Day: October 4, 2011

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Trolling the Classifieds Pays Off!

The flooring issue in the apartment has been vexing. Even if the carpet wasn’t completely gross, I wouldn’t want to leave it exposed because of the cats. All it would take would be one accident and I’d have to pay for new carpeting! So, I bought a plastic drop cloth and laid it over the floor. Worked, but I couldn’t imagine walking on a drop cloth all winter and my idea of laying down runners to make paths sounded positively dismal.

I decided that I had to bite the bullet and buy some proper flooring to put over the drop cloth in the main part of the room and that it would probably be a carpet. I needed something about 8’x10′, which doesn’t come cheap! There was no way I was going to invest in this place, so today I decided to check the classifieds. I scored, big time:

This hideous monstrosity (I’m not a fan of Aztec patterns!) couldn’t have been better coloured for this place. The burgundy, beige, and dark green can be found in my comforter and the pale teal matches the tiling in the kitchen and bathroom! It’s ugly, but it fits right in and in doing so is almost attractive! The guy was asking for $35 but I offered $20. He replied “If you can be here tonight, you can have it.” I got in the car immediately and drove clear across town, making it there just as darkness fell. For $20, whatever happens this winter happens. Tabitha can claw it to bits and Neelix can puke on it all he wants (readers go “EW!!!”) and it will have been worth my twenty bucks!

The carpet felt pretty clean (and smelled great, surprisingly enough), but I still had some cleaning solution in the carpet cleaner, so I gave it a spritz.

Here’s my living room area looking towards the bed, with the lovely chair and ottoman Gary pulled out of storage for me:

And here’s the room looking towards the desk:

I put the carpet flush against the bed so that I could fit a plastic runner around the desk since it will be a high chair traffic area. I consider the apartment setup to be DONE. Now, I just need to figure out what else needs to be brought in based on the potential of damage due to low temperatures.

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Settling Into My Temporary Abode

This has been my second full day in the apartment and I am slowly falling back into my normal routine. I made my first home cooked meal this evening, which meant scurrying down to the rig for onions, a sharp knife, a cheese grater, and a colander. 🙂

Here are some bits of the apartment so far.

First, the bedroom area with the absolutely awesome headboard/bookcase Jody had in storage. Also make note of the little side table next to the bed on which the lamp is resting. It’s the perfect height!

bedroom area (my pretty comforter is in the wash pile!)

Next is the office area. Telus was supposed to send a tech between noon and two to figure out why my hardwired connection wasn’t working. The tech showed up at 11!!! It was a simple fix and now I have 500GB of bandwidth a month! The speeds aren’t actually any better than the cellular connection however. That says a lot about cellular speeds in southern Canada!

office area

The dining area reminds me of a school cafeteria (the floor tiles don’t help!), but the chair is super comfy!

dining area

I like that I have the storage room for the cats. Litter doesn’t get tracked everywhere and the food dishes are out of traffic areas. Neelix was okay with me stepping over him in the dressing room, but Tabitha would bolt if I tried to do that, interrupting her meal.

the cat condo

Here’s Tabitha’s nest under the sink. She’s been going in and out of there since she discovered the spot. I think she appreciates the blanket since she’s moved it around a bit to make more of a nest.

Ms. Bitha’s nest

Finally, I have to say I LOVE having a one-piece pantry. That’s one thing I found hard in Miranda, trying to remember what I had in the various cabinets.

pantry

The pantry is pretty full tonight since today is 15% off day at the Lethbridge grocery stores. I got some awesome deals including two boxes of falafel mix!