Binge and Purge

I didn’t receive an update on my brother over the weekend. At last report, the doctors were planning on moving him out of intensive care and into his own room. I will continue to post updates on his condition as I receive news about him. Thanks for all your interest and kind words.

On the home front, I don’t think I’ve mentioned yet that Axl and I have been looking for a place together. Last Tuesday night, I found an ad for an amazing apartment. Downtown area, two bedrooms, exposed brick walls, furnished washer and dryer, central heat and air, furnished dishwasher, they pay water/sewage, pets allowed…all for $510.00 a month. Here, that is an awesome deal. Axl pays somewhere around $600.00 for his current apartment plus utilities. He has no amenities (no central heat or air, no dishwasher and no washer or dryer). In my case, I pay $550.00 a month plus utilities. I had to provide my own washer and dryer and I don't have a dishwasher. I have central heat and air, which I'm grateful for, but I live in a sketchy neighborhood (that keeps on getting sketchier) further out in the city than I would like to be. We hoped to find a two bedroom place with all the amenities we wanted that would allow our pets without some exorbitant fee. We thought we'd have to compromise on one of the amenities for sure but Axl and I went to see the place from the ad on Wednesday and it turned out to be as good as the ad said it was. Now, it is ours. We are both a little ill at ease that this place at this price has to be too good to be true. We worry that we’ll move in and find that the current renter and property manager have been lying to us and that the place is filled with rats or ghosts or some such thing. That’s negative thinking but around here apartments like this one rent for $700.00 – $800.00 so we’re wondering what the catch is. Pushing those thoughts aside, we immediately began packing and planning. I have managed to sell some furniture I won’t be using on Craigslist (finally) and Axl has done quite well at Craigslist now too. I guess it just takes some patience. Besides Craigslist, I am finding I wish I had better options for the stuff I don’t want to take with me to the new place. For instance, books. The most popular used bookstore here offers a pittance for your used books. I took in a stack of popular titles in great condition and received .75 a piece for them. If I donate them to Goodwill or Salvation Army they’ll only end up in a pile of ancient memorabilia and, while I shouldn’t be so picky about what happens to my discards, that just doesn’t seem like a useful enough purpose to me. I signed up for PaperBack Swap and I feel a little better but it makes me think about how much garbage there is out there. It's easy to get bogged down with material stuff.