Back to Plan B: Our New Home

It's a good thing I'm not running for president this year, because I have more flip-flops to defend than a store clerk at a K-Mart summer sale.

On Monday I called the management of the second apartment I had applied for and said I had changed my mind. I apologized, but said I had decided that without steady income, the rent on this apartment was perhaps more ambitious than I should be aiming at right now.

They called back a little while later and asked if it would help at all if they knocked $25 off the rent. In truth, no, that's not really a huge help, but I thought it was a very nice gesture. I mean, in New York, if the apartment is any good at all -- no, actually, as long as it's vacant, that's often the only criterion -- before you'd be able to finish saying, "I'm not sur--" someone else would have signed the lease. Landlords in New York say things like, "Buh-bye," not, "Can I offer you a discount?"

This threw all my many hours of contemplation all into chaos again, and I had to re-visit my decision. Before I had a chance to call them back, they called again and said another apartment had just come available and that they could offer this one for an additional $25 less. So I agreed that I would at least go and look at it.

After talking to my parents and some friends whose judgment I trust, it seemed no one thought it was particularly insane to take an apartment even though I don't have a job. In fact, all of them thought it sounded like a reasonable gamble, as it does solve a number of immediate problems. (And the truth is, my parents don't want me living with them any more than I do.) The location is great, the apartment is beautiful (and so new that if you google-map the address for a satellite photo, all you see is a dirt lot) and the rent is reasonable for what I expect to be earning.

I wasn't as impressed with the cheaper apartment they showed me, so I said, "You know? I'll take the first one." I sign the lease on Thursday after work.

It still seems a bit spendy to me for this area, but then I consider that it has a patio, washer and dryer, dishwasher and a fireplace, is in a complex with a pool and a gym, is 212 square feet larger than my old place, and yet is $200 a month cheaper. Looking at it that way, it's a steal.

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I have a job interview today.

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I'm not really an American Idol fan, but I'm hoping it's Blake and Jordin in the finals. Melinda is supremely talented, but she doesn't have the charisma of the other two. Her performances are restrained and mannered. Jordin, perhaps because of her youth, hasn't yet discovered how to unleash herself fully onstage, but I think she is a "total package"performer. Blake...well, he's just so adorable (short, soft-tummied and dorky...sigh). I thought his "Roxane" last night was beautiful.