and we danced

... and we danced in the darkness
in the void without a name
before the world was written
and there were no hearts to tame
and when our dance was finished,
when the band played to the end,
we motioned for more music
and began to dance again...

and we danced in the dim light
'neath a newly starry sky
as gods were born around us
and the new worlds passed us by
and when our dance was finished
and the sky was set to spin
we motioned for more music
and began to dance again...

and we danced in the brightness
as new life began to throng
an infinity of voices
to sing the chorus of the song
and when our dance was finished
with nature's fabric woven,
we motioned for more music
and began to dance again...

and we danced in the daylight
while the stories came and went
to each their unique purpose,
to shine in their moment
and when our dance was finished
and the pages all written,
we motioned for more music
and began to dance again...

and we danced in the twilight
in the final silent dark
no heart's drumbeat to move us
and with no stars left to spark
and when our dance was finished
and new hopes set to begin,
we motioned for more music
and began to dance again...

and we danced...

Keeping on

Okay, wow, it's week 7, and I haven't posted since before classes started.

School has been... awesome?  fun?  I mean, I'm enjoying classes and have made a couple of casual friends.  I'm at two As and a B right now (they do +/-, but I'm not at the point of figuring that out), and may be raising the B to an A with the most recent midterm (which I think I did well on; find out tomorrow).  Tues/Thurs/Fri, and my weekends, are the best days of the week right now.

That leaves Mondays and Wednesdays, which are work days (I work some on Friday and Saturday, but from home).  Work's actually not bad; getting up at 5:30 to leave at 6, and then generally not getting home until 6:30-7, sucks, but it's doable.  The only real problem is my car.  I think the move kind of pushed it over the edge; it needs thousands of dollars of work now, and frankly - as much as I love this car - I can't justify it.  So, right now, it's hard to start most mornings (once it's running it's fine), which is a little anxiety-inducing.  But since I'm only driving twice a week, I'm hoping to make it until after finals (mid-December) before getting a replacement.

Probably something cheap and used; I can drop about $5k in cash on a down payment, and I don't want anything more than $200 or so a month as a payment, so that puts me at about $14k-16k.  Which isn't unreasonable for a small used car in the area.  I'll probably end up paying it off early as well.  I just don't really need a fancy car if I'm not driving much, and I'd rather keep my expenses lower.

I could also do a lease, like of a civic or something, but I'd have to think about it.  The mileage would probably be a close thing, and a lease is a flat 3-year commitment rather than being able to just pay off a loan if needed.  Down payment would probably be less, of course,and I'm really only looking for something to last me the next three years I'm guaranteed at school (after that, who knows).  Anyway, stuff to consider.

I've got a paper due the week after TK.  I've already started writing it, but I'm having trouble getting my thoughts framed.  I've done the outline, so it's more just a matter of phrasing and such (I don't think in words, so often figuring out how to say what I want to say is the hardest part).  I'll still likely be done, at least in a solid edited first draft, this weekend.

Still enjoying the apartment.  I love being able to walk both to classes and down to the village for meals/studying.  I've taken to hanging out at a local sports bar or Starbucks for homework; I've asked, and both places are fine with it (I'm always ordering stuff too, so it's not like I'm freeloading).  I actually study better in a "noisy" environment, which is my flavor of ADHD at work: I have to have enough "background" activity to keep my peripheral attention satisfied without being massively distracting.  Coffee shops work pretty well.

The fires have made the air quality around here pretty bad.  School actually issued no-outdoor-activity alerts over the weekend.  Things seem a bit better at the moment.

Not sure if I'm going to do anything for New Years.  I kind of feel guilty about spending money on a vacation if I'm buying a car.  I also don't feel like I need to "get away" at this point; being in Westwood is still relatively new and feels like its own little vacation anyway.  Which I suppose is a good sign.

T minus 10 days

Hung out with D (of C&D) Saturday.  He kind of nudged me about getting out and dating, or at least having sex once in a while.  While one could argue that it's none of his business, he's someone I *have* had sex with, so I supposed that gives him a bit of authority in the subject.

I dunno; I'm not exactly jonsing for a relationship, but I also feel like I'd enjoy having one.  That's kind of the state I'm in and has been for a while.  Oh well; we'll see if anything changes with school.

I know I said I wanted to start getting out to WeHo a bit more, but right now, I'm getting home from work after 6:30; once I'd get changed and such, it's usually 7:30 or later, and I don't really want to get back in the car and head out.  I suppose I could take a lyft, but that's now adding another $20-30 to the price of the trip (even including parking).  There's no bus that goes straight there; best I can do is down Sunset and walk down the hill, and that's still a 45-minute trip for the 4 miles.

