Bounce a graviton particle beam off the main deflector disc...
Not a bad birthday, albeit as uneventful as I'd planned it. Got off work early because they ran out of things for me to do. Spent much of the rest of the day lounging about, daydreaming, occasionally talking to the cat in her own language, and generally letting myself be in a good mood.
Roommates: Got to meet Emily 2 today. At first it was awkward, but we talked some, and we left with an excellent impression of each other. She actually went so far as to say "If you want one of the spaces, it's yours. Just get back to me quickly." I like her. And I definitely think I could live with her for a month (perhaps longer). The only caveat is that I haven't actually seen inside the place because the landlord is being stubborn and refusing to give Emily a key until she has a group of subletters assembled. I did, however, get to see the outside, and I think it's probably a go. I really like Emily and think I could live with her no problem....and even if things went sour, it's only for a month initially, and I'd only be paying $400 in rent, plus utilities split three ways. Now this is a deal I can live with.
I'll probably take the offer within the next couple of days unless a hillariously awesome single deal appears out of nowhere at the last possible second. All of my regular options on this front have been either exhausted or are so weak that I've only halfheartedly followed up on them. The only truly notable single option left standing was the Margola, but my correspondence with that guy just wasn't working. Yesterday, he offered to show the apartment at 5, I showed up at 5 and rang the unit that the old manager lived in, and sklunked about for a while, then left because I had to go to class. Turns out he's emailed me at 5:08 telling me to ring unit A instead, apologizes for the confusion, and explains that he has a full-time job. Now what the hell kind of landlord hires an apartment manager who has a full-time job elsewhere, can only communicate with prospective tenants through email because he apparently doesn't have a phone, and lives in the basement, presumably because he can't afford a 1 bedroom going at $750/month? The open house isn't until Saturday, and Saturday equals October. If I wait until Saturday, I might end up with a decent enough unit, but I'm dubious about this new manager's ability to effectively do his job (the tenant who let me into the building didn't even realize that the manager was now living in the basement, so he obviously hasn't even gotten his tenants on the same page yet), and if I hold out for the open house, I all but guarantee missing Emily's offer, which is really a lot better. The only uncertain in this case is that I haven't seen inside the house. Regardless, I'll probably take it anyway. It's only for a month, it's a nice enough place, and I think I trust her enough to pick another good roommate for the final space.
...
I sometimes forget that "starship captain" used to be another "wannabe career choice" of mine, right after "x-wing pilot" and "postapocalyptic road warrior avatar".
Also, on my way there, a very large orange cat jumped out of nowhere onto the sidewalk in front of me, throatily demanding "rowr" in my general direction. I knelt down in an awkward squat to pet him, and he crawled onto my lap as I was squatting. I spent the next minute or so awkwardly trying to maintain my balance with a half-lap full of cat, before I eventually just pushed him off and kept walking, leading to his indignantly sklunking away. It was quietly hillarious.
Roommates: Got to meet Emily 2 today. At first it was awkward, but we talked some, and we left with an excellent impression of each other. She actually went so far as to say "If you want one of the spaces, it's yours. Just get back to me quickly." I like her. And I definitely think I could live with her for a month (perhaps longer). The only caveat is that I haven't actually seen inside the place because the landlord is being stubborn and refusing to give Emily a key until she has a group of subletters assembled. I did, however, get to see the outside, and I think it's probably a go. I really like Emily and think I could live with her no problem....and even if things went sour, it's only for a month initially, and I'd only be paying $400 in rent, plus utilities split three ways. Now this is a deal I can live with.
I'll probably take the offer within the next couple of days unless a hillariously awesome single deal appears out of nowhere at the last possible second. All of my regular options on this front have been either exhausted or are so weak that I've only halfheartedly followed up on them. The only truly notable single option left standing was the Margola, but my correspondence with that guy just wasn't working. Yesterday, he offered to show the apartment at 5, I showed up at 5 and rang the unit that the old manager lived in, and sklunked about for a while, then left because I had to go to class. Turns out he's emailed me at 5:08 telling me to ring unit A instead, apologizes for the confusion, and explains that he has a full-time job. Now what the hell kind of landlord hires an apartment manager who has a full-time job elsewhere, can only communicate with prospective tenants through email because he apparently doesn't have a phone, and lives in the basement, presumably because he can't afford a 1 bedroom going at $750/month? The open house isn't until Saturday, and Saturday equals October. If I wait until Saturday, I might end up with a decent enough unit, but I'm dubious about this new manager's ability to effectively do his job (the tenant who let me into the building didn't even realize that the manager was now living in the basement, so he obviously hasn't even gotten his tenants on the same page yet), and if I hold out for the open house, I all but guarantee missing Emily's offer, which is really a lot better. The only uncertain in this case is that I haven't seen inside the house. Regardless, I'll probably take it anyway. It's only for a month, it's a nice enough place, and I think I trust her enough to pick another good roommate for the final space.
...
I sometimes forget that "starship captain" used to be another "wannabe career choice" of mine, right after "x-wing pilot" and "postapocalyptic road warrior avatar".
Also, on my way there, a very large orange cat jumped out of nowhere onto the sidewalk in front of me, throatily demanding "rowr" in my general direction. I knelt down in an awkward squat to pet him, and he crawled onto my lap as I was squatting. I spent the next minute or so awkwardly trying to maintain my balance with a half-lap full of cat, before I eventually just pushed him off and kept walking, leading to his indignantly sklunking away. It was quietly hillarious.