July 4, 2020 ☼ life

I don’t remember why, but for some reason I stepped away mid-last post, so let’s do the pros here. It’s actually nearly two weeks later, so perhaps even the cons will have changed by now, but let’s go anyway!

Pros

• I’m very much feeling the post-move bliss right now. It’s nice to have a change of pace, especially during this period of quarantine where days start to smear together.
• Alongside that post-move bliss is the post-move clean. Everything (mostly) is tucked away, and the spaces are mostly well-kept at the moment. Given that I have to spend so much time here, having less visual clutter does a ton for my sanity.
• While being on the ground floor has problems regarding windows and privacy, it’s a huge boon for accessibility. Getting mail, packages, and even in-person deliveries is monumentally easier. Throwing away trash and recycling is so much faster, and therefore increases the throughput (having smaller bins also pairs well). Finally, it’s just so much quicker to leave my apartment, especially with that secondary exit literally right outside my door. Hopefully that increased exitability actually promotes exiting, ha.
• It’s great not having the building intercept my packages anymore. Now it’s only UPS that’s keeping me away from my mail, yeehaw.
• I initially found it weird that the entire apartment had the vinyl wood flooring, as opposed to my last place which had carpet in the bedroom and tile in the bathroom. Now though, I appreciate the visual consistency, and having flat, semi-hard ground everywhere actually makes vacuuming much simpler. I can use the flat vacuum head 100% of the time, I can mop everywhere, the robo-vac has no problems getting around, etc.
• While I think the neighborhood here is not my favorite in terms of amenities, I love it in terms of aesthetics, lighting, and noise. Compared to downtown, it’s much more tranquil, the light is much softer due to my height relative to other buildings, and noises are now sporadic instead of constantly droning. The air also feels fresher, but I’ve not set up my air filter so I don’t know how true that really is.
• I thought it would be cramped, but I’m liking the studio vibes of the kitchen, living space, and computer area all being in the same rectangle. It makes it very easy to context switch, especially when doing some long-running cooking.
• On the flipside, I love how separate the bedroom is from everything else. Going there feels very final now at the end of the day, while in the morning (and when getting ready to go out) it’s nice how it leads directly to the exit.
• The gas stove is so good. I knew that glass-top stove was awful, but I don’t think I appreciated how truly awful it was. Things now come up to temp so much faster, and react to changes in temp much faster as well.
• While the fridge is smaller than I’d prefer (even after having “gotten used to it”), I love how the temperatures are adjustable, as now I can keep things colder and therefore help them last longer. This seems more like a problem of my last place though, aren’t fridge and freezer temperatures usually adjustable?
• While I’m further away from Belltown, SLU, and Lower Queen Anne, I’m now closer to the back of Cap Hill, Madison Valley, and funny enough, U District. I think I will ultimately miss Lower Queen Anne quite a bit, being nearer to Cap Hill and U District ought to open up some neat new opportunities. I’m not terribly familiar with Madison Valley (and hate the physical valley portion!) but having walked around a little bit I think there’s cool stuff to be found once quarantine progresses a bit more.
• I love how my computer desk is at the right height now. This is not the fault of any apartment involved, it is purely mine.