Again, once school starts, it'll be a bit different.  My last class Tuesday and Thursday ends at 5:45, and on Friday at 1:50.  So, plenty of time to relax or get stuff done before heading out, at least on Fridays.  We'll see if I actually end up doing it.

Right now, the biggest thing I'm thinking about is whether or not to get a 2-in-1 laptop I can use for taking notes in class.  I mean, I've got the work laptop, and they don't care if I use it, but I'd rather have my own especially since work isn't guaranteed long-term.  Additionally, I take notes better by writing than typing, especially with math and physics classes (which these mostly are).  I've had a slate in the past - in fact, I had one of the very first, back before tablets became a thing - and I loved using it for writing.  I just  need to decide how much I want to spend on it.  Most of them are $800-$1500; it's a question of whether or not I'll be happy with the $800 or should splurge for (and can afford) the $1500.

Apartment is getting a bit more in order.  Not much, but a bit.  I started cleaning off the printer stand, since I ordered a new printer (which should arrive Tuesday).  Nothing extravagant, but I do need to occasionally print and scan at home, so, had to get something.  Anyway, I still have boxes of books, but those are almost all that is left.  I need to do some re-arranging in the bathroom and closet a bit, but nothing unreasonable.

Classes start in a week and a half. I've got all my books and will start reading up on stuff this week.  The syllabi aren't up yet, but I can at least get a head start on the subjects.

Gray skies at dawn

One of the oddest things about the new place is the west-facing window.

There's really only the sliding door, of course; it's a studio and looks basically like a hotel room in layout (long and narrow).  But it faces west, into a small "back alley" area with the other building opposite about 20-30 feet away.  There are trees and plants in the gap, so it's not like looking out at another building; it's actually pretty green.  Also, with the slight slope, my line of sight is just below the roof of theirs, so there's plenty of blue sky above as well.

But, for the last seven years, I've had sunlight shining in my eyes (almost) every morning.  Now, not only is it afternoon/evening light I get, the mornings are even generally foggy or cloudy (the marine layer comes in at night).  So, most mornings, even on the weekend when I sleep in until 11 or later, are dark and gray.

That's not a huge issue, and I've got a 6500K lamp as my main light source for just this reason.  But it's still a bit weird to me.

The old apartment is empty, and I've turned in the keys to management.  I'm Officially Moved, though not fully unpacked yet - the kitchen is done, I think, but I've still got boxes everywhere else.  I got my school stuff mostly organized at least.

Mainly, being moved means 1) Sunday was the first day I got to actually be at home in the new place and not driving all over and 2) today will be my first leave-work-and-drive-home day, since I've been stopping at the old place to clean/pack/toss.  Getting to work in the mornings is pretty quick, about 45 minutes; getting home is going to be an hour or so, maybe a bit longer.  I'm hoping to judge traffic just right and leave here about 5:30 to get home around 6:30 if possible.  We'll see.

I may try to hang out with C&D this coming weekend.  I haven't seen them in ages, and I kind of owe it to them.  It'll be a longer drive, obviously, but it also may be the last chance I get to do so with school starting up shortly.

I also need to start thinking about social activities.  Though I should get my place in order before going too far in that direction.

Delta y

I've moved a lot of stuff down to the new apartment already.  I'm making another run tonight, with some of the dishes, the dining room chairs, and some other bulkier stuff (like my M:TG cards, which I still haven't gotten around to selling yet but are now apparently worth $3000-$6000).

This weekend is the big one: a coworker is (supposed to be) helping me move my bed and dining room table, and I'll move my computer chair and the rest of the dishes as well as whatever clothes and such I have left (I've been wrapping the dishes in shirts and such, since that seemed like less of a waste than using newspaper or buying packing material).  After this weekend, I'll be "officially moved" and living down in Westwood, even though I'll still have some clean-up and such to do at the old apartment.  Like, I still have to make an e-waste run to Good Will.

Tomorrow will likely be my last day taking the train into the office (I'm planning on driving on Friday).  That feels a little weird to me.

A whole lot is obviously about to change, and I'm starting to get nervous about it.  It'll work out - beyond that, it'll be great - but change is always disruptive and anxiety-inducing, even when we're looking forward to it.  The things that I'm spending the most time thinking about are dumb things, though.

