I wanted to write one final blog entry while still living in Atlanta. This will be it. As soon as this is posted, I’ll be tearing down my computer and putting it into a box. This will not be my last post about Atlanta, in part because I’ll probably compare Tallahassee to Atlanta during my first few months living in Florida, but also because I never posted about some things I had always intended to. So those will (probably) still come, at some point.
The real tale to tell has to do with the horrible experience Melanie and I have had getting our Tallahassee apartment all squared away. It’s too much to go into here, but sadly I can already tell people to avoid any apartment properties owned by Concord Management Limited. Aye carumba. To tell you the basic point, Melanie and I were only guaranteed as of approximately 5 p.m. today that we had a place to live in Tallahassee this upcoming Monday. Concord just gave us the run around and kept making it sound like we’d be approved any second, but then kept telling us they needed something else and something else and something else (and they never called us, mind you, it was us constantly calling them to see what was happening – and I’m not kidding when I say they literally never called us, not once).
OK, I won’t wallow in that. Hopefully I’ll be able to post again soon. Tally is such a small town, I haven’t been able to figure out who offers Internet service down there. Everything I’ve looked into is a no-go, so right now I don’t have any Internet service coming my way. Which freaks me out, because I’m totally Internet-dependent (for school, if not for leisure). I don’t know what to do about it, though. I’m clueless.
Alas, that is all I have time to say. Next time I write, I will be in Tallahassee. Here’s hoping I’ve smiled a lot between now and then. The frustrations of the past two weeks have been unbelievable.
Oh, and for the record, I do defend my thesis on Monday at 10 a.m. Right before I leave for Tallahassee, because I have to be out of my apartment by 11 a.m. Fun, eh?
To be continued….
Formerly Benj (& Purge); formerly Sucking on Oranges
Friday, August 08, 2008
Friday, August 01, 2008
Thesis the Third
Third draft of thesis officially submitted.
Pages: 52
I’ll either be defending it on Monday, August 11th, the same day I move to Tallahassee, or I’ll be giving up on it until at least September. Either way has its perks, but let’s hope for the 11th…
Pages: 52
I’ll either be defending it on Monday, August 11th, the same day I move to Tallahassee, or I’ll be giving up on it until at least September. Either way has its perks, but let’s hope for the 11th…
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
I Want My Mtv
When Melanie and I first moved in to our current apartment approximately two years ago, we discovered we had cable television. We were under the strong impression that our apartment did not come with cable, but there it was—roughly 80 channels to choose from. Initially, this made me nervous. Had the people who lived in our apartment before us simply failed to turn off their cable? Even worse, did the previous tenants have illegal cable from which we were now benefiting? Would it catch up with us if we did nothing about it? All I did was plug my television set into the wall. If 80 channels were available to me, what fault was it of mine?
As time went on, my anxiety subsided. Surely, I thought, our apartment just comes with basic cable. It is just one of the amenities of living in a self-proclaimed “luxury apartment complex.” Nothing about this seemed far-fetched. I’ve known several people whose apartment complexes did include free cable. I figured I must have misunderstood the leasing office when they told me what I needed to do if I wanted to get cable. Presumably, they were just talking about fancier cable packages, what to do if I wanted to upgrade and get things like HBO and Showtime.
Such was my thought process. Naïve? Perhaps. But I really believed it, especially after a few months went by. Fast forward to this afternoon, and guess who should knock on my door? An employee of Comcast.
“Yes?” I said, peeking out from behind my front door.
“I just need to know if you want to keep your cable,” the Comcast employee replied. “It was never requested that it be turned on, so if you want to keep it, you just need to pay $30 and fill out some paperwork.”
I was baffled. “You mean, I’m not supposed to have cable??? I’ve lived here for two years and have always had cable!”
“Nope, it was never supposed to be turned on. Do you want to keep it?”
I was stunned. Nearly 24 months of cable television and now that my apartment is filled with moving boxes, someone is showing up and asking me if I want to pay $30 to keep it? “Um … well … no, I guess not. I’m moving out in a week and a half.”
The Comcast employee looked me over momentarily before putting a pen to his clipboard. “Tell you what,” he said, jotting down some notes as he spoke. “Since you’re moving out so soon, I’ll just keep it on until you’re gone. But I’m telling them that I’m turning it off today.”
Humbly, I stared back at the man. “Okay. Thanks, man. Have a good night.”
I almost wrote about the mystery cable when I first moved in. Now I wish I had, just because it would be funny for those who might have remembered it. Of course, I know there are those who are thinking, “So why didn’t you just ask your leasing office about the cable in the first place?” Perhaps that would have been the smart thing to do. Or, if not smart, at least honest. And the honest response is that I probably didn’t want to lose the cable any sooner than I had to. And there was that tiny chance that I had simply misunderstood, a tiny chance that seemed to grow bigger and bigger by the week. 102 weeks later and I never would have guessed that I wasn’t supposed to have cable.
Fortunately, I won’t have to lose cable anytime in the near future, thanks not only to rule-bending Comcast employees, but to the fact that Melanie and I have applied for a Tallahassee apartment that includes free cable for the first year. Looks like it will be August 2009 before I’ll have to look for new ways to steal it.
