Using the AC is kind of a THING. I grew up mostly without it, and also in a household where, as a matter of course, the heat wasn't turned on until November. No matter how cold it was, the heat stayed off until a certain time. That's just how we rolled. When we did get central air installed. we followed the same rules for turning the AC on. Not until at least June, preferably July! AC doesn't exist until then!

I turned the AC on yesterday.

It was 84 in the apartment when I got home, with all the windows open and fans on. The houseplants were all wilting like damp tissue paper. I watered the heck out of them and then closed all the windows and turned the AC on. Because it was soooo hoooooot I set it to 70. Everyone else got home an hour later, at which point the temperature in the apartment had dropped... a full degree.

When I woke up this morning, it was 74 degrees. So in twelve hours, the temp had gone down ten degrees but still wasn't where I'd set it to be. That's disapointing. I could feel coolness around the vents, but there wasn't much in the way of air flow. We called the landlords to look into the situation and I hope it gets fixed soon because gaw, I do not want to roast in our apartment. Yes, we have huge lovely windows that open wide to catch the breeze... but they also catch the sun both in the morning and in the evening and really heat up fast. And we're on the second floor, so all the heat from the basement and first floor apartments rises up to us. WHEEEEE.

Wendy and I went out to eat yesterday. The weather was just amazingly fantastic and I broke out the spring time flirty skirts and little tank tops and I wore pink yesterday. Pink flowered skirt, white lace-edged tank top, pink jacket. I haven't felt so cute and girly in... well, a long time, really. Kev liked it when I dressed up for him, but hated other people looking at me, so when I'd dress up and we'd go out, it was always really tense because... ugh. Never mind. I'm not reliving that anymore.

So I was dressed all fancy and flirty and feeling good and had my hair down, and we went out for steak. Because, you know, Mmmm. Steak.

I got the smallest (and cheapest) steak they had, garlic mashed potatoes, broccoli, a chopped salad with blue cheese and candied pecans, and a cherry limeade which tasted almost exactly like certain cleaning products smell. I thought about ordering something alcoholic, but couldn't justify paying so much for a mixed drink.

Our waiter was really cute, and still new at waitering, and was too flustered to be super flirty at first. He was overly careful taking our orders, like he was afraid of messing up and getting in trouble. Towards the end, though, he lightened up and kept coming over to check on us and say nice things about how hot we were.

It was very flattering. He managed not to be creepy about it, which I always appreciate.

So after dinner, we went to the grocery store to get some ice cream to eat at home, and I almost vibrated in two because every single kind of ice cream that I like is on sale right now. We wound up getting two kinds of Ben & Jerry's and then went back to the apartment and watched "The Aristocrats." Gilbert Godfried was surprisingly hilarious and I think he's had work done on his teeth.

That was my day yesterday. It was a good day.

Mom's been bugging me about getting all my boxes of stuff out of her garage or whatever. Wendy says she has a storage bay in the basement of her building and I can use it. She's got an extra key for the padlock on the door. She also said if I want to just schlep stuff over there and store it and then sort through it when it's warmer we can have a yard sale together. I did such a huge purge already, although most of that was a desperate attempt to come up with rent money. Kev left behind a bunch of computer games and, ha ha!, those were the first to go. Along with the guitar he left behind. I guess he just didn't have enough room in his car or something? Jesus. I'd never been more terrified in my life... thought we'd been robbed. And then the fury... ugh. Whatever. He's a dick.

Getting rid of so much stuff was liberating in a lot of ways. When I moved out of the old apartment, I had some art, my laptop, my clothes, and some books and games packed in milk crates. That's it. I'm using Jenn and Ricky's furniture, their bed and dresser. My book case is milk crates. I can fit everything I own in a Volkswagon Passat with the back seats folded down. I feel so free. And what I did keep... it means a lot to me. It's important. Or, in the case of the games, it's just fun. A lot of my boardgames... they're just games. Cardboard and plastic and stuff. But I didn't even think of selling them even when the CDs and video games and stuff sprang instantly to mind. They're just a part of me, and important. The core of my social group. I guess that says a lot about me, right?

