Friday ramblings

I am probably going to move to a new place. Well, I'm 99% sure I am. Gonna meet the landlord tomorrow to review and sign the lease papers. It's a 2-bedroom condominium unit in a low-rise complex at the edge of downtown San Jose. I came across it while walking the dog with Bill sometime ago. Yep, it's within spitting distance of his place.

Anyway, the current owner bought the unit from a friend of his who moved out of the area. He's renting it out as an investment. It's an older complex than my current one (it was built in 1988, while my current complex was built in 2002), and the layout of the bedrooms is a bit weird, but it has significant advantages:

• A newly remodeled kitchen. It's smaller than my current one, but it has granite countertops, a new microwave, new flat-surface halogen cooktop and convection oven, a brand-new dishwasher, and one of those fancy-shmancy Moen faucets. Garbage disposal is also new. I know, I know... the cooktop isn't gas or magnetic induction, but a halogen cooktop with a sealed surface is still waaaaay better than one of those god-forsaken electric coil cooktops.
  
• A walk-in closet for the laundry. It's big enough to house the full-size washer and dryer AND a big metal shelf where I can store my cleaning supplies and anything that may not fit in the cabinets of the smaller kitchen.
• Two newly remodeled bathrooms. They are decorated in a dark stone and wood and brass, which is OLD PEOPLE style, but the stone surfaces are easy to clean and the fixtures are brand-new.
• The living / dining area have hardwood floors. Yay.
• The complex is close to a dog park, the Guadalupe River Walk, all the downtown restaurants, bars, stores, and museums, and freeways.
• It's a 2-bedroom, 2-bath, so there will be lots more space for me and Devon.
• I can get CABLE TV AND INTERNET there, unlike this friggin' complex with its friggin' satellite-only setup.
  

So... as long as the lease paperwork looks good, I will probably sign it tomorrow and start the moving process. God, I HATE moving. How in the world am I going to move my 250-pound TV without hiring movers? Bill says we can probably do it with a little bit of help, but I am skeptical. I had been planning to sell it and buy a flat panel TV, but right now I just don't have the money to do that.

Oh, and I had the strangest dream last night. I dreamed about Darlene, this woman I used to work with when I was still a Police Department employee. Darlene's this short, stocky, middle-aged redhead who has a really mousy voice. She and I got along great. I haven't spoken to her in years, so I don't know why I dreamed about her. Anyway, in my dream I was moving into a new apartment complex and Darlene was in the unit next to mine. She was showing me the laundry room of the complex when a beautiful dog walked past. Then she said she hated dogs, so I told her I couldn't live next to her. Weird.