i've been up since 8:30am this morning. i didn't realize that my 9:30am appointment to have a windows consultant come over to the new place to give me an estimate on how much replacing all the windows is going to cost me, i didn't realize the appointment would be postponed until 10am. i got up and watched the world cups coverage on one of the spanish channels, some team that might've been brazil was soccering with another team that might've been turkey. i saw rinaldo score the only goal of the game in brazil's favor.
after the windows guy did some measuring and told us he'd fax the estimates later today, my father and i stayed around the condo for two straight hours doing a thorough survey of what needs to be replaced or fixed, with special attention to the lighting situation and where we'd put the outlets (electricity/cable/ethernet/phone). it's kind of depressing, because it seems like a lot of work needs to be done. overall the house is in good shape, but it's the little details that need special attention, little details that's probably easier now to fix before i move in. it just seems like the more we look, the more we find things to fix. in the meantime i'm just sitting around waiting for contractors to contact me with estimates. in hindsight, we probably should've reserved a contractor or two prior to closing, so immediately they could start working on the place, instead of going through all this intermediate negotiation stages.
 backyard view |
 backyard view |
 neighbor's yard |
 neighbor's yard |
i finally took my catgrass out of the dark closet where it's been incubating for the past two days. 
pale sprouts have started to poke out of the dirt. hopefully by the end of this week i'll have a little lawn of catgrass for the windowsill. 
also since i don't have a real couch yet, i used a collapsible camping chair as a simulated couch, so i could figure out the best place to put the television in the living room. rules of feng shui need not apply here, i'm going to have diagonally positioned furnitures, that's what i'm deciding.
having not had any breakfast or lunch, i went to porter square where i took the train into south station, to visit chimera, 
this light fixture store on the outskirts of south station, where my sister actually works in the office space above the show room floor. along the way i bumped into derek, the interior designer/architect guy who visited my place last night. 
at chimera, i might've as well been invisible, the people working there took one look at me and figured i wasn't worth the time of day to even speak to. no "can i help you?" or "i'll be right there." they immediately gravitated towards the richer customers. i came all this way, browsed around for 15 minutes looking at really expensive imported pendants and chandeliers and desktop lamps, before i quietly slipped out of the store. on the way back i bumped into somebody else i knew, zhijian, one of a handful of chinese programmers screen house hired months before i got laid off. in a showcase of legendary chinese tact, he sort of let me know that the economy was bad and i'd probably be facing unemployment for a long time. he of course was gainfully employed at a company nearby. thanks for making me feel a lot better on this blistering hot day! we exchanged e-mails and i went back to south station.
i got off at central square and walked down towards harvard, visiting the slew of furniture stores dotting the length of mass ave. i finally took the time to buy a corn muffin from au bon pain, ate it sitting on a bench watching the traffic go by. 
i called laurie (since i happened to be in the central square area), who later called me back, having heard the news about my recent life changes. furniture-wise, nothing particularly noteworthy, every expensive as hell. where's a good ikea store when you really need one? walking in the oppressive 90 degrees temperature wasn't so fun either, 
especially in a long pair of jeans. at harvard square i made a stop at crate and barrel before going home. i had this craving to buy a vase and put some fresh flowers in my house, to add some new colors. i got a blue mix vase ($11.95). i accidently chipped one of them, quickly leaving the store with my purchase after that little unreported merchandise damage. on the bus going back to belmont i sat next to my next door neighborhood, she asked if i got out of work early today, i laughed and told her i got laid off. a man nearby chuckled. i thought that was kind of funny myself!
after dinner i persuaded my mother to come with me to the expo, that place in burlington i tried to go on saturday but was closed. i didn't see anything too interesting that i could get for the house, but it was an interesting store. the secret world of home remodeling! my plastering contractor called me as well, we arranged to meet at the house tomorrow morning at 8am. my heart's going to burst! as soon as he sees the place tomorrow, i need to take a break. it's 2am now. i never knew being out of work can be so exhausting1