Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Move: to Madison, WI (Day 20)

After 20 days, you’ve settled into a routine. Ideally, you have a very good idea of how to do your job. Also, you may have paid (off) the credit card bill(s) from your move.

But, your furniture is still at your old place, or in storage, and you’re still in the sublet. On the other hand, after 20 days, you may not miss your stuff. For now.

Indeed, the only thing (not person) that I miss is my garden, and compost bin.


O 'Yukon Gold' potato cultivar, you will be missed

While having a container garden on a balcony is feasible, composting in an apartment setting is not. In Houston, I had to keep a bale of hay in the garage, so that there was some anti-smell components to add to the compost when the need arose. With a balcony, a composting system (bin plus hay plus room to maneuver) may take anywhere from one-third to two-thirds of your balcony or patio.

As the Wired guide suggests, you’ll be buying dirt every season. The economics of apartment gardening lean heavily towards that of a money-sinking hobby, versus a money-saving task.

In more prosaic news, yesterday I checked the PO box, and there was mail! It’s taken more than two weeks, but Houston mail is making its way to Madison. Mail is also starting to arrive in the sublet mail box. Mostly fliers, but some sublet-specific stuff.

In other relocation news, I’ve visited several neighborhoods, and compared them to the neighborhood where the sublet is. While some neighborhoods have more people outside, walking their dogs, etc., they’re further from the office than the sublet is. Some neighborhoods have no highway or airplane noise whatsoever, but they’re much, much further from the office. Some neighborhoods have high-quality housing, but the neighborhood itself is monolithic and dull. One gets the feeling that it may be a ghetto in about ten or 20 years. Some neighborhoods have a decent-sized grocery store (something bigger than an Aldi) within five minutes' walking distance. But, you clearly hear the major road that is adjacent to the grocery store.

Overall, no neighborhood stands out as being really better in more than one way than the one I’m currently living. The sublet is close to work, and in a reasonably active, but quiet neighborhood. The build quality of the sublet is pretty good as far as apartments go. There are worse houses out there. But, the neighborhood is kind of pricey, and far from major grocery stores.

Right now, I’m unwilling to pay more than the mortgage payment equivalent-of-rent to live further away from the office. Only one neighborhood seems worth it, and it is the one within five minutes of a grocery store. It also has some the cheapest real estate in the area. I have yet to see the inside of house that is for sale there, so build quality is not yet fully known.

In other words, I may just stay in the sublet. Yeah, that means missing out on not owning real estate in Madison. But, I already own real estate in Houston. That house is being rented out. Selling the house there, to buy a house up here, is not an obvious good decision. At least, on a five-year planning scale.

In community events news, I’ve gone to a total of three library events: the John Scalzi reading, a performance by Forward Theater, and a discussion lead by Dan Egan on his new book. Forward Theater was salaciously funny. Egan’s talk gave some ideas that could be useful for my ecology hobby. However, it has become clear that I should go to community events that take place somewhere other than a library. This is not to avoid burn-out, but to avoid becoming accidentally complacent or dependent on library events.

But, the Middleton Library has indoor agriculture (sort-of), too!
 

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