Lots of shit going down

Well, everything at work seems to finally be on an even keel, even though the water could and probably will get choppy at a moment's notice.

Yesterday I made some phone calls about possible apartment choices. The one place I was raving about in my last post turned out to be a raw deal, and by that I mean that by the time I got a live person on the phone, the asking price had shot up over a hundred bucks. I gave them the benefit of a doubt and asked if they might have something else in my price range, and they gave me a list of addresses that ranged from downright shitty to "What, you want FOUR walls...and a roof?".

So, I decided to check out this other listing I found. The price was suspiciously low, but I stopped by the place and looked in the window of the apartment below it, which was being fixed up. It wasn't half bad. It was kinda old, but it had it's charm. From a casual look, the only thing I saw was that the kitchen was REEEEALLY small. It looked as if you couldn't open the refrigerator door without hitting the oven and vice versa. No dishwasher, no disposal, bare bones kitchen.

I stopped by the manager's office today and put in an application, which was approved practically sight unseen. I got a key from them to take a look inside the place, and it looked like it was gonna work just fine for the amount of stuff I had. The kitchen wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The only problem was that the stairwell leading up to the place would make it nearly impossible to fit my big-ass sofa in the door. I didn't even have to measure the space, it was years of experience of playing Tetris telling me there was no way in hell I was fitting the couch in there.

The silver lining was that there was another place downstairs that was almost identical. I took a look around and made the decision to take this one. All I gotta do is get a new showerhead, kill the spiders in the bathtub, maybe slap on a coat of paint and this place will be pretty cool. The bedroom closet is only 18" deep, but I don't care. I'm a fluff and fold kinda guy anyway (Steve, insert your joke here).

Now that I got the apartment, I gotta start moving. I took a carload over tonight, had dinner with Candy and went back home to set stuff out for the moving sale. Sweet Jesus, there's a lot of stuff here. We got everything priced, I rana around to about ten places trying to get someone to change out thirty bucks for some singles so we can provide change(thank you, Dirty's Tavern, for helping a brother out).

But once we finished setting stuff out, we realized an added problem: Security. We've got all this crap out here overnight and no one's watching it. So, I'm staying out here until 4 a.m., and Candy will take over for me then. I'll try to get a couple hours shuteye and come out to help her with all of the garage sale vultures that will be showing up at the butt crack of dawn, ready to haggle a 25 cent item down to 23, count puzzle pieces to make sure everything's there, and gush over things that to every else but them is a total piace of shit (I'm expecting that Neil Diamond Christmas CD will be going fast with this crowd).

So, if you're up early Saturday or Sunday and you'll be in the 31st & Mingo area, stop by and buy some of our crap. The address is 9229 East 32nd Place.

P.S. - The People Magazine article is on newsstands now. So pick up a copy...then read it...then decide if you would like to purchase the magazine. It turned out pretty good, even though it does make me sound like a total slob, plus my hopes of being on the cover were dashed because Angelina Jolie just HAD to have her baby...Jeez, first she picks Brad Pitt over me and now she's stealing what could have been my moment in the spotlight. Thanks a lot, Angelina, really...CALL ME!

The Arnie's Bar logo didn't make the cut, sad to say. It wasn't airbrushed out, but instead obscured by the coffee cup in my hand.

There were two other couples in the article, and one of the other guys was also a graphic designer...coincidence?