This was an odd-shaped trip: I flew east on four days' notice, with the goals of (a) looking at one specific apartment and deciding whether we wanted it; (b) getting ice cream at Tosci's; and (c) spending some time with ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
adrian_turtle [1]. ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cattitude said he would be happy for me to make a decision about the apartment for both of us, and I was willing to do that, so he stayed home with the cats.
Adrian had not only found and told us about the apartment listing, she offered to take a look at the place on our behalf. When she found it good, I made an appointment with the landlady to look at the apartment myself, and then hurriedly booked plane tickets. (The eastbound trip was a long travel day, getting up very early, connecting through Houston, and arriving close to bedtime; for the trip back, I was able to trade air miles for a nonstop ticket.)
The afternoon after I got to Boston, I looked at the apartment, and asked the owners (who have lived there for several years, and are moving because they now have three children and want more space) questions about things like the thermostats [2]. I called Cattitude a couple of times, describing things and asking his opinions about some of them, and then I told the owners that we would like the apartment. She asked for the contact information for my current and previous landlords; I had the current building office number in my cell phone, and for the place we lived in New York I gave her the street address and "it's Samson Management, Rego Park, N.Y." and she said she'd be in touch after she talked to them.
Then on Friday Cattitude talked to our building office, which wouldn't send our rent/payment history to the potential landlady, but was willing to walk him through how to get it off their website, and I emailed Samson, because they wouldn't release the information without our okay [3]. By then it was almost 4:00 Friday, and the Samson office isn't open on weekends, so I got to wait and worry. (An email Sunday evening saying that they were doing "due diligence" on "the strongest candidates" had felt like a lead-in to letting me down gently, but Adrian said it also sounded like someone who had had a difficult time getting three small children to sleep.) A little after nine on Monday morning, my cell phone rang; it was someone from Samson, who was having trouble finding the record; with Cattitude's name, and the address and apartment number, they found it, and about twenty minutes later I was making an appointment to sign a lease and a couple of checks.
The apartment isn't perfect, but we think it will do for a year and a half. Not only is it a walk-up (which is a risk, but my knees are a lot better than they were a few years ago), but there's less closet space, and less wall space where we can put bookshelves. We do get a large attic, which means we'll need to decide which books we need easy access to and which can spend a couple of years in boxes, and will probably also need boxes for different-season clothing. Advantages include a small sun room, and use of the back yard (meaning we can garden), and that we will be near Mass Ave, the Minuteman Bikeway, and Spy Pond, and a short bus ride from Adrian's apartment.
Adrian was teaching Friday, so I decided that would be a good time for me to go to Central Square for that hot fudge sundae. I usually have sweet cream ice cream in sundaes, but it's always worth looking at the current list of flavors, and last week one of the choices was orange clove. I got a taste, and then ordered it, and it goes very nicely with hot fudge and whipped cream.
Since I made this trip on such short notice, instead of telling my freelance clients I would be unavailable, I took my laptop with me in case they sent me work. I'd meant to bring the mouse (I don't like trackpads), forgot it, and discovered Thursday that the trackpad had broken since I last used the machine. Fortunately, wireless mice are cheap and readily available, so that was only a nuisance. I wound up doing the editing in shorter bits than usual, with longer breaks—I missed my big monitor, and Adrian's desk is optimized for her hardware, height, etc., not mine.
[1] I deliberately kept that list short, and something that I was sure I could accomplish. Look at this one apartment, and get ice cream. (Adrian presented me with a small container of Tosci's sweet cream when I got to her place on Wednesday, because she is thoughtful and loves me, but I still wanted, and got, the sundae.)
[2] an example of a question most people wouldn't think to ask, but the place we live now has weird thermostats which not only aren't programmable, they have no temperature numbers on the controls.
[3] I realize this isn't exactly high security, but anything that had been would have taken longer and/or been less convenient.
adrian_turtle [1]. cattitude said he would be happy for me to make a decision about the apartment for both of us, and I was willing to do that, so he stayed home with the cats. Adrian had not only found and told us about the apartment listing, she offered to take a look at the place on our behalf. When she found it good, I made an appointment with the landlady to look at the apartment myself, and then hurriedly booked plane tickets. (The eastbound trip was a long travel day, getting up very early, connecting through Houston, and arriving close to bedtime; for the trip back, I was able to trade air miles for a nonstop ticket.)
The afternoon after I got to Boston, I looked at the apartment, and asked the owners (who have lived there for several years, and are moving because they now have three children and want more space) questions about things like the thermostats [2]. I called Cattitude a couple of times, describing things and asking his opinions about some of them, and then I told the owners that we would like the apartment. She asked for the contact information for my current and previous landlords; I had the current building office number in my cell phone, and for the place we lived in New York I gave her the street address and "it's Samson Management, Rego Park, N.Y." and she said she'd be in touch after she talked to them.
Then on Friday Cattitude talked to our building office, which wouldn't send our rent/payment history to the potential landlady, but was willing to walk him through how to get it off their website, and I emailed Samson, because they wouldn't release the information without our okay [3]. By then it was almost 4:00 Friday, and the Samson office isn't open on weekends, so I got to wait and worry. (An email Sunday evening saying that they were doing "due diligence" on "the strongest candidates" had felt like a lead-in to letting me down gently, but Adrian said it also sounded like someone who had had a difficult time getting three small children to sleep.) A little after nine on Monday morning, my cell phone rang; it was someone from Samson, who was having trouble finding the record; with Cattitude's name, and the address and apartment number, they found it, and about twenty minutes later I was making an appointment to sign a lease and a couple of checks.
The apartment isn't perfect, but we think it will do for a year and a half. Not only is it a walk-up (which is a risk, but my knees are a lot better than they were a few years ago), but there's less closet space, and less wall space where we can put bookshelves. We do get a large attic, which means we'll need to decide which books we need easy access to and which can spend a couple of years in boxes, and will probably also need boxes for different-season clothing. Advantages include a small sun room, and use of the back yard (meaning we can garden), and that we will be near Mass Ave, the Minuteman Bikeway, and Spy Pond, and a short bus ride from Adrian's apartment.
Adrian was teaching Friday, so I decided that would be a good time for me to go to Central Square for that hot fudge sundae. I usually have sweet cream ice cream in sundaes, but it's always worth looking at the current list of flavors, and last week one of the choices was orange clove. I got a taste, and then ordered it, and it goes very nicely with hot fudge and whipped cream.
Since I made this trip on such short notice, instead of telling my freelance clients I would be unavailable, I took my laptop with me in case they sent me work. I'd meant to bring the mouse (I don't like trackpads), forgot it, and discovered Thursday that the trackpad had broken since I last used the machine. Fortunately, wireless mice are cheap and readily available, so that was only a nuisance. I wound up doing the editing in shorter bits than usual, with longer breaks—I missed my big monitor, and Adrian's desk is optimized for her hardware, height, etc., not mine.
[1] I deliberately kept that list short, and something that I was sure I could accomplish. Look at this one apartment, and get ice cream. (Adrian presented me with a small container of Tosci's sweet cream when I got to her place on Wednesday, because she is thoughtful and loves me, but I still wanted, and got, the sundae.)
[2] an example of a question most people wouldn't think to ask, but the place we live now has weird thermostats which not only aren't programmable, they have no temperature numbers on the controls.
[3] I realize this isn't exactly high security, but anything that had been would have taken longer and/or been less convenient.
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Congratulations on getting a place!
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(A localish
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May your move be impossibly easy and you happy in your new location. :)
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As previously stated, I am absolutely delighted that you're moving here!