Countdowns? Sure!
In news that will probably horrify a few people who haven't even begun to think of it yet:
100 Days until Christmas!
Have you started shopping yet? :D
And in news that is more personal:
46 Days until I leave home and move out on my own!
The story behind that:
I have, apparently, freakish luck in getting what I want once I make up my mind to get it. Mum calls it the avalanche effect as I've always been super slow in making important decisions but once I make up my mind? Everyone else had better get out of way!
Two weeks ago I made the decision that I'd waffled around long enough about moving out and that I was now going to make a Serious Effort about finding a place.
Cue much searching online and some calling around and most places having the place they were advertising for taken already. So, many calls and not a single viewing! D:
Enter: this one building that kept not answering my calls and messages.
I really liked this building. It's perfectly located: it's in a safe and familiar area, it's got a mall (with a good bookstore and a theater), my bank, two grocery stores, several restaurants all maybe five minutes away, and is right by useful bus routes. (As I do not drive and will probably never learn to drive.)
Needless to say, it sounded fantastic.
So I kept calling and leaving messages every few days. Never getting a person. And then, on Monday I got the landlady.
And she said: I've got a 1-bedroom suite available for Nov. 1, are you interested?
And I said: Can I come see it tonight?
After a bit of back and forth, as it turned out that she didn't do evening viewings and I, you know, work during the day, I wound up saying 'Tuesday at 2, then?' and she agreed.
Then I spent the next two hours on Monday running around the office getting permission for my, uh, unplanned half day off. My office is a) awesome and b) supportive and let me take it off without using a vacation day even--I just have to work through lunch for a few days to make up the time!
(Am still doing that. Do not mind.)
So, on Tuesday, with my Mum and The Sister in tow, I showed up for the viewing at the building I really really wanted to live in, and trying to get my hopes down because if the place sucked, I wouldn't take it. But if it didn't...
Well, the landlady was super nice and she nabbed us as soon as she spotted us (we'd shown up about fifteen minutes early) and let us into the building. Which had a very clean and in well repair lobby and I was very impressed with that. Then we got into the slightly cramped elevator and went up to the fifth floor.
Let me just say: I did not take the place because of the hallway. I didn't.
But the hallway definitely made me happy. It looked a lot like Bowser's Castle does. Yes. Dark stone walls, deep red carpeting, and the lighting up high on the walls and looking a bit like electric torches. Bowser's Castle brought to real life. This impression was furthered by the fact that the apartment doors were ornate double doors: like the ones you might think of as being in a castle.
I was stupidly in love with the hallway. It made me grin! It felt safe! It was awesome looking and clean and didn't smell at all!
And then we reached the apartment itself.
It turned out to be very clean, very bright (with the exception of the kitchen, which is a bit dark) and in super good condition. The balcony was just replaced. They’re redoing the windows right now. The layout is pretty open-just one hallway and it’s a logical one starting with the bedroom and leading to the bathroom. There were massive amounts of closet space to my eyes and the bedroom was gigantic. The tenants had a Queen sized bed and there were still insane amounts of space in the room. I? I have a Twin sized bed. That room will be crazy-huge. The linoleum flooring threw me a bit, but consensus amongst my co-workers is that is fairly common in apartments. I did not know that. It does, however, make cleaning easier.
The living area was white white white-not helped by the white couch in there-but the off-white kinda cream carpet was so pretty and looked really good. Like it was practically new itself. Either way, it was well taken care of like woah. There looked like a good number of outlets and lots of room to arrange things in many different ways.
The bathroom was small but not too small and all the taps worked and the water pressure was awesome (checked) and the water got hot really quick (also checked that) and the kitchen had the exact same cupboard doors as our house does (which was funny) and the stove works beautifully (checked that as well) and the fridge is in excellent working order (ditto) and so, after all my wandering around and checking and trying not to feel weird about being in what was, at that point, someone else’s home, I determined that it was perfect and that I wanted it.
And applied for it. Which took a bit of running around as the landlady wanted a money order for the security deposit, but my bank was five minutes away and so we took the forms and were all ‘we will be back in 30!’ and scurried off.
We took a breather at Timmies to have coffee (Mum) and juice (me) and read the forms so that we filled them out properly.