Like, I've gotten into a routine for the last few months where I hit the same few restaurants on weekends.  There's a place I go for nachos by work, and a couple of burger joints I hit at various points.  I'm obviously not going to be getting those nachos much any more, though there appears to be a location in the same chain to the south of the new place.  And the Village has a lot of restaurants that are great, including more than a few that I've been to in the past.  Beyond that, it wouldn't kill me to eat at home more.

But that's the kind of thing my mind latches on to, generally.  I'm good with the "big stuff"; it's the little details that I stress about.

Like, one thing that has been going back and forth in my mind: I have a regular bedspread, but I also have a hand-knitted blanket my mother made as well as an electric blanket.  I obviously don't use all of them at any point and only use two when it's pretty cold in the dead of winter; generally speaking, the ones not in use are just piled in the corner of my room.  I don't have that much space in the new place, so I need to come up with a different way of storing them.

But storing which?  The electric blanket is harder to take on and off, obviously, because it's got the cables (though I usually just leave those plugged in).  The spread is bulky, and anyway, I think that's the one I'd most like to keep on the bed (as it matches the decor best).  But my mom's blanket is just awesome and, lately, is what I've been using most (as it's been generally too hot for either of the other two).  Again, it's a silly thing to worry about and it'll get figured out, but it's annoying me.

Anyway, I notified one bank and the DMV of my address change; I'm doing the other bank today.  I've already re-registered to vote in the new address, so that's handled.  I need to set up my internet service, which I'll probably start today; the complication with that is getting to a place to pick up the modem, but I'll manage.  Gas and electricity are already on.  And I've already got a couple of my text books for the quarter.

Oh, I also got a scholarship from the state for about $1700 a quarter, which is awesome.  That's just under 40% of  my costs, which means less pulled out of my IRA.  I got *that* part set up as well, so when I'm ready to transfer the funds, it should be easy.  The market's been doing better, and of course pulling out less means less of a long-term impact.

It also means that 1) I may be able to get away with not withdrawing anything else from the IRA after this quarter (if I behave) and 2) I can probably get the notebook PC I really need to have for school (which flies a bit in the face of (1), but is really something I ought to do).  I've found one I like through Costco, so it's not as expensive as it would be otherwise, and with staying at full-time hours in September but already being at the lower rent, I'll have extra funds that I wasn't planning on for the month.

All in all, things are (so far) working out pretty well.  I just need to get through this weekend.

Lay of the land

So, here's a rough plan of what my new place will look like:

The bathroom, closet, and kitchen aren't exact; I didn't measure those out, as there's no furniture going in them.  But the rest is pretty close to the plan, including the colors.  Most of my stuff right now (furniture, sheets, etc.) is blue, grey/silver, or black, hence the colors.  The existing carpet is that typical light-tan used everywhere, so it won't clash.  Even my dishes are a blue/black.

Entryway is on the right in that little hook area there.  It steps into a (probably fake) wood area that is 4 feet wide by about 4.5 feet long.  As you enter, off to the right is the bedroom area.  Right now, I'm only planning my bed (with its headboard), a small leaning shelf, a larger but short media center table, and my rowing machine (the weird pointy thing there; it'll be folded up most of the time, probably, but I wanted to check for spacing).  The large grey shag rug I already have; it's in my dining room at the current place but is too large for the area in this one  The striped runner rugs I've just purchased; they'll essentially line the right side of the place.  I'll have to get some bathroom rugs later, but those are easy (come to think of it, I bought one for the guest bathroom; I can just use that for one at least; I did that bathroom as a kind of sea foam blue/green, so it should mesh with the fixtures in the new bathroom).

You step down two steps to the living room area, which is why the runner here is divided a bit.  Straight ahead is the gas fireplace.  I just bought the big "circles" rug as well, so that'll be getting delivered maybe by the end of the week.  In the living room, I'll put my computer chair near the top; it's hard to describe, but it's a brushed-steel pipe frame "lounge" (no, I didn't pay that much for it) that I've mounted my monitor and such to using movie-set clamps.  The case itself is black and glows blue.  Behind that, along the left wall, is my bookshelf, which I also already have (basically, two of these with shelves between them, so it's one long unit).

The big area will, at some point, probably have a small table and a couch or chairs.  I haven't exactly decided yet.  I've actually got a coffee table that C&D gave me; it's two wooden levels with black supports on the sides.  It's a little worse for wear, but if I can figure out how to disassemble it, paint it, and maybe put a glass top on it (replacing the center wooden panel), it would be suitable.  I have an idea to recess some lighting in it, but I don't even know if I can take it apart easily yet.