As time went on, my anxiety subsided. Surely, I thought, our apartment just comes with basic cable. It is just one of the amenities of living in a self-proclaimed “luxury apartment complex.” Nothing about this seemed far-fetched. I’ve known several people whose apartment complexes did include free cable. I figured I must have misunderstood the leasing office when they told me what I needed to do if I wanted to get cable. Presumably, they were just talking about fancier cable packages, what to do if I wanted to upgrade and get things like HBO and Showtime.
Such was my thought process. Naïve? Perhaps. But I really believed it, especially after a few months went by. Fast forward to this afternoon, and guess who should knock on my door? An employee of Comcast.
“Yes?” I said, peeking out from behind my front door.
“I just need to know if you want to keep your cable,” the Comcast employee replied. “It was never requested that it be turned on, so if you want to keep it, you just need to pay $30 and fill out some paperwork.”
I was baffled. “You mean, I’m not supposed to have cable??? I’ve lived here for two years and have always had cable!”
“Nope, it was never supposed to be turned on. Do you want to keep it?”
I was stunned. Nearly 24 months of cable television and now that my apartment is filled with moving boxes, someone is showing up and asking me if I want to pay $30 to keep it? “Um … well … no, I guess not. I’m moving out in a week and a half.”
The Comcast employee looked me over momentarily before putting a pen to his clipboard. “Tell you what,” he said, jotting down some notes as he spoke. “Since you’re moving out so soon, I’ll just keep it on until you’re gone. But I’m telling them that I’m turning it off today.”
Humbly, I stared back at the man. “Okay. Thanks, man. Have a good night.”
I almost wrote about the mystery cable when I first moved in. Now I wish I had, just because it would be funny for those who might have remembered it. Of course, I know there are those who are thinking, “So why didn’t you just ask your leasing office about the cable in the first place?” Perhaps that would have been the smart thing to do. Or, if not smart, at least honest. And the honest response is that I probably didn’t want to lose the cable any sooner than I had to. And there was that tiny chance that I had simply misunderstood, a tiny chance that seemed to grow bigger and bigger by the week. 102 weeks later and I never would have guessed that I wasn’t supposed to have cable.
Fortunately, I won’t have to lose cable anytime in the near future, thanks not only to rule-bending Comcast employees, but to the fact that Melanie and I have applied for a Tallahassee apartment that includes free cable for the first year. Looks like it will be August 2009 before I’ll have to look for new ways to steal it.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Thesis, Part 2
Second draft of thesis just submitted. Several old pages cut, several new pages written. Final page count? 49, identical to the last draft. Hopefully of a much better quality. As long as this time around my thesis advisor doesn’t respond with things like, “I’ve attached my comments on your draft. I’m afraid they are not very encouraging” and “I hate to have to be so negative,” I’ll be relatively happy.
Countdown to Tallahassee: less than 18 days.
Countdown to Tallahassee: less than 18 days.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
How High Gas Prices Breed Irresponsibility
Melanie's and my car gets approximately 200 miles per tank of gas. The last time we filled up our gas tank, it was over $40. Luckily, we only have to fill up the tank about once every three weeks. Still, it's a sobering thought to realize it's costing us $.20 per mile to drive. I remember filling up for $15, and though I am young, I needn't even go back as far as my high school days to have such memories. With the same mileage I am getting now, a $15 fill-up would have been equivalent to paying just seven-and-a-half cents per mile driven. Wow.
My library is located 2.5 miles from my home. That means it costs me a buck to drive to my library and back. In contrast, the late fee on overdue books is $.15 per day. Hence, if ever I have plans to visit an establishment that is located near the library (e.g. Wal-Mart) within six days of a book being due, it is in my best interest not to return the book on time, but to wait until I am going to that nearby establishment and to return the book as part of the same outing. Even if I wait the maximum six days, I will have saved myself ten cents by being delinquent in my return of the book than I would have spent returning the book on its proper due date. The more books that are due, the less leeway I will have, but under typical circumstances, procrastination stands a good chance of being a financially viable option.
Sad news for libraries, eh? It seems a $.15 fine will no longer be adequate for encouraging those of us who live more than a couple of blocks from our library to be responsible patrons. It may even result in people frequenting the library less and less often, and before you know it, literacy rates will be plummeting. All because of the price of oil. Crude, indeed.
My library is located 2.5 miles from my home. That means it costs me a buck to drive to my library and back. In contrast, the late fee on overdue books is $.15 per day. Hence, if ever I have plans to visit an establishment that is located near the library (e.g. Wal-Mart) within six days of a book being due, it is in my best interest not to return the book on time, but to wait until I am going to that nearby establishment and to return the book as part of the same outing. Even if I wait the maximum six days, I will have saved myself ten cents by being delinquent in my return of the book than I would have spent returning the book on its proper due date. The more books that are due, the less leeway I will have, but under typical circumstances, procrastination stands a good chance of being a financially viable option.
Sad news for libraries, eh? It seems a $.15 fine will no longer be adequate for encouraging those of us who live more than a couple of blocks from our library to be responsible patrons. It may even result in people frequenting the library less and less often, and before you know it, literacy rates will be plummeting. All because of the price of oil. Crude, indeed.
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