KirstenL4W

Last night I decided to be nice to my roommate. I mean, I don’t want to fight, and I don’t want to discuss any of the issues that resulted in our impending moves. It’s not going to get anywhere, we’ll probably argue if we do try to discuss it, and the results are exactly the same - I’m still moving, and nothing anyone can say or do will change that. So I’ll be nice.

She seemed a bit taken aback that I was trying to have a civil, chit-chatty conversation with her like we used to do. She really wasn’t expecting that. And since I put a deposit on my new place today, she definitely won’t be expecting me to tell her tonite that I’m moving in a month. Of course my portion of the rent will be paid for the last month of the lease even though I won’t be there. I have a contractual obligation to do that. But the utilities are all mine, and I do not have any legal obligation to provide them for her. If she’s super nice to me and I’m in a good mood, perhaps we can work something out, but for now I’m thinking no.

I’m going to start packing tomorrow. I like to get a head start on this sort of stuff, because experience has shown me that if you pack at the last minute, it’s extremely disorganized and things get lost and broken. I’ve done that, and I’ve done the extremely organized move. I want a trouble free-move, so tomorrow all knicknacks and decor get packed up. Then in the next few days, I’ll start on other areas. I have a list of what to pack together, so it should go pretty smooth. Then on moving day I’ll borrow some friends for a few hours, schlep the stuff over to my new place, and voila! I’m home.

Well, I have solved the mystery of the glasses. Turns out someone that I live with who shall remain nameless is fucking with me. See, the glasses are in 3 rows in the cabinet, set up like this:

1.2.3
4.5.6
.7.8

Numbers 7 and 8 are closest to the edge of the shelf (and centered because symmetry is nice), so those are the ones most frequently used. This morning when I went to retrieve a glass for my juice, it looked more like this:

1.2.3
4.5.6
7.8.9

So, of course I was very perplexed. But when I returned home this evening it turns out that the glass in the #1 position was removed and placed to make it look like there were now 9 glasses. I fixed it of course, and if things keep moving like that in the future I will continue to move them back to their established locations, the places where these items have been living for the last 2 years. I’ll do it all without saying a word or appearing to let it get to me. Other people in this house can’t remember where things go or even seem to care that various items have an established home, but I do. It’s frickin common sense - put things away where they belong.

I was also informed that I will not be allowed to watch tv in the living room at least half the nights of the week. See, this is what I do. I come home from work and I watch tv. It doesn’t matter whether or not I have a “life”, it’s just what I like to do. Now I’m being told that it’s not fair that other people can’t use the living room. Yes, you can. With our opposing schedules you can watch tv all you want when I’m at work, since you come home from work not that long after I leave in the morning. You have the whole darn day to watch tv in the living room. You also have a tv in your room. So if I can’t watch tv, what the heck else am I supposed to do - change my entire lifestyle because of your stupid games?

First of all, I will watch tv for those few hours when I come home at night in the living room, since I do not have the option of watching tv in my room like you do. I’ve made a reservation, so to speak, that will ensure my tv time and that I will be able to stick to my established schedule and routine. I’ve also decided that if someone persists in playing these games to keep me from the living room and basically banning me from the tv, well, that might be financially advantageous for me. See, the cable bill is split in half. If I can’t get access, then someone else pays more. And the rent is paid based on how much space we have exclusive use of. If I am denied any use of the living room, then someone else’s rent will go up. Simple as that. I am well prepared for these games.

I was going to wait until I had a deposit on my place to start packing, but I think I’ll start now. I don’t have much space at all in my room to start piling up the boxes, so the dining room will have to serve as a staging area. No one eats in there anyway. I’ll just start by packing things I don’t need, like decorations and such. Then I’ll move on to things in the kitchen that I won’t need in the near future - like my Braun Multi-Mixer that someone uses a lot and has twisted the cord up something awful. Yeah, my stuff that I won’t need in the next 8 weeks.

You know, I’ve also been thinking a bit. If this apartment that I am moving into will be ready in May, maybe I should just move in May and forget the last month. I’ll still pay her for my portion of the rent, less her portion of the utilities (utilities that are in my name and come with me when I move), but it would mean that I get peace a month sooner. I need to figure out the finances of that and buckle down, but I think I can manage it. Actually, she still does owe me some money for a computer she bought on my credit, so that last month could end up being a wash. So I need to work the numbers and see how the next couple weeks go, but that might end up being the plan. I like that plan - I’d have peace by my birthday!

