting help for a move.  We seriously contemplated hiring movers before coming to the conclusion that we just couldn’t afford it.

Michelle had the wonderful idea of turning it into a “moving party,” complete with an evite, competetive furniture moving, and of course, plenty of food and beverages along the way.  We got a lot of our friends and family to voluteer to help, and because of that, I feel like we’ll probably have an OK time with the move.

Here at my house, I am starting to run out of places to stack the boxes and still be able to pack.  Probably going to have to start stacking in front of the TV pretty soon.  Maybe I should have packed the living room first instead of last…

Anyway, if you’re helping out this weekend, thanks in advance.  I was really impressed with all the support we got up front.  Off to bed for now!

Pause For a Breather

Been a lot happening in the last week-plus.

  • Michelle got a new job.  She’s going to be working here.
  • As a result, we are going to move.  To here.
  • Meanwhile, we had a whirlwind week of Brewers baseball on their last homestand.  We saw them do this, this, Dave went with me to this, and finally, a nice ending with this.
  • We looked at many apartments.  It was hard to keep them all straight, but I think we have a winner, unless someone steals it out from under us.

Also, it got cold.  I like moving in fall the best, I think.  How about you?

Let's Roll

Glad to get a lot done around the house this weekend– the laundry is done, the floors are clean, the dishes are put away, and the bed is made.  Why I couldn’t get some of this stuff accomplished last weekend (when it was raining like hell), I really can’t say.  But now I can forget any guilt I might have had when enjoying the nice weather, watching baseball, or doing other more recreational activities.

Michelle and I took a ride over to Grandma’s today to have lunch and observe Grandma’s birthday.  We picked up a cake @ the Metro Market that was fabulous; it was an Irish Creme Mousse cake.  I don’t know how they get that top layer of cake to sit on top of that inch of moussey goodness, but I’m glad that they do.  We had a nice time chatting with Grandma and watching a little bit of the Brewers game.

Michelle is working on her portfolio website this evening.  When she first decided to do one, I thought it might be easy to use some sort of quasi-pre-fab software (akin to WordPress or something else similar) to whip a site together.  Little did I know how unique and cool these sorts of websites really are.  Michelle is doing hers from scratch, and the mock-ups I’ve seen so far look great.  Hopefully her web host (me) has enough bandwidth to support her efforts 😛

Really looking forward to getting that new laptop delivered this week.  I had sort of forgotten how much I like to work on the computer away from the desk until I couldn’t do it anymore.  Here’s hoping for a nice productive week…

Just Like That, It's the Weekend Again

This was a zippy week.  Work is a complete F-show at this point.  We’ve gotten to the point in the year where processing is SOOO backed up, and people are SOOO far behind, and students are SOOOOOOO pissed about the whole thing, we have little meetings to talk about how far behind we all are and how no one should bug anybody else with anything or we’re going to have to start putting in OT.  Which would be bullshit.

Other than that, I’m just putting some finishing tweaks on my new apartment.  By popular demand, I will shoot up some photos of that sorta stuff in the ensuing week.  I ordered a wall-mount for my LCD monitor to help save space.  I’m trying to get creative with storage and using all the space as best I can.  I think I could have guests over night, but probably not more than 2.  Anyway, you’ll see what I’m talking about…

Here’s another interesting thing– Joe Knitt started himself a blog.  So if you’re interested on the latest from Brookings, SD (and I mean seriously, who isn’t???), check it out.

End of day.  That is all.  See you at the ballpark.

Please Excuse the Brevity of This Post

Things at this new apartment are coming together just swimmingly.  Jen helped me out with the kitchen and hauling some stuff down to storage yesterday, and Grandma was here today to help with some other stuff (she got the paint off the front of all the bookshelves with steel wool).  Grandma also took one for the team when the coffee table got tipped over and tagged her in the melon.  I gave her some ice in a washcloth to keep the swelling down, and that seems to have worked OK.

By the end of my “vacation,” which comes to a close tomorrow, I think I’ll have all of the furniture arranged, and some spots plotted out for things on the walls, anyway.  I’m definitely more excited to live here than I was in the last place.  So that’s something.  Also– even though I only moved across town, it feels like I’m in a totally difference place.  Can’t really account for that, but it is what it is.

