We're here. Now what?

Ok, so now we’re here. I’m working lots of hours; they’ve bumped it up to 8 on Saturdays. And we need a place to stay. The ads on craigslist have produced an array of responses that runs the gamut from making me laugh to leaving me speechless. The people here in Oregon are a whole other breed. Besides being very specific about what you eat (we’re vegan and you must be too) they get into your orientation (must be queer or queer-friendly) and your personal hygiene (must not wear synthetic cologne). One response to our ad was from a married couple (CPA and Asia director of a humanitarian group) who purchased an 8-bedroom house specifically to have a community feeling and came across as being very generous by asking for 3 months rent up front (deposits and what not). I had two thoughts on this: first, if I had $1500 in my pocket I’d just go get my own pad and be done with it, second, they should work on their social lives - like going out to meet people. Another one sounded more promising: 4-5 twenty-something’s, one guy was in a reggae band, another was a cook – Honey talked to them for maybe 20 minutes, during which time they asked how we felt about smoking pot. Honey decided that the combination of them needing money and the guy asking about his camera (we were expecting “oh yeah, I have a …”; what we got was “oh ok. [pause] Cool”) that we’d be really pissed if anything got stolen and maybe it just wasn’t worth saving the money if it was going to cost us big time later. We’ve been back and forth on this at least 6 times. We decide we’re going to the over-priced Extended Stay America (ESA) and then another response comes through and we consider it. The last one (we might go if he says yes) came from a guy who owns his own business and doesn’t necessarily need to constantly interact and communicate for us to stay there. Right now, he’s thinking about it and taking his sweet time. Tonight after work I’m driving ‘home’ to get Honey and our overnight bags, then driving back to town to get our room at ESA (Wednesday). It’ll cost too much, but it’ll be our space, with a locking door, private bath, and kitchenette. This was the original plan when we left OR to come home and get our stuff – then Honey found out how much it costs a month and said give him a few days to come up with something else, which is how we came to posting ads on the web. Anyway, we can’t keep roosting where we are and deliberating. We’re house guests that were supposed to be gone by yesterday (Tuesday).

The ESA is closer to work – probably 10 minutes away instead of 30 – it has a full size frig so I can get back to my fruit and salad bingeing. Our host’s wife loves to cook with butter and bacon and other heavy things that make me sleepy and stick to my butt – a week with them and I need to lighten up. I’ve resolutely ignored the scale set prominently in their bathroom (Sazzy will be proud of me). I only get 30 minutes for lunch, so it’s either bring your own or chance it on the food wagon that comes at 9am and 11am.

Notes on occurances since typing this post: the guy who sounded so promising and sent us two emails, upon our response of interest said he wasn't sure he wanted roommate at all. Twerp. I've managed not to get lost on the way to work so far this week, which doesn't officially end until Saturday. This may be the only time I get on the internet - throwing off the emperor's new groove (of revamping his website) is not encouraged. :)