Believe it or not,
the logistics of moving to Madison are still not complete. Most of my stuff is still in Houston. Naturally, I miss
people more than stuff, but it sure would be nice to have a couch.
Eventually, the
logistics will be complete, and cultural adaptation will
dominate. While Wisconsin is not completely foreign from Texas, it is
different (enough) in terms of local cuisine, events, and so forth. As the
locals like to bring up during our conversations, I still haven’t experienced winter. Readers of
this blog can look forward to moment-by-moment commentary about snow.
One of the things that
I’ve done to blend in is...buy grid-patterned shirts that are
appropriate for the office. Male Houston office workers tend towards solid-colored shirts,
polos, or shirts with otherwise simple patterns. Many folks in the
Madison office have similar taste. However, there are enough men
wearing a wide variety of plaid and grid-patterned shirts that it
became clear that I was missing something. One web search later, with some price
comparisons, two shirts arrived at the PO Box. Total cost was under $80; shipping was free.
Speaking of the PO
Box, if you have one, then you should consider getting a street address for it. It’s free, and you get something that
resembles a normal address. If you allow the Post Office to have your
signature on file, then FedEx and UPS had ought to hand over your
purchased items to the Post Office. Commentary on the web isn’t
clear on the overall effectiveness of this, but since it costs no
more to have those features after you pay for the PO Box, it is a free experiment (minus losses
from items being...lost).
In other news, I’ve joined a gym to achieve the goal of safely lifting 100 lbs. That means lifting 100 lbs
multiple times without too much straining or effort. Currently, I can
lift 50 lbs safely. Why do this, especially so far from New Year’s?
Two reasons:
1) Moving
2) Volunteering at District 1 EMS.
When I helped a
co-worker move, it became clear that my upper body strength was
inadequate for many tasks. After decades of similar
embarrassment, it was time for change. Plus, when it comes time to
move my own stuff, having any extra strength will obviously make the
job easier.
As for District 1
EMS, they ask point-blank on the form if you can lift 100 lbs.
While they will accept you if you can’t lift that much, it is
the kind of question to which I would really like to say “yes.”
This is really about safety.
Aside from work and
chores, major ongoing tasks include: playing Sheepshead at Laurel Tavern, learning Mandarin, reading more about Wisconsin
history, walking more segments of the Ice Age Trail, volunteering for
the DNR or similar groups, and Monitoring an Aquatic Ecosystem Using a Raspberry Pi and Sensors from Atlas Scientific.
Time management is a
good skill to have, along with budgeting, cooking, and writing in
cursive.
In real estate news, the landlord offered
to renew the lease for one year, raising the monthly rent by less
than 2%. Meanwhile, Madison-area real estate went up by more than
twice that amount. That sends a strong signal to keep renting.
But, let’s say
that the landlord did not offer to renew the lease. What then?
Well, within a few
miles of the office (biking distance), Zillow reports 12 one-bedroom
apartments available for no more than $1,000 per month. In the same
region, there are three one-bedroom condos available for the same
price. There are no townhouses or single-family houses available in
the area for that price.
For the equivalent price of a property, a visit to the New York Times
Buy vs Rent Calculator is in order. With the $1,000 per
month ceiling, and some assumptions about certain numbers, the
Calculator showed the
following purchase prices at at given condo fee. The condo fees below are taken from actual listings; they're not made up:
$104,000
for a place with a condo fee of $193/month
$108,000
at a condo fee of $164/month
$131,000
without a condo fee.
In
other words, if there is a condo selling for $104,000, and has a
monthly fee of $193/month, then that is equivalent to paying $1,000
per month in rent, at certain values of down payment, duration of
residence, property taxes, etc.
At
a max price of $104,000, there are four places for sale in
the same region that has 15 places to rent at no more than $1,000 per
month. Increasing the max
price to $108,000, a total of
five places
are for sale. Increasing
the max price to $131,000,
and excluding all condos and townhouses and properties that face busy
roads, that number is zero.
Remember, there are a total of 15 places to rent for at or below $1,000 per month in this part of town.
Yep.
For the moment, I’m still better off renting. It
makes little sense to leave a quiet neighborhood to pay more to live
in a louder, more polluted neighborhood with a longer commute.
