I knew that moving would be an adjustment. I knew it would be a bit lonely at first. And I knew the temporary housing wouldn't really feel like home. I guess I underestimated just how profoundly this all would affect me.
Our temporary housing looks really cool, and it is in a prime location.
But, it's not exactly built for long-term living. We're here for 5 weeks total, and two weeks in, the charms have worn thin. The kitchen is woefully under-equipped, especially given how much I have been trying to cook (both to save money and calories). We only have 4 of everything in terms of plates, flat wear and glasses, which means I run the dishwasher every day. For contrast, I registered for 20 of everything at my wedding, and we continue to fill in our collection with serving platters and bowls. I have burned the shit out of our pyrex dish twice trying to pretend it's a roasting pan. The second time, I had to soak it for three days and scrape it with a knife before putting it in the dishwasher. The meals, thankfully, weren't ruined, but the pan sure looks like they should have been. We had to buy a kitchen knife, because the ones provided are super dull. But, we haven't wanted to buy too much kitchen stuff, as we have everything we need sitting in storage.
The floors throughout the apartment are concrete, save for a super long grey shag rug in the living room. I swear, it looks like they an elderly skinned a muppet to make it.
As I am home most of the day every day as I look for a job and discover the wonders of On Demand television (we have TiVo, and it's incompatible with normal on demand, so I feel like Jasmine in Aladdin - I am in a whole new world), I have been made keenly aware of how hard and cold these floors are. Plus, they are grey, so while I know they are dirty and grime-y, I can't really see where to clean. I tried to vacuum the other day. But, I couldn't get the darned thing to work on the shag carpet. I couldn't push it forward; I could only pull it back. So, I am walking backwards up and down the tiny area rug trying desperately to get up some of the crumbs and muck I know have taken root since our arrival (or perhaps before it). And as I went along, the carpet started to resemble the screen while playing Dig Dug. But, I had to give up when I started to smell burning.
Our washer/dryer is a combo washer and dryer, which means our laundry never dries. It washes fine, but the dry cycle mostly just creates super hot, super damp laundry after 2 hours or more of continual energy usage. Thankfully, the utilities here are not our problem. Both it and the dishwasher seem to leak a little, which would be more worrying if we were here longer.
The clothing storage is also lacking. We have one closet and dresser, which means that we still have a lot of clothes in suitcases that we're unable to unpack.
On the positive side, we do have a cute little balcony outside our living room. BUT, it is right off a park and an office building, so we have had to shoo people off of it more than once. I asked the management company about putting up a sign, but the property manager said all signs need to be approved by the city, and that process takes longer than we will be here. So, I took matters into my own hands and tied a string across the railings for the stairs.
So far, it seems to be working - though it obviously didn't deter some super bold baby squirrels who were running around outside our apartment like crazy the other day - and that was loitering I didn't mind.
I guess what I am struggling with most is being homesick for a place that is no longer my home. I miss my 3 bedroom, 3.5 bathroom townhouse with a private roof deck (and the incredible neighbors we had there). I miss my bed and couch and kitchen tools. I hope that when we move into our real apartment on the 22nd and get back our furniture and other stuff that the Bay Area can start to feel more like home again. Until then, I will continue to MacGyver solutions to what this place is lacking and try to not get too blue thinking about what I've left behind.
Our temporary housing looks really cool, and it is in a prime location.
But, it's not exactly built for long-term living. We're here for 5 weeks total, and two weeks in, the charms have worn thin. The kitchen is woefully under-equipped, especially given how much I have been trying to cook (both to save money and calories). We only have 4 of everything in terms of plates, flat wear and glasses, which means I run the dishwasher every day. For contrast, I registered for 20 of everything at my wedding, and we continue to fill in our collection with serving platters and bowls. I have burned the shit out of our pyrex dish twice trying to pretend it's a roasting pan. The second time, I had to soak it for three days and scrape it with a knife before putting it in the dishwasher. The meals, thankfully, weren't ruined, but the pan sure looks like they should have been. We had to buy a kitchen knife, because the ones provided are super dull. But, we haven't wanted to buy too much kitchen stuff, as we have everything we need sitting in storage.
The floors throughout the apartment are concrete, save for a super long grey shag rug in the living room. I swear, it looks like they an elderly skinned a muppet to make it.
As I am home most of the day every day as I look for a job and discover the wonders of On Demand television (we have TiVo, and it's incompatible with normal on demand, so I feel like Jasmine in Aladdin - I am in a whole new world), I have been made keenly aware of how hard and cold these floors are. Plus, they are grey, so while I know they are dirty and grime-y, I can't really see where to clean. I tried to vacuum the other day. But, I couldn't get the darned thing to work on the shag carpet. I couldn't push it forward; I could only pull it back. So, I am walking backwards up and down the tiny area rug trying desperately to get up some of the crumbs and muck I know have taken root since our arrival (or perhaps before it). And as I went along, the carpet started to resemble the screen while playing Dig Dug. But, I had to give up when I started to smell burning.
Our washer/dryer is a combo washer and dryer, which means our laundry never dries. It washes fine, but the dry cycle mostly just creates super hot, super damp laundry after 2 hours or more of continual energy usage. Thankfully, the utilities here are not our problem. Both it and the dishwasher seem to leak a little, which would be more worrying if we were here longer.
The clothing storage is also lacking. We have one closet and dresser, which means that we still have a lot of clothes in suitcases that we're unable to unpack.
On the positive side, we do have a cute little balcony outside our living room. BUT, it is right off a park and an office building, so we have had to shoo people off of it more than once. I asked the management company about putting up a sign, but the property manager said all signs need to be approved by the city, and that process takes longer than we will be here. So, I took matters into my own hands and tied a string across the railings for the stairs.
So far, it seems to be working - though it obviously didn't deter some super bold baby squirrels who were running around outside our apartment like crazy the other day - and that was loitering I didn't mind.
I guess what I am struggling with most is being homesick for a place that is no longer my home. I miss my 3 bedroom, 3.5 bathroom townhouse with a private roof deck (and the incredible neighbors we had there). I miss my bed and couch and kitchen tools. I hope that when we move into our real apartment on the 22nd and get back our furniture and other stuff that the Bay Area can start to feel more like home again. Until then, I will continue to MacGyver solutions to what this place is lacking and try to not get too blue thinking about what I've left behind.