Chris and Wendy came over, and we were trying to watch the original "Stepford Wives" movies, but the people upstairs were being so incredibly loud we couldn't hear the tv that we were in the same room with. Chris got all pissed off and grabbed a broom and started banging on the ceiling with it to get them to shut up. Wifey was screaching at hubby to come to dinner or something, like, standing in one room and just bellowing for him in another. After about five minutes of this, one of the kids started running across the length of the living room back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, howling and hooting. Then doors started slamming and Husband started yelling about can't he have a minute's peace and blah blah writing blah blah work. That's when Chris started banging. Hubby says loudly "Oh, great, now the downstairs neighbors have joined in the raucous cacophany" and started jumping up and down on the floor overhead us. Then he stomped around some and more slamming doors, and I guess he left. The kids were crying from all the yelling and stomping he was doing. I got kind of freaked out that he was going to come down and bang on our door and scream at us also, but I guess he just stormed out? I don't know. It finally quieted down about twenty minutes later, at which point the people downstairs started playing really loud bass-heavy music. Sooo.... we fired up DDR. Heh. If you can't beat them, join them, right? We had fun despite ourselves. I hurt today, though. I'm really out of shape. Chris had a membership to Curves, but she says the personal trainers aren't very professional, as in they aren't well trained, and she knows a lot of people who got injured as a result. Nothing lasting, but... sprains and muscle pulls and stuff that could have been avoided. Wendy's got a membership to Bally's, but she gets a free membership as a work perk. They are out of my league, financially. I can't wait for it to get warm so I can go jogging again. I know a lot of people jog in the winter, but it's so sloppy and cold. I worry about slipping and falling and hurting myself, or getting horrible frostbite, or something. You know?

Jenn's trying to get more people to join our gaming group. She tosses around words like friendcest. *L* It's just about always nice to meet new people, get new perspectives on things. Ricky doesn't care so much. I guess he's kind of in a rut when it comes to social stuff. He just keeps on doing whatever he's been doing. Friends fall away and he doesn't look to find more friends. Activities end and he doesn't look for new stuff to take up his time. Maybe he doesn't have to, because Jenn does all that? He's not super social. I mean, he's not antisocial or anything, but he's kind of a homebody and kind of shy. Which is the reason so much of our social life centers around our apartment, I guess. He doesn't like to go to other peoples' apartments. :) It works for me! I won't be living with them forever, of course. Sooner or later we'll part ways. They've been talking about getting a house and I'm feeling better about getting a place of my own, feeling more secure about that. So, you know. Whatever will happen will happen.

Tags: friends, neighbor hate

We were at the mall the other day and the game store had a huge sale on games. I got deluxe "Apples to Apples" even though a bunch of people already have it, "The Big Idea," and a bunch of Cheap Ass stuff. Ricky was all excited because they have the board game of "A Game of Thrones," which kind of looks like Risk only more complicated. Will has it, but we've never played it, and he's not around much. Ricky's all hot to play it. Maybe the next game night will feature its stunning debut! Anyway, it turns out I already have some of the Cheap Ass games I bought, but... ah well. I guess I can give them to other people as a gift, right? Too bad Christmas is past. Heh. Anyway, we took our loot home, and then stickered it up. Jenn had printed out a bunch of labels with her and Ricky's name on 'em, and has been sticking them on all their books, movies, CDs, games, etc. I did the same thing and got most of my labelling undone as I unpacked. It's not like we each think the other's going to steal or anything. It's just to avoid stuff getting mixed up. I'm still trying to get all my stuff back from Kev, and it's a huge hassle. I'd like to make a clean break of it, just cut it off, and I keep having to go back and feel everything all over again. On the one hand, I wonder if physical objects are worth the hassle, the burden, the emotional overload. On the other hand... I don't want to let him "win," and if I let him affect my life like this... it kind of feels like he does. Ugh. Maybe I'm too stupid or stubborn for my own good. I don't know. Jenn offered to put on her "big boots" and kick his ass if he gives me a hard time, but there's nothing I can point to and say "look, there. he's doing it on purpose." It's just... stupid. Pointless. Petty, I guess. She asked me the other day if I regretted getting involved with him. I don't know. I met a lot of people and experienced a lot of stuff because I knew him, was involved with him. A lot of doors were opened because I went down that path. I don't believe that stuff's "meant to be" or that "it will all work out for the best," or my mom's favorite "wherever you end up is where you were meant to be." That seems too... I don't know. Too much like giving up, like not taking control of your life, not taking responsibility for it. But good stuff has happened because of my relationship to him, as hard as that relationship ended and as much as it hurt me. So I guess it was good we were together, even if it ended poorly. Boo.