I own a set of the glasses shown at left. I bought them when I moved into the apartment I’m about to move out of. It was a nice set - 8 large and 8 short glasses, 16 in all, plenty to go around. In the past 2 years, 2 of the small glasses have been broken by a clumsy roommate who shall remain nameless. So that leaves 6 short and 8 tall, and it’s been that way for quite some time. What I can’t figure out is this: When I went in the cabinet to get a glass for my juice this morning, I had 6 small and 9 large glasses. I counted and re-counted them. I can’t figure out where the heck this 9th glass came from. I know drinkware does not reproduce in the same way that say, cockroaches would (thank goodness I don’t have those!) so where on earth did this come from? All I know is that when I move, I am taking with me everything that I brought into the apartment, at least, what’s left of it. So when my roommate asks me why I left 1 glass, I’ll just tell her that I bought 8 large ones, and I’m taking 8 with me. Wicked bizarre.

Photo courtesy internet search 

My roommate and I have not spoken since the germ dispute, and I have informed her that I will not be renewing the lease on this apartment. Luckily for me, the lease is up at the end of June, so I don’t have to suffer germ discrimination or any other now intolerable annoyances for much longer. I figured with my puny budget I’d better get a jump on finding something, since there’s next to nothing available for what I want to pay (and not be afraid of the neighborhood I live in). I’ve been doing research for quite some time on this issue, mainly wishful thinking and also to keep a leg up on the rental market. But today, lo and behold, I found a place. It’s very near where I currently live and the rent, though a bit higher than I want to pay, is still within my budget. It’s currently occupied but the tenants are moving out in about 2 weeks, so I’ll be able to see it then and put a deposit on it, which will hold it for me until I’m ready in June. I’m so excited!

Of course, for all the rambling I did about the cost of living, I was able to find something I could afford on my own. But this will be the end of all frivolous spending. I’ve done this financially tight lifestyle before, and I’m not thrilled about it, but I guess you can’t put a price on sanity. I’m just gonna go with the flow, live in this studio apartment for awhile and still get on with my life and trying to figure out where it is exactly that I want to go. At least with my own place I’ll be able to do that kind of thinking without any distractions.

In other news, all this darn handwashing I’ve been doing because of this stupid cold has taken its toll on my hands, which have gone from baby soft to 150 grit sandpaper. I hate it when that happens.

I should be getting to bed, I still need my rest to avoid a common cold relapse. But I can’t resist, this internet thing is such a huge time vacuum!

I have a friend. Actually, I have many friends but one friend in particular who lives in the Great White North, eh. Now, this friend tends to get a crazy silly streak once in awhile. One day I was at work and all of a sudden, my inbox beeped with a new message. A few new messages. Actually, dozens of new messages. And they all said the same thing. Subject: Spam. Of course, seeing who the sender was, I simply rolled my eyes and laughed. From then on, Spam would be a running joke with us.

After the high volume spam, GP sent me spam in other forms. I got a nice gif image of a Spam can. I got the wav file of the Monty Python spam sketch. I also got the script of said sketch. I joked that I’d get him back one day. He lives in a better off neighborhood in a large Canadian city, so I joked that I’d have a pallet of spam delivered to his house. Wouldn’t the neighbors love that - a whole pallet of Spam rotting in the driveway of the vegan’s house. But, I couldn’t raise the money or figure out the logistics of sending that large a meat shipment over international borders. Then one day I found the perfect comeback. It was legal. It had to work. Of course, the thing cost more to ship to Canada than it did to actually buy it, but it was still affordable. What was it, you ask? It was (drumroll, please) a pallet of Spam. Not an actual pallet, but a notecube with tiny cans of Spam printed on the sides displayed on a little wooden pallet. Oh yeah. Point for the American!

He loved it, of course. I had won the Spam wars. But, he couldn’t sit silently. A few weeks later, I received a box from Amazon. I didn’t remember ordering anything. Then I noticed it wasn’t from Amazon.com. It was from Amazon.ca. Big difference, and I only knew one person who would send me something from there. GP himself. I received a lovely illustrated children’s book about a family pet with a particularly malodorous problem. It was different and unexpected, and my then 4-year-old niece loved it.

We’ve called a truce in the Spam wars, but every now and then there’s a bit of friendly fire. We just like to keep things interesting.

Some of you may not find this story too exciting, but for my mundane existence it was quite an adventure.