Then, all by myself (as Mum and The Sister had to go) I went back to give my application to the landlady. That took a bit as she wasn’t in her office and not answering her phone and I couldn’t exactly go into the building to look for her but I was persistent and am freakishly patient and after wandering around for about thirty minutes, she was back in her office and I finally got to hand her my application.
‘When will I find out?’ I asked, trying not to sound piteous, for I knew I deal badly with stress and waiting was going to kill me.
‘Friday, maybe not until Monday,’ she said, smiling like this were a great favour to me while I tried not to wilt in fear of the fact that I might not make it until Monday.
I managed to smile and nod and she loved the fact that my mum is military and then wandered home (after having to wait another half an hour as the bus was leaving just as I left the building). Once home I spazzed around online for a bit before crashing out hard with a stress headache.
And then I spent the night dreaming about zombies.
I loathe zombies. I hate the concept, I hate the word, I hate the stories, I hate the movies-I will have nothing to do with zombies in any way, shape, or form.
So, of course, they had a starring place in my stress-induced nightmares.
I woke up Wednesday morning feeling like I’d gotten no sleep at all and blearily resigned myself to the fact that zombies were going to be in my dreams for most of the next week. I went to work and stressed out at people (who laughed at me) and rambled and then forced myself to focus on work with feverish intensity.
If I were working, I could not panic. That was the theory. For the most part, it was effective.
Getting home Wednesday night, I attempted to drown myself in a shower almost as soon as I walked in the door. Showers were soothing. I had hopes that it would calm me down a little. If nothing else, being totally clean did help my mood.
Which turned from ‘vaguely pleasant’ to ‘utter paranoia’ the moment I realized my cell had new voicemail.
‘Oh no,’ I thought as I stared at it like it was a live cobra, ‘something was wrong with my app and they hate me and it’s been rejected and I won’t get to live in Bowser’s Castle after all and my life is over’.
After about half an hour of deliberation and freaking out, I made myself sit down and listen to the message.
It was the landlady. I braced myself for the worst.
And got the best.
I get to live in Bowser’s Castle!
Omigod!
And that is how, thanks to persistence and deliberation and re-calling over and over and over again: I managed to see, apply, and get the place I wanted.
And found out in the space of twenty-four hours.
100 Days until Christmas!
Have you started shopping yet? :D
And in news that is more personal:
46 Days until I leave home and move out on my own!
The story behind that:
I have, apparently, freakish luck in getting what I want once I make up my mind to get it. Mum calls it the avalanche effect as I've always been super slow in making important decisions but once I make up my mind? Everyone else had better get out of way!
Two weeks ago I made the decision that I'd waffled around long enough about moving out and that I was now going to make a Serious Effort about finding a place.
Cue much searching online and some calling around and most places having the place they were advertising for taken already. So, many calls and not a single viewing! D:
Enter: this one building that kept not answering my calls and messages.
I really liked this building. It's perfectly located: it's in a safe and familiar area, it's got a mall (with a good bookstore and a theater), my bank, two grocery stores, several restaurants all maybe five minutes away, and is right by useful bus routes. (As I do not drive and will probably never learn to drive.)
Needless to say, it sounded fantastic.
So I kept calling and leaving messages every few days. Never getting a person. And then, on Monday I got the landlady.
And she said: I've got a 1-bedroom suite available for Nov. 1, are you interested?
And I said: Can I come see it tonight?
After a bit of back and forth, as it turned out that she didn't do evening viewings and I, you know, work during the day, I wound up saying 'Tuesday at 2, then?' and she agreed.
Then I spent the next two hours on Monday running around the office getting permission for my, uh, unplanned half day off. My office is a) awesome and b) supportive and let me take it off without using a vacation day even--I just have to work through lunch for a few days to make up the time!
(Am still doing that. Do not mind.)
So, on Tuesday, with my Mum and The Sister in tow, I showed up for the viewing at the building I really really wanted to live in, and trying to get my hopes down because if the place sucked, I wouldn't take it. But if it didn't...
Well, the landlady was super nice and she nabbed us as soon as she spotted us (we'd shown up about fifteen minutes early) and let us into the building. Which had a very clean and in well repair lobby and I was very impressed with that. Then we got into the slightly cramped elevator and went up to the fifth floor.
Let me just say: I did not take the place because of the hallway. I didn't.
