Settled in! (sort of)
Sep. 5th, 2006 11:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shirenomadSo yeah, with some major furniture-moving help from Allen (thanks Allen!) I got... well, not everything, but all the big stuff and quite a bit of the little stuff moved to the new place. The advance planning I did with measuring tape and a lot of cutouts on graph paper helped considerably when deciding where all the furniture would wind up, although I made a miscalculation in placing my desk (more on that in a minute) and I expected more out of the closet than I got (or rather, I expected there'd be less to fill it).
As a bonus, I purchased all the furniture from the previous inhabitant for $50. Most of it I already moved to Brian and Manny's -- if they don't want it, Manny's got a truck to dump it wherever -- but it was worth the entire amount just for the four items I kept: a study fold-up canvas chair (which will be handy for beach or park visits), a glass table for eating in my room and generic holding of stuff, a reading lamp, and a queen-sized mattress sans frame. The last is an especially big deal for me, as my previous bed was a twin-sized futon on a fold-out frame; I'm already enjoying the far greater cushioning and stretch-out room. And yes, it's a used bed, and who knows what the previous owners have been doing in it, but I've got both padding and sheets between me and it, so it doesn't bother me. So long as it doesn't smell funny (and it doesn't), I'm keeping it.
I've also already proven myself useful here. Seems whatever doof set up their wireless router (friend from work, if I understood them) had it connected to... nothing! The cable modem was plugged directly into the main computer, while the router just sat there using up electricity. Apparently no one noticed because after the correct router failed to accomplish anything, they found a neighbor's (weak, but unencrypted) wireless signal, jacked into that, and when they got Internet from there, figured that was "the right one." And then wondered why the connection stability was so poor. A bit of cable shuffling later, problem solved.
I also swung by Radio Shack for some coaxial connector pieces and a line crimper: the TV cable in my room obviously hadn't been used in a long while, and the last guy who DID use it ripped the connector right off the cable rather than unscrew it properly. (Maybe it got rusted or something?)
Two major flaws with the room I'm still working around:
1) SPACE:
I don't have that much of it. The room is 12 feet by 10 feet, with a 6x2 foot closet I've managed to stuff to capacity far earlier than I expected to. Worse is the kitchen situation: I get four shelves of cabinet space total. Thankfully, the family has offered me free use of their cookware (provided I keep it clean), so it looks like I won't need to stash my own in there, but that means I need to find somewhere else for it. Meanwhile it -- plus my CDs and several miscellaneous items -- remain unpacked in their living room, and most of my books remain at Brian's.
I'm already thinking that bringing my old bed, even folded into couch mode, may have been a mistake; I don't really need it and it's taking up a good sixth to eighth of the floor. Right now its purpose is to contain several other objects I've tossed on it. I could get a nice tall bookcase in that same area, plus space to stash my CD tower, and I'd still gain some serious walking room. I asked Brian, Manny, Allen, and Hacker if they or anyone they knew would want it, at least for a while... (Allen's trying to talk me out of selling it entirely, as it IS decent as a couch and still in excellent condition.) The floor lamp is also going; the room has plenty of lighting without its help, and I can speak for how much it helps with Brian's now-reclaimed living room.
Another idea is wall-mounted shelves, which would solve my book problem (or at least put a dent in it), although I'm not sure how much it'll help with the rest. And Allen has graciously offered to stash anything I don't need for the immediate future: this will probably include my cookware, some of my books (of the textbook variety), and the old bedding from the couch if I fail to give that away. That and some shuffling (constantly in progress) and I may make this work yet.
2) THE WINDOW.
It faces almost due west, and the blinds? Don't actually keep out any direct light; they let it straight through the many thin gaps between the bamboo strips. They were clearly meant for privacy and nothing else. This means that from about 5pm to about 6:30, the sun slices directly into the room at eye level and tries to blind me. (Maybe I shouldn't have placed my desk facing that direction.) While it's nice to know I'm safe from vampiric attack for that 90 minute period, I also enjoy being able to see. And even if I'm NOT in the room, the room still starts heating up like crazy, and my fan is not up to the task of cooling it back down. The family is looking into some thicker blinds/curtains for me (they were installing a similar set in the next room over the weekend), which I will greatly appreciate... the heat is, hopefully, temporary.