This evening after work I went downtown to check out an apartment complex I found. Yes, you heard me right. Downtown. Most sane, safety-loving, law-abiding citizens don’t want to live downtown, but hey, on my budget there aren’t many options. Anyway, despite my extensive research I found a place that I hadn’t heard of before. Studio apartments, pretty basic. They’re not run down but they are older. All utilities included, even satellite tv, and local telephone, and I’d only have to pay for electric. Overall, not bad. Of course, it is still a last resort. I’m looking for a casita. There are communities here in Vegas where many of our older, wiser citizens live and some of those homes have detached guest houses on the property. Most people use them as legitimate guest houses or home offices, but a few rent them out. I feel that I have enough contacts that some extensive networking should turn up a few leads, and with any luck I’ll be living in a very safe neighborhood with plenty of peace and quiet. Keep your fingers crossed for me, ok?

Back to downtown. There are plenty of rough neighborhoods and most of them are in the downtown area. General advice is to stay away from the letter and number streets (like A St. or 2nd St). This place is on the corner of 7th and something, within walking distance of the fabulous Fremont St. Experience and many dirt cheap buffets. I pulled into the small visitor parking garage, the one that basically only visitors to the office use. I didn’t know that it was an office hours only thing. There were no signs regarding hours that the garage is open, none whatsoever, but the garage was there and the office was nearby. The office was closed, of course. Whenever I want to just drop by a place to check it out the office is closed. So I decided to take a few minutes to walk around the property and get a feel for it. I struck up a conversation with a resident and started asking questions about living there. He offered to show me his place, so I took him up on it. They’re studios, so I would be able to see the whole place from the doorway, which would leave me an opening if I needed to take off in a hurry. Well, the place isn’t bad at all. I could certainly make do with it if I can’t find a casita. Mr. Resident and I kept chatting away without any worries about the time (isn’t that always the way when you’re yapping so much?)

What seemed like a few minutes into our conversation, I glanced over at my car and saw something was amiss. No, my car was fine. In fact, it was very safe. The gate to the garage was closed and locked with a padlock. Mr. Resident informed me that the gate closes at 6pm and opens again at 9am. By then it was 6:40pm. I have to be at work at 8am. What was I to do? Mr. Resident tried calling to see if he could find an emergency after hours number. No luck. Then we tried finding maintenance, but Mr. R has only lived there a short time and wasn’t sure where Mr. Maintenance lived. During our search Mr. Resident mentioned a neighbor across the courtyard who was a bit “weird” because he seemed to know everyone’s business. I said if anyone knows where to find Mr. Maintenance, it would be Mr. Nosy. Sure enough, Mr. Nosy knew so we went up to the 3rd floor and luckily, Mr. Maintenance was home. He had to give me a bit of a hard time about it, because he wasn’t supposed to unlock the gate at all after hours. I pleaded with him, telling him that I live all the way on the other side of town and had no way of getting home, since I only carried a few bucks with me and didn’t have my credit card. Now, before we found Mr. Maintenance, Mr. Resident offered to give me a ride home. I knew that since my home is so close to the office that I would be able to get to work and someone there would give me a ride to pick up my car, but the issue would be explaining why to my co-workers. They’d never believe this innocent story. No siree, not at all. They would much prefer to give me a hard time about some deep dark secret double life I have that has me getting trapped downtown at all hours of the night, and I’d never live it down. No, I needed to get home and be done with this ordeal.

It was becoming clear that Mr. Resident was an honest to goodness nice guy. Not too many of those downtown. He helped me plead my case to Mr. Maintenance, who after about 60 seconds relented and agreed to unlock the gate to let me out. I must say, I was quite impressed with the security at this place. I live in a much nicer part of town in what’s considered a “luxury” complex, and the gates here are a joke. I’ve never in 2 years of living here had to buzz in a friend or dinner delivery or even the cable installation guy. They either follow someone in, or else every delivery driver in town knows the gate code when the office staff insists there is no code. So anyway, Mr. Maintenance unlocked the gate, Mr. Resident saw that I got into my car and out of the complex safely, and I got home in time to watch some silly movie on tv. First impressions are lasting impressions, and if I can’t find a casita then I don’t think I’ll have too many reservations living in this downtown complex.

Explain something to me. Why is it that dishes hand washed in the sink with soap and hot water will spread germs, but using the kitchen sponge to wipe the counters won’t? Why is it necessary to wash my drinking glasses and eating utensils in the dishwasher when I have a cold, but absolutely no attention is paid to the refridgerator door handle or the doorknob on the pantry door? I don’t get it, if you’re so concerned about germs then be concerned about ALL germs, yours included.

