Every apartment has problems, right?!?
So- I'm moved in, and in the process of unpacking in my new bedroom. I hear someone in the shower upstairs and I think, wow- that's pretty loud. Next thing I hear is, "drip, drip, drip". I look up, and there's a patch in the ceiling and water dripping from it. So that's what the stain on the carpet is from. Dammit. Luckily, the leak only occurs when the upstairs shower is draining.
So, I go to bed on Sunday, after a loooooong day of moving, and above me I can hear something scurrying around... it sounds like a chihuahua running around upstairs. The next day, I call the "superintendant" (well, the middle man to the landlord, anyways), and I ask if the upstairs tenant has a dog or cat. His answer, "Not that I'm aware of." So- there are mice in the ceiling. And I found mice poop under the sink. Dammit. I guess I'll have to set some traps.
One good thing though- free cable!
I'll post some photos when I've got internet up and running at home. I've got a good one of my purple toe!
By the by...
Does anyone that reads this blog have my copy of Gardenstate? I'm missing it, and I can't remember who I lent it to! Dammit.
He finally called back...
After I called and left him like, 18 messages!! Anyways- I'm getting the key to my new place tomorrow, and I'm moving on Sunday. Woo Hoo. I'm dreading the move. But it's got to be done. Meh.
You know what I hate?
People that don't return phone calls. I've tried numerous times to get a hold of the guy that's supposed to give me my new apartment key, and he hasn't called back. Like, why do you even have a frickin' phone if you're not going to a) Answer the damn thing, or b) Return your messages?!?!? BAH!
Tory Minority
So, it's been decided... Canadians just can't decide.
That's my take on the whole election business. We knew we didn't want the corrupt Liberals back in, we didn't like the Conservatives views on abortion and gun control, and we didn't think the New Democrat's could handle the whole country. So what did we do? We elected a Tory Minority, which will hopefully be temporary (but I have a feeling it won't be). The outcome was pre-destined (in my opinion), but that didn't stop my stomach from flip flopping last night when the results were announced. I hope the minority government can work together and start resolving some of the problems we're experiencing.
So- I might as well tell you- I voted NDP, and I'm super excited about the NDP's various wins across Ontario. My current apartment is in the Trinity-Spadina riding, where Olivia Chow finally won against long time Lib representative Tony Ianno. However, I'm moving in less than a week, so it doesn't really matter, right? My new place is in the Parkdale-High Park riding, where Peggy Nash was voted in for the NDP. Yipeeee!!! The NDP spirit is spreading and growing strong!!
Back home, in Windsor, I was happy to see that the NDP's took both ridings, Joe Comartin in Windsor-Tecumseh (which is where my dad is, I know Mr. Comartin will take care of him!), and Brian Masse in Windsor West. Not surprising though, was the onslaught of Conservative votes in the county of Essex, where my brother is. I still can't get over the rural/urban divide. You can see it in Toronto and Windsor especially. When will the hicks get a clue (my bro included, sorry if he's reading this, which I doubt)?!?? I guess the values of the ruralites are representated most by the Tories, but there's got to be a better way than voting in someone who's against a women's right to choose, strict gun regulation and public health care. And, in a way, I guess there is a way...
It's called a CONSERVATIVE MINORITY GOVERNMENT.
Which is what we've got. Let's work together for a FAIR and FREE Canada!!
I'm obsessed!
I can't get my mind off of moving, so I hope these posts aren't starting to sound repetitive. So yeah... my concern now is that the boxes that I'm packing are too heavy! I would hate to have my friends helping me, and one of them gets like a hernia or something. We'll need some serious "assembly line" action going on... or else we're all going to keel over from exhaustion. I also need to rent a van from somewhere... BAH!! So much to do...
Tree Farts?? ... an interesting read...
"Between 1990 and 2000, satellite monitors had detected a slowing of methane flows to the atmosphere by around 20 million tonnes a year. The cause for this may have been the dramatic rate of deforestation during the same period. From 1990-2000, more than 12 percent of the world's tropical forests were hacked down.
Added to this is the anecdotal data from satellite sensors, which have occasionally spotted inexplicably large plumes of methane over old tropical forests..."
