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24 May Tacoma LivingThis is a long post. It's got good news and it's got bad news. If you just wanna see where I moved to, look at the albums I posted. If you wanna know what's going on, enjoy:
We'll start with some good news.. I'm writing this while enjoying some Trader Joes fish tacos with steamed bok choy and a glass of Barnard Griffin Fume Blanc (which is really lovely). I was late in defrosting another meat today, so I had to go with a convenience product - a rare occasion for me.
Oh, and you guys are going to love this: I've gotten referals from search engines for my previous header name "Phlargo's Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man". There was a referal from someone who searched for "Wacky+Waiving+Inflatable+Tube+Man". (S)he apparently came and read my page too..
Four days ago, I moved out from the Stone family home in Federal Way to my new apartment in Tacoma. I had been looking for a new place to live for about the last week and a half. I found that Tacoma apartments were quite reasonably priced and really nice - if you found the right place to live (some of Tacoma is not very nice, other places are really lovely). So here, I am, paying $550 a month for a nearly 500 sq ft 1 bedroom less than 1 mile from my work. I would like to try and start walking there in the mornings now that the weather is getting nice. I've attached two new photo albums. The first is a set of pictures I took before I moved in and the second is pictures I took today, four days into my tenure here.
I ended up with this place after spending a week ago Thursday looking at 7 different places (it was my third day of hunting). This was the first place I went. There was another place I liked (a two bedroom less than a mile from here for $650) but they wanted a 12 month lease (this place only wanted 6 months). I didn't think that was the right move right now, so last Friday, I went and filled out an application for this place. Tuesday at noon, the manager called and told me I had passed muster. I asked her what time we could meet. She said 3:30. I packed my stuff and moved out that day. Sure I had no furniture, no dishes, no supplies. Just my clothes, my computers, my toiletries, a few kitchen things, and some food. But I slept here Tuesday night. On the floor with a foam matress I had borrowed from Jesse Stone.
Since then, I've been to to the following places to look for furniture and supplies: Target, Walmart, Kmart, Costco, Ikea, Staples, Office Max, Office Depot, Fred Meyer, Nordstrom, Frys, JCPenny, Macys, Sears, Metropolitan Market, Trader Joes. Wednesday night I bought a kitchen cart, a lamp, and a few other odds and ends from Ikea. I got my matress and cookware from Costco and my desk from Office Depot on Thursday. I got my internet connection on Friday. That's the extent of my furniture so far (yeah.. internet connection is officially furniture). It's very empty right now, but it works. The kitchen is tiny and the stove/oven is only one step larger than an EZ-bake. So, cooking is a challenge, but possible
So I splurged on two things. A memory foam matress and a nice set of nonstick cookware from Costco. I've spent months questioning both and the matress was the easier decision to make. I knew that getting a good matress was a smart idea - sleeping is important. I was looking at $599 for a queen/box spring set, but I had always wanted to go memory foam... so I ordered one from Costco's website because they hadn't had them in the store. It was $699 and I was going to have it shipped to my work (they said it was fine). But on a subsequent trip to Costco, I found out that the Tacoma store actually had a rebranded version of the exact same matress in the store for $599. I sat in the store and cancelled my order online and got the in store version. Two things about this matress.. it comes deflated (think about the size of a small refrigerator) and weighs about 120 lbs. Sure enough, I hoisted it into my cart alright... but getting into the car was another issue. Me and two Costco employees managed to massage it into my back seat after 15 minutes of pushing, prying, and forcing. It resulted in a small tear (5 inches or so) in my rear seat.. but I don't really care. This was the easy part.
Getting it out of my small car by myself again and up the stairs into my apartment.. that was the hard part. Once I parked at home, I spent probably another 20 minutes trying to squeeze the huge box through the door. I found that no matter what I did, there was no way I could alone apply the right force to bend it around the steel door frame. I ended up taking the massive pouch out of the box and strong-arming the whole deal all the way across the path, up the stairs, and into to my room. That was not easy - no handles, nearly 3 ft in diameter and at least 4 ft tall and about 115 lbs - up a steep, narrow, dilapidated wooden staircase. When I move out, I'm getting help. No matter what. I bought two queen sized fitted sheets from Fred Meyer ($17 (250 t.c. tope) & $19 (300 t.c. muted olive)) to accompany my new baby.
So the matress spent the next 36 hours inflating on the floor next to my makeshift bed, working out all the creases and bumps. I slept on it last night for the first time. It's wonderful. It's like sleeping on the ground (it's hard and supportive) except the ground is shaped exactly like your body, no matter your position. It's super comfortable (in fact, I last night before bed I tested it out and didn't get up for nearly an hour). I think it'll be a great matress for many years to come. Now.. to find a bed (I actually have one from Ikea I really like.. but it's another $299.. so it's going to wait a while - it's doing just fine on the floor, thank you. Besides, it has a matching dresser which I think is pretty cool too).