Passing the fireplace, there's a little "bar" type divider to the kitchen, then the "dining room" (which leads to the patio).  I was worried that my table wouldn't fit, but it should be fine.  I only have the two chairs, and I don't exactly entertain much.  So, for now, I'll probably have it like shown; if I need to, I can pull it away from the wall for more friendly dining.  I'll want to get a rug for this area and a mat for the kitchen too, but again, those are pretty easy to do.

I've got three big lamps I can bring, one of which matches with the bookshelf pretty well (which is why I have it and where it currently stands).  The other two are those "branch" kinds of lamps with bulbs and shades at the end, one in my bedroom and one in the guest room.  I'll probably just bring one, though I'm not even sure if I'll use it.  I also got a new lamp for my birthday from my mom's friend; that actually fits the style/decor pretty well too.  It can't really be on a switch, though, as the way it turns on is a little weird, so I'll probably try replacing the light over my bed with it.

I didn't draw out the patio.  It's not terribly large.  I'm probably going to look into getting some "fake grass" as an outdoor rug for it, then maybe use some of my planters.  I'd *really* like to get some kind of climbing ivy or something for the railing, especially a flowering variety, but that would mean taking care of it.  There's always fake stuff, but that  fades/gets dusty.  I may see about some kind of screen or something.  I don't want to block airflow through the railing, but I also don't want to scandalize the neighbors across the way if I'm walking around naked in my place, and a bit of a screen or partial covering of the railing would do the trick (they're actually slightly below me, so I don't need much).

I'd also like to get some artwork for the walls.  My current place doesn't have anything in it, but there are a few of my shots I'd like to print out.  I've got a gorgeous panorama of Mt. Shasta that would look great as three (or even five) separate panels - I think I figured out once that at 2 feet high, it would be about 20 feet long.  But I've also got others that would look great in various areas.  I also want to get more plant life in the new place; it'll be more temperate in general, so there'll be less of an issue with extremes, even if I'm leaving the door open for airflow.

I've got the keys and may will start moving stuff down this weekend.  I'm actually tempted to see if I can get the dining table apart and moved myself; I just need to be careful of the glass.  I have to see if it'll fit in my car with the hatch down (just a matter of measuring).  If not, I'll probably stick to boxing up my books and moving them and the shelf down.  That would probably be at least one trip and maybe two, but it would also be the first big chunk out of the apartment.  If the rugs show up, I'll probably move them instead (or at least first) so that I have them in place for later.  Those *will* fit in my car, even the 9x12; heck, the corners for the bookshelf are over 7 feet and rod iron, and those fit without much of an issue if I lean the seat back.  That's how I got it home in the first place, though granted that was just a couple of blocks away.

One concern is the closet.  I don't have all that much stuff to go in there, since I've basically just got the two closets at my place.  But part of what does need to go in there is my camping gear, and that's kind of bulky.  I've also got my emergency water tanks, which aren't tiny (and I have two of them).  I think they'll all fit without problem, but it may take a little bit of shuffling.  Clothes-wise, I've gotten rid of a lot of stuff that I haven't worn in ages.  Most of that hangs anyway (the rest goes in the drawers under my bed).

UPDATE: So, took the small table mostly apart last night.  Turns out the center section I want to remove is held in place by all the sides, and I'm not entirely sure how to remove them.  It looks like a slot joint, with a kind of plug hammered in at one end, but it's really hard to tell.  I may see if I can remove the plug from the one side without doing too much other damage; I can always fill in that area with epoxy or something later (I know there are clays or such for this purpose, and it's a small little spot).  Otherwise, I may just end up repainting it and leaving it at that.

Go West

There are a lot of apartment-for-rent sites out there: a handful of big-name places, a few social media kinds of sites that also offer housing listings, and then a whole crapton of no-name smaller sites which usually just link back to the bigger names.

Places like Aparments.com, Rent.com, Trulia, Zillow, and Craigslist have most of the listings.  Others like radpad or padmapper just aggregate those together.  So, searching multiple sites usually means seeing the same places over and over in different formats.  Then, of course, you have all the major apartment complexes with their own websites and listing information.

I don't even remember how I got to it, but for some reason I ended up on a random, no-clue-who-this-is rental site.  Something like aparment-homes-rental-listing-for-you (not the actual name).  I shrugged and just looked to see what was there, which was about 99% what I'd seen before.

And then one place that I hadn't seen.  You see, after you look at the maps for days on end, you get to recognize the listings just by locations.  "Oh, that's Tiverton Court.  That one's Gayley Manor."  This was off to the side, near everything I recognized but in a spot I hadn't seen before.

