New Digs

My life has become consumed with trying to get my new landlord to come and finish projects. His attention span lasts a cumulative duration of no more than ten minutes. When will the shower cube actually become a cube enclosed by walls? Will the teak landing at the top of the stairs ever gain a protective coating to match the steps? And, how long will it take for the promised television to arrive to replace the broken one he gave us? Our inquiring minds want to know! Bryan calls him frequently...and it's a good sign that he still answers the calls. He'll come by, take a look, mumble something that always ends in "domani" and goes away again. Domani doesn't seem to mean "tomorrow" like the dictionary translates it. He also seems to never do any of the actual work himself...strange, we think, for someone who calls himself a building contractor. We really miss our sweet, very attentive, work-horse minded previous landlord. Too bad he didn't own a brighter apartment for us to rent.

On the upside, though, the new guy did install high-speed internet, so we are very happy with him on that account. I love being able to connect without worrying what time of day it is and if the cell signal will be able to handle the traffic. Once I'm connected I no longer have to go brew a cup of coffee while waiting for pages to load. Most sites appear as if by magic on my screen, though a few blogs I'd like to read still present problems by locking up my computer completely. I don't know what they've put on there as I can never actually get to their sites, so I've scrapped them from my bookmarked lineup. Nothing frustrates me more than a locked-up computer.

We still have things in boxes and bags and haven't yet found a furniture arrangement that "feels" right. Moving to new digs is a major undertaking. We still need to buy a few things to supplement the furnishings provided. For some reason the owner didn't want undersink cabinetry or medicine-cabinet-type cupboards; just where am I supposed to put those items that have been tucked away in those crevices for more than a year? Boh. Still working on that thought.

On another note, my parents will be arriving in the beginning of March for a visit, which we're very much looking forward to. There is a cute B&B just around the corner so they don't have to unfurl the sofa-bed each night ("we're too old for that," my mom admits).

We enjoy having sunlight in the house all day long, something we lacked in our old place, and there are shops, restaurants and a great pastry shop conveniently located nearby (though Bryan still walks ten minutes to the old 'hood to hang out with his barista pal there). I wake up to bird songs in the park behind us, rather than the screeching signora, which makes for a much more pleasant morning. Now if I could just get an *actual* shower in the morning, I'd be a very happy camper.