Tag Archives: apartment

General, Uncategorized

Don't Really Remember

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Hey, I’ve got a busy week, with moving in, busting ass at work, and trying to get ready for a week-point-five road trip all at the same time. I slept in my new apartment for the first time last night, and it was good to be back in my bed. I think I sleep the best there. The bus ride on route 21 is OK; it’s definitely a little quicker than riding through downtown. I’ve been able to get a chapter or so of my book down each way.

The thing that I don’t really remember, though, is this:
If you and I are friends, how exactly did that happen? Do you remember anything about the process? I’ve come to the realization recently that the friends I have at present are so scattered, I’m coming up really short on them in the town where I live. I feel like I would benefit from getting some new ones (possibly local), but I just don’t remember how to do that.

That led me to thinking how I got the friends that I have, and a lot of you I’ve known so long, I really can’t come up with an effective means of duplicating whatever process we went through. It’s troubling.

General, Uncategorized

An Update of Sorts

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Been trying to get a lot done at work this week, so sorry if you’ve been anxious for more news. A few items of note:
– Had a nice first-weekend-of-July at a cabin that Michelle’s cousins had rented up in Waupaca. They had us stay over for the weekend, and we pitched in for a little pontoon cruise on Saturday. It was fun.
– Saw the new Harry Potter movie this evening. I enjoyed it. Jen seemed to have a good time, too. I could tell she was a little disappointed in the omissions from the book (which is pretty typical), but to be honest, I didn’t remember enough from the book to really notice. Those last two books went really quickly for me, and to be honest, I retained very little. I should probably go back and re-read both before the final installment comes out in a couple weeks.
– Oh and I found an apartment.
Here’s the address: 6524 W Wright St in Wauwatosa. It’s a 2-bedroom in this older duplex. Jen came over with me when I signed the lease and commented that I would probably need more furniture to fill it up. That could be true.

I’m glad that I found it, and it has basically all the amenities I was looking for (close to bus line, garage parking, ample storage, laundry in the basement), but I’m still a little apprehensive about it. I took Jen with me to look at it, maybe in part because I wanted her to find something wrong with it. The landlord lives downstairs, and that’s not a situation I’ve ever lived with before, so I’m a little on-edge about how that will work. Even though I’ve run the budget figures up and down, I’m still a little worried about making sure I have enough money every month. Maybe I also felt a little bit of pressure to get into a place right away, just because the prospect of remaining homeless over the duration of my upcoming MT vacation had me scared shitless. I think I may have mentioned before that I like to move in to places that I’m actually excited to go to. I’m not excited about this place, it just happened to be the first one that met all my criteria and I could move in a little early. Not that’s it a bad place at all. It’s a very nice place. I’m sure if you get to see it, you’ll like it. Maybe I’ll feel better once I get there, but for the time being, I am very guardedly glad to have it.

Meanwhile, speaking of vacation, Michelle and I have been deep in the throes of planning. I think we’ve got a good, tentative outline of everything we want to do and see while we’re in Montana for Storyhill Fest and a visit to Glacier National Park. We already bought the tickets and stuff for Storyhill quite a while ago, and we booked the campsite at the Park, now we just have to decide on a rental car and some of the trips (horseback riding, rafting) that we want to do and we’ll be more or less set. The trip-planning has been a lot more fun for me than anything else I’ve had going on lately. I really, really, really hope I can relax by the time it’s time to go.

I think I’ll leave you for now and go lie awake for a couple hours while I wait for 4:30 to return…

General, Uncategorized

Nothing

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Apartment that I looked at last night after work was a no-go. Too small. Misrepresented in other ways via the Craigslist posting.

Jen and Joe drove me around their Tos-ish neighborhood later on after I got home. We drove between about 68th and 60th streets from State to Center. I wrote down several numbers and made a some calls. A few called me back right away.

Sorry if I’m pessimistic. I just didn’t think that this would be the hardest part of moving to this goddamn city.