The other splurge was $200 on a set of cookware. I got the same 11 piece set that Leah and Chris got for their wedding - the Circulon 2 Commercial from Costco. I've been using every opportunity to enjoy it (pancakes this morning, boiling water for coffee, eggs, steaming vegetables last night, etc, etc, etc..) and I will definitely enjoy it. I did a ton of research prior to buying it though - I've been looking at it and competitors for months. I had nearly planned to go piece by piece, but I found that with the 3 basic pieces I wanted to start with, I was already at $120, no matter how I did it. And they would have no matching lids - so I now have a set with an 8, 10, and 12 inch skillet, a 14 inch covered skillet, and 2.5q, 4q, and 8q saucepans with lids. It's not everything I want, but it'll certainly do fabulously until I can afford the last couple of pieces - a griddle ($35-100), a cast iron skillet ($25), and a stainless saucier ($110).
So what's next? Furniture and knives. I need a filing cabinet (~$100) and/or printer cart (~$80)and a dresser ($150-200) as soon as possible. My underwear, socks, t-shirts and shorts are in my suitcase and duffel bag. My papers are stacked in a paper shopping bag. It's mean. I hope to correct this within a month. A bed ($200-350) will be fine down the road.. I can probably live fine without for several months. It's not pretty, but it works. A lamp ($15-45) for my bedroom would be nice, so I could read by my bed.. but that too can wait. Much further down the road are a little dining table ($200) and some chairs (4 x $50-75)- so I don't have to eat at the computer... but I could probably do without those for 6 months (maybe 'til I move - the bed could probably wait too) Eventually maybe a small couch, a coffee table and an entertainment center (with media pc, of course).
In the kitchen, I will soon want an electric kettle ($50), a microwave ($90), and a toaster oven ($75 - I have a $6 place holder toaster from Walmart). And a couple of good knives (still not 100% sure on make though I'm waffling between Kershaw Shun ($300) and F. Dick ($250). And bread pans ($30). I really wanna make my own bread again soon.
I obviously need tons of other kitchen gear, but I strategically chose the most multitasking items I could think of in my initial purchasing to complement my current arsenal (1 small silicon turner, 1 silicon pancake turner, 1 nylon turner, 1 large bamboo cutting board, 1 8" stamped Victrinox Forscher chef knife*, 1 4" paring knife*, 1 Petite Carver Cutco knife, 1 12" salmon knife, tea and coffee supplies, 2 mugs, 1 hard-anodized non-stick 12" square grill pan, 1 cheapie Walmart wok*).
Here's my initial purchases for your critique:
* - items that are placeholders - eventually I'll get a better one but it was cheap enough that it made sense to get something
I agonized over this list, making sure that everything I was purchasing would be used regularly and nothing would be wasted. So far, in just two days, I've used just about everything (all, except the 8 cup measuring cup, baking sheet, and second drinking glass and wine glass, and 3rd trivet).
Why so careful and so reluctant to furnish all the way? First, I don't need it all right away - I can live pretty spartanly and do okay. I'll miss having comfort/luxury... but I haven't had it for a while. And secondly, well, I've done the math. If I work 24 hours a week at Johnson, Graffe, Keay, Moniz, and Wicke, LLP and I subtract my rent and student loan payments, I end up with less than $700 a month. This has to cover: all initial purchases (so far around $1700 - household purchases plus $300 deposit/cleaning fee), gas, car insurance, health insurance, internet, cell phone, electricity, and food. In my estimation, I'll be running about $300-500 a month in deficit for the time being. I'm going to try to pick up another job on Tuesdays, Thursdays (and maybe Saturdays and Sundays) to make up the difference, but it's not guarenteed yet, so I'm officially broke.
And I got some bad news today.. my car died on me twice while idling. I've been losing power steering fluid at nearly 100% per trip (I need to refill every time I drive the car). I'm taking my car to a local place on Tuesday to figure out what I've gotta do. I did figure out that the car stopped dying if I turn the air conditioning off - so that's good news.. I can live without air conditioning. But the power steering problem is getting really annoying. I need to figure out if I need to just dump the car and go from there. Knowing this might be a possibility, I stocked up on food today (nearly $200 worth), so that if I need to be without a car, at least I'll have stuff to eat for the next two weeks or so and should be able to supplement with the local meat and produce place (I hear it's awesome - and it's only about 2 blocks away - I may check it out tomorrow).
