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So, Bronson Place has an appartment available for September first.
For $929, inclusive (and on the 15th floor).
Bedroom 13'5”-9'1”
bathroom 7'11”-5”
living room 15'6”-10”
dining room 9'-8'2”
kitchen is 10’-8'
Storage = 7’ x 4’ (or maybe a little bigger)
Which would be fine, except for the bit where it's not.
I *think* I could make it work.
The alternative, however, is rent some month-to-month furnished place for October (maybe crash with Arndis & Tchang and/or my sister for two weeks at the end of September, if I need to), and get a spot at Triole for November.
Which is probably a better idea.
Although I do like the Bronson Place location (and its proximity - inside of one block - to a very gorgeous community garden), I don't want the wall-to-wall carpeting or, for the matter, the potential noise from Bronson. Or the extra $100/month that would mean skinning my teeth in terms of eating.
I could do it.
But it would be like now.
Close to the bone and a bit frightening.
All this said, I've asked to see the place, and also enquired about their smaller units (their big ones are plenty-big to hold my stuff. Maybe they've got a medium-sized one for $850 or less that would hold my stuff, but be a bit less spacious -- and that I could do, even *with* the carpetting).
Send me more good vibes, please! :-D
My house-inspection was today.
I met the gal who wants to buy the place - talked to her before (she showed up early) and after (they finished late) the inspection, and she still wants to buy it, so that sounds... promising. :-)
She's a teeny, tiny short little gal, I have to say. Her mom is a gardner (her parents are, I think, helping out with things here). She has a dog, and likes that there's a park near by, and that the neighbourhood is quiet.
Anyway, so *that* bit doesn't look like it's going to go to hell in a hand-basket, which is excellent.
As of 11am, I have no work-contract yet, though my name is in for a position ($10/hr, but it's better than $0/hr by a long shot) at DND -- which, alas, starts on August 18th.
Hopefully something else -- like, say, a permanent, indeterminant, secretarial position at INAC (!!!) -- will come along shortly. :-)
All that being said, it's been nice, having these two days off. I've been able to get stuff done without feeling like I'm rushing. So, while I'd like to, say, have a position for next Monday (ideally one that will go until October - though I'll take what I can get), I don't mind having these couple of days to myself. :-)
I've been reading poetry (Beth Brant but also Joan Crate) and Starkhawk (Earth Path and The Twelve Wild Swans).
I've been thinking about what it means to be an environmentalist living in an appartment.
As in: What can I do in THIS situation - as opposed to the idealized one wherein I have my ecohouse already built and partially paid for - that will help me live lightly on the earth and all the rest of it.
Hideous, but energy efficient flourescent bulbs:
<*sigh*> I suppose. I loathe their very unpleasant light, but they'll do in a pinch. I can stick them in lights that I don't need often (due to lots of big windows, or something).
Vermifuge:
Much more enthusiastic about this one. One rubbermaid bin + one smaller rubbermaid bin (or one banged up laundry basket with holes punched in the bottom, and the sides papered with old news print) + one $25-bag of red wrigglers = Compost On the Balcony! Note: Red Wrigglers are Emphatically Vegan).
Balcony container gardening:
Well, peppermint in a pot, certainly. Ideally some heirloom cherry tomatoes, as well (and who knows what-all else -- depends on the strength and size of the balcony, after all). One the plus side: The fifteenth floor probably gets a lot more sun than the second and third ones do. :-)
Community Garden Plot(s):
This would give me a space to grow bigger and/or more permanent stuff such as asperagus (though I could grow that in a deep, well-drained pot), winter squash, cucumbers, and blueberries (also container-friendly), as well as as pole beans and maybe peas and - perhaps - some flowers. :-)
Foraging:
Queen Anne's Lace root, burdock root, lambs quarters, wild grapes (leaves and fruits), red clover (flowers and leaves), plantain, dandilions, chickory (roots and leaves), purslain (if I can find it), crab apples, rose hips, and Stuff Like That There.
Living off the Land it's not, but supplimenting can't hurt (and, hey: free food! ;-)
Guerrilla Gardening:
Finding empty spots and dropping seed bombs - bundles of dirt and seeds, wrapped in a paper napkin and tied with string - in abandonned lots. Stuff like Queen Anne's Lace, echanacea and milkweed, for example. Also, potentially, doing stuff like planting hollyhocks, giant sunflowers, and/or corn (or other tall-growing plants) in a given area, and then coming back two weeks later to plant pole beans, self-seeding morning glories, or other climbers in the same area, so that they can grow up the tall plant-stocks.
