January 27, 2011

  • looking for something...

           remember how i was hoping that i wouldn't run into my work crush at the gym for a while? well, tonight i did. we passed each other a couple times and neither said anything. we kinda ignored each other, actually. well, i watched him a bit while i was on the elliptical and he was doing some incline bench work on the other side of the room. don't tell. but we didn't even acknowledge each other. it was weird. when he was walking in he walked right behind me and he had a strange look on his face. he had to have seen me. but neither let the other know we had seen each other. and that was that.

           within the last week we've started to seriously look for apartments and such in the area. things are already getting a bit interesting as the future roomie is pushing for super cheap but is kinda being brought down to reality with kc's prices. i'm not against economy but i do value my life and some degree of comfort. he's also only been looking at listings on craigslist and sending them over as suggestions. two of his suggestions made me scared just thinking about the area (smack dab in the middle of the places you only hear about in the news with relation to shootings, armed robberies, etc). and most of the others have been pretty dumpy. but he's also used to columbia prices. one apartment i had there was $175/month (half a duplex with three other guys in a 4br 3 bath setup), which was amazing. but you won't get that here. not possible. i've been finding decent places, definitely lower end but still habitable and in safer areas, for a little over $300/month each, and he keeps saying he wants cheaper. which is starting to make me think that this might not work. and apparently he had forgotten about hermes and he's allergic to cats. so. might not be the future roomie after all.

           but. another option has presented itself again. it's always been an option, really, but i hadn't thought about it in a while. i have a good friend living in raleigh, nc who has been trying to get me to move in with him for a couple years. he contacted me again last night to catch up and kinda jokingly asked when i was going to move down there. it's always been a tempting idea, but suddenly it's downright attractive. of course it'd be another complete upheaval of my life. and more of a sideways move than up. but it'd be an adventure, and that's part of the attractive bit. it's new and different. not the midwest. close to mountains and beaches. he'd be able to get me a job at starbucks and i'd still be able to write. of course it's just a thought right now. but i kinda like it. am i crazy?

Comments (6)

  • It's nice to think about, especially when you feel like you don't have a lot going on for you.  I would pick up and move if I had somewhere to go, simply because bank jobs are a dime a dozen...

  • Oh my, I don't even want to mention what rental prices are here in DC!!! 300/month sounds like an absolute dream to me!

  • Your prospective roommate sound at least a little ridiculous. My perspective is that of TheCheshireGrins; $300ish/month strikes me as a bargain. Even in a CoMo context that amount is hardly exorbitant. However, a piece of advice I impart as someone who was apartment-hunting and bargain-hunting in sketchy urban neighborhoods three months ago is this: visit. Somewhere notorious by reputation may turn out to be safe and livable (e.g., Harlem) or somewhere presumed innocuous may scare you off (Brooklyn's Crown Heights). Something else to keep in mind, though I don't know how true it is of KC: neighborhoods can encompass substantial internal variation. 147th St may feel safe, but 137th St may not.  

    As for NC, what? I have no recollection of you ever mentioning Raleigh as a possible destination. Still, you paint an alluring portrait of it, and a move there would satisfy your desire for a change of scene. Is the Starbucks job a guarantee? If not, my inner grandmother would advise extreme caution. Admittedly, I write as someone more freaked out about going broke than anything else right now, and your attachment to money is probably less pathological. Again, I recommend visiting before making a decision.

    I have absolutely no advice concerning your coworker encounter-that-wasn't. My impression is that each of you was too shy to say anything, whatever his reasons.      

  • "sound" --> "sounds" in the first sentence. Again, pathological. 

  • Raleigh is #4 on a Best Places for Singles list?! Maybe you're onto something after all.

    http://moving.about.com/od/whymove/a/best_places.htm

  • @Viewtiful_Justin - there's always somewhere to go.

    @TheCheshireGrins - yeah, that's kinda what i'm telling him, too. columbia spoiled us.

    @Mr. Mysterious - my reply was getting too long. i'll just email you. it's my turn anyway. :)

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