General, Uncategorized

All Over (Again)

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Well the first part of the move is completed.

I had assistance from the Mundschaus, and also a little from Lorch and Knitt, and I left Oshkosh once again at around 2pm on Saturday. I made it to the Public Storage joint on the same day, so we unloaded immediately (rather than taking Sunday to get that done).

There was a little drama at the P.S.  In the evening, the gate is supposed to remain accessible between the hours of 6am and 9pm, but when we were ready to leave shortly after 6pm, the gate wouldn’t open. The area is controlled by a code-accessed gate, much like you might see in a parking garage or what have you. There was a small mob of people who wanted to get out, and a slightly larger mob trying to get in. This is in West Allis. It was a recipe for disaster.

There’s no 24-hr contact for the office, and when I tried to call the corporate toll-free number, I got cut off as soon as I finished explaining what was going on. By that time, a few of the other people had taken it upon themselves to dismantle the chain-and-motor mechanism that operates the gate. So, it was open, and we got out, but I’m not the one who left that chain in a jumbled mess on the asphalt. I definitely wouldn’t have wanted to be one of the people working at the Public Storage on Sunday.

Jen and Joe and I went to the Tischer’s house in Menominee Falls after that, and we watched a silly movie that sort of deconstructed the slasher genre. It was OK. I laughed a bit. We also ate food from Saz’s.

On Sunday, I spent the majority of the day trying to figure out where to live. I focused on places that I thought I might like that are vacant right now, or available in the very near future. I’m going to look at a place after work today that is really close to campus and seems to be reasonably priced. It includes parking, which seems like it would be a real bitch in this neighborhood, and when I drove by this morning, the street seemed to have well-kept houses on it for the most part. I’m not sure about living among a lot of college kids, but that is sort of the bed I’ve made, isn’t it?

Couple last words on Oshkosh:
I sat up for a while on Friday night contemplating the last 3-and-a-half years, and how much has changed, once again. I thought about how, even though Oshkosh is nothing like it was when I lived there the first time, and even though there may not be a lot going on over there on a day-to-day sort of basis, it’s not that bad a town. Once you get yourself a decent job, the rest of “where you live” is kind of what you make of it. I’ll miss living close to the Knitt’s, Lorch’s, and Schrubbe’s, but I’m looking forward to having Michelle and all sorts of family close by. I’ll miss my nice and (now I realize) obscenely cheap apartment, but I’m sure I’ll find something else I like in time.

I was just sitting on my couch in the dark on Friday night, staring at the walls and the ceiling, hoping that the future will be worth the sacrifice of the present. I think the toughest hurdle for my mind to get over right now, today, is that so much about what will happen next is still unknown; so much remains unsettled. Then there is a nagging doubt about making the best decisions; is this where I should be? How long should I stay, and when should I think about trying something else again? These thoughts, too, can probably be traced to the uncertainty hovering over my head right now. I’ve got a lot that I’d like to have settled sooner than later.

Thanks to everyone that helped me along the way during my 2nd round in Osh Vegas, and some advance-appreciation to the folks I hope can help me adjust to Milwaukee. It’s another leg of the journey, just getting started.

General, Uncategorized

Next Step

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I did mostly housekeeping sort of stuff up in Oshkosh this weekend. I had some stuff that I needed to pick up, some I needed to drop off, and just being at home was nice, of course.

I canceled my cable earlier in the week, so I had to drop the modem off at the Time Warner office. It’ll be nice to not pay that bill this month. I really wish the Interwebs were cheaper.

Starting next week, I’m going to get on the packing train. It’s hard for me to get ready to move when I still have no place to move to. What am I going to do if my lease runs out and I still have nowhere to go? I mean, like where will I even forward my mail? I am tiring of the whole situation, and I feel like I don’t have the time to make a good decision about how to proceed.

