'Rents, Rent, and Everything Else
It's pretty much been non-stop excitement at the Kate and Leon Abode this past week. My parents arrived on Sunday around noon and left this morning at the crack of dawn. It seemed like they were here for ages, and I just realized this morning that it was only four days--two of which I spent at work.
And still I was completely worn out by this pair of fifty-somethings. And still it feels like I wasn't able to show them a good time.
And still I felt different around them, as though something important had changed. I think, in part, that this something has been my realization that impressing my parents is not the key to my happiness. You really have no idea how much this changes my outlook on life.
Leon started an internship today. It's with a company in the South Bay, and he has to commute a good ninety minutes to two hours each way. In a very indirect way, he has been asking them to give him more money. As his offer currently stands, he'll be making about as much as I make, which is more than his fellowship pays but vastly lower than his superior education should merit.
Our car went into the shop on Tuesday, and we should get it back tomorrow, plus a new rear bumper and a new trunk. They didn't fix the damage on the side panel that our neighbor hit, so we're finished dealing with one of the car accidents and sitting on our hands with the second.
Leon and I are looking on Craigslist for a new apartment. We had planned to move this summer, but our last communication with our landlord Franco sealed the deal. Leon and I have complained for two years about how absurdly hot it gets in our apartment, and we were able to keep out some of the heat by hanging blinds on our front windows.
After asking several times that we take down our blinds, Franco called to demand it, and they came down last week. While there aren't many things that Franco could do to make our apartment cooler on hot days, there was no reason for him to impede the one thing that really seemed to keep the temperature down.
Plus, the asshole painted our white building brown, just to make sure the apartments take in even more heat. Dumbass.
Unfortunately, we're having a lot of difficulty in our apartment search. We'd like to stay in the same neighborhood, but everything in our neighborhood is at least $200 more per month--most of them for a smaller flat. This one, for instance, is more than I'd like to pay but it's very close to us and might be worth the extra money.
Or there's something like this that would be cheaper than what we pay but would take us out of our perfect neighborhood.
I guess we need to start making appointments and just go see them.
And still I was completely worn out by this pair of fifty-somethings. And still it feels like I wasn't able to show them a good time.
And still I felt different around them, as though something important had changed. I think, in part, that this something has been my realization that impressing my parents is not the key to my happiness. You really have no idea how much this changes my outlook on life.
Leon started an internship today. It's with a company in the South Bay, and he has to commute a good ninety minutes to two hours each way. In a very indirect way, he has been asking them to give him more money. As his offer currently stands, he'll be making about as much as I make, which is more than his fellowship pays but vastly lower than his superior education should merit.
Our car went into the shop on Tuesday, and we should get it back tomorrow, plus a new rear bumper and a new trunk. They didn't fix the damage on the side panel that our neighbor hit, so we're finished dealing with one of the car accidents and sitting on our hands with the second.
Leon and I are looking on Craigslist for a new apartment. We had planned to move this summer, but our last communication with our landlord Franco sealed the deal. Leon and I have complained for two years about how absurdly hot it gets in our apartment, and we were able to keep out some of the heat by hanging blinds on our front windows.
After asking several times that we take down our blinds, Franco called to demand it, and they came down last week. While there aren't many things that Franco could do to make our apartment cooler on hot days, there was no reason for him to impede the one thing that really seemed to keep the temperature down.
Plus, the asshole painted our white building brown, just to make sure the apartments take in even more heat. Dumbass.
Unfortunately, we're having a lot of difficulty in our apartment search. We'd like to stay in the same neighborhood, but everything in our neighborhood is at least $200 more per month--most of them for a smaller flat. This one, for instance, is more than I'd like to pay but it's very close to us and might be worth the extra money.
Or there's something like this that would be cheaper than what we pay but would take us out of our perfect neighborhood.
I guess we need to start making appointments and just go see them.