Tuesday, July 30, 2002. Entry #180

We're contemplating moving again.

Not very far. In fact, it may be just across the hallway.

See, our apartment is driving Lisa crazy. It's not just the heat, of which we bitch constantly. The traffic noise is nuts, what with us being thirty feet from a major thoroughfare, and on the ground floor no less. For some reason we get a lot of motorcycles with damaged mufflers tearing past our window at three in the morning. We're also above the furnace for the building, which causes a constant low-level vibration in the living room. I don't really notice it, but for Lisa it's been like some sort of weird Chinese vibration torture device. One day of it is no problem, but after weeks and months she's pretty much ready to turn me in to the Gestapo for one moment of relief.

We're a little worried about the Tiny Dinosaur too. Somehow, the floor vibration has reached some sort of harmonic frequency in tune with his cage, and we come home every once in a while to find his cage actually humming quietly to itself. Moving his cage a bit fixes the problem, but we don't know if or when it'll happen again. I'm sure that pretty soon he'll learn the hum, and we'll spend the next 25 years being regaled with the Floor Vibration Overture.

The owner of our complex recently bought a puppy from The Pet Store, and Lisa got to talking to him. In hearing our woes, he offered to let us pick any other suite on the property and he'd move the lease over. The suite across the hall is currently vacant, so we could just get a key and start schlepping things over.

There's a lot of good in this idea.

First off, the minor woes will end. We won't be facing south any longer, so the heat will be significantly decreased. We'll have a whole building between us and the Hell's Angels Midnight Noise Brigade. And the furnace only vibrates our apartment. We made a special point of finding that out. None of the others in the building have this particular special effect.

Secondly, it'll give us the perfect opportunity to clean and reorganize all of our stuff. We can take the time to move things to the correct location the first time (as it's an exact reflection of the layout in our current place). No need to box things, just grab a handful of plates or a dresser drawer and move it on over. Moving the fish tank would be a nightmare (fully filled, it weighs in the vicinity of 400 pounds) as would the hide-a-bed and the entertainment center, but at least we're not going too far.

On the other hand...

There's the cost. Cost is the big one. The phone company, cable guys, ISP providers, post office, and power conglomerate don't give a fig how far you move. You change address; you're paying out of pocket. It'll cost us in the vicinity of $100 just to move, plus whatever cleaning expenses we incur in the process -- with two cats and a parrot able to squirt his, um, remains out the side of his cage when he's mad, steam cleaning the carpet is essential. All of which we couldn't even consider until September at the earliest (I did our budget through Christmas. Once everything settles down, we're pretty stable, including the chance to save some money AND pay back some of what we owe my folks).

Plus there's the hassle. The moving and the cleaning and the organization and the changing of addresses. The inevitable breakages and losses. The paying off of friends after they break a finger lifting the computer desk.

Y'know, we'd rather just move into a house. We're not going to go to the full hassle of moving (with the packing and driving and crap) unless we're going somewhere more permanent. Unfortunately banks don't take down payments in birdseed, and the mortgage guy we talked to barely contained his disdain when he examined my credit history.

And, if we're going to be stuck in one place for a while, it might be best to be somewhere that doesn't vibrate, reverberate or dehydrate.

I'm really looking for advice. Currently I'm feeling distaste for the idea, but I don't know if that's my inherent laziness rebelling against the thought of the work involved, or my brain actually trying warn me that it's a bad plan. Please go ahead and write me your thoughts on this dilemma. I'd like to hear your ideas.

One Year Ago: I was still on hiatus, but in 1956, the phrase "In God We Trust" was adopted as the U.S. national motto.

Two Years and One Day Ago: Book Rant - Where I talk about book that piss me off yet I still keep re-reading them.

Mom Rating: Unknown. I have no idea what Mom will make of this crazy scheme. I'm pretty sure she'll call and tell me though.

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