Apartment Hunting Opening Day

The capitol building is beautiful (and lime green on top).
I saw it several times during my nearly 4 miles of walking.

I've come to the conclusion that apartment hunting really brings out both the best and the worst in me since, as often seems the case, both labels can be applied to one trait depending on the context. Allow me to elaborate (you have to, it's my blog).

Despite my rampant cynicism, cultivated as a whiskey-drinkin' journalist of course, I'm an optimist at heart. For me, optimism means looking at a challenging situation with an eye for how to solve it while pessimism means looking at that situation and only seeing what can stop you.

Here's what happens when this is applied to apartments: the optimist in me looks past what's there towards what could be. Which is healthy and probably not bad given that I can't expect perfection. However, it also allows me to talk myself into things I shouldn't. The first time I went apartment shopping, in Taylor, Vivian was my voice of reason - the person who said, no this bathroom is ridiculous, we're leaving. I tried to keep her voice in my head today, especially when I walked into the first of seven apartments I viewed.

Upon walking into a building that looked like it was straight out of Beetlejuice, I smelled the smoke and asked if smoking was allowed inside. My extremely indifferent, and tardy, leasing agent said that there wasn't anything in the contract preventing it but she'd never seen anyone smoking in the hallways. But, um, can't you smell that? I've been around smokers my whole life and as such have an olfactory immunity to the smell much of the time. I decided to give the units a shot since maybe people only smoked in the hallways because it snows here?

Well, I walked into the first one and immediately lost my balance. I looked down. I looked at the leasing agent (an Asian girl named "Fir," I shit you not). "Are these floors uneven?" I asked. She looked up from her PDA long enough to give me a blank stare like, "Oh, you noticed that?" She assured me they were safe, which I think is bullshit. She pretty much looked at her phone for the rest of the tours.

Needless to say, the other three units in that building were also lacking (mostly for kitchen space). The final one had fire escape stairs as the only way to get inside, which terrified me. How would someone get their dog to go up or down the unstable, narrow steps, let alone ever move furniture? I was not to be lured in by the bay windows and view of the river, no sir. So I walked on (clocking nearly 4 miles over the day).

I just can't say no to that face.

According to my phone, I made about two dozen calls today on properties I passed by, probably about half of which said no to Paparazzi. That dog is complicating this process like no other, but I'm not even considering giving him up - I need someone to come with me! I'm going to be so homesick, not to mention that it would just be selfish of me to give him up because it's inconvenient. So he's coming, but he'd better appreciate how tough he's making this by being a canine. Fortunately, his almost complete lack of barking and tiny stature makes him negotiable in some places.

Two other places I saw were huge - really too much space for me - but again, the kitchen had no counter space and no room for a table. So disappointing! I can live without a dishwasher, but I need a place to prepare food. It's becoming clear to me that the kitchen is the most important room for me since cooking is not only a daily task for survival but also a means of relaxation and entertainment in my life. And while I don't need granite counter tops to be happy, but I do need counter tops.

The seventh place was tiny, though I was a big fan of the fact that the landlady used to run an extermination business. Definitely big points in my book, for obvious reasons given my recent rental history. But the place is basically just a wide hallway with a kitchen at the end, and I just don't want to hang out in my bedroom all the time.

So the hunt will continue tomorrow, which is a real bummer because I was hoping to meet some andCulture clients tomorrow. But alas, there are rental calls pending and new contacts to check in with, so wish me luck in finding a decent place!