I clicked on the ad, and there was a listing for a studio for $1400.  Okay, that's pretty good pricing; usually means a 300-400 sq ft place with no parking, often with only an efficiency kitchen, but it was worth looking at as it was about a half mile from campus.  I went a bit deeper: not only does it have a full kitchen and including parking, but it's 600 sq ft and has a fireplace.

... Seriously?  A fireplace?  And that size for that price?  Okay, what's wrong with it?

To put this in perspective, I have a 1050 sq ft 2b2ba in Pasadena.  Market rate is $2600 for my place, about $2.50 a square foot.  A 2b2ba in Westwood, within a half mile of campus, is usually 3400-3800 for1000 sq feet - about $3.40 or more a square foot.  Studios I've been looking at have been even more, usually $4+ a square foot.  At $1400 for 600 sq feet, this place is cheaper than my current apartment and anything I've seen in the area at all.  So what's the catch?

I started looking for reviews of the building.  There were a lot on the UCLA student sites, mostly stating that the building was okay, the apartments were great, and the manager was hell on wheels.  Reading more, I read various lists of complaints about mistreatment and strict rules and such, with a handful of people saying, "He's really not that bad - he was actually really nice to me and quick to fix things."

The common factor in the good reviews was that they were written by older people or non-students.  The common factor for the bad reviews was that they were almost all written by younger students.  Okay, so the guy may have a problem with young college students; that's understandable, even if it sucks.  But it meant I should keep an open mind on it.

I was still really worried about why it was only advertised on one podunk website with low traffic, but I held that to the side and contacted the leasing office.  Yes, the place was available; yes, the listing information was correct.  So I scheduled a visit the next day.

The manager was actually really nice to me - a bit abrupt, sure, but he's also foreign (the reviews mostly said "Arab"; I think he's actually Slavic of some kind, maybe Russian or eastern European, but I haven't asked).  The apartment was almost exactly as pictured (the layout was half-reversed; everything else was the same).   Sure, the elevator and hallways needed from TLC - a scrubbing, maybe a paint job - but the inside of the apartment was pretty good (the rug has stains, but I'll be covering that mostly anyway).

He walked me down to the garage and talked about his "rules".  They centered around the fact that it was a "quiet building" - "No one rents here to party; if they want that, they can go two block that way" (waving towards Frat Row which was, in fact, two blocks away).  "I have a lot of students, and 99 percent of the time, mom and dad pay the rent.  That's fine.  If they want to have people over to watch football, fine.  Enjoy the game, enjoy your drink, enjoy your pizza, but half an hour later, it's quiet time again."

Most of the rules that people were complaining about made total sense to me.  One was a no-sublease clause: a lot of students sublease their places for quarters when they aren't in class and go back home, but that makes it a lot harder for management to know what's going on in the building.  Similar for parking spaces: yes, it may seem weird to restrict parking, but a lot of students don't drive and then rent out their spaces to other students, which also makes it hard for management to know who is coming and going from the building.  And the "quiet building" restrictions weren't actually any worse than I heard at my current place, which is mostly young professionals.

I told him a little about me, handed over copies of my pay stubs, and he looked a little surprised.  But from that point on, he essentially treated me as if my moving in was a done deal.  I paid the holding deposit (which goes towards the security deposit), got the formal application to fill out, and let him know that I'd be moving in "piecemeal" since I didn't have to be out of my place until 9/15.  "Is okay," he said, "Come by next Friday and pick up your keys.  You can start whenever; the place is empty anyway.  I'll get you a temporary parking spot near the elevator so you can unload more easily."

The final price for the place is actually $1500 a month.  When he was typing up the receipt, I noticed it said $1600.  "I thought it was $1400," I said, and handed him the ad.  He looked at it, said that it shouldn't be correct - "they're losing money" - but then kind of shrugged.  As he started re-typing the receipt, he paused and said, "How about $1500."  I agreed - it's still an amazing deal.  Heck, if he'd insisted on $1600, I would have gone with it.  I did pull up the ad on my computer to show him where it was listed so that he could take the info back to the leasing company.

So, that's that.  I've got a place in Westwood, my own place for less than I was expecting to pay.  I dropped the application off on Saturday, and I'm supposed to call him today or tomorrow and let him know when I'll be coming by on Friday (probably 3:30-4; I'll take a half day off of work, since I need to hit the bank and get a certified check for the remainder of the deposit and first month's rent).  My official move-in is 8/15, but when I visit Friday, I'm supposed to get the keys and remote for the garage.  I'll also take my tape measure to figure out the exact dimensions of the place (I have a rough idea, but I want to start planning furniture and rugs and such).  I'll also take some photos, for documentation of the condition as well as my own interests.