More to come as I figure the place out. Until then.
As a bonus, I purchased all the furniture from the previous inhabitant for $50. Most of it I already moved to Brian and Manny's -- if they don't want it, Manny's got a truck to dump it wherever -- but it was worth the entire amount just for the four items I kept: a study fold-up canvas chair (which will be handy for beach or park visits), a glass table for eating in my room and generic holding of stuff, a reading lamp, and a queen-sized mattress sans frame. The last is an especially big deal for me, as my previous bed was a twin-sized futon on a fold-out frame; I'm already enjoying the far greater cushioning and stretch-out room. And yes, it's a used bed, and who knows what the previous owners have been doing in it, but I've got both padding and sheets between me and it, so it doesn't bother me. So long as it doesn't smell funny (and it doesn't), I'm keeping it.
I've also already proven myself useful here. Seems whatever doof set up their wireless router (friend from work, if I understood them) had it connected to... nothing! The cable modem was plugged directly into the main computer, while the router just sat there using up electricity. Apparently no one noticed because after the correct router failed to accomplish anything, they found a neighbor's (weak, but unencrypted) wireless signal, jacked into that, and when they got Internet from there, figured that was "the right one." And then wondered why the connection stability was so poor. A bit of cable shuffling later, problem solved.
I also swung by Radio Shack for some coaxial connector pieces and a line crimper: the TV cable in my room obviously hadn't been used in a long while, and the last guy who DID use it ripped the connector right off the cable rather than unscrew it properly. (Maybe it got rusted or something?)
Two major flaws with the room I'm still working around:
1) SPACE:
I don't have that much of it. The room is 12 feet by 10 feet, with a 6x2 foot closet I've managed to stuff to capacity far earlier than I expected to. Worse is the kitchen situation: I get four shelves of cabinet space total. Thankfully, the family has offered me free use of their cookware (provided I keep it clean), so it looks like I won't need to stash my own in there, but that means I need to find somewhere else for it. Meanwhile it -- plus my CDs and several miscellaneous items -- remain unpacked in their living room, and most of my books remain at Brian's.
I'm already thinking that bringing my old bed, even folded into couch mode, may have been a mistake; I don't really need it and it's taking up a good sixth to eighth of the floor. Right now its purpose is to contain several other objects I've tossed on it. I could get a nice tall bookcase in that same area, plus space to stash my CD tower, and I'd still gain some serious walking room. I asked Brian, Manny, Allen, and Hacker if they or anyone they knew would want it, at least for a while... (Allen's trying to talk me out of selling it entirely, as it IS decent as a couch and still in excellent condition.) The floor lamp is also going; the room has plenty of lighting without its help, and I can speak for how much it helps with Brian's now-reclaimed living room.
Another idea is wall-mounted shelves, which would solve my book problem (or at least put a dent in it), although I'm not sure how much it'll help with the rest. And Allen has graciously offered to stash anything I don't need for the immediate future: this will probably include my cookware, some of my books (of the textbook variety), and the old bedding from the couch if I fail to give that away. That and some shuffling (constantly in progress) and I may make this work yet.
2) THE WINDOW.
It faces almost due west, and the blinds? Don't actually keep out any direct light; they let it straight through the many thin gaps between the bamboo strips. They were clearly meant for privacy and nothing else. This means that from about 5pm to about 6:30, the sun slices directly into the room at eye level and tries to blind me. (Maybe I shouldn't have placed my desk facing that direction.) While it's nice to know I'm safe from vampiric attack for that 90 minute period, I also enjoy being able to see. And even if I'm NOT in the room, the room still starts heating up like crazy, and my fan is not up to the task of cooling it back down. The family is looking into some thicker blinds/curtains for me (they were installing a similar set in the next room over the weekend), which I will greatly appreciate... the heat is, hopefully, temporary.
More to come as I figure the place out. Until then.