It could be a lot of good fun, that. :-D Sheet Mulch is my Friend. ;-)
Avoiding the a/c, turning off the lights, and not using a dryer, and all that other Easy Stuff:
See, my hope is to be able to spring for a portable dish washer and - with any luck - a portable clothes washer for my new place. (The Bronson Place expensive apartment, on the fifteenth floor, does have a 7'x4' storage room that could easily hold these things -- it definitely has *that* going for it). This would allow me to NOT have to hand-wash my dishes (I don't ever want to do that again), and also let me avoid the coin-wash. Since I tend to hang-dry *most* of my stuff, anyway, getting a set of drying racks (from ikea or zellers or where-ever) and hang-drying everything (on the balcony, no less, in summer), wouldn't be too much of a switch.
Buying/getting my New Stuff from Used Sources:
VV, Sally-Anne, Used!Ottawa, craigslist, kijiji, freecycle, and so-on.
I'd be looking to these places for the portable appliances, for example.
Avoiding Plastics and batteries (and/or re-using the plastic I end up with):
Given the society I live in, I can only do so much of this. But I can at least do *some*. I may not have the luxury of getting organic milk in glass bottles, but I can continue using my 4L milk jug (formerly a cranberry cocktail jug) and re-use the bags from my 4L milk purchases instead of getting sandwich/freezer bags. As a for-instance. I can, if/when my current clocks die, invents in a plug-in (or, better, wind-up) alarm clock, instead. I can opt for a second-hand, 1981, metal waffle iron (the plates can be flipped to make grilled cheese!!!) instead of getting the $12.99 plastic-and-teflon New One from Loblaws. That sort of thing. :-)
Use the stairs regularly, instead of the elevator:
That, however, will not be the case if I'm above the fourth floor. Sorry. I'm not yet willing to climb fifteen flights twice a day to get to my house. We'll see what happens with this one.
Walk Everywhere:
Well, most places. Depending on where a given contract is, I may be able to avoid having a buspass for at least *some* months of the year, but even if I can't, if I'm down town, I'll have the wonderful luxury of walking to most of the places I need/want to go. :-D
Good Food Box:
Supports local farmers, invests in organics, gets *me* some local, organic veggies on the cheap! :-D Everybody wins! :-D
Buy local, seasonal foods:
Even if it's just foodland ontario foods, it's a start. Less transportation means less fossil fuels burned in getting the food to ME. :-)
Uhm...
I think that's all I've thought of so far. If anyone has any suggestions, they'd be appreciated. :-)
Anyway, I gotta run. :-)
- TTFN,
- Amazon. :-)
For $929, inclusive (and on the 15th floor).
Bedroom 13'5”-9'1”
bathroom 7'11”-5”
living room 15'6”-10”
dining room 9'-8'2”
kitchen is 10’-8'
Storage = 7’ x 4’ (or maybe a little bigger)
Which would be fine, except for the bit where it's not.
I *think* I could make it work.
The alternative, however, is rent some month-to-month furnished place for October (maybe crash with Arndis & Tchang and/or my sister for two weeks at the end of September, if I need to), and get a spot at Triole for November.
Which is probably a better idea.
Although I do like the Bronson Place location (and its proximity - inside of one block - to a very gorgeous community garden), I don't want the wall-to-wall carpeting or, for the matter, the potential noise from Bronson. Or the extra $100/month that would mean skinning my teeth in terms of eating.
I could do it.
But it would be like now.
Close to the bone and a bit frightening.
All this said, I've asked to see the place, and also enquired about their smaller units (their big ones are plenty-big to hold my stuff. Maybe they've got a medium-sized one for $850 or less that would hold my stuff, but be a bit less spacious -- and that I could do, even *with* the carpetting).
Send me more good vibes, please! :-D
My house-inspection was today.
I met the gal who wants to buy the place - talked to her before (she showed up early) and after (they finished late) the inspection, and she still wants to buy it, so that sounds... promising. :-)
She's a teeny, tiny short little gal, I have to say. Her mom is a gardner (her parents are, I think, helping out with things here). She has a dog, and likes that there's a park near by, and that the neighbourhood is quiet.
Anyway, so *that* bit doesn't look like it's going to go to hell in a hand-basket, which is excellent.
As of 11am, I have no work-contract yet, though my name is in for a position ($10/hr, but it's better than $0/hr by a long shot) at DND -- which, alas, starts on August 18th.
Hopefully something else -- like, say, a permanent, indeterminant, secretarial position at INAC (!!!) -- will come along shortly. :-)
All that being said, it's been nice, having these two days off. I've been able to get stuff done without feeling like I'm rushing. So, while I'd like to, say, have a position for next Monday (ideally one that will go until October - though I'll take what I can get), I don't mind having these couple of days to myself. :-)
I've been reading poetry (Beth Brant but also Joan Crate) and Starkhawk (Earth Path and The Twelve Wild Swans).
