After the troubles with the scheduling for the floors we thought we would have to wait a few weeks on the hardwoods. Not so! This past Wednesday I talked with my landlord (Mike... he's a good dude) about the time line for repairs and he says, "Can you be ready for the flooring guys Friday morning?" He caught me off guard but I wasn't about to pass it up, so I said sure. We hadn't moved anything back so it was just a matter of getting the rest of the room emptied Thursday night. Angela and I tackled it and had the room cleared out in just over 2 hours. Except for the sofa. We left that for the flooring guys to handle.
Bright and early Friday morning our bell was ringing. Angela was long gone to work and I was running out the door. I had enough time to hold the front door open while they moved the couch and tell them to avoid opening the door to the bedroom that held all three cats and I was gone. Returned around 6 that night to a whole new floor and LOTS of fumes. Saturday morning they were back to put on the second coat, so Angela and I kicked around our area of the city all day.
One thing I learned this weekend - when you are forced out of your home and have to stay away for a designated period of time all you want to do is go home.
We hit up Panera first for breakfast and free WiFi. Spent about an hour and a half working before we both decided Panera's air conditioning was just too much for us to handle. We were in a little shopping complex neither of us had taken the time to check out, so once we left Panera we walked around a bit. Then back into the car and back home to see if there was any way we could sneak in and get sweaters. No such luck.
We hung around a bit before heading down to Taylor Street for lunch at Potbellys (Think Quiznos but WAY WAY WAY better). After lunch we headed a block down the street to the local hardware store to get felt pads for our furniture. We knew we would need them once we could move things back onto the floor.
After that it was into the car and over to the west of the hospital complex to a family bakery for some cannoli. Angela has been telling me for a year I need to try this stuff. It lived up to her hype, although it was not nearly as good as my first experience with cannoli two years ago in Colorado. From there it was up to the West Loop area to browse Blockbuster and then sit in Starbucks for a bit doing more studying.
We had to park the car a few blocks from the Blockbuster and Starbucks. We were parked directly across the street from Harpo Studios - home of the Oprah Winfrey Show. Let me tell you, that place is not impressive. It's a giant warehouse surrounded by other giant warehouses. On our walk to Blockbuster we passed the Oprah store. Out of curiosity we stopped in, stayed for all of 30 seconds, then left. It was a ridiculous shrine to Oprah that you could pay an arm and leg for to take home. I am not as enamored with Oprah as others are. I think she's overrated.
Anyway, we stayed at Starbucks for a bit but headed back to the car when the time ran out on the meter. We decided to just come home, thinking we would sit in the courtyard for the hour or so more we were to wait before walking on the floor. Mike was out front when we pulled up, so we stood and talked with him for a bit. He introduced us to the new tenants in the apartment above us - a girl named Sarah, a boy named Justin, and another boy named Joe. From what I gathered in the few minutes we spent talking yesterday I think they will be decent neighbors.
Mike was as antsy as us to check on the floors, so we threw the door open and started feeling around about 4:30, and found, much to our delight, the floors weren't nearly as tacky as we expected. This was good, since it meant we didn't have to wait to walk on them. Yayy!
Angela came in and went straight to bed for a nap. I went straight to the kitchen to start cleaning up the huge mess the sanding had left behind. Everything needed to be washed, even the dishes in the cupboard. Thank goodness we have a dishwasher that can do large loads!
I kept up the cleaning and reclaiming of the kitchen today. Everything is now washed and back in its rightful place. I even got Angela to agree to let me throw out the pots and pans that are not fit for cooking anymore. We put them in the alley for the scavengers to take.
We got our couch back in the living room, the "entertainment center" (really, it's a table with a drawer that the TV and stereo sit on) back, the coffee tables and end tables, as well as the glass hutch put back. The living room portion of that room is completely back the way it should be. The north end, typically thought of as the entry way although it's just as big as the living room portion, is still empty. The walls in that portion of the room need some painting to repair water damage from the apartment above us. That should happen sometime in the coming week or so. Even when it's done it will be a bit before the north end is put back together. The furniture that was there is not coming back. Instead, Angela has decided it is time to purchase a storage hutch. Once she decides which one she wants, she will order it. We just need to time its arrival for coincide with the completion of the apartment repairs, as well as a visit from her boyfriend so he can assemble it for us.
In the coming weeks the following will happen in my apartment:
1. The kitchen light will be replaced
2. The entire place will be cleaned by a hired cleaning lady
3. The carpets will be professionally cleaned
4. My shower will be replaced
5. The walls will be repainted/ touched up
6. The courtyard landscaping will be redone/ finished
7. We will reclaim our storage space and move old furniture into it
8. We will get new furniture
9. We will get a new roommate
10. We will have an entirely new apartment
As far as the roommate goes, we had a girl by today to take a look at the place. Her name is Quince, she's from North Carolina, and she's moving to Chicago for law school. We liked her and hope she liked us. We'll know by Wednesday if she will be our new roommate or if we need to keep looking. Keep your fingers crossed.
Things I learned about myself through all of the apartment repairs:
I do not like unclear itineraries
I do not care for chaos
I don't like mess
I need things put back to normal as quickly as possible after disruption
I prefer minimalism in possessions
I do not like being kicked out my home
I can be incredibly polite even when inconvenienced
I do not care for eating out every meal of the day
I am unsettled by change
Others can find a good portion of these traits annoying
Around all of this I have been working on a term paper for my legal context course. That's not due until Wednesday and I'm just over half way through, so I'm feeling pretty good. I only work a few hours tomorrow and have all of Tuesday off, so finishing it will not be a problem.
Get this - the sexual harassment portion of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was added at the last minute by Southerns in an effort to highlight the ridiculousness of an anti discrimination law. Furthermore, the provision was meant to derail the legislation and keep it from passing.
Worked well, didn't it?
If you have a free minute, check out this website: http://www.postcardsfromyomomma.com/
It is hilarious! I have even sent in portions of emails from my mom, and they published one on the site this past weekend. "Drifting Mind" belongs to none other than Ms. Tanjala Jo Kole.
With that, it is time to wrap this up and get back to my paper.
~g
The courtyard between the front building and back building. The screen door in the middle of the picture is my front door. The black & white cat, as well at the two cats sitting behind the screen door, are the three kitties who run our apartment.
The 290 Expressway. I walk over this every day on the way to my college. This is about half a mile to the East of my apartment.
The view as I walk from my college to my job on East Campus. Again, this is roughly half a mile to the East of my apartment and I get this view almost every day. 