Right now, I’m at the Mundschau’s, cuz there was some stuff I needed to do online, and of course, that didn’t happen yesterday/this morning.

Best news of the weekend: Brewers finally win a series, ya-ay.

Back to it.

General, lists, Uncategorized

Present, If Not Accounted For

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Lemme just break down the high-level stuff for you this morning:

– Memorial Day: good. Drive was OK. Tough getting out of town on I-43, but it loosened up sooner than I thought it would. I got about 42 miles/gallon on the trip. Helped Dad with splitting/stacking wood on Saturday, then on Sunday, the splitter puked. Dad’s afraid he needs a new engine or something. That could suck. Sunday, I met Petters out at the T-Bird. It was my first time there since Knitt was drinking, but pretty much all the same people were there. I think I even saw one of Knitt’s uncles or cousins or whomever.

– Work: fine. It’s all the same crap that I was doing before, but with less hawking. I’m starting to get a sense of the office cliques and figuring out who-hates-who. I was recruited for one of the groups and shot down membership by effectively stating, “I don’t give a good goddamn about any of that shit. I work, I go home, I come back.”

– Apt search: sucks. I passed on a 2-bdrm on WI Ave after Michelle talked me back into my actual price range. I also have no chance of purchasing a home for the foreseeable future. Not that I was really desperately itching to do either, but that revelation also made me realize that I probably won’t be able to afford getting married or having a kid any time in my 30s.

– Brewers: on notice. Went to the game last night w/ Lorch for zero monies (he had vouchers for free tix from eating pizza). It was nice to see them finally get a win, but one cannot escape the fact that in any other division, this team would have squandered a substantial lead.

– Time: out for now.

General, Hollywood, Sports, Uncategorized

Beginning of the End

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Started my last week at UWO today. I feel remarkably normal about everything. Had a couple people ask me today if I was nervous about starting a new job, or excited to be leaving Oshkosh. Had to say neither. Maybe it just won’t seem as “real” until I start in MKE, but for the time being, I’m feeling fine about the whole thing…

I forgot to bring new coffee filters in for the second day, and I tried to make due with about 3 cone filters cut up and arranged inside the basket. That didn’t work, either. I put a ziploc bag full of filters on the steps so I won’t forget them on the way out tomorrow.

The steps are nice and clean, too; I had to give the apartment a nice little ‘once-over’ this evening, cuz my landlord is showing it tomorrow. It made me think about some of the shit holes that I’ve looked at while searching for apartments. I know that I probably won’t meet ANY of these people, but I really think you need to have some pride, a little self-respect, and try to make it look like you don’t live like a complete slob. Even if you do sometimes. So I did the floors, wiped the counters, washed all the dishes, and spot-cleaned the bathroom. Everything looks better.

Brewers won their 4th game in a row tonight. That’s also 12 out of their last 15. Pretty impressive. Still room on the bandwagon, folks…

I heard an interesting story over the weekend, wherein Steve Schrubbe’s car burned to the ground. That’s right– his car.

I also saw the third Spider-Man installment, and I’m giving it a 6-out-of-10: entertaining, but with some glaring holes/points of contention for the casual comic book geek (which I am). I’m a little too tired to chart the exact measures on a graph for you, but from the rough sketch below, you can see that some slight geekocity will allow you adequate background to enjoy the film, but as geekitude exceeds 50%, the issues with Spidey 3 rapidly approach infinity. I’d mark myself as about half-geek, so I guess the chart is skewed a bit through my perspective. But you get the idea (clicky for biggification).

OK, night-night time then.

General, Uncategorized

Home Base

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I have a rare Saturday at home going on here… It’s going to let me catch up on “round the house”-type stuff. I did some modest cleaning downstairs this morning, and I’m going to move up after that.

Also, finally got a few decent pics from Opening Day and the Indians game up here. There’s only a couple handfuls, but they’re there.