I've been thinking about what it means to be an environmentalist living in an appartment.
As in: What can I do in THIS situation - as opposed to the idealized one wherein I have my ecohouse already built and partially paid for - that will help me live lightly on the earth and all the rest of it.
Hideous, but energy efficient flourescent bulbs:
<*sigh*> I suppose. I loathe their very unpleasant light, but they'll do in a pinch. I can stick them in lights that I don't need often (due to lots of big windows, or something).
Vermifuge:
Much more enthusiastic about this one. One rubbermaid bin + one smaller rubbermaid bin (or one banged up laundry basket with holes punched in the bottom, and the sides papered with old news print) + one $25-bag of red wrigglers = Compost On the Balcony! Note: Red Wrigglers are Emphatically Vegan).
Balcony container gardening:
Well, peppermint in a pot, certainly. Ideally some heirloom cherry tomatoes, as well (and who knows what-all else -- depends on the strength and size of the balcony, after all). One the plus side: The fifteenth floor probably gets a lot more sun than the second and third ones do. :-)
Community Garden Plot(s):
This would give me a space to grow bigger and/or more permanent stuff such as asperagus (though I could grow that in a deep, well-drained pot), winter squash, cucumbers, and blueberries (also container-friendly), as well as as pole beans and maybe peas and - perhaps - some flowers. :-)
Foraging:
Queen Anne's Lace root, burdock root, lambs quarters, wild grapes (leaves and fruits), red clover (flowers and leaves), plantain, dandilions, chickory (roots and leaves), purslain (if I can find it), crab apples, rose hips, and Stuff Like That There.
Living off the Land it's not, but supplimenting can't hurt (and, hey: free food! ;-)
Guerrilla Gardening:
Finding empty spots and dropping seed bombs - bundles of dirt and seeds, wrapped in a paper napkin and tied with string - in abandonned lots. Stuff like Queen Anne's Lace, echanacea and milkweed, for example. Also, potentially, doing stuff like planting hollyhocks, giant sunflowers, and/or corn (or other tall-growing plants) in a given area, and then coming back two weeks later to plant pole beans, self-seeding morning glories, or other climbers in the same area, so that they can grow up the tall plant-stocks.
It could be a lot of good fun, that. :-D Sheet Mulch is my Friend. ;-)
Avoiding the a/c, turning off the lights, and not using a dryer, and all that other Easy Stuff:
See, my hope is to be able to spring for a portable dish washer and - with any luck - a portable clothes washer for my new place. (The Bronson Place expensive apartment, on the fifteenth floor, does have a 7'x4' storage room that could easily hold these things -- it definitely has *that* going for it). This would allow me to NOT have to hand-wash my dishes (I don't ever want to do that again), and also let me avoid the coin-wash. Since I tend to hang-dry *most* of my stuff, anyway, getting a set of drying racks (from ikea or zellers or where-ever) and hang-drying everything (on the balcony, no less, in summer), wouldn't be too much of a switch.
Buying/getting my New Stuff from Used Sources:
VV, Sally-Anne, Used!Ottawa, craigslist, kijiji, freecycle, and so-on.
I'd be looking to these places for the portable appliances, for example.
Avoiding Plastics and batteries (and/or re-using the plastic I end up with):
Given the society I live in, I can only do so much of this. But I can at least do *some*. I may not have the luxury of getting organic milk in glass bottles, but I can continue using my 4L milk jug (formerly a cranberry cocktail jug) and re-use the bags from my 4L milk purchases instead of getting sandwich/freezer bags. As a for-instance. I can, if/when my current clocks die, invents in a plug-in (or, better, wind-up) alarm clock, instead. I can opt for a second-hand, 1981, metal waffle iron (the plates can be flipped to make grilled cheese!!!) instead of getting the $12.99 plastic-and-teflon New One from Loblaws. That sort of thing. :-)
Use the stairs regularly, instead of the elevator:
That, however, will not be the case if I'm above the fourth floor. Sorry. I'm not yet willing to climb fifteen flights twice a day to get to my house. We'll see what happens with this one.
Walk Everywhere:
Well, most places. Depending on where a given contract is, I may be able to avoid having a buspass for at least *some* months of the year, but even if I can't, if I'm down town, I'll have the wonderful luxury of walking to most of the places I need/want to go. :-D
Good Food Box:
Supports local farmers, invests in organics, gets *me* some local, organic veggies on the cheap! :-D Everybody wins! :-D
Buy local, seasonal foods:
Even if it's just foodland ontario foods, it's a start. Less transportation means less fossil fuels burned in getting the food to ME. :-)
Uhm...
I think that's all I've thought of so far. If anyone has any suggestions, they'd be appreciated. :-)
Anyway, I gotta run. :-)
- TTFN,
- Amazon. :-)
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