I’m feeling a lot better than I was the other day. Turns out I only have a common cold, which I’m just about over. (Discontinue reading if you get grossed out easily.) My snots are running clear. I’m pretty sure common knowledge states that I’m no longer contagious. SO WHAT’S THE BIG EFFING DEAL ABOUT THE DISHES???????????? I mean, come on already - it’s not like I’m sneezing on them and serving you dinner! Germs don’t live very long on hard dry surfaces such as dishes washed in soap and hot water, regardless of whether or not it’s the dishwasher or tap. You will not get my cold by eating off of these dishes that I have hand washed in soap and hot water. You are much more likely to get my cold by opening the pantry door soon after I did so to throw away all my snot rags.

I’m really in no mood to deal with this kind of shit.

I’m only in work today for 1 reason: it’s payday. Without direct deposit, that means I have to physically take my check to the bank to deposit it. Which means I have to get out of bed and come to work. Because of Good Friday, we have a half day today. This is one of the bonuses of the boss being a good church going guy - at the same church I attend, no less. Anyhoo, the hot hot shower with one of those shower steamer things was really nice. A nap later will be nice too. I don’t think I’ll be feeling well enough later to attend Good Friday service, so I’ll probably just keep my ass planted on the sofa and rest up.

I’m supposed to work tomorrow at job #2, but if this keeps up I definitely won’t be going in. I can handle a desk job when I don’t feel too well, but a retail job on a busy holiday weekend isn’t going to make me feel better. It will probably prolong things because what I need now is rest. So unless I miraculously feel better in the morning, then I’ll probably call out for tomorrow. I need the money, but the sooner I feel better the sooner I can make it up.

Well that’s it for now - time for a nice comfort food lunch and good long nap.

Well, it’s been well over a year since I’ve been sick, so it was bound to happen sooner rather than later. Last night I started coughing - a deep, shred your throat, chesty cough. Not very productive, but it will be soon. Plus I currently have a low grade temp. I don’t want to be sick, I hate being sick. I get whiney, food doesn’t taste good, I can’t sleep well, I sweat and freeze at the same time. It just sucks big time.

I’ve heard the advice - take Airborne! Take Cold-eeze! Do this, do that. Honestly, as much as I hate being sick, I’d rather just ride it out instead of buying all these remedies and taking everything under the sun. Some comfort food and rest is all I need, and if it gets to a certain point then I’ll see the doc. But hopefully it won’t get to that point.

Ah, comfort food. The ONE thing I can always eat no matter how I feel is Smiles. It’s one of those things that you have to have grown up on, I suppose. My mom makes it all the time, and it grosses my stepdad out. I don’t understand how, this is a man I refer to as a human garbage disposal. Most people clean out the fridge with gloves on and a trash bag in hand. He cleans out the fridge with his ratty bathrobe on and a fork in hand. But he gets grossed out by Smiles. Three simple ingredients, and he likes them all, just not together. Elbow macaroni (that’s where the smile comes from), hot dogs, and condensed tomato soup. Simple. And they taste much better as leftovers than they do fresh, not sure why exactly. I’m gonna have to go shopping on my way home.

I think I’m gonna have to pick up some club soda too. I love water, I drink it all the time. Good thing because I live in the desert. But I can’t stand water when I’m sick. I’ll get some club soda to mix with orange juice. That one’s weird, because when I’m sick I want foods with as little flavor as possible, but for drinks, I can’t stand the most flavorless drink there is. Figure that one out.

So I’m still at work until this one little thing is done, which has nothing to do with how fast I can go, and then I’m out. Hopefully this little chest cold won’t affect my holiday plans at all. I have the day off from job #2, and I wanted to do something other than lay like a slug all day. Time will tell.

As you can tell by one of my previous posts, I really like Edy’s Cherry Chocolate Chip ice cream. Here, west of the Rockies, Edy’s is known as Dryer’s. I have no idea why they do things like that. It’s the same packaging and mostly the same flavors, except the one that I am looking for. I’ve tried others, but nothing comes close. I’m not really wanting bing cherries in my ice cream (sorry, Ben & Jerry). I want the full of sugar and completely stripped of all nutritional value maraschino cherries. I’ve linked to the flavor in my links on the right. The closest I’ve been able to find is at Smith’s. It will do in a pinch. I did make the mistake of buying Breyer’s in a buy one get one free sale. They have some wild cherry blast flavor. It has bing cherries and a weird banana like flavor to it. Finding your favorite foods isn’t the sort of thing you consider when deciding to move cross country.