7 weeks and counting until school starts.  I'm actually doing this.

Oh-plus-one for five

I swear to LEGO, I'm starting to understand why people buy property.

So, I contacted a couple of different major apartment complexes last week asking if I could do tours or such of the units.  All of them are only open business ours (9-6 M-F); that, from the start, is a problem - hello, you want renters who can pay the bills but won't be open when people with day jobs can stop by? - but whatever.  I took Friday afternoon off and figured I'd wander around the village a bit checking places out.

I had 5 places I wanted to visit.  I had ads from them on various sites and, in a couple of cases, had spoken to *someone* over the phone about the property.  One place I wanted to stop by was the apartment that I still think would be awesome but the property manage hasn't responded to any emails or voicemail in two weeks; I stopped by just to see if there was an office or something, but nada.

The other four had listed open hours, and I even had an actual tour time at one.  Stopped by there first; I was really hoping for it to work out, because it sounded awesome.  First issue: floor plan is different than what was online.  Second: no kitchen ("they're all bachelors; doesn't it say that?" no, it doesn't; it actually mentions kitchens).  Third: parking was completely different than mentioned. I just thanked them for their time, turned around, and walked out.

The next three weren't any better:

• Building was being (loudly) worked on, but I got hold of the central office back east somewhere.  Mentioned was was on the ad.  "Er, no, I don't think we have any units for that price." Me:"It says here available 9/5 for both." "Yes, that's right, but they're <$200 more than listed> there, maybe there's a move-in special."  On-site manager called me later, nope, advert is wrong "and I'm trying to find out who placed it; we don't handle the marketing."
• Nice building on a quiet side street.  Call the number for a viewing.  "We don't have any studios available right now; I've actually got a wait list until November or so; you'd be number 7 on the list."  Me:"The ad says available now.  Specifically.  Even lists a couple of apartments."  "Sorry.  Nothing's available."
• Next place, similar.  "No, that price isn't right.  I'm not sure who handles the ad, but it's incorrect.""

At this point, after having wandered around Westwood in heat and humidity and being really frustrated, I just flopped into the passenger seat of my car, chugged water, and tried to make something useful happen.  One guy was advertising a room in his place, and it looked reasonable.  I'd written off the roommate thing after the last several incidents on that side, but he was 28 and gay and reportedly looking for something more stable.  I texted him, hung out for a while (dinner and starbucks) until he was available, then saw the place.  It's actually pretty nice, and if it works out, it'd be close to ideal.  He's going to decide this week (I was one of several people asking about it), but I think he and I hit it off okay.

So, one maybe and a bunch of nos (and still nothing from the one I really want to hear about).

I found a couple more potential roommate situations I emailed about today.  One is one that I messaged last month, but I assumed that was because he was looking for someone quickly.  I guess he hasn't found anyone yet, but we'll see if he gets back to me on it.  Another is a huge (absolutely massive; 21' by 16', almost an apartment by itself) master room in a 3b3ba place even closer to campus, but that involves an international student, so I'm going to play it carefully in case it ends up being a scam.  It's from FB, and I don't think it's a scam, but I'm still going slowly.

Also got an offer from a coworker to help me move (he's got a big pickup).  Since I don't have all that much stuff that won't fit in my car (and will hopefully be moving in stages rather than all at once,), that would save me having to rent a van.  I'll probably pay him for gas and crap, but he owes me favors anyway (he arguably has this job because of me).

I know that I'll likely get into a building somewhere and be put for three years or more, and that's good.  Because if I had to do this again in a year, I'd strangle someone.  I hope the roommate thing I saw on Friday works out (other than being a 30-minute walk to campus - yes, there's a bus, but I was hoping to walk - it's pretty much perfect), but I told him that I have to keep looking just in case, which he said he completely understood.

What's age... it's just a number, right? Yeah...

(Title from "Beautiful Thing")

Unfortunately, it seems a lot of student don't agree.  I've had several responses from potential flatmates stating various (polite) versions of, "Sorry, you're too old."

Now, I do understand where some of this is coming from.  I'm twice the age of some undergrads; there's not only a potential "creepy old guy" aspect, but it's simply the case that my approach to life is going to be different.  If they're looking for party types or whatnot, then chances are, I'm not it.

