University District, 98105

While I was in Seattle yesterday for a doctor's appointment, my dad and I did a preliminary search for a room/apartment near campus. I brought various craigslist ads with me for reference and thought we'd just call some numbers from apartment building signs when we got there.

We finally found a spot on 17th near 50th to park the truck, my dad's Dodge Ram diesel extended cab, longbed pickup, and got ahold of the folks at Husky Place/Husky Court. I'm familiar with their rooms, as A used to live there, but I wanted to see what the "smaller" rooms look like and how much cheaper they are. For like $550, I could get a room the size of a large bathroom, or, for $650, I could snag a room about the size of 10'X15', with a private bathroom. The buildings are a half block from the university, but the electricity, cable and internet would be up to me.

The second place we saw was a room in a cute house just down the street from where we parked. It had a room for rent sign on the lawn. The landlord came to the property and showed us inside. The house has eight rooms I think, five bathrooms, newly painted interior and new wiring to include cable in each room. For only $585, I get the room and all of the utilities paid for. Not just water/sewer/garbage and electricity; it includes cable television and wireless internet. The only drawback is that it's two long blocks from the university.

We looked at one more place (as I said, this was just a preliminary search - we were planning to come back in a couple weeks to look again), the Upstairs/Downstairs Apartments. They offered rooms in 5-6 bedroom apartments for, um, I don't even remember how much. I was so turned off by the smell that I didn't really pay much attention. The apartments she showed me had wood paneling and generally reminded me of the Brady house (and not in a good way).

After my appointment, Dad and I came back to the U-District, met up with A, went for ice cream at The Mix and decided that the second room was just too good of a room to pass up. We called the owner of the house once more and coerced him into coming back to the area so we could apply and hand him a check!

Imagine a window behind the tree...this is my new window!

(The tree isn't there anymore)

The earliest I can move in is 3 September, but the landlord is willing to hold it for five days at his expense, so I don't have to start paying rent until the 8th.

Now I need to find a job, hopefully on or near campus,, and find a bike to take with me (my mum is demanding I return hers).

On another note, I quit my second job today. Back to the 12-hour a week cinema.