Moving - Part 2

So I’m finally moved in to my new place! I should have pictures up of my new place by now but I’ve been pretty lazy the past couple days what with all the moving I’ve been doing lately.

Speaking of which, I’d like to give a big thanks to Raul, Bryan & Phil for taking time out of their busy Saturdays to help me!

The actual move wasn’t as painstaking as I thought it would be. It never is, but I somehow always dread it in the days right up to it. I woke up around 8AM that day just getting stuff together, folding clothes and putting everything I could think of in boxes for people to take with them. It’s a miracle I didn’t lose anything.

The one thing I didn’t plan for, though, was the renting of the U-Haul truck – BIG mistake on my part. Apparently Memorial Day weekend is the busiest time for companies like U-Haul because EVERYONE decides to move around that time. Fortunately, Evan’s parents (who have an Odyssey) called saying they wanted to help out too so I ended up not needing one. that day. (whoo!)

I still have to hang pictures and put some stuff in storage, but otherwise I’m all comfy in my new digs. I took a jog the other day to check out the neighborhood – and it is NICE. There’s a Blockbuster, Korean Super market, Marie Calendars, Starbucks & Jack in the Box all within walking distance and I live just a couple miles away from the Galleria & Americana!

My new roommate’s name is Robert (but we can call him Rob) and he seems pretty chill. He’s pretty ambitious though, which is an odd change of pace for me – when he’s not at his job, he’s working on starting his own internet business. I think he wants to be one of those dot.com millionaires one day cuz he keeps telling me about success stories of twenty-something millionaires who got rich from some business they started that a lot of people don’t think about.

Ex. Gumball machines that sell those really bouncy rubber balls. Apparently those things only cost a penny to make; but everyone buys them for a Quarter ~ that’s 2,500% profit! (Instant millionaire)

I can tell he’s been trying to make an effort to be friends with me – last night, he asked what my plans for dinner were tonight cuz he wanted to cook. I think that’s pretty awesome.

**EDIT 6/03/10**

I finally took some pictures.

What I'll miss / won't miss

5 THINGS I’LL MISS ABOUT MY OLD APARTMENT:

1. All that space.
2. My own private Bathroom
3. The view of the mountains
4. Hearing the water flow from the canal after it rains
5. Being only a block away from a good thai food restaurant

5 THINGS I WON’T MISS ABOUT MY OLD APARTMENT:

1. My next door neighbor’s baby (who screams like she’s being tortured)
2. My downstairs neighbor’s dogs
3. Their being only one washer / dryer in the whole complex.
4. That weird pounding noise I wake up to around 7AM on weekends
5. My downstairs neighbors singing opera (also around 7am on weekends)

Moving - Phase I

I started “Phase I” of Moving this weekend by packing all the “box-able” stuff from my old Apartment and putting it into my new one. And while I was boxing everything, I noticed that I have a ton of useless junk in my place that I keep “JUST IN CASE” I ever need it:

• My assortment of funny hats
• Some old Halloween costumes
• A whole box full of VHS tapes
• Jackets that I never wear cuz I keep wearing this one hoodie all the time
• My old cell phone
• An artificial Christmas Tree
• My old cell-phone charger
• A portable CD Player
• I even still have my old laptop with the broken motherboard…..!

(Sorry, no pictures – pretty sure I boxed up my digital camera when I moved all my stuff, so I didn’t take any while moving)

I can’t believe I’ve accumulated so much crap in the last five years. I didn’t have this much in College. I had to store three, maybe four boxes tops. But now I have all these pots and pans and towels, etc. Dunno how much I’m going to be able to fit into my new place. It’s already fully furnished by my new roommate / the old roommate who left stuff there.

Everything I’ve moved in so far has been able to fit – even the useless junk listed above. (except the Christmas tree – I tossed that) But I haven’t moved any of the big stuff (my bed, desk, etc.) into my room yet and it IS a little smaller than my current one, so….I may have to get rid of some of that junk.

What I’m really hoping to keep is the big blue couch in our living room….but it has nowhere to go! Evan’s not taking it and I’m not gonna have room for it….so I guess it’s going to have to go on Craigslist….!

Anyway, Phase I of Moving is complete and now I look like I’m just squatting in my old apartment. Fortunately, I left some of the (boxable) bare essentials with me: my computer, some clothes & a few of my DVDs.

Plus – all of Evan’s stuff. We’re both planning on moving the majority of our stuff this weekend. (Memorial Day weekend)

SO IF ANYONE’S WILLING TO HELP *ME* MOVE THAT SATURDAY, (**HINT**) (**HINT**) I’D BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO MAKE IT WORTH THEIR WHILE!


This could be you!

A lot on my mind - Housing

Like the title says, I’ve had a lot on my mind lately and I guess this is as good a place to unload my thoughts.

One of the more pressing things I have in the back of my mind is moving – something I really hate doing because of how time-consuming and tedious it is. But Evan is moving out, so I gotta scramble – sooner rather than later – and I’m currently without a plan. They say that finding a place is the hardest part of moving and I think that’s because there are so many questions that come at you all at once, causing you to panic.

These are the thoughts that are causing me to panic:

Where to live? Should I live alone or with a roommate? Can I live alone on my budget? Who am I going to room with if I can’t? How will this affect my (also slow & tedious) volunteering / job hunt? How will I know if I’m paying too much on rent?

Ideally, I would love to move back to Pasadena because it was a great city to me.

• It has the Laemmle / Regency / Paseo
• The Lindygroove / PBDA / Third Saturday Swing are so close-by.
• Gotta love the convenience of Peet’s Coffee & Tea on Lake Avenue
• A lot of my friends live close-by.

But the reason I moved to Glendale in the first place was because living in Pasadena got a little too pricey for me. But a friend of mine recently moved to a rather nice-looking Pasadena apartment in the Playhouse District for not too much of a month’s rent, so I’m hoping I can do the same. It *is* a buyer’s market after all these days….!

SUGGESTIONS ON WHERE TO LIVE FROM PEOPLE I’VE TOLD
Eagle Rock
Pasadena (by me)
Burbank
Korea town

And take a look at the typo in this email I got from a girl I told at Lindygroove:

Hey Stuart,

Are you still looking for a place to rent? The bedroom in my apt will be free at the end of June for $550.00 not including utilities.

O WILL IT NOW???