This article claims that one of Kyoto's missions (re-populating the world's forests) could have an opposing affect to that desired:
http://www.wbcsd.org/plugins/DocSearch/details.asp?type=DocDet&ObjectId=MTc4NTAI still think planting trees is the way to go. The earth has had trees for almost as long as it's been in existence (well, the oldest living tree is supposed to be close to 4800 years old, anyways); the gases emitted from these trees during their life span, and even once they rot, seem to me to be insignificant compared to the CO2 emmisions that us humans have spewed forth since the industrial revolution began only 250 years ago.
Mannequin
I posted some new pics on my Flickr site. Check 'em out! (and leave a comment, I love criticism!)
This is for Maria...
Check this out... it's pretty hilarious! Maybe we should elect character's like these here in Canada, then politics can continue to be a mockery, but with good reason!
http://articles.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20060113091809990024
Haha, silly me...
So, when I went to look at that place on Sunday, I gave them two cheques, for first and last month's rent. However, I didn't get any receipt, nor did I sign anything (like a lease, or a tenant agreement, or anything). So I spent all Monday and Tuesday thinking this guy was just going to take my money and run! Well- he called me back last night, and everything is set. I'm moving in January 29th. Who wants to help?!? There will be beer.
And- does anyone know the cheapest way to rent a moving van in the city??
We Have a Winner!!!
I finally found a place!! Ugh, I can't believe it took me so long, and I really hope that I made the right decision. I chose
this place in Parkdale. Well- King and Dufferin area anyways. I hope the neighbourhood is nice to me. It's the only drawback. It's a bit farther from work, but is close to a few of my friends. The bike ride into work will be long but scenic, it's on a trail through a park for the first half (or through the empty CNE fairgrounds), and then it goes along QueenQuay, which is along the lake. It shall be nice!
The place is HUGE. Open concept living room/kitchen, with a decorative fireplace and mantel (the fireplace has a painted mosaic thing going on, it's nice). There are three huge windows facing out to the street, two more big windows in the kitchen and another smaller window in the bedroom. The bedroom is a good size, with a big closet in it. There's a coat closet, and a big foyer where I can put my bike.
The entrance is secure (unlike my current one- yay! no more mail being stolen!), with a buzzer system in place. I think there are laundry facilities in the house, I'm not sure if it's coin or not, though.
AND, I can get a kitten!!
Here are some photos:
I'm fed up!
That's it. I'm gonna give myself until Sunday, look at some more places, and if I haven't found something by then, I'm taking the basement apartment on Palmerston ($700 incl). The pros and cons of this place are as follows:
PROS:
clean ceramic tile throughout
fairly big apartment overall
big bathroom with bathtub
proper kitchen with fridge and stove
big closet in bedroom
utilities included, including cable
great neighbourhood
CONS:
no laundry
landlord lives on main floor- privacy issues? lease agreement states "tenant must agree to not make noise or have visitors after 11pm on week nights"... just the fact that restrictions like that can be made is worrisome to me, but maybe I'm over analyzing.
small-ish bedroom
no cats allowed- this is actually my biggest complaint :(
So- am I crazy not to jump on this? Meh... I don't know.
I'm going to look at this place on
Gerrard Street right now.
Talk about sickeningly cute!! This is the cutest website of all!! At some point I'll post some pics there... I've got lots of cute kitty photos!!
Speaking of kitties... I can't WAIT to get a new kitten. I'm so LONELY!! But first I need to find an apartment that will let me have a cat. BAH!
I want to get a kitten, so I can train it and whatnot, but maybe I should adopt an older cat in need of a home. The
Annex Cat Rescue website has some super cute babies (well... not babies, but you know what I mean). Take a look- it'll break your heart!!
I'm pooped!
I didn't go check that place out on Pape last night... I was so tired after work, I just went and rented a movie and vegged out at home all night. It was nice... this past week seemed to drag on forever!
But today I'm going to look at a place on Concord, just west of Ossington off College. Perfect price, perfect location. It's a basement, but if it's nice, I don't mind. Tomorrow, there are two more to look at (College/Shaw, College/Bathurst) and then Monday there's one in Kensington and one at College/Montrose. Ahhh! I hope I get one of these... I HATE not knowing where I'm going to be.
The hunt is still on...
