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Heatstroke ftw?
Aug. 19th, 2008 06:07 pmToday was a good day. I walked with Ray back down to campus and went shopping around for bikes, unfortunately finding that the ONLY bikes under $200 were ones with back-pedal brakes which I have never really biked on and do not feel secure using in traffic at ALL.
Thus, I did end up buying myself a bike that was entirely way too expensive (it makes me shudder to think about), but I also plan to treat it well and baby it and I try to rationalize the purchase by the fact that I'm saving money on the bus. I also bought a really cheap computer as computers go, so uhmm...yeah my excuses are lame. BUT I HAVE A BIKE. Oh my god it feels so liberating.
I'm starting to enjoy being here a lot more, though the heat + walking is still a bear. Apparently Ray and I live in the 'hood, too, so it's kind of scary to go outside in the night, which may prove a problem come wintertime when the sun sets early and I am wanting to be at campus after dark. But I'm going to try to talk to people about comparatively safer bike ways that avoid the more sketchy neighborhoods.
The relatively small problems that have cropped up are that I believe I am sharing my apartment with some sort of tappety critter--I can hear it tappering at night and it sounds like a mouse. I don't think mice live around here, though, meaning that I'm kind of hoping that it's not a giant cockroach.
Also, there seems to be issues with water temperature. I can't seem to get cold water from the tap, it always comes out either lukewarm or actually slightly warmer. The main problem, though, is that in the kitchen sink (though not the bathroom), the hottest the water gets is still cool enough to keep running over my hand comfortably, and I am a person who definitely prefers to wash dishes in scalding water. I'm going to have to ask about the calibration of it tomorrow or something.
That aside, I'm getting used to the emptiness and the dust. Having a bike and being able to *go* places works wonders, 'cause now I feel like I can commit to job interviews and lovely stuff like that. Hopefully I'll have figured out all of the kinks in things by the time classes begin.
And walking past Dunkin' Donuts or thinking about friends back home doesn't make me tear up anymore! Yay. That's definitely progress, there. \o/
Thus, I did end up buying myself a bike that was entirely way too expensive (it makes me shudder to think about), but I also plan to treat it well and baby it and I try to rationalize the purchase by the fact that I'm saving money on the bus. I also bought a really cheap computer as computers go, so uhmm...yeah my excuses are lame. BUT I HAVE A BIKE. Oh my god it feels so liberating.
I'm starting to enjoy being here a lot more, though the heat + walking is still a bear. Apparently Ray and I live in the 'hood, too, so it's kind of scary to go outside in the night, which may prove a problem come wintertime when the sun sets early and I am wanting to be at campus after dark. But I'm going to try to talk to people about comparatively safer bike ways that avoid the more sketchy neighborhoods.
The relatively small problems that have cropped up are that I believe I am sharing my apartment with some sort of tappety critter--I can hear it tappering at night and it sounds like a mouse. I don't think mice live around here, though, meaning that I'm kind of hoping that it's not a giant cockroach.
Also, there seems to be issues with water temperature. I can't seem to get cold water from the tap, it always comes out either lukewarm or actually slightly warmer. The main problem, though, is that in the kitchen sink (though not the bathroom), the hottest the water gets is still cool enough to keep running over my hand comfortably, and I am a person who definitely prefers to wash dishes in scalding water. I'm going to have to ask about the calibration of it tomorrow or something.
That aside, I'm getting used to the emptiness and the dust. Having a bike and being able to *go* places works wonders, 'cause now I feel like I can commit to job interviews and lovely stuff like that. Hopefully I'll have figured out all of the kinks in things by the time classes begin.
And walking past Dunkin' Donuts or thinking about friends back home doesn't make me tear up anymore! Yay. That's definitely progress, there. \o/