Russ is going to be in town next weekend. Jenn asked me if she and Ricky should go out and leave us alone together, see how that works out. I don't know. I like him, I've always liked him, I used to joke that it was a shame Kev asked me out when he did or else I'd have put the moves on Russ, but.... I don't know if I'm ready to date again. Or if I want to. No, I know I'm not ready to, that I don't want to. It's kind of nice being single, not having to worry about what my other half wants to do. And I don't know if I'm up for a long distance relationship, although I could always move closer to him. He's not THAT far away, and I like the area, and I've got friends other than him down there, so... I don't know. Heh. Like one evening alone with him would catapult us both into planning a future together, right? Whatever. I guess I got a little too used to planning my life around someone else, huh? I keep forgetting that I don't have to do that any more.

Has anyone borrowed my copy of Cetaganda? I can't find it, and now am wondering if I even own it, or if it was a library copy. Any clews?

Our upstairs neighbors are just... impossible. There's two kids, a toddler and a preschooler, and I swear to GOD they spent five hours last night running back and forth across the floor, the only break to squat down and bang on pots and pans. I know, I know. I'm old and crotchety and just don't know what it's like, having kids! How can I judge! But... shouldn't a four year old be in bed by eleven o'clock on a school night, and not banging on pots and pans and screaming? Maybe their kids are autistic or something, getting overstimulated and acting out. I don't know. I suppose it's possible. However, considering that all the grown ups who visit there scream as their primary means of communication... ugh.

It's like nobody ever learned how people behave.

Let me give you a for instance.

A few weeks ago, I was at home during the day, and someone rang our doorbell. I ignored it, because we weren't expecting any guests or any deliveries of anything, therefore, it couldn't be for us. Then the bell rang again. Then the person ringing the doorbell just fricking leaned on it. I finally gave up and went downstairs to see who it was. It was the mother of the upstairs wifey. She wanted to know if they were home, because she rang the bell, and nobody answered. I told her I had no idea if they were home or not, as I didn't live with them. She then demanded I let her (and her ever-silent husband) into the building so she could "check on them." I guess she was just going to pound on their door until they either let her in or they came home to let her in? I have no idea. I always know when she's visiting, though, because she stomps around like she has cement blocks strapped to her legs. Thump, thump, thump, thump.

I dunno what they do for a living, the adults living above us. They're often home during the day, but gone at night. They don't really have a set schedule, and people come and go all the time. Like, they have a lot of friends and family who visit them, and then they watch tv really really loudly and talk over it and the kids bang on stuff and they thump around from here to there. Jenn says she brought them a current phone book and a casserole when they first moved in, to be neighborly, and that kind of encouraged wifey to talk. all. the. time. about her darling, perfect kids and her wonderful husband who is never around becuase he's soooo busy working. Jenn thinks he's having an affair with his secretary. I don't think he has the social skills to do so. I'd be surprised he managed to land a wife period, but she seems to judge herself by her mommy status, so maybe she was desperate to land her a man. Or maybe she's changed since pumpin' out the kids. I have no idea. Whenever I see her and ask how she's doing, though, she never responds about herself. I always get a run down on the kiddies and the darling husband, never any mention of how SHE is doing. It's kind of creepy. I'd say she was Stepford-ish, but I'm pretty sure she works outside of the home. I'm almost sure she isn't a robot.

Almost.

It's snowing again. I think we got another inch or two overnight, and it's still coming down. I'm so glad I don't have to go anywhere today; just need to clean up after last night.

We got together with a bunch of friends and played monopoly all night and ate pizza. It was a lot of fun. I tried to corner the market with my secret tactic of getting the red/orange corner and getting everyone coming and going. Want Park Place and Board Walk? Fine. You can have ‘em! Red and Orange is where the action is at. ;) That’s my strategy, and for the most part it works. I have to be careful, though, or people catch on. OH NOES! My room mates read this! I AM SUNK!!! Hehe.

We’re going to try and get together next week and play Settlers of Cataan, I think. And more pizza, of course.

It's really really great living with friends like this. I had room mates in college and stuff, but that was all... you know. Assigned room mates. Crazy people. I wound up living with some people who were nice and all, but... we just didn't have a lot in common. And usually our sleep/wake/class schedules didn't match up, either, so when I wanted to get together with friends, it was never in our dorm room. Now, there's people to eat dinner with every night, and someone's always up for popping in a movie or something. We've been working our way through Babylon Five and picking out the sources that inspired Straczynski. After this, I think we might watch Buffy or something else nerdy. Huzzah, nerds! Anyway, the having people around all the time is great, and the having similiar interests? Also great. What's possibly the greatest of all, though, is even though we have shared living areas (living room, kitchen, dining room, you know) we have seperate sleeping areas. So there's privacy, which is something that was sorely lacking in dorm life.