Upstairs, Downstairs

I got to see in the recently unoccupied apartment partly below me. I couldn't live there. The living room is too small (especially for my new sectional sofa), it's like a dungeon unless all the lights are on, I'd always worry about flooding or creepy-crawlies, and even conscientiously quiet neighbors like me upstairs would keep creaking the floorboards.

I also got a tour of the recently unoccupied house a few lots down the street. I could see myself living there. There are a living room, dining room, and kitchen, as you'd expect. There's also a room (with a closed-off fireplace) I would turn into my study, with tall bookshelves lining the walls, and a narrow room with east-facing windows that I'd turn into a plant room. Plus, there are two more rooms (one with another closed-off fireplace) and a bathroom that could be a guest suite or a place for my mom to live, if things get bad. Upstairs is the master bedroom and bathroom; that's it. The stairs are kind of narrow, but that's for the movers toting my furniture to figure out, not me. :)

I asked Froggy how long I'd have to work here to qualify for that house - five years? He said he doesn't think the school would let a bachelor live in a house that size.

Oh, yeah. I also could do things with the yard, but that goes without saying.