With New Digs, Third Time's The Charm
Oh yes, it has been four years in Ann Arbor and we have had three moves during that time. Pretty good odds for a college town, but then I envy the stability my colleagues have. Of course, a number of them live in houses, or outside the city, and definitely far from the job. A professor once told me that constantly moving gives one new experiences. I don't think she meant moving three blocks into a new apartment, but we take what we are given, huh? Alright, so a new apartment and again an upgrade. Much like the Jeffersons we are constantly "moving on up". At first it was a move away from living with another couple and to a one bedroom, now it is moving from a one bedroom to a two bedroom. So where are we moving to? For those of you familiar with the S. Division and the Broadway bridge, it is right around that region. It is a little farther from work, about a mile and a quarter walk, but still not too far. An important note are the previous tenants of the apartment, Kevin and Natela, and that is a paragraph long story.
No, we did not plan to look at their apartment. Camille was compiling a list of apartments to see in that odd time of late-Fall when for some reason the apartment craze in Ann Arbor goes into over-drive. Straying too far into the Spring means that one has very little chance of finding a decent apartment. So, after having learnt this when we moved into our first apartment, we made sure that we were on the ball this time. When we arrived with the realtor at the building, we immediately recognized it and when we stopped at their apartment, well that was a bit odd for both of us. They did not live at that apartment anymore, but were instead subleasing it out to others. Camille had liked it enough and it was only $150 for us to get a two-bedroom. In the realm of Ann Arbor two-bedrooms this was a great price. So we jumped on it, but this time on our own terms.
So how did we move in so early? Well it was a little bit as a favor and a little bit to save us some work. Kevin and Natela had a hard time finding lessees for their apartment. This meant that in the Summer it was ten times worse. So if we moved in early, and paid them for the time there, it would help them out. In our case, it helped us move out at our own leisure and more importantly move in without bumping elbows with other tenants. Of course, we had some stipulations to moving and surprisingly the company we were working with were great. We requested new carpets and they obliged us without any protestation. It delayed our move-in by a little, but it also meant that we moved in to a much better version of the place we saw.
Of course, moving in meant a lot of cleaning, cause well I have issues. Camille and I both discovered that the previous sub-tenants definition of clean was woefully inadequate. So we went up and down and up that apartment again. Everything was cleaned up ten ways from Sunday and I found a way to stick that vacuum cleaner everywhere. After all the cleaning up it came down to moving all of our stuff. In two years at the Lawrence Street apartment we had gathered a lot of stuff. At least, what I felt was a lot of stuff. This included a lot of very expensive electronics and everyone who reads my blog knows how anal I am with my electronics. So moving was slow work. We did some on Monday, the 14th, and continued through the rest of that week. We did nothing on Thursday, as Hellboy II called my name, but we were back to work on Friday. I took the day off and packed away and Camille took a half-day and helped me move all that stuff over. The main point was moving everything we could clear out of the way on Friday and in particular the electronics. On Saturday we were grabbing a U-Haul and with the help of Kevin, Natela and Sean (yes, my boss) we were going to move the big furniture. Saturday, we bought coffee for everyone, and they helped us move stuff out of the old apartment, thank god for the fire-escape. Halfway through putting everything in the truck it started to rain. Of course, I realized the gods hated me. We tried to wait it out, but it would not let up. So instead, we went back to work and ten minutes later it stopped raining. Now of course a whole lot of mud had been tracked into the U-Haul and I was going crazy. We finished the last bit and I was striving to keep everything under control.
We went to the house and brought a few items in. Everyone was hungry and so we ordered pizza after bringing the bed in. Natela and Kevin headed out for a bit and Sean and I setup the bed. The whole while I kept thinking about wet dirt. I had made Camille clean the bottom on everything, but that was not enough. So I did it all myself. I knew a lot of vacuuming would follow. Everyone had pizza and we watched a bit of the bad Simpsons Movie. After that we went through bringing the rest of the stuff in. Natela wanted to put stuff in the second bedroom, where I stored the electronics, but there was no way in hell that was happening. The last item to bring in was the desk and at about 3 everything had been indeed brought in. So the next step was clean-up, but I was too damn tired. We had dinner with Natela and Kevin and then slept like logs. On Sunday, I created pockets of space and set things up in there. It started with the entertainment center, which helped me move electronics to its right place, and then slowly moved everywhere else. I needed Kevin to help me setup the desk, but after that was done we were mostly set. Natela and Camille went out to iKea and other shopping... My little money was quickly draining. I guess there was going to be no savings for this month. We had done a ton of work the entire weekend and I had worked through a lot of fat. It also meant that I was craving protein. So I had what I rarely do, a steak. Oh yeah, I was going to the temple the next day.
For the next few days bits and pieces everywhere were cleaned up. I eventually got around to vacuuming the entire apartment and making sure it was in a pristine state. We have yet to move in completely, but only a few small items remain at the old apartment. This new apartment is an improvement. For one, it is much better to have my own room for the computer, which has also turned into a shrine for Batman. For another, it is nice to not be cramped in the living room. I like minimalism, so that means that furniture should not clutter everything. This also means that I like a lot of space to move and sit in. I find nothing wrong with sitting on the ground, so the more space that is open to move is more space that is open to sit. Camille takes this as meaning that we can have more people over, I am not so sure about that. Also, it helps me keep the electronics far enough from everyone. That means less hitting of it by others, advertently on inadvertently. The kitchen is small, but there are rarely two of us cluttering around in there. What I am trying to say is that the apartment has its faults (it is a little too inviting to outside noise) but it also serves our purposes very well and moreover it is a nice upgrade. It should be fun living there for the coming year!