But the hallway definitely made me happy. It looked a lot like Bowser's Castle does. Yes. Dark stone walls, deep red carpeting, and the lighting up high on the walls and looking a bit like electric torches. Bowser's Castle brought to real life. This impression was furthered by the fact that the apartment doors were ornate double doors: like the ones you might think of as being in a castle.
I was stupidly in love with the hallway. It made me grin! It felt safe! It was awesome looking and clean and didn't smell at all!
And then we reached the apartment itself.
It turned out to be very clean, very bright (with the exception of the kitchen, which is a bit dark) and in super good condition. The balcony was just replaced. They’re redoing the windows right now. The layout is pretty open-just one hallway and it’s a logical one starting with the bedroom and leading to the bathroom. There were massive amounts of closet space to my eyes and the bedroom was gigantic. The tenants had a Queen sized bed and there were still insane amounts of space in the room. I? I have a Twin sized bed. That room will be crazy-huge. The linoleum flooring threw me a bit, but consensus amongst my co-workers is that is fairly common in apartments. I did not know that. It does, however, make cleaning easier.
The living area was white white white-not helped by the white couch in there-but the off-white kinda cream carpet was so pretty and looked really good. Like it was practically new itself. Either way, it was well taken care of like woah. There looked like a good number of outlets and lots of room to arrange things in many different ways.
The bathroom was small but not too small and all the taps worked and the water pressure was awesome (checked) and the water got hot really quick (also checked that) and the kitchen had the exact same cupboard doors as our house does (which was funny) and the stove works beautifully (checked that as well) and the fridge is in excellent working order (ditto) and so, after all my wandering around and checking and trying not to feel weird about being in what was, at that point, someone else’s home, I determined that it was perfect and that I wanted it.
And applied for it. Which took a bit of running around as the landlady wanted a money order for the security deposit, but my bank was five minutes away and so we took the forms and were all ‘we will be back in 30!’ and scurried off.
We took a breather at Timmies to have coffee (Mum) and juice (me) and read the forms so that we filled them out properly.
Then, all by myself (as Mum and The Sister had to go) I went back to give my application to the landlady. That took a bit as she wasn’t in her office and not answering her phone and I couldn’t exactly go into the building to look for her but I was persistent and am freakishly patient and after wandering around for about thirty minutes, she was back in her office and I finally got to hand her my application.
‘When will I find out?’ I asked, trying not to sound piteous, for I knew I deal badly with stress and waiting was going to kill me.
‘Friday, maybe not until Monday,’ she said, smiling like this were a great favour to me while I tried not to wilt in fear of the fact that I might not make it until Monday.
I managed to smile and nod and she loved the fact that my mum is military and then wandered home (after having to wait another half an hour as the bus was leaving just as I left the building). Once home I spazzed around online for a bit before crashing out hard with a stress headache.
And then I spent the night dreaming about zombies.
I loathe zombies. I hate the concept, I hate the word, I hate the stories, I hate the movies-I will have nothing to do with zombies in any way, shape, or form.
So, of course, they had a starring place in my stress-induced nightmares.
I woke up Wednesday morning feeling like I’d gotten no sleep at all and blearily resigned myself to the fact that zombies were going to be in my dreams for most of the next week. I went to work and stressed out at people (who laughed at me) and rambled and then forced myself to focus on work with feverish intensity.
If I were working, I could not panic. That was the theory. For the most part, it was effective.
Getting home Wednesday night, I attempted to drown myself in a shower almost as soon as I walked in the door. Showers were soothing. I had hopes that it would calm me down a little. If nothing else, being totally clean did help my mood.
Which turned from ‘vaguely pleasant’ to ‘utter paranoia’ the moment I realized my cell had new voicemail.
‘Oh no,’ I thought as I stared at it like it was a live cobra, ‘something was wrong with my app and they hate me and it’s been rejected and I won’t get to live in Bowser’s Castle after all and my life is over’.
After about half an hour of deliberation and freaking out, I made myself sit down and listen to the message.
It was the landlady. I braced myself for the worst.
And got the best.
I get to live in Bowser’s Castle!
Omigod!
And that is how, thanks to persistence and deliberation and re-calling over and over and over again: I managed to see, apply, and get the place I wanted.
And found out in the space of twenty-four hours.