It's a little scary right now - new place (mostly empty) and a new bank (mostly empty). Ironically, while things seemed like they have been just on the up and up, it seems the real challenge starts here. 03 May Mayday! Some things to share...It's obviously been too long since my last post, which means that you all are due a long and detailed record.. right?
I decided that the best thing to do would be to start from today and move backwards... well, except for one little detail I'll save for the end (don't cheat!) I'm right now listening to Feist, an indy-rocker who was featured on an episode of the Colbert Report this week. I really like what I heard, so I'm giving her album (The Reminder - 2007) a shot. This was preceded by the new Portishead album (first one in like 10 years!) which is quite good. I can't wait to set up a more permanent music listening area - I really enjoy music. I want to have nice speakers and a good listening environment with which I can enjoy all sorts of music.
I've just spent the last hour or so posting on Jdorama.com (the website where I've learned about and engaged in discussions of Japanese dramas I've been watching - if you wanna see what I've been watching and how I feel about it, check out my profile: http://jdorama.com/viewprofile.37210.htm) and drinking a wonderful Sumatra Mandheling I procured from Victrola coffee when I was up in Seattle on Monday. That was preceded by some fantastic pancakes and a very late waking time (11:30 for those who are wondering).
Why did I get up so late? Well.. last night I watched the end of a J-drama called Orange Days until like 5 AM. I don't know if I had planned to or not, but I ended up watching to the end (I think I watched 5 eps last night) because I decided I had nowhere I needed to be today. So, I figured: go nuts! It was a great show and the final scene made my cry like nothing else. I actually have watched those last few seconds like 5 times since I finished it. Miraculously, every time I see them, I get very wet cheeks. I don't want to spoil anything (as I've got an increasingly large following of people who are jumping on the jdramawagon again), but it's such an amazing moment for both the characters of Sae and Kai.. the culmination of every Kai worked for in supporting her and Sae facing her worst fears. Truly legendary. The show gets far from a perfect review, but I'm so glad I saw it - a touching and wonderful experience (more detailed review on my profile there).
Last night I took myself out for some Thai food. I had planned to go out for lunch or dinner like 6 times earlier this week, but I managed to wait until Friday. I had a seafood dish with curry and sauteed basil at a local place called Indochine which had been recommended to me by Wendy and Lowell some months ago. It was a really wonderful meal and I topped it off with a nice Thai beer. This nice outing was followed by a trip to H-mart (Korean Supermarket) where I got piles of vegetables and a beautiful piece of fresh salmon for $12. It's really the best deal around here for produce, by a long shot. And they have all kinds of sashimi grade fish too (hmm...) I bought a couple green bean buns from the baker there too and had a nice little treat when I got home.
I've been playing an infernal game called Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords which is like Bejeweled with spells and role playing elements. It's a great background puzzle game to play while watching all my shows (at least the ones in English). It's dangerously addictive though - I've found several nights getting a little too late for their own good at the hands of that game.
Last weekend, I visited a little bakery in Kent, WA called Haley's Corner (http://haleyscorner.com/). I heard about it on one of my local NPR stations, KUOW - there was an interview (http://www.kuow.org/mp3high/m3u/SoundFocus/SoundFocus20080102.m3u). A gluten free bakery that was started a woman who had a friend who's daughter (Haley) was gluten intolerant. For years she had been baking for Haley trying to create delights that would reflect her unique needs. At the beginning of the year, she decided she would try and make a business out of it. So, after having searched several times for it, I finally got to Haley's Corner. I talked with the employees and saw the fabrication process at work and got several great samples while I was there. I walked out with a gluten-free peanut butter chocolate chip cookie and a pumpkin chocolate chip muffin (this was a real winner!) and proceeded back to another place I know in Kent for a little something to drink to go with my special baked goods, Xiu Xian Teas (http://www.xiuxiantea.com/). Mako was there, as usual, and treated me and a young lady who was contemplating buying loose tea for the first time to a lovely tasting and tea discussion. I bought a couple of ounces of an unfermented Puh-Er which is a wonderful fragrant, floral tea. But sorry.. there was almost none left, so you'll have to visit me in the next month or two if you wanna try it :) I also made a stop at Kohls where I enjoyed a part of one of my Christmas gift cards. I purchased two blue shirts. One textured tealish modal/poly polo and a button down muted royal blue linen/rayon blend. Also a pair of olive/grey slacks (my current ones are very tired!). All good deals and all things I really thought looked nice. Thanks Mom and Joe... they are nice things. I'll need to buy some more soon, but it made me feel special with some new clothes.
