Work: I'm sadly starting to sound like a broken record, but it has once again been a long time since I've last written here. As to be expected, I've been busy with work. I've been working on a lot of projects and the majority of them have been messy projects that sap most of my energy. Lately when I've come home, all I want to do is sit on the couch and watch TV. I had my annual review a few weeks ago and all of the comments were positive. My cost of living raise was 2 percent. I'm grateful just to have a job and grateful for any kind of raise, but, still, a small part of me wonders how that 2 percent relates to the actual cost of living these days. It just seems like everything is getting more and more expensive and every dollar is definitely stretched. Two percent, nice as it is, doesn't seem to match the reality of the actual cost of living. Oh well. I just need to look on the bright side and keep reminding myself that I'm lucky just to have a job.
Apartment Hunting: When I found out that my rent is going up, I decided to look around for another possible place to live. I mostly just wanted to keep my options open and see what else might be out there. Unfortunately things didn't turn out so well. I looked at a few apartment complexes, and I just didn't get any of those "warm and happy" feelings when I looked at them. I didn't immediately think "I could see this as my home." My worst experience was at a place I looked at last week. I tried calling the management company, and the lady I spoke to was a little rude and not very helpful. That should have been my first sign, but I decided to make an appointment to see the place anyway. On my way there, I was first stopped by a train at one of the railroad crossings. That should have been my second sign. As I continued on, I was then stopped by major construction on another road. That should have been a third sign. When I finally got to the place, I wasn't impressed with the buildings. They seemed really old and worn down and not very well kept. When I walked into the apartment unit, I was immediately hit with the smell of stale cigarette smoke. The previous tenant must have been a chain smoker because the smell was so awful. It actually started to give me a bit of a headache after a while. The apartment didn't get much direct sunlight, so it was a bit dark. To make matters worse, none of the lights in the apartment were working, so I was pretty much looking at it in the dark. I can't even describe what the bathroom looked like, because it was so pitch black, I didn't see anything. The tub could have been pink for all I know. When I looked out the bedroom window, it pretty much had a view of the parking lot and a garbage dumpster. I pretty much decided that it wasn't an apartment that I would want to live in. So I thanked the guy for his time and got the heck out of there. It was so depressing and demoralizing.
I read in the local newspaper a few weeks ago that this is one of the worst housing/renting markets ever. Because Boulder is such a nice place to live, the rental rates are extremely high. Some people spend over $1,000 to live in a 400-square foot studio apartment. And a lot of one bedroom apartments are well over $1000. At that rate I might as well move back to Southern California! And places that are "cheap," are extremely small and overrun with students or they are total dumps like the place I looked at. Another problem that I've been facing is that there aren't many vacancies. I went to one place that I thought would be both nice and affordable, but the woman I spoke to said that her waiting list was 65 people long. So because it is becoming such a hassle to look for a new place to live, I've decided to stay in my current place for another year. With the help of my family and hopefully with the help of some more freelance jobs, I should be able to make it work for at least a year.
Maybe now that I know how bad things are out there, I can plan a little better if I have to go through this again next year. Or I can just hope that I get a huge 10 percent raise or win the lottery and not have to worry about it. Yeah, I doubt either of those two things will ever happen...
Current mood: a bit deflated, but getting better
Current music: iTunes on shuffle, Beth Waters "Feel the Rain"
Current drink: Fat Tire
