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tulokynI just checked the weather forecast on my phone, and discovered that the UV index right now is 12 out of 16. I had been wondering how bad it would be to go up to the grocery store for the milk we desperately need, and sunscreen and so on. It seems that if I go now, I will char to a crisp. The UV is insane here. I have been tanning despite liberal application of sunscreen most days, and only going out for short periods if I am unprotected. Turns out those days that it says your skin will burn in minutes with the UV index actually exist here. Still, I have been lucky and I've only gotten one minor sunburn since my arrival, so I'm doing alright.
Shamus and I have been discussing the apartment the last couple days. I was telling him that I feel "like a grown-up" in this place, and he says that he feels the apartment complex is a place for grown-ups to live. Despite the playground just outside our building, it feels like a place that isn't just a temporary location for so many students. There is also the fact that both of us grew up with dishwashers and laundry machines, yet have not had them ourselves in a non-roommate setting. We are also buying new furniture, and getting to choose colours for our kitchen or bathroom or whatever, instead of just having whatever we had for hand-me-downs in addition to the few new pieces we'd buy. I think before California, the closest we came to getting new furniture ourselves was getting a large scratching post for our cat 6 years ago.
The cats have been high on our priority list as well; we got them a new bed (that Smudge appears to fear and Sprite adores, in a reversal of roles from Nova Scotia) and a modular piece of cat furniture that we will be expanding into a glorious monstrosity when Shamus gets paid next. We still only have the two dining chairs and table, and our wonderful matress (on the floor) for ourselves, but we like it here, and the cats seem to be settling comfortably. The screen door on the balcony is a popular spot to hang out, as the trees outside contain the most delectable looking birds and squirrels, and sometimes a seedpod falls through the leaves which is very exciting. Smudge is somewhat concerned by the front-load washing machine when it is working, but doesn't seem terrified enough to run away. He does like to spend hours under the quilt in the bedroom in the afternoons though. He was there for 6 hours yesterday, slow-roasting his brains from the time the maintenance guy came to clear the rain gutters until Shamus came home.
Afternoons can get a little annoying for me, when the children get home from school and start riding their bikes around the sidewalks outside, making their bells go "ringringringringringringringringring" and screaming for hours on end. I think I'll take it over the people who would slam the laundry room door open against the wall (next to our living room and my studio area) in the old apartment, though I am seriously considering buying a set of the noise-canceling headphones that Shamus got before we moved to Sunnyvale.
We got our weekly flyers in the mail yesterday. Some of them are primarily in Spanish, which is interesting, but I think the strangest thing was flipping through the flyer for a pharmacy, and upon reaching the back page, being confronted with a page full of ads for wine and beer you could buy there. The pharmacies I am familiar with don't even sell cigarettes, let alone be permitted to sell alcohol.
There are about 5 hours or so left before we can finally get our internet set up. The modem arrived today, and we might be connected now (3:20pm), but all the literature in the box is adamant that we not start the installation until after 8pm on our connection day. Don't they realize that I am here without internet? I've been waiting for this box for three days now! It barely even occurs to me that I can leave now because I'm used to rolling around on the floor in boredom waiting for someone to knock. I'd go swimming, but we don't have enough sunscreen to cover my whole body, and this apartment is so warm from the dryer running that I can't even contemplate going to the fitness center.
I think it's pretty great though, that once we're settled, I can just go work out on cardio machines (with individual tvs!) whenever, or lift some weights (which is needed for my upper body strength). I'm looking forward to having more sunscreen so I can go swimming every day, or just lounge about in the hot tub for a while. I've been wanting to sit in the hot tub with Shamus for a few days now, but by the time I am released from my package waiting duties, a cool wind has come up, and it feels too cold to walk across the property to go get wet.
Anyway, I'm not even going anywhere with this today. I'm just bored and I want my internet, and there's too much sun outside to do anything without sunscreen. Poor me. :P
Shamus and I have been discussing the apartment the last couple days. I was telling him that I feel "like a grown-up" in this place, and he says that he feels the apartment complex is a place for grown-ups to live. Despite the playground just outside our building, it feels like a place that isn't just a temporary location for so many students. There is also the fact that both of us grew up with dishwashers and laundry machines, yet have not had them ourselves in a non-roommate setting. We are also buying new furniture, and getting to choose colours for our kitchen or bathroom or whatever, instead of just having whatever we had for hand-me-downs in addition to the few new pieces we'd buy. I think before California, the closest we came to getting new furniture ourselves was getting a large scratching post for our cat 6 years ago.
The cats have been high on our priority list as well; we got them a new bed (that Smudge appears to fear and Sprite adores, in a reversal of roles from Nova Scotia) and a modular piece of cat furniture that we will be expanding into a glorious monstrosity when Shamus gets paid next. We still only have the two dining chairs and table, and our wonderful matress (on the floor) for ourselves, but we like it here, and the cats seem to be settling comfortably. The screen door on the balcony is a popular spot to hang out, as the trees outside contain the most delectable looking birds and squirrels, and sometimes a seedpod falls through the leaves which is very exciting. Smudge is somewhat concerned by the front-load washing machine when it is working, but doesn't seem terrified enough to run away. He does like to spend hours under the quilt in the bedroom in the afternoons though. He was there for 6 hours yesterday, slow-roasting his brains from the time the maintenance guy came to clear the rain gutters until Shamus came home.
Afternoons can get a little annoying for me, when the children get home from school and start riding their bikes around the sidewalks outside, making their bells go "ringringringringringringringringring" and screaming for hours on end. I think I'll take it over the people who would slam the laundry room door open against the wall (next to our living room and my studio area) in the old apartment, though I am seriously considering buying a set of the noise-canceling headphones that Shamus got before we moved to Sunnyvale.
We got our weekly flyers in the mail yesterday. Some of them are primarily in Spanish, which is interesting, but I think the strangest thing was flipping through the flyer for a pharmacy, and upon reaching the back page, being confronted with a page full of ads for wine and beer you could buy there. The pharmacies I am familiar with don't even sell cigarettes, let alone be permitted to sell alcohol.
There are about 5 hours or so left before we can finally get our internet set up. The modem arrived today, and we might be connected now (3:20pm), but all the literature in the box is adamant that we not start the installation until after 8pm on our connection day. Don't they realize that I am here without internet? I've been waiting for this box for three days now! It barely even occurs to me that I can leave now because I'm used to rolling around on the floor in boredom waiting for someone to knock. I'd go swimming, but we don't have enough sunscreen to cover my whole body, and this apartment is so warm from the dryer running that I can't even contemplate going to the fitness center.
I think it's pretty great though, that once we're settled, I can just go work out on cardio machines (with individual tvs!) whenever, or lift some weights (which is needed for my upper body strength). I'm looking forward to having more sunscreen so I can go swimming every day, or just lounge about in the hot tub for a while. I've been wanting to sit in the hot tub with Shamus for a few days now, but by the time I am released from my package waiting duties, a cool wind has come up, and it feels too cold to walk across the property to go get wet.
Anyway, I'm not even going anywhere with this today. I'm just bored and I want my internet, and there's too much sun outside to do anything without sunscreen. Poor me. :P