Guess I’ll Be Moving, Then…

U-Haul TruckRecently I’ve been dimly aware of the fact that it was getting close to time for me to go through the lease renewal process. I couldn’t remember for sure, though, whether the folks in the office would be contacting me 2 or 3 months in advance to get the process rolling. The last two times I’ve renewed they’ve definitely given me several weeks to decide. They’ve also raised the cost of my rent every time I’ve renewed. Supposedly my original rent payment was “highly discounted”. Whatever.

Anyways, on Wednesday night I came home to a note on my door letting me know it was time to renew my lease. Their offer? $685 a month, which is $85 more than I’m currently paying. The kicker? They only gave me until DECEMBER 1ST to decide if I want to renew at that rate. Otherwise I’d probably have to pay whatever the “market rate” of the apartment is… god knows how much that would be. The note also says that if I am going to move out, I have to give notice by the 1st. So, basically… they decided to give me the shaft.

Needless to say, I was pretty ticked off, and began frantically calling around to see if anyone was in the market for a roommate. The problem with living by yourself is that you can’t really save that much money by moving to another one-bedroom apartment of a similar size and quality. Saving money can’t really be your goal unless you’re willing to go from a large apartment (like mine) to an efficiency, which doesn’t sound attractive to me.

If I could find a roommate, though, I’d be set… I knew I could definitely save money with a roommate to help me split the bills. The problem was that when I asked around a few months back, it seemed like everyone I talked to already had a lease or plans to move in with someone. I wasn’t holding out much hope, really… January/February is kind of an odd time of year to move. The other problem with finding a roommate is that I’m not willing to move in with a complete stranger. It had to be someone I knew at least a little bit.

Well, long story short, through what I guess is a good amount of luck and random timing, I found myself a roommate who needs a place right around the same time: Tim Given (another Sig, for those of you who don’t know him). He actually already has a place in mind – a 2/1 duplex that works out to $450 a person, which more than justifies me getting the hell out of Martha’s Vineyard. He just so happens to know all of the great deals in town because he works for the place renting the property.

Although the actual process of moving is kind of hideous, I’m pretty excited about the idea of this particular move. I think it’ll be nice to live somewhere new. There’s also something really great about having a roommate around to promote human interaction.

If I work it right, this could be a good opportunity for me to get rid of some of my many possessions, including my (broken) leather couch, the armchair that has stuffing falling out, the millions of pots and pans and pieces of Tupperware I’ve got sitting in my shelves, and maybe a few of my 50 million books… if I can part with them.

4 thoughts on “Guess I’ll Be Moving, Then…”

  1. If the Tim Given situation doesn’t work out, keep California in mind. Also, Amanda and I are driving to Texas for Xmas and I’d be more than happy to swing by around mid-December and take some of those books off your hands.

  2. I think I’ll be busy that weekend you move, whichever one it is. 😉

    No, actually I might be able to help, depending on the date and whether you really want your Dad to see all the junk you have. But I’m not taking anything back, especially not any cats.

    Remember that books are your friend–you can insulate a house with them (unless they get wet, then they sorta stink), you can use them for footrests, you can throw them at your cats (probably not a good idea to throw them at your roommate, he might shoot back), and lots of other useless thinks. Or you can haul them to Half-Price Books and/or have a garage sale (unless you present place prohibits that) and get $$$$.

    Getting rid of some of your well-loved books would signify that you are ready to move on to a different phase in your life. You know about symbolism, being a writer and all.

    Now, a move to California, as Dr. Retarded suggested, would be very symbolic of wanting to move on with your life. That’s where the action supposedly is for writers and all. And waiters too. You’d have to get rid of a whole bunch of books then.

    Whatever you do, these types of changes do foster thinking toward what else you might want to change. Maybe nothing. Some of us, like me, can’t take too many changes at once. On the other hand, it does allow one to think freeing thoughts about what could be. The visualization of the path to what could be is the important part and what keeps you going through the inevitable crap to get there.

    Moving on, Doctor of Philosophy,
    Love,
    Dad

  3. I like the insulating your place with books idea. You can also insulate your closets, basement stairwells, and bathrooms with them….or continue to collect them with the justification that one day you might open your own bookstore…either way, from one book junkie to another, I’d say hang on to them for a little while longer 🙂

  4. [quote comment=”1759″]I like the insulating your place with books idea. You can also insulate your closets, basement stairwells, and bathrooms with them….or continue to collect them with the justification that one day you might open your own bookstore…either way, from one book junkie to another, I’d say hang on to them for a little while longer :)[/quote]

    Hehe don’t worry, I’ll probably manage to give two or three away and sell about a dozen to half price, but I’ll still have something like 200+ left to deal with…

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