AC Capehart/Quick Blog

Created Sun, 18 Jun 2006 23:29:11 +0000 Modified Thu, 14 Oct 2021 14:31:47 +0000
598 Words

Time has been tight out here. This, compounded with a lack of Internet service in the apartment room I’m subletting has made for a distinct dearth of blog posts. This is unfortunate because there is much to say. Much newness to talk about that I’m afraid will get lost.

House-hunting has been a miserable experience — made even harder by the aforementioned lack of connectivity at “home”.

I’m currently having my second sub-par experience at an Internet cafe in north Berkley. You’d think with so many places to have a good experience, I wouldn’t repeat a sub-par one, but it’s an INTERNET cafe. I’m sure there are others in the area; this one is just so close to where I want to go next.

Although my sleep has drastically improved since getting out here, I still miss my daughter and wife quite a bit. This transition is tough. I was certain I’d have found a place by now and be winging back to them to finish getting the house ready for move. Alas, this is not the case.

One house I visited yesterday — within 1 hour of having posted her ad on craigslist, she had received 20 phone calls.

The places that I’ve found so far are either tiny, too far away, or inadequate in several other ways. There have been two places I’ve been interested enough in to put an application in for. The first I didn’t get because I asked about (not requested, just asked about) a July 1 start date — it went to someone that could move in immediately. I hear about the next place on Wednesday, and I’m not hopeful for it either — I sensed the price-nervousness of the partner who was showing me place. My frugality/bargaining instinct kicked in, and I got him down $150/mo. This almost certainly will not pass the other partner, and my having made that arrangement (to the extent I did) will doubtless weigh against my application. I gotta learn to keep my mouth shut.

One of our requirements is proximity to public transit so I can get into the city for work, and usually this means BART, but still, getting from place to place is slow. This is so limiting, that I’ve joined city car share. I very much like the idea of this and may recommend it as a future solution for us for automotive “ownership” depending on our location and usage patterns in the future.

Work is interesting, but still mostly overwhelming. I’m looking forward to the time when I’m settled in, comfortable, and a little more productive there. The time flies during the workdays which would be great if my productivity matched it. Soon, soon.

In the meanwhile, I’m mostly just frustrated with this transition period. Every day, house-hunting. Longish days at work that aren’t as productive as I’d like. And, most of all, a wife and child that I only get to hear over the cell phone.

The cafe is closing, and I’m afraid that the connection could be shut off at any moment, so I’ll sign off (and search craigslist in any time I have remaining.)