August 12, 2008

I found a house!

Phew! I can't tell you how much of a relief this is! The situation couldn't have turned out any better and I'm so excited to move in tomorrow night!

(Side note about work: The second day of work was great, BTW. Better than the first day I think, just because I had stuff to do all day and was less nervous. My article is coming together nicely and I can't wait to write it up and see my name inside Baseball America. Tomorrow should be great too — I'm very excited to go to the game and see David Price pitch tomorrow night. Pretty much everyone from the office will be there.)

As it turns out, I'm living in a house that I haven't mentioned on the blog yet. It's one that I just found out about this afternoon, at about 4 o'clock. More details down below...

After work, Cheryl and I had an appointment to meet up with the main roommate at the cheaper house downtown. We went there and it would have been fine except, like I mentioned before, it just felt a little on the sketchy side. Plus, the girl living in the room I would take over isn't moving out until next Tuesday, so Cheryl and I would have had to continue staying in the Comfort Inn or go and sleep on the couch at that house...two pretty crappy options.

When I found the other house this afternoon, I really hoped that it would work out because it is SO CLOSE to my work. How close? 2.1 miles! So, after the meeting at the first house (and dinner at The Q Shack — had to take Cheryl there, it's that good!), I came home and did some napkin math. Even though the new house is more expensive, the fact that it includes utilities and saves me money on gas by being so much closer to my job, makes the overall difference only about $400 in the grand scheme of things.

At 8:30, Cheryl and I went to meet the owner of the new house and it couldn't have gone any better. It's in a little cookie-cutter neighborhood that the owner said is filled with young families. The guy owns the place but is moving out because he just accepted a basketball coaching job at some D-III college in Virginia. Aside from being close to work, here are some of the other perks about the place...

• It's only $450 a month (all utilities included)
• The guy's leaving basically all of his stuff there, so it's furnished. I have a bed, a desk, a TV, fridge, kitchen table, couches, recliner, coffee table...everything!
• It's a three-bedroom, but I'll only be living with one other guy. He's a long-time friend of the owner, so that's good and he's moving in because he's going back for his Master's in nuclear something-or-another at UNC.
• The lawn gets mowed for me (must be part of a homeowners association or something).
• The other guy moving in doesn't get here for another week or so, so Cheryl and I have the place to ourselves for the remainder of her stay.
• The owner gave me a 5-month, 18-day lease.

I'm stopping by tomorrow morning to pay August's prorated rent + a damage deposit and Cheryl and I will move in tomorrow night, after the Durham Bulls game.

I'll post pictures later, but here's my address — write letters and send cookies! :)

11 Yorkfield Ct.
Durham, NC 27713