Improvements and Oddities

Today I was awakened before 7 am with a call from my aunt/landlord that the guy was coming to install my living room floor "in less than 30 minutes"! So I dragged my ass out of bed, made coffee, threw in my contacts, and prepared to hole up in the bedroom with the computer and the cat for a large chunk of the day.

The guy arrived around nine. Good thing I got up at seven!!!

Anyway, he finished around 2 pm, and it looks light years better than the unfinished thing that was my floor up until today, but with all the sawdust & light debris clean-up, and furniture relocation I need to do, I had to bail on my trip to meet the guys (Jay, Gavin, Brian & Rob) at Redbones and Joshua Tree tonight.

Anyway, here is a chronological update for how the move-in and construction are going:

Improvements

• My computer is set up, and I am using Wi-Fi now. Plus, my aunt is including it in the rent!
• The gas got turned on yesterday finally, and my brand-new gas stove is up & running (though as of this afternoon, I still haven't cooked yet).
  
• The aforementioned living room floor is down, and except for the two thresholds and some caulking & painting, the living room is done. Now I can set up my stereo, and unload the stacks of boxes of books and milk crates of compact discs that are making my bedroom feel like I've been living in an episode of "Hoarders". And I can finally use my curling bar and do push-ups again without fear of slivers, exposed nails, or breathing in sawdust or paint fumes - let the workouts resume!

Oddities

• It's been a weird, relatively music-less 2 weeks. I usually have my 5-cd stereo playing, or the local jazz stations on, or my iPod in my ears. But with the stereo packed away, and people knocking on my door every day to do work on the place, I've listened to very little music. Which is very unlike me. That being said, I have been doing a lot of work on the Wyman's Pond Music Fest. Musician e-mails, trying to fill in empty time slots, and design work (not music, but related to the biggest event of my summer) have kept my mind off how annoying at times it has been to live in an unfinished place.
• Except for when I am out of the house, I haven't had a hot meal in 11 days! And far too much junk food (damn you, Chester Cheetah!).
  
• Also food-related: I had my first Double Whopper (with cheese, no onions - horrifying nutrition data in the link) since I left Hyannis Tuesday night. A span of 21 months! It was SO good, but after over a year of eating so much healthier, I can't believe I used to eat them about once a week. Those suckers are HUGE to my stomach's eyes in my post-South Beach Diet world.

Another update soon...

Weekend Accomplishments

This weekend saw a lot of work getting done on my new place:

• I finally have cable! I read three books this week because I had no television channels until this morning.
• My kitchen floor is almost complete. The room is much brighter, and the floor is clean and smooth.
• The washer and dryer got hooked up. All that needs to be done is to drill a hole in the wall to the outside for the dryer vent, but I can still use them both.

Tomorrow (Monday) the gas should be on, and I'll finally be able to cook. If not, then Tuesday for sure. My biggest desire is for the living room floor to be done, so I can fill my bookshelves and empty my bedroom of clutter.

New Place Firsts

Whenever I move into a new apartment, I make a note of several "firsts".

• First CDs: Miles Davis "Kind of Blue", Pete Yorn "Back & Fourth", and Broken Bells "Broken Bells", all played on 'Black Manta', not my full stereo.
• First Books: Harry Turtledove's "Werenight" and George R. R. Martin's (editor) "Wild Cards 14: Marked Cards".
• First TV Show: "Two and a Half Men" (no cable to date).
• First Meal: Dunkin Donuts - A large regular coffee and a sausage, egg & cheese on a plain bagel (no stove or fridge on Monday night, still no stove to date).
• First Coffee: Green Mountain Coffee Roasters 'Nantucket Blend'.

This is the first time I've moved into a place that still needed heavy renovation (it is a work in progress, and if I'd waited another month, I'd have moved into the finished product, but it'd have cost me another month's rent at $750, which I didn't care to pay). The bedroom is basically completed, but because floors still need to be installed in the kitchen and living room, all of my belongings are crammed in with me on three sides of the bed! Also, none of the living room windows are done being painted, so I have no blinds/shades/curtains, which after dark basically leaves me on display in a big glass cage. I've thumbtacked curtains over a few strategic windows, which helps, but I am looking forward to the work getting done soon. Both floors should be in place by the end of the weekend too, but the stove and washer/dryer hookups won't be done until Monday earliest, so I am still living a half-life... At least my aunt/landlord has lended me her spare laptop until she gets me a wifi card (or whatever) for my computer. Thanks Jean Marie!

I kinda feel like I am roughing it, with my cat standing in for the usual island crew, but without a campfire, fresh seafood or beer...