I’m going to turn on the pre-game for the Brewers now and try to finish up in the living room.  More on this and other goings on later…

Oh, Who Has Free WiFi In Your Neighborhood? In Your Neighborhood? In Your Neigh-bor-hood…

Here’s a clue: probably the one that never changed the default SSID.

I am now relocatified to Ardmore Ave in Shorewood.  I’ll have my own Internets rokkin out tomorrow, but for the time being, I thought I would give it a shot, to see if I can entertain myself this evening.  Not that I don’t have enough to keep me busy, but I figure I’ll get sick of putting stuff away at some point.

Right now, I have to stand at the laptop in the living room, cuz this is the only place where I can get a stong enough signal, and there are no chairs in here yet.  A few initial comments and observations, though:

  • I was first planning on trying to make this move unassisted.  That would have been a mistake; I’d only be half done at this moment if I had.  It was good to have assistance from Joe and Christy and Jen.
  • I have given the ghetto Wal-Mart on Capitol Drive two fair chances.  But the place is a dive.  I’m going to have to do that sort of shopping elsewhere.  Someplace NORTH of my building.
  • I can hear the neighbors on the stairs, but it’s not too big a deal.
  • My linen closet is freaking huge for a 1-bedroom apartment.  It reminds me of the one that Grandma and Grandpa Bock had up north, but full-on floor-to-ceiling.
  • Nice to have wood floors again.

OK, I need to at least finish putting the bathroom together before the end of the day…

Staying on Vacation

Got the next five work days off.  The major project is going to be moving, of course.  The last time I did a cross-town move like this, the feeling and preparedness were pretty similar– I get the keys to the new apartment tomorrow morning, I have to be out of Wright Street on Monday, and I don’t have that much stuff packed right now.

These are usually lower-impact moves, though.  You don’t have to secure everything for a lot of miles traveled over highway, and as opposed to last year, I can take everything out of one place and immediately put it in its new place.  I’m not too worried.  I’ll work on stuff today, and Grandma and Jen said they’d come over and help out tomorrow.  Better get to it; I’ve got some calls and things to make.

And speaking of calls..!  There are a few of you I’ve been meaning to get in touch with and just haven’t had the chance yet.  I’ve got off for several days here, so feel free to ring my bell.  Or maybe I’ll turn that around on you, who knows?

Not Lazy, Just Not a Lot to Report

Let me tell you this right here– work is crazy nuts right now.  Freshman orientation is probably the most hellish time of the year.  Combine that with all the paperwork, and, well… there are things happening.  Not as much time to look at or think about the interwebs of late.

Continuing to work on my thesis and move along on that whole deal.  Trying to get my committee all put together and my prospectus done so that I can actually register for the thesis credits.  After that, it’s kind of just a matter of deciding that the work is done…

As I’m working on that prospectus this evening, I’ve also got an ear on the Brewers, and a Firefox on the Cubs.  I would really like the Cubs to keep on losing whenever they wanna get around to it.  The Crew continues to slowly but surely climb, record-wise at least, but Chicago just doesn’t seem to want to lose.  It’s kind of frustrating.

Hey– Mike Cameron just hit another one.

Also officially got a letter in the mail today saying, “Hey– you can has apartment!”  I did think it was funny that the form letter I received encouraged me to get my phone service locally through Ameritech, because “other telephone carriers may charge an additional connection fee to access the Ameritech owned lines.”  Yeah.  Well, y’know, that first merger only happened about 10 years ago, so they might not have updated the template on that WordPerfect 5.0 floppy.

OK, so I’m going to get back to work on this bibliography.

More Moving Tidbits

I made sure that I got home in time to do some spot-cleaning around the apartment last night– I knew Marty was showing the place this afternoon, and I figure the better it shows, the fewer times somebody else will be trouncing around your apartment before it’s rented again.  That strategy seemed to pay off, as I got back from work and found Marty with a couple in the kitchen, filling out a lease.  Suh-weeeet.

I also called up WE Energies today and got the ‘lectrics set up for my new place.  Check this out (blew my mind, but I’m the one writing the checks): budget plan at my current place: $106 per month.  Budget plan at my new place: $25 per month.  Holy.  Balls.

I’m also going to look into DSL as an option for Internet rather than cable, because AT&T seems to have Time Warner beat on price at this point.  And now that they’ll let you get DSL without a contract or an existing phone line, well… hey.

13 days to go…