More and more people that I know in real life are finding out about my blog. Some of them I tell while others find out by word of mouth. My co-workers mostly know about it now. Time-Flying Dudette gets a big kick out of what I write here. Not sure why exactly, I’m not trying to be hilarious. As long as people are reading it, right?

I’m hoping that with the busy schedule and all the people in the office I’ll be able to find a few minutes to run across the street to that fruit and insect named neighborhood restaurant to get some lunch and especially dessert. I absolutely love their crispy bread pudding. That’s probably why I gained 10 lbs the past few months. I have no willpower, so these people have to make the stuff taste icky. No, no, I know. I need to place the blame on myself. They don’t force feed me this delicious junk food. I just need to get me some motivation and willpower. What aisle is that in?

Let’s get back to the moving on stuff for a bit. See, I’ve been thinking quite a bit about this and doing all sorts of research on various destinations. I’ve been thinking about whether or not to move. I do have a lot going for me here, but the economics of living here has been a huge negative. As I’ve stated before, I like my job even though it’s not a money maker. I’m not about to get a job that allows me to have the things that I want if it’s going to suck the life out of me. So it’s definitely settled that this job stays, as does job #2 - at least until I get all this worked out.

The thing is, I could be quite happy staying here for a long time, but the seed has been planted. The idea is in my mind and I feel I have to follow through on it. I have never regretted moving in the past. When I was in high school, I moved from my father’s house to my mother’s house and was so much better for it. In college, I wanted to go to school in another state but settled for a school in the next town. That I wish I could change. In my 20s, I actually bought my first home, which is the previously mentioned dumpy condo. It was 20 minutes from my dad’s and 45 minutes from my mom’s and I quite liked it for the time I was there. But it was not a long term thing, and at the back of my mind was the idea to move far away. That’s how I ended up in Vegas. Now I’m wanting to move again. I don’t know if I’m destined to have a nomadic life or what, but if moving is what keeps me happy then I figure I should follow through. Sometimes I get myself down because of a seeming lack of perseverance, but other ideas come and go. The moving one has been with me as long as I can remember, and despite the moves I’ve made so far, it’s not going away.

Why is it that when I have a day off, I sleep anywhere between 8-10 hours that night, with a nap during the day, but when I have to get up for work the next day I either can’t get to sleep early enough or I’m up at an ungodly hour? Yesterday at work I could barely keep my eyes open, had a raging headache from a lack of sleep, then I had to work job #2 last night. It wasn’t busy so I left an hour early, got home, and was asleep before my shift would have ended. Then I was wide awake at 3am. Six freaking hours of sleep is all I got. I’ve been at the computer for well over an hour now and not ready to go back to bed. I’ll have to try that last resort - heading over to the sofa with my comfy blanket and pillow and popping in an AbFab DVD. Sure, the show is funny and exciting, but I’ve seen them all so many times that it’s comforting too, and one of the only things I can watch that clears my brain so I can sleep. I know I’m gonna need to sleep because come 3pm I’ll be slumped over my desk, snoring so loudly that I’ll disturb my coworkers. I’ll suffer through the next 2 days, and of course working both jobs on Friday, then I’ll be up late Friday night and sleep till noon on Saturday.

Thank goodness this insomnia thing is rare with me, I’d go absolutely beserk if it happened any more frequently.

A shake up at work today! I never thought I’d see the day. Dr. Grandma has announced she is taking another job. It’s right down the street, and our professional paths will surely cross again in the future, but come on. She’s our rock! She keeps us all in line! She’s the one we turn to when we have a weird rash! Ok, not necessarily that last one, but she does know a thing or 2 about medicine.

We cried. Colorful Texan was useless during our meeting. Mad Scientist cried like a baby. Pretty Lady Dammit and I just sat there in shock. And Time-Flying Dudette is on vacation. She’ll come back to an empty office and will suffer the same shock we all did.

The thing that struck me is that Dr. Grandma said it was the hardest decision she’s ever had to make in her life. My decision to sell my house and move clear across the country to a city where I had no family was easy, but trying to make the decision on where to go from here is much harder. This workplace is a huge part of what keeps me here, but I know eventually we all have to move on. The question now is trying to figure out why I even want to move on this time besides the pure economics of it.