I got a very special treat last week from Leah and Chris. They sent me a wonderful package of special things they collected for me on their trip to Japan. It was so sweet and really made my day. I had come home and Jesse hade made an amazing mess (he's been sick and even less conscientious than usual) and was kinda pissy. But I got a pretty box with special goodies. Teas (a sencha, a handmixed genmaicha, and an exceptional gyokuro (the only one I've gotten to try so far) and a cherrywood tea scoop (so pretty!), and bookmarks (a foil one with a temple on it, a painted bamboo one with handpainted owls on it, and a handmade paper one from Thailand (the reason for the bookmarks was that the one Leah gave me several years ago was falling apart)), rice crackers, a beautiful postcard with sweet words, some 'hotel coffee' :), and a lovely, if non-japanese, basil-lime chocolate bar from Rococo. Oh yes, and an extremely explicit hentai manga (basically cartoon porn) that's in Japanese but involves some of the most comically large breasts (probably something like 44EEE) and explicit sex scenes I've ever seen. I would describe it more.. but i know I have a very diverse audience so I'll leave the rest to your imagination. I actually had the pleasure of telling Leah and Chris that they supplied me with the first pornography I've ever owned! But, in the light of an unpleasant homecoming, there was such a wonderful treat that really lifted my spirits. Leah and Chris once again prove to be the masters of gift giving and packaging!
I also met with Jonathan Forbes for dinner last week after going to an utterly useless job fair (it really was a waste of time). We had a lovely dinner at Chutney's in Bellevue as well as an enjoyable conversation. MS is coming up next month and we're all gonna try to get together! I also used the day to visit Microsoft's visitor's museum (which I found out is up for replacement in Fall '08 - it's pretty outdated right now) and drive some around Redmond and Bellevue. I went back to Bellevue's fantastic Whole Foods and couldn't help but walking out with two bags of exquisite coffee (a Papua New Guinea Peaberry and a Kenya Grand Cru), both of which have proved their worth since. Allegro coffee does some good work.
I've been feeling good. Positive, rejuvenated. IAlthough I desparately want to get back to the gym and get some physical exercise (and will do so the very day I establish a more permanent living space), but I feel so much better than I was feeling. Why the sense of freedom?
Well, starting a week and a half ago, I got a job. I had expressed to several people that I wasn't happy with how the job search was going and, within a couple of days, no less than 5 of you had suggested something I already kinda knew - maybe it was time for a change of strategy. I started a targetted law firm search (in addition to my "many hour scour" of the job search sites) where it was my intention to make 10 directed solicitations to researched individuals of small firms a day, with strict followup and recording procedures. I created a little database of my contacts and started the process two weeks ago on Monday. Tuesday, I got an email from a partner at a firm in Tacoma indicating that he had no jobs for my, but would be willing to meet with me to offer some suggestions. I immediately emailed him back, expressing my enthusiasm and excitement.
Wednesday morning, Chris Keay from Johnson, Graffe, Keay, Moniz & Wick, LLP (http://www.jgkmw.com) emailed me back and said that if I wanted to meet that that afternoon would be best as he expected to be very busy for the next two weeks. I got my clothes on and was there in 35 minutes. He sat down with me and gave me a bunch of great local contacts and told me about his practice and what he was working on. His demeanor changed throughout our meeting. I could tell he liked me, saw potential, and knew that I was greater than the sum of my parts (though my calves and fingernails are pretty great).
We talked for a little while more and he asked me to walk with him to the kitchen to go fill up his coffee. On the way back, he stopped abruptly by an office and stuck his head in and said "Phil, this is Daniel. What do you think of him? I think he seems like a good guy and pretty intelligent. I think he's going to do some part time work for us". So I met Phil. He then stopped by another office.. and I met Wade. We walked back to his office and he handed me a document and said, "Come in Friday and you can research this. How about Friday and Wednesdays you come in and help us out?" So.. I came in Friday and did the research. The other legal intern comes in Tuesdays and Thursdays, but for this week and next, she's out of town, so I've been going in full time since Tuesday and will be there all next week. So far, it's been really great. The people are really great and I really like the firm. I don't have any permanent promises there yet, but it's a good start and I appreciate the change. It's amazing experience - I'm having to figure out everything by myself and develop procedures and processes for getting whatever thing done I am asked to do. I'll post more details about what I'm doing in a later post. Needless to say, it's great. I can't move out of here yet (on part time salary...), but it's a huge step forward and things are looking up. And, in the end, 3 days after changing my strategy, I got a job. Makes you realize how much one's approach matters.
So.. something happened that many of you might be wondering about at this time. While writing this email, the mailman came. He had a letter from the WSBA (Washington State Bar Association) which was more than happy to inform me that I was to be admitted to the WSBA because I had passed the WA bar exam. As I've long promised everyone.. I'm taking myself out for sushi tonight. And there will be sake. And quite possibly beeru :)
Get Ready to Feel the Power of Attorney!
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