But while I understand that, I don't agree with it.  I'm *not* like most 40-year-olds.  I'm not going to be anyone's dad or act like a parent in the house.  I've got my LEGOs and my computer and will probably be busy enough with my own crap that I won't have time to try and babysit anyone else.  I also don't look my age and certainly don't act parental anyway.

And that's not to mention how flatly illegal age discrimination in housing is, but frankly I'm not going there.

Anyway, it's been pretty frustrating.  I'm now focusing more on getting my own place in the village; I've found a management company that runs multiple properties in the area, including several studios that I can afford and are two blocks or less from campus (with parking).  I wrote the realtor this morning, so we'll see if I get a response back (if not, I'll probably call tomorrow afternoon).

But the whole ageism thing aggravates something I ran into at orientation on Monday (oh, yes, I'm officially a Bruin now).  While the group I was running around with were all engineers and were pretty nice, I felt definite walls from a couple of them that didn't seem to get thrown up against anyone else (there were 7 guys, 3 of us aerospace, one mechanical, and three electrical).

At PCC, I was the oldest guy in most of my classes (including the professors in a couple).  It wasn't really an issue.  Other than some friendly teasing with students and banter with the profs (usually about "the old days"), no one cared.  I actually made several friends who I hung out with at various points.

Even if it's just limited to socializing, I'm going to be annoyed if I get put into a box by my fellow students.  Oh, sure, I expect that I'll make "friends" in the sense of having people who want to work with me on projects and such (assuming I'm actually competent and doing well), but that's different from catching a movie or just goofing off on a weekend.  I frankly don't expect to want to socialize in most of the ways the students will, since I'm not a party guy anyway, but I was hoping to at least not be totally cut off from the social scene.

That hope is somewhat diminished at the moment.

Anyway, orientation was fairly fun, though less informative for me than probably for most people.  The school threw a couple of curve balls at me regarding my course credits: one good, in that I totally wasn't expecting to get credit for my Diff Eq class and they gave it to me.  The other two are classes I'm petitioning to count; one almost certainly will and may have just been left out because it's mostly redundant.  The other is more of a long shot, but it's worth trying.

However, the two schedules I'd gone in with were based around either taking the DE class I thought I'd need or taking an upper div class that had one of the others as a pre-req, so I had to improvise.  I'm still taking two engineering classes, but I'll also be taking one of my GE requirements (ancient civs).  I'm looking forward to it, but the schedule ended up being 8 am to 6 pm Tuesday and Thursday, with a long gap in the middle of the day.  So, no sleeping in for me.

But it does mean I'm officially able to do the two-days-at-the-office thing, so that's good.  I also had some conversations with both student and academic advisors, and they both assured me that the engineering school was *very* accommodating when it came to needing to make class schedules around work schedules.  They even said I'd almost certainly be granted entry into closed or wait-listed classes if needed (as long as it was reasonable).  So, that's pretty cool.

My mom also decided that the best way for her and my step-dad to give me money was for us to open a joint checking account; since I needed a new one anyway to extract money from my IRAs, we opened it Tuesday.  She's scheduled transfers to it 4 times a year at the start of the months when tuition will be due.  That's one less thing to worry about.

If I can just get housing sorted out, I'll be all set for the fall.

I am here and it is now

So, 11 days off ended today.  Boy howdy that was needed.  I mean, I didn't actually "do" much or go anywhere all that exciting, but there's something about taking more than a long weekend that just flips a switch in my head and says, "Yes, you actually can relax this time."

The first day off was Thursday the 28th, my birthday.  I slept in a bit but not too late - out of the house by 11 so I could head down to Westwood.  I called one person I was looking to rent a room from, met her, and then wandered around campus and the village a bit looking at other things.

There was one point, walking down the main drag past the engineering buildings and into the medical school area, where I actually stopped and thought, "This is my place now.  How cool is that?!"

I then headed down to the Abbey for a late lunch/early dinner.  I got to bump into a couple of guys that I've known for years but hadn't seen since last year.  There was a part of Aussie lesbians sitting next to me, one who had the same birthday (I didn't mention mine), who were having a grand ole time and periodically pulling me into it (with no regrets).

When I left, it was about 5, and I was suddenly struck by the need to visit the ocean.  Knowing exactly how absurd it was to drive down to PCH during rush hour (it's one of the most congested roads), I did it anyway.  I made it all the way to Ginger Will Rogers State Beach and then pulled into the lot.  I always have a bathing suit, flops, and a towel in the car for when I go visit C&D in Fontana, so I took off my shoes, put on the sandals, and wandered out to the shore.  I actually got my feet (and, eventually, knees - waves were a bit erratic) wet in the Pacific for the first time in over two years.  Eventually, I just hung out a while, watching the sun set and listening to the waves.

