Am I a Hunter or Gatherer?

I have been searching for a new apartment in earnest for the past few days. I'm not sure whether it's the time of year or the economy or I'm just lucky this time but I've actually found not one, but two apartments that I'm not only willing bit excited to live in. And did I mention that each of these apartments is not only larger than my current apartment, but at least $150 cheaper & in a way better neighborhood. Not just better in that there are far fewer shootings there, but it has a cooler vibe & bars I want to go to & people I want to hang out with! I just hope I get approved for one soon so I can give notice at the old apartment.

The first one I applied for is in a building recently renovated to condos, but *surprise* the market sucks! So the condo association has decided to rent out the last few units until someone can buy them. It has a balcony & great location & a washer/dryer in the apartment. OK, so I admit I made fun of this building, but I was making fun of how ugly it was even after the remodel/renovation & how I would never buy a condo in a building that ugly, & I still wouldn't. But I don't mind renting an apartment in a hideous building, the one I live in now isn't pretty by any means.

The second (& the one I like best) is not is quite as good of a location, it's about 5-10 blocks or so away from everything. But a 5-10 block walk or cab-ride is way better than the 20-40 blocks from my current apartment. It's this gorgeous old building with TONS of windows & arches ceilings & hardwood floors. It's also about $100 cheaper than the 1st apartment. While it doesn't have a washer/dryer in the unit, they are in the building. & I love funny old buildings with they're weirdly shaped closets & funny sloped floors. Not to mention the fact that I'm allowed to paint the apartment whatever color I want. And the manager has "given up" on pet deposits. ooooh, I want, I want, I want!

Definitely a successful hunt!

All that remains now is trying to get rid of all the stuff lying around the old place that I've collected over the years & not yet thrown away... does hoarding count as gathering? Probably only if you hoard useful or valuable things, which is my case is highly debatable. Please, oh please let me get apartment #2!

Over-kill?

Seriously? Swine flu? There is an entire news story about the single death in the US from swine flu on MSNBC. Are you fucking kidding me? You could probably find someone that dies from Ebola, too. Not to mention the 36,000 people that dies from the regular Human Flu every year. Let's all panic! Good gravy! The woman who died didn't even die of the Swine Flu! It's a "Swine flu related death" but is attributed to "chronic underlying health concerns". So someone who has already sick caught a weird version of the flu & died. Sad? Probably. Reason for panic? Nu-uh.

In completely unrelated news, the Metro Police pulled a dude off the 12 yesterday. He was sleeping & riding in loops without paying. They cops were all confused that the dude wouldn't pay his $20-bill for the fair (drivers don't give change, & apparently neither do the police). So they wrote him a ticket, like he's going to pay it & banned him from metro for 2 weeks. Like they can enforce either of those punishments. I know this because the driver gave a play by play to the rest of the bus & wouldn't pull away from the bus stop until all the drama was complete. No wonder the bus is always late. It seemed a little bit over the top that a dude sleeping on a bus merited a county sheriff car, a SPD car & a Metro supervisor to haul him out. He was sleeping, not waving a baseball bat (which has happened on a bus with less consequenses).