I’ve been making a list of crap I need to shop for soon, too, and BASS ’06 is in there, but I don’t know when the hell I’ll have enough time to read it. I should really get rid of my TV. But at the same time, I was recently contemplating whether or not it would be worth the extra per-month charge to pick up some extra channels for watching baseball this summer.

Sigh. Who the hell knows? Either way, take care and have a productive weekend…

General, Uncategorized

Calm Before Another Storm

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You thought I was talking about the radar, didn’t you?

Work has been very quiet this week. All the problems associated with the unstable first weeks of the semester are settling down. We’re passing the “point of no return” for dropping and adding and getting refunds. It’s been good for catching up on things.

Next week, though, the storm is going to hit when we shift the focus to next year and the freshies and their folks start calling. It’s the time of year when I feel the dumbest, because there are a lot of questions that you have to answer that only come up for about three weeks every spring. Most of our problems (and hence, my job) relate to making money show up in the kids’ accounts or sending it back. OK, that’s a major over-simplification, but it’s not like you care.

Point is, right now is when the relative-weirdos come and ask you their questions:
“Well, I live with my Mom on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and weekends from October to May, but from June to September I actually go to Tiajuana and get drunk with a talking chihuahua named Jose. None of this is that important, though, since Madonna adopted me with Brad Pitt back when I was 13. So whose information should I put on the FAFSA?”*

So, I thought I would take this opportunity to do a posting during the day for the last time for a while. What can I tell you that’s new?

Had the toilet overflow the other day. That sucked. Got up in the morning to take a shower and there was water EVERYWHERE. I got a little upset, and Michelle got upset because I was angry about the toilet, but we calmed each other down a little and took care of it.

I called my landlord the next day to tell him what happened and ask if he wanted to come over and look at it. It really seemed like he didn’t believe me when I said it overflowed during the night and we had no indication it was going to do that. I don’t know that much about plumbing, but to me it doesn’t seem like it should be *impossible.* He hasn’t been over yet, but it’s just some veneer that’s peeling away from the base of the vanity, and the flooring bubbled up a little near the toilet. So it’s not the end of the world or anything; I’ll put a note in with my rent next week if he forgets about it.

I really, truly do not care to hear another goddamn word about Anna Nicole Smith or Britney Spears, preferably ever. What’s happening in celebrities’ personal lives has never been on my radar, and when people get obsessed with a particular story, for me it becomes a game to learn as little about it as possible.

Just don’t be surprised if you bring it up to me and I bitch-slap you.

The Bucks narrow loss at the hands of the Pacers earlier this week really got me excited about baseball season. I called up Dave Schrubbe, and we agreed to go in together on a 9-pack of Brewers tickets. We chose the “Retro Fridays” package, viewable here:

One of the cool things about it is that we get an ’82 Brewers player bobblehead at all 9 games. Pretty sweet. We also get “free” tickets for Opening Day. So when you average it out, it was about 23 bucks a game for 10 games. I can live with that.

Also, like I mentioned to Dave– last time we bought a multi-game ticket package for a professional sports team in Milwaukee, they had a pretty good season.

Later this weekend, I am due to help out with the Knitts’ move across town. The weather may factor in to their plans, so we’ll see how it goes. Dammit, I gotta do some laundry tonight, too.

Enjoy yours…

* - the answer is David Hasselhoff

lists, Uncategorized

F Some of YI's

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This has been a relatively silent week, so this terse entry may not be very satisfying, but it is what it is.

1) The first week of the semester has been blissfully steady, not overwhelming. We’re going to start processing next year soon, so things will change.

2) I cleaned up my apartment. It’s awesomely good. This is officially the first time the whole place (from the garage to the first floor to the bedroom) is tidy and “put away.” I feel as though I can do other stuff.

3) Filed my taxes, and I’m getting a smaller percentage of my withholdings back than ever!! But it’ll still be nice to use the refund to pay some stuff back…

Perhaps more to come; I’ve also got a week and half of news to catch up on. How’ve you been?