In the year 2000, I moved into my first apartment, a two-bedroom I shared with a college friend. A little more than thirteen years later—a few weeks ago—I moved into yet another two-bedroom, this time shared with my wife and our two cats. In the time between, I lived in eight other apartments.
One might think that by now I would be an expert at moving—especially with my supposedly simple lifestyle. But this move is turning out to be a lot of work. I feel this is because Laura and I never really moved in to our previous apartment. Laura disagrees with me about this, but when you have two bedrooms and one is used entirely for storage—never mind how much of that is taken up by bikes—that apartment isn't really moved in to. This time we're trying to make better use of our space, and so we're sorting through our junk and reorganizing and paring down. I've even agreed to get rid of a bike to further the goal.
Beyond the move, how's the new place? Every home has its charms and irks, its missing things that I want and its available things that I elsewhere missed. Already, after living here only a few weeks, I need bathroom drawers again. The previous apartment had no drawers in the bathroom. How did we ever survive without drawers? Unbelievable.
Some additional charms are the pool area, which is a six-second walk from our front door; a golf course that's a six-minute walk away and that's not opposed to pedestrians and bicyclists locomoting through; and the fact that the apartment has so far stayed between 86°F and 92°F despite having windows open all day and night and not using any A/C. Our previous apartment could have qualified as an oven if only it had some insulation.
How about the irks? For starters, the new apartment has no good place to get naked. With the blinds drawn open and the bathroom doors ajar just a wee bit, the angles and mirrors conspire to make every square inch of the bathroom visible to the outside. Forget about the other rooms; the natural lighting is just too good. And what is the bathroom door doing open, you ask? Our cats need to go to the bathroom, too, and they haven't yet figured out doorknobs.
Another irk is the dwarfish kitchen storage. The pantry is tiny, and the drawers are worse. In the voluminous bathroom drawers, I could store 500 tubes of toothpaste—all purchased in a single bulk pack from the Costco down the street—but in the kitchen it's hard to find space to store four bowls and a medium-size box of Ziplock bags. I would start doing my cooking in the bathroom if it weren't that the neighbors would see what I was doing and think me weird.
Between the charms and irks, I'm undecided about having a washer and dryer in the apartment again. They're convenient, but they take up space and make lots of noise. And besides, who needs a dryer in Phoenix? I'm likewise undecided about the microwave. I feel I need to start using it to justify its presence, which, after all, is the reason why the kitchen storage is inadequate. Don't get me started on dishwashers.
In other news, I've started paying for Internet access for the first time since 2006. What fun! You may not see me all year—unless of course I'm in the bathroom.
5 comments:
Funny stuff. I enjoyed the post.
Made me think of Kramer from Seinfeld living in his shower and doing his cooking in there.
Thank you for paying for your internet.
JEC, agree with Josh, very good stuff. A few additional comments:
Good point regarding the AZ dryer...would NEL consider allowing it to be used for storage? Or the microwave? These are all questions so I'll just change to questions and forget comments: What happened, specifically to the bike rack you made? Which golf course are you a six minute walk from? Can we see pictures of you new place and especially ones that show your collective mastery of space usage?
Ok, one comment that may seem unbelievable, but will confirm my personal thoughts regarding whether dishwashers are needed or not: I lived in an apartment in Mt. Pleasant, SC with a roomate that stayed 3 days a week -- at the 2 year mark of this arrangement I couldn't find the pan I cooked meat and vegall in every single night. I was quite confused to the point that I finally asked my roomate if he knew where it was...he said, probably in the dishwasher. I asked him where that was. Turns out that we had one all along and I neither knew it despite its prominent position in the small kitchen nor required the space it was taking. 2 years.
Anyway, check with management to see if they'll allow you to put one way mirror glass tinting on the window that conspires with the bathroom mirror to expose more than desired to your new neighbors -- if approved make sure to put it on correctly, rumor has it you've been going shirt then pants lately, so we have our concerns.
Craig, not sure if Bobby was alluding to this and I'm just dense, but how about simply using the d/w for a storage area, if you don't plan to wash anything in it?
Hilarious post; I loved reading about your new digs! And it takes me back to some apartment memories I have, as well.
Oh, another thought: what about sticking the cats' box in the laundry room? Or, are the w/d in a hallway closet or something?
Can you string a clothesline over the w/d to hang clothes instead of or in addition to using the dryer? If it's electric and you're paying that utility bill, you'd probably save some by not using it. Also, it's a fire hazard (I hope you cleaned out the exit tube because who knows when it was last cleaned, if the machine came with the apartment), so not using the dryer probably makes for a safer apartment (you won't catch me not using mine, but I'm the sole owner and we're pretty attentive to lint build-up).
Thanks, everyone, for your comments, questions, and suggestions!
Josh— Like Cosmo, I often fail to rinse off all the lather before getting out of the shower.
Anonymous— We all pay for the Internet.
Bobby et al.— I suggested to Laura using the dryer as a litter box, but she vetoed that. Probably the cats would dislike tumble mode while doing their business. I also suggested using the microwave to store our large plates, but I was similarly shot down.
The bike rack will need a new home; there isn't enough room in the new apartment. The golf course we're near is the Stonecreek Golf Club. I have yet to see a golfer make a good shot—and by “good” I mean “land one on the green from over 100yds out.”
As for photos, ask Laura. She's the Director of Photography.
Thanks for the dishwasher story.
And that one-way mirror thing: there's no such thing.It all depends on lighting. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-way_mirror)
Lindsey— Yes, we use the dishwasher as a drying rack, which is kinda like storage. And the laundry room is a closet, so space is tight. There might be enough room for the litter box; we may try that. To dry clothes, I use a collapsible hanging rack. Those things are great.
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