I don't think I can describe what the smell of sea salt or the sound of ocean waves does to me.  All I ask is a tall ship...

Friday, I just stayed home.  I spent a portion of the day cleaning stuff in the apartment, mostly going through old clothes to toss or donate (some of which I'd started going through in the process of moving it... yes, seven years ago).  Saturday I totally goofed off, and Sunday I drove out to Palm Springs.

I was expecting it to be busy; it was.  I was expecting some of the people I ran into last year to be there again; they were.  I was also expecting it to be boisterous; it actually wasn't.  Everyone was pretty chill and low-key for three days; it got a little busier Tuesday afternoon and then Wednesday before I left.  I guess the more active crowd was coming in after the holiday rather than before it.

But I got a tan (no burns), more blonde, and pretty relaxed.  I used my tablet a fair bit for housing-hunting and such, but I didn't actually use the laptop at all during my stay there.  I've also got fingernails for the first time in my life, a fact I first noticed before my vacation and which now means I need to determine how short I want to trim them.  Historically, this hasn't even been a question due to biting my nails.  I'm actually pretty curious as to what has led to the cessation of that habit; there's all sorts of speculation.

In PS, the weather wasn't at all bad - 108 as the high, about 78 at night, with very low humidity.  That's almost perfect for pool weather (a little too intense at mid-day, but otherwise pretty decent).  When I got back, the heat wave hit, and it actually reached 114 in Pasadena on Friday and was still 106 on Saturday.  Both days, the AC couldn't quite keep up with the heat (I live on the top floor and have a south-facing wall).  Mostly, I just stayed inside.

Oh, one thing I did was drop the car off at the shop again as requested last week (they couldn't tell where the leak was coming from last time, and my impression was that they were just really busy and didn't have time to deal with it on short notice).  This time, they decided the oil pan had somehow gotten pushed in, likely by a valet or someone (not me; I know better) driving it onto one of those parking dividers.  So, that's being fixed now, along with where the filter attaches, so hopefully that's the main issue.  More expensive that I would have liked, but them's the breaks.  Or at least the oil pan.

Still haven't found "the place" yet, still sending out feelers, and still remarkably not at all stressed about that.  I do have my new student orientation next Monday (all day), and I'm really looking forward to it - it'll mean not only registering for classes (I've got two potential schedules that will work with my work schedule and still have seats open) but also getting my student ID.  The combination means being, in however more official a way, an actual Bruin and UCLA student.

I signed up for a few dating apps, since I'm going to want to start back into that once I move.  I figured I'll just see how things go for now.  But I get to list myself as an engineering student under "occupation", which is totally awesome.

(Grindr has a crappy interface.  Jack'd is a little better.)

(And what's with all the guys my age - or, really, late 30s to late 50s - deciding that they have to grow facial hair?  Plenty of guys have older pics without, then newer pics with beards or even mustaches.  I *hate* facial hair - I'm not saying someone needs to be hairless all over, but for whatever reason, facial hair is just an immediate turn-off for me.  It's not even a daddy thing; my dad looked great without it and crappy with it, so he's subject to the same effect.  Oh well.)

Anyway, this is a photo I took to update FB (since my profile shot was from just after moving in to the apartment).

A friend mentioned he liked the other pic, but said this was decent.

Me: Well, the other is almost 7 years old, so it was about time for something new.
Him: ... dammit, don't you ever age??

Since I cleaned things up a bit, I also started back up on the rowing machine.  First time nearly killed me - also happened to be Friday, when it was hottest - but I've been okay since then.  I need to work back up to a decent routine on it, now that I'm not putting in 20 hours a week on top of work.  I'll never be a 9 in anyone's book (I have no interest in putting that much effort into exercising), but if I can get to an 8 or 8.5, I'll be happy with myself.

Oh, and I'm cooking again.  Made blackened shrimp last night, with rice and veggies.  Probably do a stir fry tonight.  Kikkoman makes an awesome brown sauce that works really well, and I still have dried hot peppers I can toss in for spice.

Anyway, I should get back to getting back.  Far less was waiting for me at work when I returned this time, but I think that was mostly due to better planning before I left.  But "less" isn't the same as "nothing".  Sure, I could put some of it off until later in the week (and will, in some cases specifically because people need to learn not to expect things instantly from me), but there's no time like the present.

I am here, and it is now; everything else is negotiable.