I looked at a few more places, but no luck yet.
Yesterday I went to see a couple places in Parkdale. I know the neighbourhood isn't the best, but there are some beautiful houses south of King Street, and I saw a great little basement apartment on
Spencer Avenue. It was super clean, with exposed brick and parquet/ceramic tile flooring. The only problem is that it was $775- a bit on the high side. I'd like to find a place for around $700. It was really nice, though.
The other place I saw yesterday, at
131 Dunn Avenue, was SMALL and OLD. I said I wouldn't mind a bachelor so much, but I change my mind. They're TOO DAMN SMALL. I saw a one-bedroom there too, but it was $780, and not nearly as nice as the one on Spencer.
Yesterday on lunch I walked around my work area, looking for any "FOR RENT" signs in the windows. There was only one, at 169 Queen St. E. but there was no answer when I called. Meh.
Wednesday night I went to see a place on Mark Street, by River and Dundas. It was $650 plus hydro, the second floor of a semi-detached house. It was pretty nice... all it needed was a good cleaning and some fresh paint, and it would've been perfect... except for the neighbourhood. There were thugs EVERYWHERE. I'm not exaggerating. There was also another woman there looking, and she seemed like she really wanted it, so I let her have it (like it was my decision, anyways, right?!?)
Wednesday on lunch I went to see a bachelor apartment at
387 Sherbourne. Yuck. It was painted orange, and it was dirty and smelly and gross. I can't believe how over-priced that area is.
Tonight I'm going to see a place on
Pape Avenue. It looks really nice, and although it's east of work (I was really looking for something in the west end, since that's where most of my friends are), the price might be just right. We'll see!
So- I've been fairly obsessed with finding a place. I'm hoping the search ends this weekend. I'm going to look at a couple nice (hopefully!) places in Little Italy, right in my price range. One's near Ossington, there's one on Shaw, and another on Montrose. I really hope I get one of those places, as I've gotten quite attached to my neighbourhood!
Happiness by Will Ferguson... book review
I started reading Happiness by Will Ferguson on the train home for Christmas, and figured I'd have more time while on vacation to just rip right through this humourous little book. I wasn't able to finish it until last night, but it was a great read! I picked it up at Val Vil a few months ago, and I'm glad I finally got around to reading it. It was hilarious! Reminded me alot of Neil Gaimen, but without the sci fi aspect.
The
Untranslatables that were in the book were really interesting. These words, that can't be directly translated into English, outlined the theme of the book well.
The whole backwards philosophy of the protagonist was so true to life, I was getting a little disheartened with the world. Good thing the book was a funny one. It kept things light, without being corny and straying from the main message, which is... the pursuit of happiness (and consequently the expenditure of mass amounts of money) is an integral part of the survival of the world economy, which defines the "wealth" of the population. Kind of a Catch 22. Unfortunately.
Untranslatable...
Schadenfreude- A malicious satisfaction in the misfortunes of others.
By the way- I LOVE Canadian authors. And Canadian comedians. Did anyone catch the Comedy Gold specials that were on the CBC Monday and Tuesday night?
The apartment hunt is on...
I had a good vacation, there will be lots of photos to look at on Flickr once I get around to resizing them and uploading them.
But now, I'm back to work, and on the hunt for a reasonable affordable apartment. Last night I went to see two places, and I couldn't believe how SHITTY they were. I got fully discouraged, and I'm a little scared of what will happen come February 1st. The first place was at
Church and Isabella, just north of Wellesley. The bachelor apartment was only 350 sq. ft. (that's about 5 meters by about 3.5 meters) and they were asking $725 + utils!! I couldn't believe it. It was TINY. Too small.
The second one I went to see was priced a bit better ($650 incl.), but was a basement. If you were taller than me, you couldn't live there, and it reeked of cat piss. Jesus. There was also no stove, and the main entrance was down a scary alley behind the house. It was located one block south west of Dundas and Bathurst on
Andrews Avenue (which is a nice little street, very Victorian).
I don't know what I'm going to do. I might try to convince my current neighbour to move in with me, that way we can wait 'til the spring, and hopefully save some money (if not save money, we can live in a semi-decent place). Meh. That's if he's alright with living with me... apparently I'm not so easy to live with. We'll see...
