Cynically Optimistic

Yesterday morning I got up early (well, early for a Saturday) and drove to my apartment to let the plumber inside to fix the heat. He was 30 minutes late. Then, after 15 minutes he started off on a big diatribe about how this was a big job to put in a thermostat and add zones and something something watermelon. I instantly translate this into: you're not getting heat today. I come back at 5 PM to check everything out. Indoor temperature at 5:30 PM Saturday, 14¡C. That's about 57.2¡F. Not acceptable. I've really got to have a talk with the landlords when they return from Florida today.

Posted by Jeff Smith at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I woke up this morning feeling pretty crappy again, but after my stomach started growling I decided it was probably because I hadn't really eaten anything in two days. Morning TV really has nothing to offer. After a mid-morning nap, my stomach was growling so I took that as a good sign to eat something. I chose soup. Seems like I'm finally getting better.

At least the Australian Open is on to keep me entertained. Listening to Dick Enburg comment on Rafael Nadal's fashion statement was great. Apparently he's going for the Hobbit pants look. And one note to Alicia Molik: pick a skirt that shows less ass-sweat - thanks.

I even managed to muster up enough energy to dig out my car. It's freakin' cold outside. They told me winters here were mild. Apparently not always. I guess this makes a nice segue into a diatribe about how any amount of snow completely cripples the northeast, but that's been done before. Just know that it started snowing on Saturday at noon, and lasted until Sunday at about 7 am. We got 15 inches or so. That means that the snow plows had 24 full hours to clear all the roads after the snow stopped. All area schools were still cancelled on Monday.

Somehow I managed to get out and pick up some Gatorade and fruit snacks. As someone who likes spicy food better than bland food, it's very annoying to eat only bland food.

Posted by Jeff Smith at 07:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Ok, fine. It's 4:40 AM when I'm starting this entry. It's snowing like crazy outside (still) with no signs of stopping. I can't sleep because I'm sick. I've got the most torturous stomach ache, nausea, and "green-apple quick step" I think I've ever had. It's probably a case of viral gastroenteritis, but it is not fun. Food Poisioning never looked so good. So while I sit here in pain, in between trips to the bathroom, I guess I'll update ya'll.

Mostly the only news I have is about my fairly crap-tacular apartment. Remember when I was living in the swank house with the jacuzzi and the steam shower? Yeah, I miss it too. My converted garage apartment has turned out to be the worst place I've ever lived - even worse than the moldy basement. Let the complaining begin. First, it's freezing in here. Apparently they didn't actually use any insulation when they built it, and my heat is tied in with the rest of the house. Since I don't have my own thermostat, I freeze. When I wake up in the morning it's usually about 52 degrees or so. At the warmest, it'll get up to 68, but immediately start cooling off again. Complaints to the landlord have fallen on mostly deaf ears. Apparently they're not in the business of actually fixing problems with their rental units.

I finally got an extra outlet put in, because the whole place was operating on one circuit in the breaker box. That caused the circuit breaker to trip if I wasn't really careful. How careful? Well, to use the microwave I had to turn off every light in the place, and turn off the TV/stereo/whatever. Vacuuming was the same way, so I could only do that during the day. I initially complained about this in August. The outlet was installed the second week in January.

The pane of glass in my window isn't sealed, so I'm sure I'm losing heat that way, not to mention that the frame of the window leaks every time it rains. I've been waiting for them to paint and fix tiles in the bathroom for almost as long as I've waited on the electricity.

And my landlords are in Florida on vacation.

As it rolls around to February and the rent comes due again I increasingly feel like I should withold part of the rent until they at least make sure my apartment will be a comfortable temperature. Guess I should have insisted on a lease.

Posted by Jeff Smith at 04:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Does anyone care that I'm hardly posting anymore? Sometimes I read so manhy blogs that I forget to put new content on my own. Sounds like most people had a nice holiday season. I stayed here on Long Island, went to several dinners and cocktail hours and it was a stuffed tipsy fun time. New Years brought my sister here for a visit. We are very different people and it makes me wonder a lot what happened in our upbringing to make us so very different. She was all about shopping for purses and shoes in NYC. Not that she has any money to buy things. I only took the minimal days off from work to kind of relax, but being at home in my apartment kind of sucks since I have very little heat. Therefore, I've been working a lot, trying to get my new protein affinity project going.

Tonight I'm seeing Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. I would post a link to their website but it seems to be down, so google it yourself. And then more hard work early Monday.

In other news, Anyone want to come skiing at Whistler, B.C. Canada from March 12-20. Lemme know. And other other news, I still haven't mailed Christmas Cards, because I'm unorganized with addresses. It'll get there, hopefully before I go skiing in March.

Posted by Jeff Smith at 01:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)