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Apartment Hunt! 2004-05-20 - 2:15 a.m. 
You figure with moving to another state for grad school, you need an apartment with the basics: hot water, no pests, a 480kb/sec DSL internet hook-up. Nothing major.And with those necessities in mind, I hunkered down three days ago to find me an a studio/efficiency apartment. I thank whatever powers of common sense that the University had online apartment listings for Madison. These weren't 'university recommended' spots, but then again I didn't want to pay 800/month for the 'you're a tool' seal of approval. Location was just as important, of course. I figured some place semi-close to the store-saturated State St. and my work would be a good idea. Some place that made buying a bike a good idea. After feeding those specs in, I scored 79 listings for the 1 - 1 1/2 mile radius from campus. I got the referencing process down after a little while: using yahoo map finder to cross-reference this address with where I'd be working, running google searches on what some malls paraded for merchandise, etc. Trouble was, only a handful of listings mentioned that they had high-speed internet access. I decided to stick 'em through the eaves while I twittled with other offers. Some studios had hardwood floors; some had full furnishings; some pompous few shook their little asses and offered sun decks, 'louvered blinds' and security cameras. It was all a bloody mess of options. So finally, today, I got realistic: one of these high-speed 'net places had to have something going for them. And as I looked through those listings, almost all of these net-saavy apartments were pretty laughable. A few even ran past that and straight into piss-your-pants hilarious. For example: +700 USD/month +Heat Not Included +Electricity Not Included +150 extra for parking/month Ok, I'll bite: who in the fuck would pay 700 for a STUDIO apartment in Wisconsin? I don't care if the 'high ceilings & oak cabinetry' come with young Greek boys who wax your car with their nubile little ass cheeks. It just doesn't make sense. +750/month +Heat not included +Electricity not included +152.98 for parking/month +Furnished, walk-in closets, study room, sundeck. Yes, you have a sundeck and a study room--for a 300 sq. ft. STUDIO apartment. And they even lovingly specify your parking expenses to the penny. ...After a good few laughs, though, I left behind all that luxury apartment crap. But then I came across a place that seemed pretty damn snazzy. It's an unfurnished, 250 sq. ft. studio with heat, phone, and cable utilities included. It's on one of the lakes, offers DSL for an extra 25 bucks, allows cats, has a 24 hour fitness on the premises, and includes a fridge/freezer and a dishwasher. All for 430 a month. Not half bad. Only one problem: the parking is 125/month. That's obscene by Los Angeles standards. Only thing I can gather is that they use genetically-modified attack dogs with laser-scope eye rifles to patrol a heavily fortified, underground garage complex complete with a full wet bar and free drinks. Either that or 'parking' means 'hot sex'. But hey, it's a hell of a deal at 430. I'll pay the parking fee for the first few months, then figure out some creative way of parking my car nearby when I get there. Hell of a long story made short: I plan on putting down rent for that apartment and securing it. That'd make a whole lot of annoying burden go away. After that, I only need to worry one little thing: figuring out what I'm going to do research on. I'm in the pre-pre-pre-production stage on that one... I also have awesome great cool news, but I'm falling asleep at the helm here so I go sleep in the dead man's bed. Not that he's still there, mind you. At least, not physically anyway. Anyway... |
